Wild Girl ✔️

chapter 24: moonlight

Sebastian

The room was covered in sunlight when I woke up. I reached my hand across the mattress, expecting to find Rose laying beside me but the bed was empty.

"Morning." I sat upright at her voice. Rose was leaning against her dresser, watching me with a grin on her face. I began to smile before I spotted the suitcase on the ground, filled with her clothes.

"What's going on?" I gestured to the suitcase with one hand and rubbed my eyes with the other to make sure I was seeing straight.

She sat on the bed slowly and sighed, tucking her legs beneath her. "Sebastian..."

"Today's your last day here."

Her eyebrows pulled together. "You know?"

I shifted across the bed, closer to her, and grabbed her hand in mine. "I do own this inn." Her mouth quirked up into a small smile. "I saw it a few days ago in the guest book," I said, scratching my head. "I must have forgot."

"I'm sorry." Rose stared at our intertwined hands, rubbing her thumb across mine. "I should have told you before last night." Her eyes flicked up to mine, cheeks a soft red.

I raised her fingers to my face and kissed them. "It wouldn't have changed anything," I said.

"Really?"

I nodded. "Last night meant a lot to me, Rose." My voice was barely a whisper as she leaned in slowly, face hovering in front of mine.

"I wish I could stay longer." Her lips brushed against mine lightly.

"So stay longer," I mumbled against her lips.

She shrieked as I pushed her back onto the bed, holding her down with my body. I slowly unbuttoned her shirt, kissing her bare skin.

Her chest was rising and falling quickly. "Are you busy today?" she breathed. I glanced up from her stomach to find her eyes on me, blazing with that same fire from last night.

"No," I said with a slow grin. "Did you have something in mind?"

"It's my last day here. I want to spend it with you."

I couldn't help but chuckle that she thought she even needed to ask that; as if there were anywhere else I'd rather be than with her.

I kissed her stomach softly and she sighed, eyes fluttering close. "Okay," was all I said before I undid the last button on her shirt, pushed it aside and moved my head below her waist, her back arching as she moaned my name.

Later I would tell her everything that I'd been dying to say. But now, we had a day to make the most of.

____

"Do you believe in fate?"

Rose's question caught me off guard as we sat in the forest's clearing. She was laying on the damp grass, head propped gently in my lap as I ran my fingers through her hair.

"I don't know," I admitted.

"We both lost someone we loved, Sebastian," she said. "We both came to these woods looking for closure and found each other. I'm not saying I believe in it but, if I did, I think this is it."

I ran my thumb along her lips. "I love you, Rose," I said. I felt my body tense, and hers, as the words tumbled out.

Her mouth fell open and she sat up quickly. "What?" she whispered.