Sebastian's Mate (Book 1)

Act Six: Intimate Beginnings

Ciel left the room while Sebastian lifted Louisa from the chair and placed her back on the bed. Despite what had passed between them earlier, she once more felt safe in his embrace. Sebastian hesitated as he arranged the bed covers over her.

"Forgive me for asking while my young Lord is not present, but there is something I must know?"

"What is it? I feel as if I could hide nothing from you, even if I wanted to," Louisa replied with a faint smile.

"Your father's true form, did you ever see it?"

"Not that I recall, I don't think I even knew that my father was a demon until they came for us. We were just a family, like any other. Why?"

"Because few even in the demon realm would call on my true name, let alone impart it to another."

Louisa looked at Sebastian, not knowing what to say. The closeness she felt to him, was it just his demon nature reaching out to hers, had she read too much into the care he had shown her.

As if reading her mind, Sebastian answered, "you have suspected my nature since before you even came back to consciousness. I am bound by contract to my young master and am his to command until the end. Yet, you cloud my mind and fill my thoughts; no one, human, demon, or other being has ever affected me as you do."

With that, he placed his hand gently under her chin and lifted her face to his. He kissed her gently and then moved away with effortless grace.

"You must rest, dinner will be, trying, to say the least. I will return later to help you dress."

***

The light was fading from the evening sky when Sebastian returned. Louisa awoke as the door opened and smiled as he stood there with a deep purple dress draped over his arm. He laid the dress on the bed and moved to help her stand.

"I have chosen a dress that doesn't require a corset to be worn, and that includes as little corseting in its design as is acceptable for such social occasions; we don't want to squeeze you so much that your wounds reopen now do we."

Louisa smiled, eyeing the dress with a sense of dread. I have never worn anything like that; it looks torturous. Sebastian laughed, "it will be fine; I will be gentle, my lady."

Sebastian looked steadily into her eyes as he set to work undoing the ribbons on the nightgown. He slipped it off her shoulders and it fell effortlessly to the floor. As she stood naked before him, she asked, "you once said all you saw was broken flesh, what do you see now?"

He laid his hands gently on her shoulders and took in the full sight before him. Returning his gaze to hers, he said, "imperfect beauty and innocence."

"Innocence, what makes you say that?"

"For all the harsh realities that you suffered at the hands of the Order, you remain untouched."

At that, her hands moved to cover herself.

"No don't, there is no shame in that, innocence is at the beginning of every journey."

Drawing her towards him he kissed her, she responded, not wanting the moment to end. He pulled away gently, reaching for the underclothes that he had brought in with the dress.

"And, that thought, it excites you?"

"Taking your innocence and giving pleasure in return, how could it not; but you are not yet ready."

She looked at him quizzically as he began to dress her. "Why?" she responded.

His hands lingered lightly on her hips, "you are still recovering from your injuries, and I fear that in my passions I may lack the self-control required to ensure that I do you no further harm."

He kissed her on the forehead and finished adjusting the dress. "Now let us see what we can do with your hair. I will just have to brush out the worst of the blood for now. And, we will leave it down to cover your mark, we do not need questions from Miss Elizabeth."

When Sebastian had finished, Louisa barely recognised herself. She hadn't worn a dress since she was a small child. While her hair had her mother's dark colouring, it, like her, had her father's wild nature that did not want to be tamed, only Sebastian had managed it.

Sebastian slipped delicate shoes onto her feet. "how the hell am I supposed to walk in these?" She said completely exacerbated.

Trying desperately hard to stifle the grin that was spreading across his face, Sebastian replied: "I am afraid that they are all the fashion for young ladies of status at the moment, and as we are claiming that you are a distant relative of the young master's, you must look the part."

"That is all fine until I try to walk, trip over the dress, and land in a heap at Miss Elizabeth's feet."

"Then it is lucky for you that walking is the one thing you are not expected to achieve this evening. Polite conversation and no talk of demons is the limit of your ladylike qualities that the young master requires." Replied Sebastian with a devilish grin.

With that, he scooped her up into his arms, held her close to him, and proceeded to carry her down to the dining room.