Chapter 5

“Why are you here? I texted you and told you to go to sleep. I said I'd come home on my own.”

I look down and fiddle with my fingers.

“I was worried about you,” Sebastian says. “Noah kept waiting for you. He only fell asleep after I carried him back to his room.”

My lips press together.

A dull ache spreads through my chest.

When we get home, I go to Noah's room first.

He is sleeping peacefully in the dark.

The second I get close, his small hand reaches out and catches mine.

“Mom...”

I bend down and kiss his little face.

“Mom's here.”

When I step out of his room, I realize Sebastian is standing by the door.

I don't know how long he's been there.

His dark eyes are fixed on me.

I lower my head and try to walk past him.

Sebastian grabs me and presses me against the wall.

“Baby.”

His thumb rubs meaningfully across my lips.

“Where's mine?”

I don't answer.

Something dark flashes through his eyes.

Then he lowers his head and kisses me hard.

My legs instantly go weak.

I grab his tie to keep myself from falling.

“Don't...”

I let out a soft sound when he finally gives me a chance to breathe.

Sebastian acts like he doesn't hear me.

One large hand settles at my lower back, moving slowly over me.

Then he suddenly lifts me and throws me over his shoulder.

After five years of marriage, I know exactly what he wants.

My face burns.

The next second, he tosses me onto the bed in our bedroom.

My body bounces once against the mattress.

Sebastian's heated gaze stays on me.

He pulls off his clothes in a few quick movements.

Then I freeze.

A thin silver waist chain rests against his sharply defined abs.

I swallow.

I don't notice the faint smile at the corner of his mouth.

Sebastian catches my hand and slowly guides it over his body.

His voice turns coaxing.

“Do you like it?”

I nod.

He moves closer.

So close that I can feel the heat of his body against mine.

Hot.

Hard.

Wanting.

Then Sebastian lowers his head and suddenly frowns.

“...You smell like someone else.”

I barely have time to react before he cups the back of my head and kisses me again.

It must be from the bar.

There were shifters everywhere tonight.

When my attention drifts, Sebastian bites my tongue in warning.

He's strangely impatient tonight.

Nothing like his usual controlled self.

Almost like a jealous teenager.

Like he's desperate to erase something that doesn't belong to him.

In the middle of it, he presses his forehead against mine.

“Baby, scales are good too.”

His voice is low and serious.

“They're cool in the summer. Those fluffy ones are hot, and they shed everywhere.”

As if he needs to prove his point, his snake tail slips beneath my skirt.

It coils around my thigh.

The tip presses between my legs, teasing me over and over.

“Baby.”

Sebastian kisses me again.

“Can we stop seeing him?”

His tail tightens around my thigh.

“As long as you come back to me, I'll do anything.”

“Stop seeing... who?”

Pleasure makes my thoughts blur.

I barely hear what he's saying.

“Ryan.”

Sebastian cups my face and kisses me again and again.

“Stop seeing Ryan Calloway.”

My foggy mind clears instantly.

Earlier that afternoon, Ryan and I talked about a lot of things.

Including divorce.

And the woman Sebastian had loved for years.

The moment I told Ryan about the diary, he slapped his hand against the table.

“Now that you mention it, I think I've heard something.”

He leaned closer.

“I may have been out of the country, but my friends here hear everything.”

Then he lowered his voice.

“I looked into Sebastian a while ago. He's had plenty of rumors about women.”

My first reaction was that Ryan was talking nonsense.

Sebastian became CEO of Vapenti Holdings at a young age.

Of course gossip followed him.

But every time the media tried to turn some random interaction into a scandal, there was never any proof.

His legal team always shut it down.

So I didn't believe Ryan.

Not until he showed me the picture.

The glass slipped straight out of my hand.

Short hair.

White dress.

It was exactly like the girl in Sebastian's diary.

Except this time, I could finally see her face.

And I knew her.

Claire Morgan.

Noah's preschool teacher.

My teeth clenched.

So that was why Sebastian insisted Noah attend that particular school.

He had even donated several buildings to the place.

After all these years...

He still couldn't let her go.