Sebastian
I can’t concentrate again, and it really sucks. I speak on the phone with a few people, but everything they say goes in one ear and out the other. I stare at emails. I open files and close them. I get absolutely nothing done. By 4:00, I am done pretending to work and decide to head upstairs.
I want to see Aria. I want to watch her clean. I want to smell that fragrant scent of vanilla and hear her sing another song in that beautiful voice I heard the other day when I snuck up on her. I want to hear her say my name. I want to hold her in my arms. I might not be able to do that last part, but the rest might be enough to at least get her off of my mind for a little while.
I know that’s not the case, that I simply can’t get her off of my mind, but if I don’t see he
AriaI get a letter from my parents that afternoon. It is the only thing that keeps me from freaking out. I am upset about the situation with Sebastian. When I tell Mim about it, she says not to worry, that of course he has a booty call girl, that all of the guys his age have that, but she’s not his fated mate, so it doesn’t matter.I say, “Neither am I,” and Mim pulls me to her shoulder to cry for a few minutes. I get myself back together, and we finish cleaning, and then, after dinner, we return to our room, and I see the letter on my bed.I squeal as I rip it open. It’s only the fourth letter I’ve gotten from my parents, and it’s been a few weeks since I got one, so I am so excited to get it.Mim smiles
SebastianI run until my lungs are burning, and then I hop the fence and run some more. I left Dez far behind, not because I don’t want his company, although maybe I don’t at the moment, but because he can’t keep up with me when I’m running like this. No one can. I’m not running toward anything or even away from anything--except for myself.By the time the sun is about ready to come up, I know I need to return to the house. I will have a long day today having gotten no rest, but I do have work to do, so there’s no sense in trying to get out of it. Instead, I return to my room and take a shower, lying down on my bed afterward for about an hour before I’ll have to get up and get dressed.I have a towel around my waist, and it reminds me of when Aria walk
AriaI don’t know what to do. I don’t know what just happened. I was almost done cleaning Sebastian’s room when he came in. It doesn’t take nearly as long as it did when I’d first started cleaning it, and now, I can do the whole thing in less than three hours. But since he was sitting there, I decided to re-clean some of the places I’d already cleaned.The next thing I know, he’s coming out the bathroom door, and we collide. His arms are around me, he’s holding me close, and then… we kiss. More than once, actually. I don't know what to do. I don’t know what to think….I can’t tell Mim about this. In my gut, I get the feeling that I shouldn’t tell her. I’m not sure why. It seems silly. She’s my best friend, after
AriaAt least I don’t walk in on a makeout fest this time when I go to join Mim downstairs where she’s cleaning an office. Dez is there, and the two of them are chatting, flirting, but their faces aren’t attached to one another, which is good because I’m not sure I can handle that at the moment, not after kissing Sebastian earlier.I start cleaning after a quick greeting, and Mim is sort of dusting as she flirts with Dez. He keeps saying he can’t stay long, that he knows something is going on based on the amount of people that Victor has in his office, and he’ll have to go check in with Sebastian soon. I don’t say anything, just clean, and try not to think about what had happened earlier.“Are you all right, Aria?” Mim asks me after about t
SebastianRunning doesn’t do anything to make me feel better about the situation with Aria, but I do it anyway, not only because my father has asked us to make sure that our borders are secure, but because I am trying to keep my mind off of the beautiful woman I am bound to run into again tomorrow, perhaps literally and purposely, and I am struggling to keep my thoughts from flooding with everything there is to think about her.I feel the leaves, the dirt, the rocks beneath my paws. It has snowed recently, and the ground is moist, though the snow is mostly melted except for in the shaded areas of forest beneath the larger trees. I smell the deep scent of the woods. It coats my lungs and reminds me that I am a wild animal, at least in my wolf form. It makes me feel feral and free. It makes me forget about all things human, at least f
AriaI take a deep breath and knock on Sebastian’s door, half praying he doesn’t answer. It’s a little after 8:30, so I’m earlier than usual, and I know he might be in the shower. Or still sleeping. Or entertaining a girl. I don't think that will be the case since I heard him out on the prowl only a few hours ago, as the sun was coming up, but I have to brace myself in case he opens the door and a girl is in his bed. Or a girl opens his door, for that matter.When the door opens, it’s Sebastian, standing there with hooded eyes, wearing only a pair of jogging pants, slung low around his waist. I take a deep breath and try not to stare when it’s so hard because he looks so damn good.“Aria,” he says before I get enough air in my lungs to speak.
SebastianI am moving so quickly down the hallway toward the room where the maids keep their cleaning supplies, if I happen to run into anyone, I’m sure I will knock them clean through the wall. Seeing Aria cry and knowing it was at the hand of some worthless maids has my own heart aching. I can’t get to the closet soon enough.I hear them before I see them and know exactly who it is. Two of my mother’s maids, Helena and Gertrude, two old ladies who have far too much time on their hands cleaning a room that it would only take one person a few hours to clean. They’ve been here forever, since they were young enough to have to wear a uniform like the one Aria is forced to wear now, the one they are calling her names because of.I slow down before I reach them because I wan
SebastianAll day, Aria is all that I can think about. I try to concentrate on my work, but I can feel here beneath my fingertips. I can taste her on my lips. I can smell her every time I inhale. I need to get the work day over with and get back upstairs. I’m praying that she will still be in my room when I arrive.It’s been hard to concentrate but I’m doing it. My father has me looking into the rogue situation even more closely, talking to our contacts in the city on the phone and reaching out to other wolves in the area who aren’t part of our immediate pack. Everyone needs to be aware of the situation. I know he’s dispatched Grip to handle business in the city. I hope he is able to get any immediate threat under control.Talking on the phone to so many people do