He rested over her on his hands for a long moment and Cassandra bit her lip. She couldn’t take her eyes away from his… she knew there was a silent battle of wills going on.           Finally, just when she thought Sébastien was going to make her beg, he slipped a hand under her buttocks, tilting her up towards him, and then with one deep, earth-shattering thrust, he entered her and she felt as if he’d touched her soul.           She wrapped her legs around him as far as she could, drawing him in deeper and deeper, going with him when he pulled out and drawing him in tight again when he thrust back. Cassandra reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, her mouth blindly finding and pressing kisses to any bit of exposed flesh, and he took them higher and higher.         &nbs

          With the corner of her eye, Cassandra got a glimpse of Sébastien. He was looking in front of him, but she could sense a change in his demeanor. Maybe her words were breaching the pain she inflicted with her running away. Cassandra continued. “So much money had been spent, so much emotion invested. My parents were old. I knew they wanted to see me settled before it was too late. And I just… I couldn’t stop it. I knew I was making a mistake. I’d isolated myself spectacularly in a bubble of make-believe. And yet still I hoped for the best, put my trust in what I’d witnessed growing up, thought everything would work out for the best.”           Cassandra felt Sébastien turn towards her, but couldn’t look at him. Her eyes stung with tears but her voice didn’t waver. “I was just a baby, Sébastien… I was only twenty-two. I hardly knew myself, never mind Brian. I subju