Sebastian (The Billionaire Boyfriend #1) - Christina Benjamin Page 0,25
guarded, are more open and vulnerable than I’ve ever seen them.
“What are you saying?” I ask gently, refusing to allow him to tug me back into his arms even though it takes all of my might.
I can see the weight of what he’s trying to say on his shoulders and I want to gaze into his eyes for every second of it.
He swallows, chin lifting as though he was inhaling courage. “You terrify me, Holly. The things you stir up inside of me are things that I've never felt with anyone else. I've never been the type of man to want a connection deeper than anything physical, but with you . . . with you, I just want to know everything there is about you. I want to listen to you talk about your mother. I want to watch you chat with customers who adore you. I want to watch you bake and create something delicious and beautiful with your own two hands. I want to annoy the hell out of you and kiss you while I'm doing it.”
“Bash . . .”
“You’re amazing, inside and out. You make me feel amazing. I know I’m probably not saying this right. I'm not used to feeling like this. I'm used to business negotiations and dealing with cutthroat competitors, so I don’t know how to tell you just how I feel, but I'm doing my damn best here, Holly.”
My heart throbs in my chest like it’s trying to leap up out of my throat. I try to speak but I can’t yet summon the words.
Bash continues speaking, filling the void. “The reason I'm saying all this now is because you told me once that a gift doesn’t have to be something physical that you can hold in your hand, that something immaterial can be just as precious and memorable. I'm hoping these words will be just that. I am falling for you, Holly. Falling so hard that I'm spinning head over heels and I don’t think it’s ever going to stop. I don’t want it to stop.”
He pauses, sucking in a breath through his flaring nostrils and then gives a decisive nod. He’s finished speaking, his patient eyes narrowing squarely on me.
My mind races, thoughts spiraling out of control. For the first time in my life, I think I'm at a loss for words. So I don’t talk. I leap. I jump into Bash’s arms, abandoning the hunt for the right words to say. I throw my arms around his neck, kissing him with all the passion I can’t put into words. He holds me tight. So tight that I can’t breathe, although I've never felt more free and happy in all my life.
“Me too, Bash,” I finally manage to say, pressing my forehead to his and gazing into his eyes. “When I first met you, I thought you were just some shrewd businessman but now I see who you really are. The way your sister looks at you, the way that woman you helped did too . . . you’re a wonderful person. With you, I feel like I can just be myself. I don’t have to pretend to be happy, I don’t have to fake a smile . . . it just happens. I feel as light as a soufflé when I'm next to you.”
Bash is grinning so brightly he steals my breath.
“I want to see where this goes, Holly. I think it might be somewhere incredible,” he says softly, as our bodies begin to sway to the music again.
“As long as you’re with me, I know for a fact that it’ll be somewhere incredible,” I whisper back, capturing his lips one more time.
The moon shines, peering out as the clouds slowly part and begin to drift away, the storm having changed its mind. The stars glimmer again overhead, casting a warm glow over both our swaying figures.
Neither of us notice the breeze or the silver moonlight. All that we see, feel, and savor is each other, and the hope of what the future might bring in each other’s arms.
Epilogue
Holly
“You’re getting so good at baking, Bash . . .” I tease, playfully spraying whipped cream on his bare chest and leaning over to lick it off.
I glance up at him through my eyelashes, watching him bite his lip. He laughs, grabbing me and easily lifting me onto the countertop beside our freshly baked pumpkin pie.
Ever since Clara and Graham’s wedding almost a year ago, we make an effort to have a weekly baking date night in Bash’s penthouse, where I help him learn a new recipe and he teaches me to dance while our creations are in the oven.
We made plenty of time for one another despite how busy we both are with work—Bash’s office still booming and my bakery still bustling despite the fact that I still haven’t franchised. I did finally relent and hire more staff, including a delivery man, but I still made time to visit each of my clients on a regular basis.
“Has it really been almost a year?” Bash murmurs as if reading my mind, leaning in for a tender kiss.
I savor the sweetness of his lips for a long moment, my fingers trailing up his strong jaw. His hands run down my back, scooting me closer to the edge of the counter. Our clothes have slowly been stripped as we baked and danced, and now I’m left in little more than my matching pink bra and panty set and he in his navy-blue boxers.
“It still feels like days, doesn’t it?” I laugh, lifting the whipped cream can up over my lips to devour a mouthful. “Sometimes I expect to wake up and find this whole thing has been a wonderful dream.”
“It does feel like that sometimes, doesn’t it? But I know it’s not a dream. It’s all too good, all too real . . .” He trails off, kissing a smear of whipped cream from my lower lip.
His fingers brush up into my hair where they knot at the base of my skull. I shiver, abandoning the whipped cream to slide my arms around his neck.
“I love you,” I whisper, the words thick with meaning.
I never get tired of saying it, just like I never got tired of hearing it.
“Holly, you’re the woman of my dreams, I love you more than anything.”
My sweet and stoic billionaire has certainly come a long way when it comes to expressing himself. He makes me feel more special than I've ever felt in my life. When he looks at me, it’s as if I'm standing under the most warm and welcoming spotlight in the world.
It’s still hard to believe that Bash is all mine.
His warm lips brush my cheek, searching for another kiss which I am all too willing to give. He leans into me. “I still can’t get enough of you,” he breathes into my ear.
My chin tilts back, gulping down air. My head spins, dizzy with desire for him. There’s a sense of utter wholeness and joyful completion that comes when he and I are wrapped in each other, with nothing between us.
Forgetting our baking, desire takes over. I catch sight of us, twined in a passionate embrace on the reflective metal of his fridge. I cling to him like one clings to a life raft in the open sea, the only thing keeping me grounded. I hope our life is always like this—so full of unyielding craving for each other.
Bash holds me against him, love and honesty pouring from his steel gray eyes. “I love you, Holly,” he whispers one more time, savoring my name on his tongue.
“Another perfect date night . . .” I tease, hazily remembering our abandoned pie.
His fingers weave through my hair, my name a pleasant sigh on his lips.
Fortunately for us, the pie can wait. We’ll have an eternity together to get around to it, reminding me that the sweetest things in life are always worth waiting for.