Page 46 of In the Net (Sin Bin Stories #5)

HARPER

I t’s well past midnight by the time I’m back at my parents’ place, sliding under the covers in my bed.

Even though it’s late, and I’ve had such a loaded day that I should be tired, my mind is racing so much that I know sleep is going to be elusive tonight.

The way Sebastian waited for that long song to ask me to dance, the way he held me close like I was something precious to him … it almost made me dare to imagine that Sebastian’s feeling the same way I am about this relationship. That he doesn’t want it to end.

Speaking of Sebastian, my eyes are fastened to the wall that he’s on the other side of. My parents aren’t exactly prudish, but I knew they wouldn’t be down with me and my “boyfriend” sleeping in the same room under their roof. Sebastian’s in the guest room next to mine.

I wonder what he’s thinking in his bed on the other side of that wall. I wonder what he’s feeling.

Is it relief that this game we’ve been playing is finally over? Sadness sinks into me at the thought.

Is it excitement that, once he gets back to Cedar Shade, he can finally see other girls again? A bitter, dark feeling churns in my stomach. I push the idea out of my head.

I close my eyes, hoping that my thoughts will start to settle enough to get to sleep before too long. Instead, a rasping at my window sends a jolt of surprise through me that has me sitting straight up in my bed.

Maddie’s recently gotten me into listening to creepy stories on YouTube at night while I’m relaxing, and a sudden tapping on my window in the dead of night brings way too many unsettling scenarios to mind.

I sit still, holding my breath. Nothing. Maybe it was just … I don’t know, an acorn or something falling off a nearby tree? A bird perched on the windowsill tapping its beak against the glass?

Just when I’ve coaxed my heart rate back to normal, the same tapping sounds from behind my closed curtains, this time stronger.

I swing my legs over the side of my bed and stand up, feeling jittery. On my feet, I hesitate for a moment.

It’s almost with a sense of shame that I realize my first instinct is to go next door and ask Sebastian to come in to stand by my side as we check the window together.

But that’s ridiculous. I don’t need the help of some man just to pull back my curtain and satisfy my overstimulated mind that a light sound against my window doesn’t mean I’m about to be the victim of a serial killer.

With a deep breath, I finally get my legs moving. I’m just steeling my courage to peek out between the curtains, when …

“Harper?”

A voice on the other side of my window, the window that’s being rasped against in the middle of the night.

My back goes ramrod straight and I startle, pulling in a sharp, silent gasp while my heart bounces against my ribcage.

But a second later, realization washes away my panic.

I know that voice.

I throw back the curtain to see Sebastian on the other side of the glass, his outline dim but recognizable in the moonlight.

Our rooms are right above an extension my parents built onto the first floor of our house. He snuck out of his own window and crawled over the awning to mine.

I guess there are a lot of things I should be feeling about a hot guy sneaking to my bedroom window late at night—but at this moment, the strongest thing I feel is pissed at Sebastian for scaring me half to death.

I push my window open and step aside to let him in.

“Give me a fucking heart attack, why don’t you?” I grumble.

He shoots me a roguish grin. “That’s some way to greet your boyfriend after he romantically climbs to your bedroom window.”

“You didn’t climb, you scurried,” I point out. “Besides, ever hear of a hallway? You could’ve just checked if the coast was clear and knocked on my door.”

He shrugs. “Less fun.”

I give him a flat look for a beat before I finally laugh, excitement at having Sebastian in the bedroom I grew up in replacing worry.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Visiting my girlfriend.” His hands fall to my hips, his fingers scorching the sliver of skin exposed between my sleep shirt and my shorts.

Heat tips into my bloodstream, a delicious ache winding tight low in my center. Sebastian’s eyes are glossy with want. Need gathers between my legs when he takes a step closer, and I can feel the heat of his muscular body rolling off him in waves.

The way he’s looking at me doesn’t make it seem like he’s looking forward to cutting ties when we get back to Brumehill.

But maybe what he really wants is to keep hooking up, but without being exclusive anymore. Without pretending we’re anything more than friends with benefits.

The thought is almost enough to douse the embers of desire crackling inside me. But when Sebastian tugs me close to him and I feel the contours of his physique underneath his shirt, I quickly shove this issue into the worry about later pile.

“You’re not allowed in here, you know,” I tease coyly, nestling against him.

Liquid heat throbs between my legs when he dips down to nip at the side of my neck.

“Mhm.” The vibration of his hum stimulates my sharp, peaked nipples pressing against him. “That’s why it’s so fucking hot.”

His lips touch mine, and I strain myself not to moan into the kiss. My nerve endings light up, an erotic thrill surging through me at the thought of doing this with Sebastian and forcing ourselves to be quiet, something we sure as hell haven’t done all the other times we’ve hooked up.

We slide into my bed, taking care to move cautiously so the mattress doesn’t squeak. It means it takes way longer than usual to strip our clothes off, when they normally fly off like a tornado, but it makes the gradual exposure of our bodies even hotter.

Sebastian drapes himself over me, entering me slowly so that I don’t gasp. The way he gradually fills me, inch by inch, has my eyes rolling back. I clench my throat, my lips voicelessly mouthing the curses and exclamations of pleasure that the sensation streaking through my body demands.

He pumps into me slowly. I can feel how hard he’s straining not to go faster, harder, and somehow that makes it so much hotter. His lips brush against my ear, his low, restrained moans and growls rumbling against it.

The thrill and sense of danger sharpens the pleasure pulsing through my core. Already it feels so good, so intense and searing, that I have no idea how I’m going to keep myself quiet when I unravel.

Fire licks between my legs where Sebastian pushes with measured, steady thrusts. White-hot pleasure spills through me in liquid throbs, and my orgasm hits.

All I can do is clamp my teeth down on the hard knot of Sebastian’s shoulder muscle. My legs wrap around his trim waist, my arms clench around his neck, and I press my teeth to his skin, using every ounce of concentration and self-control I can summon to keep myself quiet while my climax unfurls.

My breath is a quivering whisp as I come down. My limbs feel like jelly. Sebastian goes limp, and his body becomes a heavy, comforting weight. Aftershocks of bliss thrum through me. Sebastian buries his face in the crook of my neck, his hot, damp breath ghosting against my skin.

Still being careful not to make noise, Sebastian rolls off me, then tugs my quilt over our naked bodies.

“You can’t stay all night,” I say, my voice clogged with exhaustion. “My mom never knocks in the morning.”

Sebastian hums. “I won’t. Just … for a little while.”

A little while. Is that all the time I have left with Sebastian?

Instead of worry and doubt spiraling through me at that question, I’m too tired to hold onto any train of thought. I just snuggle against Sebastian’s warm body as he loops his heavy, muscled arm around my waist, and before I know it, I’m asleep.