Author’s Note: This is a bonus Chapter dedicated to Mbmclawhten for gifting the book its first Magic Castle. Thank you, and happy reading!

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Viola bit the inside of her cheek, avoiding his intense silver eyes. "I still want to go to the other room to sleep."

She knew he was just being nice. Men like Sebastian, powerful, experienced Alphas, didn’t keep women like her around after they’d gotten what they wanted. Their marriage had been built on terms and conditions, her heart might have swayed at some point but he still had other mates, and everything that had happened between them might not have been half as emotional for him as it was for her.

She had felt him holding back, moving away so quickly afterward, like he was already done with her. The warmth and connection she had felt moments ago now felt fragile, like it could vanish at any second. Better to leave first than wait for him to pull away.

She moved to sit up, but Sebastian’s large hands caught her shoulders and gently pulled her back down against his chest.

"Don’t go," he murmured, his voice deep and steady. "When something is bothering you, it’s best to talk about it rather than run away and let misunderstandings build between us. Your eyes are shining, love. Lie down here with me. Talk to me. Give me a chance to put it right."

She bit her lip and looked away in embarrassment. "I don’t like it."

Sebastian arched a brow, still holding her close. "I thought we did rather well, considering it was our first time together. So what don’t you like?"

"No, not that..." she began to explain but then stopped herself. "I don’t think we should talk about this," she whispered, her voice uncertain. "Other people don’t talk about these things after sex. We’re done already and nothing can change it, can it?"

She jerked, trying to pull away, but his strong arm wrapped around her, firm yet gentle, allowing no escape.

"We are not other people, amor," Sebastian said, narrowing his eyes with quiet understanding. He could feel her walls going up, that familiar instinct of hers to bottle everything inside and flee.

"Then what are we, Sebastian? Friends?"

His expression softened completely at that question. He rolled them carefully onto their sides so they faced each other and pulled her flush against his warm, powerful body, one arm locked around her waist.

"Don’t say that," he whispered. "This should never leave two people as nothing, not even as just friends. It should leave them as more. You are more than a friend to me, Viola. I’ve never been with anyone the way I’ve been with you. You make me happier than anyone I’ve ever met, combined. You’re special to me... more than special."

He leaned in and kissed the corner of her lips tenderly, then her forehead. "If I could, I’d tie you to my side every single day just to keep you close. I’m not done with you, baby. Not even close."

Viola’s heart fluttered at his words, warmth blooming inside her chest even as doubt still whispered in the back of her mind. She had felt so wanted while he was moving inside her, but now the fear crept back in, that this had just been one night for him, that once the heat faded he would lose interest in someone as inexperienced and broken as her.

"But... after this..." she murmured, her voice barely audible, "you might not want me anymore."

Sebastian’s eyes darkened. He cupped her face in both hands, tilting it up so she had no choice but to meet his gaze in the moonlight.

"Viola," he said softly but firmly, "look at me. I want you. Not just tonight. Not just for sex. I want you, the woman who trusted me enough to let me be her first, the one who trembles in my arms and still looks at me with trust. I felt how perfectly you fit around me. I heard every sound you made. You think I could walk away from that? From you?"

He brushed his thumb across her trembling lip. "I held back tonight because I didn’t want to hurt you. But that doesn’t mean I’m satisfied and done. It means I’m only getting started with my mate. I want to learn every inch of you. I want to watch you come apart for me again and again until you never doubt how badly I need you."

A tear slipped down her cheek. Sebastian wiped it away gently and pulled her tighter against him, tucking her head beneath his chin. His chest rumbled with a low, soothing growl.

"I know you’re scared. I can feel you trying to run before I can reject you. But I’m not going anywhere. You’re mine now, Viola. And I’m yours. Stay right here with me tonight. Let me hold you until that fear disappears."

She hesitated, then reached for the sheet that had fallen to the floor. She wiped her eyes with it and pulled it over them both before lying back down. Sebastian rolled onto his side facing her, studying her profile in the moonlight.

He brushed his lips against her temple. "We all have insecurities," he said softly. "Nobody is perfect. We just learn by experience. You can always talk to me when something is weighing on you. It makes things feel less heavy than you think."

His hand lay warm and still between her breasts, his elbow resting lightly along her ribcage as he held her close.

Viola bit her lower lip. His words cracked something open inside her. Looking at his moonlit face, she parted her lips, but the emotions she had tried so hard to keep bottled up came rushing out.

"Sebastian...I am afraid of giving myself and having my heart crushed again. I am afraid that nobody will like me for who I am. I know I can be selfish sometimes and hard to love and I..."

Ashamed, she turned her face into his biceps, trying to hide.

"Shhh, love," he hushed, his voice deep and soothing. A big hand cradled her cheek, his thumb gently brushing away the tear that escaped. "I don’t care, I want you just the way you are, and if you give me the chance I will prove it to you every moment. Will you give me the chance to be your man and treat you right?"

"What about your prophesied mate and—"

"I don’t give a fuck. It’s you I want." He said firmly, already knowing he would make any sacrifice to keep her, even if she turned out not to be the one.

The more he reassured her, the harder the tears fell. Viola wasn’t crying from insecurity anymore, she was crying because he made her feel safe enough to be vulnerable for the first time in years. She clutched his neck suddenly, pulling him closer so he couldn’t see her face.

Sebastian understood. He held her tenderly, cooing soft endearments against her hair as he smoothed it back from her nape and temples. "Shh, don’t cry, baby. I’ll make things right for you, I will fix every crack that fucker left broken in you." He kissed the top of her head.

She had not expected this much from Sebastian when she came to him tonight. She hadn’t expected him to give her all these lovely words or make her feel so certain about her feelings. Her heart had gone through heartbreak and betrayal, to the point that trusting another person with it felt terrifying, but he made it sound and feel so easy. She didn’t want to run from him anymore. She didn’t want to be a coward in this relationship.

She pressed her lips against his neck, feeling and tasting the salt of his sweat, and even that sent a wild thrill through her body that made her tighten her arms around him.

After Viola quieted in his arms, she asked, "Can we do what we just did again?" She traced idle lines against his chest. "I want to learn more and know everything..."

His hand paused on her back. He kissed her forehead, lingering there. "Not tonight, amor. You’re still raw, and I want you to rest. I need you soft and relaxed for next time, not pushing through any discomfort. I won’t rush this with you."

She nodded against his chest, swallowing her disappointment even as a small voice whispered that maybe he simply didn’t want her again so soon. She pushed the fear back down and closed the door on it, refusing to give it any chance to plant more doubts in her mind when he had sweetly reassured her in ways nobody in her life ever had before.

Staring at the ceiling, she quietly recategorized everything she thought she knew about him.

He was no longer the untouchable, heartless Alpha she had once painted in her mind. He was tender. Considerate. And somehow, that made her heart ache with a dangerous kind of longing.

But how could she face him in the morning? How could she wake up here and look into his eyes after tonight? Wouldn’t it be awkward after she had cried about her insecurities?

She lay falsely still, waiting for sleep to take him so she could slip away into the other room.

But a large, heavy hand sought and found her hair, smoothed it, then drew her to her side and pulled her up against his chest. He rested his chin upon the top of her head and her eyelashes fluttered shut as she sighed and stayed, unwilling to deny herself the comfort of being cradled that way in his warm arms.

After some minutes his hand moved lazily against her hair. His chest was so warm beneath her cheek that it soothed her. And like a bird in its nesting place, she felt secure. His hand grew weighted on her skull, then fell still. His other hand, which lay flung across her hip, twitched once spasmodically. His breathing became heavy and buffeted the top of her hair.

A fatigue unlike any she had known before came to lower her lids and sap her limbs. She knew she was falling asleep in the arms of her husband.

She knew she must awaken tomorrow to the awkwardness. But it all ceased to matter. Only his warmth matters.

And they slept in each other’s arms, while somewhere else in Silver, an awakening storm was waiting for Sebastian to face on the 30th, two days from now, one he was trying to avoid, but avoiding it carried consequences even greater than facing it.