They both lay there, breathing hard and trying to catch their breath as the morning brightened outside. Then, surprisingly, beneath her ear, a slow, quiet, wonderful chuckle began. It rumbled there like sweet thunder until, puzzled, she raised her head to study his face.

But his eyes remained closed while his chest rose and fell beneath her own with silent laughter.

"I could get used to this for the rest of my life, Amor."

And suddenly she understood why he laughed, it was a laugh of clear satisfaction. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

A smile blossomed on her lips, and a slow glow began deep down in her belly, reaching the place where they were still joined. He slung his arms around her, hugged her tightly, and smiled against her hair as he rolled them both from side to side several times.

"Ahh, you’re going to be all I crave for the rest of my life," came his words, softened in a lover’s praise. "Do you want to do it again?"

Nothing he might have said could have pleased Viola more at that moment. She smiled against his chest and began to take the lead of doing it again.

They did it again and again until the morning sky grew bright and the sun rose high.

"You are mine, Amor, no one can take you from me. No one. We will live the rest of our lives together." He whispered in her ear despite being spent from their many rounds, and Viola’s body hummed to life again for some reason that made her wonder if it was normal that the more she experienced, the more she craved.

Still joined together, he rolled them both so she lay on her side facing him. Her head rested on his arm while he hooked one strong leg between her thighs. She squeezed her legs around his, trapping it snugly as their bodies stayed intimately locked. Their shared heat mingled with the awakening mate bond, a low, humming spark blooming inside her, while his surged into a fierce, roaring flame that heightened every ounce of his possessiveness and tender protectiveness.

They lay there in silence for a long moment while the sun kept rising outside and the chaos in Silver about his fake death was growing higher and higher. If it were up to Sebastian, he would have paused time in this moment and made love to her over and over again, but he knew that was impossible, he would have to leave her this evening.

His arms tightened around her, and as if sensing his unease, Viola raised her chin and looked up at him with a frown between her brows. "What is it?" She asked.

Sebastian dipped his chin and asked, "What?" as he reached out and used his fingers to caress the side of her lip, and she turned her face to press a kiss on his palm as she said, "I feel like something is disturbing you. What is it?"

Sebastian was once again taken aback at her words, which showed the heightened senses of mates. Last night she had said he smelled different because of his heat and now she sensed that something was bothering him. Was that not a good sign? She had other senses that indicated a she-wolf.

"I am just thinking, that’s all."

"A penny for your thoughts." Viola said, placing her hand against his hard tattooed chest. "What are you thinking?"

Sebastian grinned. "About you." He teased, trailing his hand from her back to let it settle on her ass, where he gripped it and she gasped and slapped his chest.

"Don’t change the topic, Seb. Tell me or I will bite your nipple," she threatened, bringing her lips closer to his nipple. Sebastian chuckled from the ticklish sensation of her warm breath and purposely stayed quiet so she would bite him, and when she indeed bit him, he groaned at the mingling of pain and pleasure and gripped her chin, leaning down to swiftly cover her mouth in a kiss he meant to be quick but that quickly grew hot.

Sebastian ended up going another round with her and this time she was finally spent enough to look drowsy and sleepy, but before she closed her eyes she asked him, "Tell me what is bothering you."

"I will miss you, that is what is bothering me." He confessed thickly, watching as her eyes turned to his.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"Somewhere I can’t tell you, but I want you to know that I will be back." He said, when she looked at him with a frown, the drowsiness wiping off her face.

"Are you going back to the main pack building? I can come with you."

"No. And I don’t want you going to the main pack building until the culprit who assassinated me is found. Zoe will come here today, the two of you are to stay here until I return."

Viola felt her heart twist as she didn’t want to be separated from him, not when she had just discovered they could actually live the married life like normal. She wanted to keep him here with her, but she was aware he had so many other responsibilities and secrets he wasn’t sharing with her yet, and there was nothing she could do about it, just like there was nothing she could do about loving him.

"How long will you be gone?" She asked instead.

Sebastian’s expression didn’t change as he replied, "It depends. I travel certain months and how long I stay depends on things I cannot predict, so I can’t give a certain date, but I won’t be long. If there is something you need, Matt will be there and you can always ask him."

Viola could only hum in reply as she felt a lump rise in her throat because she didn’t want him to leave. What if assassins came after him again? She wanted to voice that out but then realized he knew what he was doing, and insisting he stay might come across as being far too clingy, so she held her tongue and enjoyed the little time she still had with him before he would go, while he talked to her about the progress of his plans to catch the culprit who had planned that assassination in Nightshade.