06
Ravage.
In which Sebastian recounts the events from the night before.
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MY WHOLE BODY ACHED AND AS soon as I tried to get up, I fell back with a groan of pain. My lips felt tender and I thought back to the night before, remembering that Sebastian had kissed me whilst we were dancing.
Opening my eyes, I was surprised to see that I was in Sebastian's bedroom. But I was shocked when I saw him lying next to me. His arm was slung over his eyes and he stirred before turning his back to me.
When all I saw was tan, muscular skin, I gasped and immediately lifted the cover off my body. When I saw I was wearing one of his shirts, I let out a squeak.
"Mira, stop making noise." He groaned under his breath, moving his arm and opening his eyes. Once he saw the expression on my face, he sighed slowly and groggily brought his body into a sitting position. "Do you really want to have this conversation?"
My voice shook and I kept my eyes on his. "Please tell me we didn't have sex."
"You don't want to have sex with me?" he joked. He pretended to be hurt but dropped the act when he acknowledged my desperate facial expression. "We didn't go all the way, but you'll be embarrassed when I tell you what actually happened."
I pulled the covers up over my head and groaned. Why did I feel disappointed?
He eased the covers from my fingertips, a charming grin on his face. "We were making out, which was fucking amazing, by the way," he bit into his bottom lip. "And we left the club. Firstly, Mira, you're a lightweight."
Covering my face with my hands, I peeked at him through the space between my fingers, wincing as he carried on.
"I noticed something was wrong with you, so I tried to stop, but I'm guessing you wanted to get laid last night because you ravaged me." He laughed and watching my reaction. "You ripped my favourite shirt, and you gave me this." He pointed to a blossoming hickey on his neck, and I felt like I wanted to cry. "You vomited all over your clothes and some got into your hair somehow so I helped you wash it. We cuddled after I got you into my clothes, but you wouldn't let me leave. That's why I'm here."
My body warmed with embarrassment and flipped onto my stomach before I pushed my face into his pillows, all my emotions hitting me all at once. "Sebastian. I'm so sorry."
His hand smoothed down my back and I could hear him stifling his laughter. "It's okay, pumpkin."
"If you were drunk, how do you remember all of this?"
"I have cameras in the penthouse."
A sound of embarrassment fell from my lips loudly. "You have all of this on camera?" I had entirely embarrassed myself in front of him and I couldn't handle it. It seemed like I could add last night to my collection of embarrassing moments. What would he think of me now if I tried to force myself on him?
I self consciously tugged on the ends of the shirt I was wearing, twisting my body so I could sit up. I didn't look at Sebastian, knowing that a quick break out of his penthouse wouldn't work because my dress had been ruined and I didn't have my overnight bag.
My phone was dead, situated on top of my purse that was on the floor. "What's the time?" I suddenly realised that I had work, and panic surged through me.
"6:30. You have work in an hour and a half, and George can get you there in under that."
Relief surged through me, and I sunk back into the bed. I nuzzled my head into his soft pillows before I felt his arms circle around my waist. "Are you trying to make me fall asleep again?"
"Yes. You need to rest."
I began to feel sleepy as his chest pressed against my back. "What about work?"
"Mira," Sebastian sighed. "I'm the CEO of my own companies, and I'll wake you up. It'll make me feel so much better if you're well-rested."
Within minutes I had fallen asleep again, but the moment Sebastian woke me up, I didn't feel well-rested. If anything, I felt more tired and sluggish. My eyes scanned the room, and everything had been cleaned.
My phone was plugged into a charger, resting next to a plate of food that I smelt even half asleep. Sebastian sat beside me, typing away at his computer.
"I ordered your favourite."
I glanced at him with a lazy smile, my hand reaching towards him to squeeze his arm tenderly. "Thank you."
He turned his wristwatch towards his face and looked thoughtful for a short moment. "You have work in an hour, so George can take you to your place to change. For now, I can see if my sister left any spare clothes here for you to wear."
Closing his laptop, he rose from the bed, shooting me one last smile as I began to eat my breakfast. His kindness was more than appreciated and it had me almost swooning.
What had happened could never happen again as long as we remained just friends. It seemed that the only time Sebastian kissed me or even touched me in a way that wasn't remotely platonic was when he was drunk. If that didn't speak volumes to me then I'd be stupid.
A few minutes later, Sebastian returned with a pair of blue jeans.
"This is all she seemed to have left." Placing them on the bed, he met my gaze. "You can wear one of my shirts from the cupboard."
I slowly chewed on my pancake, inwardly cursing at myself for getting so drunk. "Sebastian, George is your driver. How come you let him drive me all the time? I could take the bus or even an Uber."
"Well, it's free for you, and I don't really mind driving my own cars."
Deciding not to take it any further, I sipped on my apple juice. Once my plate was cleared, Sebastian left the room to let me change, and after discovering that the jeans were a fit, I stood in front of his wardrobe, seeing what I liked best.
Deciding on a Nike shirt, I slipped it on and couldn't help but laugh at how big it was on me. After Sebastian walked back into the room, he laughed with me before approaching me and taking the hem of his shirt in between his fingers.
"My shirt looks really good on you."
There was a moment of silence before he cleared his throat and stepped back. I smiled slightly, feeling something I wasn't quite sure of.
He began to crack his fingers, something I began to realise was what he did when he was nervous. "There's a charity dinner tonight, and—I was—well, I wanted to know if you would come with me."
"As?" I questioned curiously, quite surprised by his anxiousness. It was a different side of him.
"Well, you'll obviously be my date for tonight. Are you game?"
"Sure." I grinned, wetting my bottom lip with my tongue.
He fastened his cuff links and sighed in relief. "I'll be at the office until 6, but I'll call you." My heart started to beat faster when he slowly leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on my cheek. "You're the best. Have a good day."
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
When my shift had ended, and I had made my way home, I was slightly freaking out. My dress had to be beautiful, my makeup had to look great and all in all, I had to look amazing.
Sebastian looked good in anything, but in a suit, he was something else. He always looked like he came out of a Vogue photoshoot.
"Can I hear an 'Ada is the greatest best friend ever'?" Ada whooped as she held a dress from a hanger.
After a couple of minutes when I had put the dress on, I realised that Ada was indeed the greatest best friend ever. It was a black evening dress that had a lace pattern across the chest. It hugged my body and the slit that started from my mid-thigh revealed a freshly-shaved, graceful leg.
"Well, am I glad I go to the gym." Since I found at least 30 minutes to work out a day, which meant that I was in pretty good shape.
"I just love the way you look." Ada had continued with her work on her bed, looking up from her laptop.
I grinned gratefully, stepping into my heels before I leaned down to hug her tight. "Don't have too much fun tonight without me."
Pulling back, Ada rolled her eyes with a smile. "Yeah, because I want to be staring at numbers all night on a Friday."
The doorbell rang, capturing my attention and causing my nerves to skyrocket at the same time. Ada laughed and pushed me towards the door when I stood stationary.
Sashaying towards the door, I shook my hand before I opened it, meeting Sebastian's brown eyes. I felt the warmth flood my cheeks when his lips parted slowly, his eyes trailing down the length of my body.
"Damn." He uttered lowly, bringing his gaze back up. "You look—," he sighed and shook his head. "I don't even know what to say."
I ducked my head, feeling my hair slightly curtain my face before Sebastian offered me his arm. "I look so good that I made you speechless, that's a first." I laughed nervously, feeling his hand curve around the crook of my elbow.
He led me towards the awaiting car, and when his cologne wafted to my nose, I closed my eyes. He even smelt good. Taking the time to actually take in his appearance, I noticed he was in a black Armani suit that seemed to accentuate the contours of his body. Around his neck was a slim black tie that stood out against his white dress shirt.
"You look good," I commented since we were complimenting each other's appearance, and was satisfied when he gave me a charming smile.
"Well, if you're looking like that, of course, I have to look good too."
He opened the car door, releasing my arm to allow me to seat myself in the car. Since I was in a dress, I couldn't just climb in. I had to sit down then slide my legs in.
Sebastian watched me, muttering something I couldn't quite catch when he slid in after me. This time, he wasn't driving, and it seemed better since we could have a proper conversation.
"What's the name of the charity?"
Fastening his seatbelt, Sebastian passed a hand through his dark hair. "It's called Better Tomorrow. It's developing better hospitals in LICs so children and other people get to see a better tomorrow."
My eyebrows were raised and I smiled softly. "That's amazing." From what I knew about Sebastian, I knew that he would donate a copious amount and that only highlighted that he was an amazing person.
After a while, the car came to a stop and Sebastian sighed. "Keep your head down and don't let go of me."
Opening the door, almost blinding flashes of light surrounded him as he coaxed me out of the car. My arm linked with his, and heeding his advice, I kept my head down as questions were thrown into the air whilst his bodyguards led us inside the building.
I was feeling overwhelmed with the attention, but Sebastian seemed indifferent to it. He pulled me closer, leaning down to whisper in my ear.
"Everything will be fine. You just have to stay with me all night."
"That won't be too hard." I laughed, smiling in his direction.
A waiter with drinks approached us, and Sebastian let go of me to grip the champagne glasses in his hand. He handed one to me before we walked further into the large hall. The colour scheme was gold and white, and the people that stood around us simply exuded wealth from their clothes.
The women were absolutely beautiful and looked very graceful.
I didn't know that I could be that relieved when I saw a familiar face. "James!"
On his arm was a blonde bombshell. Her long hair was pin-straight and reached mid-back, and her eyes had to be the greenest I had ever seen. She gave me a sweet smile when James went to hug Sebastian.
"I'm Lena. Nice to meet you."
I shook her hand, feeling slight at ease. "Mira, and likewise."
James turned his attention to me, then brought me into a hug. "It's good to see you again.
Noticing that he still had his cast on, but his crutches were missing, I pulled back from the hug. "How's your leg?"
James released a laugh, patting his thigh before he wrapped an arm around Lena. "Better. I'm getting the cast off in a couple of days."
"Which means he can finally play football with me again," Sebastian responded, shaking his head with a laugh. "What table are you sitting at?"
James turned his head and pointed to a woman that he resembled. "My parents are over there with Daniel Hansen."
I didn't know who that was, and by the slightly confused expression on my face, Sebastian informed me that he was the CEO of an airline company and that James' mother was a successful fashion designer. His father was a commander in the army.
When everyone had arrived, the hall was bustling with very important people, and donations were starting to roll in. The amount of money some people were donating was more than I earned in a year.
Sebastian was seated next to me, and to his request, James and Lena were on our table too. I had learnt that Lena was a model and James' friend. From talking to her, I realised that she was really nice. She reminded me of Ada in a way.
"May I have your attention everybody." A man cleared his throat as he stood in front of a mic. "The highest donation is 9.5 million pounds from the CEO of the charity himself, Sebastian Harrington."
My jaw dropped, and I turned to him astonished as everyone clapped. A blush scattered across his cheeks and he gave an award-winning smile. He stood up when the man continued.
"And he's here to say a few words."
He made his way to the stage in a calm manner, fastening the buttons of his suit jacket before his hands curled around the podium.
"A couple of years ago before my companies were successful, I was a volunteer for an NGO in Africa. During my time there, I saw things I can never forget, the memories are truly heartbreaking. One day, I met a woman and she held her son for two minutes before he died in her arms. That day, I felt her pain. She didn't have enough money for medical care, and the nearest hospital was 3 miles away."
"I've always wanted to make a difference in the world, and my wealth was never just for me. I never forgot about that woman, and when I finally had the money to make a difference, I founded this charity. So parents didn't have to hold their dead children in their arms because they couldn't provide for them. I founded this charity so families weren't torn apart and that they could, or at least have a chance to, see a better tomorrow."
I stared at him throughout his whole speech, a dazed expression plastered across my face. My crush on Sebastian seemed to have strengthened at the realisation that he had such a kind heart. He always seemed to be helping people. First, it was Ayanna, George's daughter, and then it was his charity.
Strong applause filled the hall and Sebastian grinned as he made his way back to the table. People were stopping him to shake his hand and spark up a short conversation to make their admiration known.
"Damn, that's my best friend."
Turning to James, I couldn't help but laugh as he finished his champagne. Once he placed the glass down, he stood up and took Lena's hand. "Let's dance."
The rest of the people on our table followed his suit until I was left by myself. But, less than a moment passed before Sebastian held his hand out to me.
"How about we give the press what they want?"
I looked up at him and tilted my head in question.
He simply led me to the centre of the hall, one hand sliding across the small of my back and the other intertwining with mine. I placed my free hand on his shoulder as he slowly swayed us.
"See how everyone's attention is on us?"
I looked over his shoulder, and there were people watching us albeit the fact that they were dancing too. "Your previous relationships were really private, huh?"
"Yeah," he breathed. "I'm not really a relationship man."
Listening silently, I blinked a couple of times when he spun me on my heels. "I could probably say the same."
If I really thought about it, Sebastian had to be the first man I had a crush on in over two years. My last proper boyfriend had been in my last year of university, which was 3 years ago.
There was the friends-with-benefits thing with Nate, but that had only lasted 6 months before he met Kayla.
"So what's your story?"
"I guess I didn't really want a boyfriend. I was more of a no strings attached kind of girl."
Sebastian hummed in agreement. "I was surprised that you don't have a boyfriend."
"I was surprised you didn't have a girlfriend." I laughed. "If you did, the cuddle pact wouldn't exist, and you'd have £100,000 less."
Sebastian tilted his head back with a laugh. "£100,000 wouldn't even make a dent in my bank account."
As the night progressed, I was starting to feel fatigued and Sebastian was talking with some business associates. Lena and James had left a short while ago so when Sebastian finally said we could go, I sighed with relief.
"I'm sorry, pumpkin. I wanted to clear some terms with them."
Once we got past the cameras and into the car, I slid my heels from my feet and released a long sigh. "I just want to sleep for a very long time."
I unclipped my seatbelt when Sebastian gestured for me to come closer. When I was seated right next to him, he wrapped his arms around me as I rested my head on his shoulder.
"Try to sleep now, and I'll carry you to your bed and cuddle with you until you fall back asleep."
This position was a lot more accommodating, and I could feel myself falling asleep when Sebastian lightly played with my hair. It made me so relaxed, and my heart was beating a tattoo in my chest at what I felt.
I definitely had a crush on him.