"Shit, Catherine, I'm gonna come. You should stop…"

Stop? No fucking way? She blew him harder and faster, feeling his butt tighten under her hands, his thrusts become faster, shallower. He panted before tightening everywhere. Catherine sucked him right in her throat, immediately swallowing the salty, acidic cum without tasting it. No one needed that on their tongue.

Sebastian let go of her hair, bent forward, and laughed. "Shit, woman. They always say the crazy ones are better in bed."

"Oh, I'm crazy?"

He turned on his back and pulled her close. "Absolutely. Crazy beautiful. Crazy good at head. And, in a minute, crazy good at taking cocks, too."

She snorted. "How presumptuous of you. What makes you think I want to take your cock anywhere else?"

"Oh, I see the lady may need a little more convincing."

He climbed on top of her, arms either side of her face, his dick, already hard, right against her entrance. He rubbed himself against her, instantly awakening every part of her. Then Sebastian kissed her again. This time, it was demanding. No more patience and sweetness. He fucked her mouth with his tongue, and fucked her clit and pussy lips with his cock. He fucked her thighs too. She was dripping, moaning, her thoughts incoherent again.

"Tell me now how you don't want my cock, Catherine."

"Please!"

Fuck. She wasn't even sorry about begging. She needed him.

"Please what, crazy, beautiful Cat?" He stilled. "Do you want me to stop?"

Desperately, she yelled, "No, please! Please don't stop. I need you. I need you inside me now!"

He grinned and kissed the top of her head before entering her in one hard thrust, filling her so deep.

"Now," he said, tilting his hips forward as Cat clutched the sheets, mouth hanging open, "we may discuss what this means."

He punctuated his words with another deep thrust that made her feel him everywhere inside her.

Sebastian knelt again, lifting her hips so that he hit her at just the right spot, and swayed his hips. Cat brought her hands to her breasts, squeezing them.

"God."

"To me, this means I like you. And that I trust you enough to not plant a knife in my back as I come."

She would have replied, but she was too busy seeing stars, robbed of speech and vision, incapable of the slightest clear thought.

"And it means you like me."

His thumb was on her clit, pressing it, pinching it, and in that moment, she didn't like him at all.

"You may, of course, stop liking me, or stop wanting me. And I could potentially cease to like you. Lose my mind and stop desiring your tight, hot, perfect pussy. If either of those things do occur, we may end this arrangement any time. But for now, Catherine Stormhale…" He bent forward, left arm under her back, right at her shoulder blades, and pulled her up onto his hips. His next words were but a whisper on her neck. "I intend to convince you to let me take you again and again."

Status Quo

Catherine's body usually healed at record speed, but when she woke up, she still felt Sebastian. An ache deep inside her. He hadn't been kidding about the again and again bit. She woke up alone on a bed that smelled of him. And she only had three seconds to realize she didn't like it before her door opened to reveal him wearing nothing but boxers and holding a tray of food.

She laughed. "You walked the corridors half naked?"

He rolled his eyes, kicking the door closed. "I dare say everyone here has seen boxers. And I was famished. You're insatiable."

Cat chuckled again. "Yeah, right. It was all me."

"Glad that you're taking responsibility."

He put the tray down on her bed. Two plates of croissants, bacon, eggs, coffee, and blood on the side.

She could get used to this.

"What time is it?"

"Noon. I have class in an hour. Although, I’m not sure who that'll be with."

Ah, yes, Anika had taught one of his classes.

"Do you know what happened to her?" Cat asked. "Anika."

"Levi locked her up in his lab, under the Institute. He had cages made for our kind. He said he would have cut her head off if she weren’t a Beaufort, but it isn't worth open war with her family. There'll be a judgment. Her family will send a defender."

Vampire trials were rare, particularly among the seven. Cat didn't think any had happened in her lifetime.

For someone as well known and prominent as Anika, the trial would be a grand affair. Each house would send a representative, and a well-known impartial judge would be appointed.

"What charges would she be accused of?" Cat wondered. "Sure, she betrayed Oldcrest, but that's not technically illegal."

"Poisoning you," Sebastian replied. "That should be enough to ban her from the country. That's all Levi wants right now."

Smart. Then, if and when she came back, she’d have a price on her head any vampire could claim.

"A trial is risky, though. If it's to be held here."

All those people would come through the border. Who knew where everyone's alliances lay?

"Levi says they'll hold it in London."

That made sense. He wouldn't risk Chloe's safety. Or anyone else’s, for that matter.

They ate in silence. She was thinking about the trial, and the sex, and her family, and the sex again.

"What's your schedule like?" Sebastian asked.

"I don't have class until Business at three, but I figured I'd start my assignment. You know, set up the afternoon tea for this weekend." She rolled her eyes. "I'll design a pamphlet and get it printed in the Adairford shop. Then, I have Mr. Silver, a break, Varra this evening, and sentinel until six. Fridays are light for me."

Sebastian grinned. "Sounds like we might have a break at the same time. How about…"

"We're not going to exhaust ourselves before patrolling," she said.

He grinned. "I was going to suggest dinner, naughty girl. Get your head out of the gutter. The exhaustion comes after patrol."

"I probably can't make dinner," she replied, not bothering to deny the possibility of post-patrol exercise. "I'll be training Chloe."

"Fine. Saturday. Outside of here. We can have lunch in Edinburgh or whatever."

Cat wrinkled her nose. "Why go all the way there?"

"Because Adairford is pathetic and I want to take you on a decent date."

He did?

She froze, and blinked.

Catherine had never actually gone on a date.

"That's probably a terrible idea."

"I know, but we're still doing it. I'll make reservations and text you the time later."

He was taking charge, and she wasn't sure she disliked that, dammit. Cat was completely out of her depth. She blamed the many orgasms for her lack of wit and discernment. They'd short-circuited her brain or something.

"I don't know. There's a potential attack from my family, and the Beauforts, and that queen. It doesn't feel like the right time for a date."

"I was a huntsman. My parents were huntsmen too. There was always a crisis—a rogue, shifter, demon, vampire, or necromancer. A witch sacrificing babies somewhere. And yet every Tuesday night, they went out on a date, pretending the world wasn't on fire around them. Dad used to say it was their sanity day. All the anxiety, the anticipation, the hunt can consume our lives if we let it. So I say lunch, and sex, and chilling occasionally are all brilliant ideas."

Sebastian made a good case.

"I stopped living after being bitten. Stopped fighting. And I was miserable. If I am going to survive hundreds of years, I'd rather make it a fun ride."

"Carpe diem," she whispered.

"Way to summarize an eloquent speech with an overused idiom, Stormhale."

"Well, if the shoe fits." She polished off her plate and stretched out on her bed. "But fine. I'll free up tomorrow afternoon."

"Good girl." He leaned forward, pressing his lips on hers in an unexpected and gentle kiss that made her feel as unsettled as when he’d played her pussy with his tongue.

Damn him. What was he doing to her?

"I have to get changed. Catch you for patrol, pretty girl."

"I'm no girl, Sebastian."

"No? You didn't mind my calling you that yesterday. And for heaven's sake, my name is Bash."

"I like Sebastian," she replied stubbornly. "It suits you."

"Have you been talking to my sister? She's the only other person who persists on using my full name."

Cat laughed. "A woman of great taste. And you call me Catherine, anyway, so we're even. Now go get some clothes on. I have stuff to do."

And if he remained naked here, she wasn't going to do them. She devoured him with her eyes, appreciating every delightful muscle, the way his arms flexed as he walked away.

Come to think of it, her to-do list wasn't that full right now.

"Wait."

He turned back to her, one eyebrow raised. She flipped the bedsheet off her naked frame.

"Well, I do have a couple of hours to kill. No one said I had to start designing now."

Paper and Needles

It so happened that Chloe didn't want to spar tonight. Cat received a raven right after her business lesson.

"Hey! I have a race with Tris and the others tonight. Sparring tomorrow?"

Cat groaned, scribbling on the other side of the note before sending the bird right back.

"Sure, in the evening. I'll be out during the day."

She was annoyed at herself for turning down dinner with Sebastian tonight.

By the time Cat reached Adairford, the bird was back.

"You wanna meet us for drinks at the Snuggy Snot after? We should be done by eight."

Cat sent a quick yes, and after debating the issue, asked the bird, "Can your master send another message for me?"

The raven chirped something that sounded like an agreement.