Page 61 of Drawn Together

“I’m not tired. My mind is too filled with fantasies to sleep… You and me naked in the gym…”

Sebastian released me and took a step back, pointing to the house. “Go. Now,” he said, his jaw clenched tightly, his tone intimidating.

I knew that referring to what had happened that afternoonwas a low blow. Those moments between the two of us were sacred, veiled in a silence we both upheld. Afterward, we both acted like those glances, those caresses, had never happened, and he avoided any mention of the kiss we’d shared a few weeks ago, denying the attraction that existed between us. And even though he had done everything possible to seem indifferent to me ever since we’d arrived at my father’s house, I hadn’t forgotten the way he’d run his hands through my hair on the plane until I fell asleep. If he was acting so cold now, it was because of my father, not me.

“Are you afraid my father’s going to find out?” I said, now enraged with him for denying what he felt for me, because he had to feel something, I knew it. I could tell.

“Fuck, Marfil,” he practically shouted, making me jump. “How many times do I have to tell you? This might be a game to you, but it’s my job, dammit!”

I had never seen him so irate. I understood his concern—if my father found out what had happened between us, as innocent as it might have been, he’d have Sebastian drawn and quartered—but it bothered me that I didn’t even figure in Sebastian’s list of priorities unless he was getting paid. It hurt me more than I wanted to admit.

A flash of lightning momentarily lit up the stables, followed by a loud clap of thunder that made the horses whinny with fright.

“This might be your job, but it’s my life. I’ve done everything you asked me to. Ever since the concert, I haven’t caused you any more trouble. But I’ve gone out riding at night hundreds of times; nothing is going to happen to me.”

Sebastian stared blankly at me. “No, you came out here at night, right before a storm, because it’s the only way you have of getting my attention. You want to go on a fucking horseback ride at one o’clock in the morning? Go ahead.”

I adjusted Philippe’s saddle as he turned around without another word.

“What are you doing?” I asked, glaring at him as he brought out my father’s horse and started to saddle him.

“I’m going with you. It’s that or I drag you back to the house by your hair.”

I threw him a poisoned glance, hopped onto my horse, and galloped out of the stable before he could stop me.

The cool wind in my face felt glorious. I had never intended to let Sebastian come with me. I just needed to do exactly what I was doing in that moment: ride, alone, at night, and if I was lucky, through the rain.

Sebastian soon caught up, the asshole, so I had to kick Philippe to make him run even harder. Sebastian had chosen my father’s purebred, Marengo—the fastest and most decorated of all the horses my father raised—and he didn’t take long to catch up.

I heard him galloping beside me in the darkness, and even though I didn’t want to look at him, my eyes darted over, curious to see how he handled my father’s horse.

Fuck, it was like he’d been riding his entire life…

Just then, the storm that had been brewing finally unleashed its fury. We were instantly soaked. Lightning split the sky overhead, and it soon became impossible to continue at such speed, so I pulled back on Philippe’s reins to slow him down.

I had gone riding in the rain many times, but never in a storm like that one. The ground under my feet was flooded. I hated that Sebastian had been right yet again. The problem was that I didn’t like being given orders. I had always bristled at authority, whether that be at home or away at boarding school. The nuns had hated me so much that one of the sisters once referred to me as the spawn of Satan. I had always been one to break the rules, that was just part of who I was, even standing up to my father, as far as his strict limits would allow.

I’d lived on my own for two years now, free from any rules, far away from the people who had been trying to tame me ever since I was a little girl—just like the horse I now had beneath me—but no matter what they did, my mother’s indomitable spirit always shone through. I did not submit to orders; that’s just the way I was.

“Are you happy?” Sebastian shouted, soaked to the bone and extremely mad.

I only glanced at him, water streaming down my face, then I looked up at the sky. I could almost make out the individual raindrops falling fast onto my cheeks. Up there, my mother was smiling down on me, I was sure of it.

I kicked at Philippe’s sides.

“Fuck, Marfil, we have to go back.”

I ignored his protests and followed a path that I knew well enough not to get lost, even in those conditions. It would be better to wait until the storm had calmed before attempting to go home, so I headed toward the abandoned barn where Gabriella and I had played countless times, pretending we were on important, secret missions full of adventure, with dragons, elves, fairies, and all kinds of mythical, magical creatures.

I saw the barn in the distance and continued galloping until I was finally under its dry roof, sheltered from the storm. Sebastian arrived a minute later. Philippe seemed content to have been taken out in the rain. Marengo, on the other hand, whinnied and shook the water from his hide.

“Have you completely lost your mind?” shouted Sebastian.

I shot him a murderous glance before jumping lightly out of the saddle. There was dry hay in the stable, and the horses moved over to eat, oblivious to the epic battle of wills that was about to play out in front of them.

“I think it’s still in place,” I said sarcastically.

Sebastian seemed to want to kill me. “Goddammit, you’re so oblivious!”