Shadow of the Heir

Sweating Out Confessions; The Undone and the Divine

Content warning: Husband Sebastian, straight-up porn, and fluff.

Ella was not good at goodbyes. By the time Emrys, Ominis, and Sebastian had taken to returning the girls in the Sallow home to Hogwarts, Ella had slipped out to Anne's garden. She didn't feel the sting of missed opportunity the same way she did when she left Hogwarts for the manor at the end of every year. No regret prying at the corners of her mind. Just some peace in the disappearing twilight as she sat down on the bench.

She supposed this would be life for the next few months. Peace. Quiet.

A lot of flowers and plenty of time with Anne when the boys returned to school. It was somehow everything she wanted and everything she never thought she'd deserve. Ella breathed in the warm air—spring had finally started to take a swift hold on the climate and pushed it into warmth. Out of the cold she hated so much. Perhaps she'd never been all that cold; perhaps it had just been the cold inside of her.

Familiar footsteps overtook the soft sound of chirping insects and rustling leaves. Ella didn't need to glance sideways to know it was Sebastian—he always followed her. She did it anyway just to glare at him. He was supposed to be helping Emrys, that was a lot of people to obliviate in a short amount of time and it had to be done at Hogwarts. Away from her and the Sallow home.

Her glare was just met with a sly grin. "What? I can't have a moment alone with you now?"

Ella wanted to argue that he couldn't until the damage control was thoroughly finished, but she couldn't seem to find it in herself. All she really wanted was to melt into him—the day had been long and hard, not to mention emotional. She just stood, expecting to be embraced.

"Missus Sallow," he said with that usual bravado and a little too much smile in his smirk.

Her cheeks flamed before she even managed to speak. Warmth crept up her chest and into her neck. It dispelled the cold that lingered over her from the darkness. "You're supposed to—"

"You are so easy to fluster." Sebastian laughed under his breath as he slipped his fingers back to their place on her neck, just under her jawline. Pushed her chin up with his thumb and looked over her like he needed to rememorize every pore on her face.

"Is it the scotch?" She asked, definitely more breathy than it needed to be considering they were standing in Anne's garden. She didn't feel like she could be blamed after the day they'd had. Her remaining self-respect was ticking away slowly.

"No, it's not the scotch."

"We should go inside, Seb."

He furrowed his brow. "Are you in a hurry?"

"I'm not in a hurry, per se, but I have things I would like to move up the itinerary and things that have to be checked off before I can do that."

Specifically, she needed them to be back in the house and for Anne to be sleeping. Soon. In her room.

Sebastian didn't release her, despite the finality in her words. "What things?"

His arm looped around her waist and pulled her against himself. Ella shot him a warning look. She'd already been on her best behavior since Flint and he couldn't just torture her in plain sight. "Things."

There was a sound in his throat that almost sounded like a laugh, but it didn't fully escape him. He raised his brows at her. "Very descriptive. Thank you."

"If you must know," she fixed him with the fiercest look she could manage. It was difficult to do, with how his arm pressed into the small of her back while his fingers dug into her waist. "I expected a poetry night."