Tara’s breaths match mine. Her face is tucked in the crook of my neck, and each time she blinks, her lashes tickle my skin. Everything about this evening is peaceful. The tension from earlier is gone. She knows how I feel about her, and she's safe. I didn't fail her.

“Bast.”

My lips graze Tara’s cheek. “Yeah?”

“Were you mad at Zoey for leaving you? I know the poor thing didn't have a choice, but...”

I hug her tighter. “I was mad at the world. At her parents for not moving her overseas. The doctors for not having a solution. Myself for not having money to do more.”

Tara rubs my silver chain between her fingers. It's become a habit for when she's deep in thought. “I asked doctor Jennings about glioma. He said not much progress has been made. I thought you might want to know,” she whispers.

“I know. But thank you for caring. Were you mad at your mom?”

Tara shifts on my lap. “On some days, I still kind of am. Because I don't know why she did it. I sometimes think it would’ve hurt less if she'd left a note. It would've been easier to forgive her and move on.”

“It wasn't your fault.”

“Doctor Jennings says the same.” Tara sighs, tugging at my chain slightly. “And I believe him. I just wish I didn't have to wonder.”

After another tug, I grab Tara’s hand and lace my fingers with hers. “Do you like the chain?”

She chuckles. “Sorry. I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

Please don’t.

“Wait.” I reach behind my neck and unclasp it. When I put the chain around Tara’s neck, she shakes her head. “Bast, I…you don't have to.”

“My grandpa gave it to me.” The memory makes me smile as I go on to fasten the tiny clasp. “It's my lucky charm, not that I believe in that shit. But he wanted it to be one, so let's roll with it, yeah? I want you to have it.”

“Thank you.”

Tara leans in, and our lips meet in a brief kiss. Hers are cold, and so are her cheeks despite the warmth of the fire and the blanket.

“Let's go inside?” I ask.

She fumbles off my lap, and as I stand, I grip the back of the chair because of how numb my legs feel.

Tara giggles, cocking her head. “I didn't think our age gap would be an issue this early in the relationship, Sebasti.”

I rake my eyes over her body. “You better run fast.”

She dashes to the house, and I put out the fire. When I go in, Tara’s in the kitchen, smelling her hair.

“We have hot water,” I say. “If you want to bathe.”

Tara folds her hands under her chin. “Please.”

“Let's go.”

She stays in our bedroom while I fill the tub with water in the en-suite. When the bath is ready, I strip and toss my clothes into a hamper. “Tara.”

The door creaks. Tara steps over the threshold naked. Why the hell did I leave the lights off?

She walks over, her steps sensual and slow. I take her in greedily, noticing each tiny thing — from the way her blond hair tumbles over her shoulders to how her skin glows in the little moonlight seeping through the window.

Tara stops by the tub, covers her breasts with her arm, and looks downward. Each gesture shreds my heart. Clueless idiot.

My feet go into motion. I advance on her and stop when only a few inches are between her bare feet and mine.

“Tara…”

She drags her gaze up my body and rests it on my face. “See?” Tara lets out a derisive laugh. “I’m a coward.”

“No. Don’t say things that aren’t true. Come on.”

I extend my hand, my open palm facing upward. “Take it.”

I want to say something sweet and reassuring, but my tongue refuses the words. She’s way braver than me. She just needs to feel I’m with her.

Tara’s cold fingers touch my wrist. In one fluid motion, my hand envelops hers. I pull her toward me and swing my right leg over the edge of the tub. Then my left. She mirrors my movements until we’re standing in the water. A long breath shuttles through her parted lips, and I bundle her into my arms, pressing my lips to her forehead.

“See? Nothing to be scared of. Come here.”

As I sit, she nestles between my legs, her bent knees pressed to her chest. I wash her hair, dropping chaste kisses on her shoulders and upper back until tension vacates her body.

“How are you feeling?” I ask when we’re both clean and ready to leave the tub.

Tara turns her head on my shoulder and cups my jaw with her palm. “Happy. In love. I love you, Sebastian.”

My pulse pumps as if I've run ten miles. I grab her face and press my mouth to hers. She parts her lips on a gasp, and her taste inundates my senses as I slowly explore her mouth with my tongue. It circles and caresses hers at the same time my hands find her waist. I draw tiny circles on her skin with my thumbs and move them up her body to her ribcage and the underside of her breasts.

Tara breaks the kiss, her chest heaving. “I want more. All of you.”

“Okay.” I seize her lips in another bruising kiss. “Okay, let's go.”

Water drips down our bodies as we stumble into the bedroom. I kick the bathroom door shut and grab Tara’s hips, yanking her toward me. “I need you to be clingy for a bit. Cling to me, and don't let go.”

She gives me a defiant smirk. I lift her and press her to the bathroom door, positioning her legs around my hips. “Perfect,” I whisper, rocking against her. The friction makes my head spin. She's so wet I feel it each time my erection rubs against her pussy.

“So sweet.” I run the tip of my tongue down the length of her neck and bite her softly. “And ready.”

Tara’s legs tighten around me. She throws her head back to make kissing her easier, but I change my mind and set her down gently.

She pokes my chest with her index finger. “Not fair.”

“Turn around.” I squeeze her ass. “Flatten your palms against the door and spread your legs.”

Tara obeys without hesitation. She looks at me over her shoulder as I kneel behind her.

“If you move your hands, I'll stop.” I kiss her right hip. “And we don't want that.”

“No, we don't,” Tara mumbles. “Do anything you want.”

I drag my mouth over the soft skin of her bum, encouraged by her quickened breaths.

We both want the same thing. Each other. In every way. All night long.

All life long.

My hand slides between her thighs. I cup Tara’s sex and run a single finger through her folds. Then I slip it inside and add one more.

My tongue finds the spot only I have touched, and I circle it in sync with the thrusts of my fingers.

I keep it slow, but Tara moves against my hand, and I increase the speed when she moans.

“Bast.”

I press my thumb to her clit. Tara shakes, letting out a breathless whimper. Her muscles spasm around my digits, and I slowly stop my caresses to let her calm down.

She throws herself into my arms as soon as I rise to my full height.
“That good, huh?” I nuzzle into her neck.

“You're a ten,” Tara says, scratching my back lightly. “Actually, eleven out of…”

A slap on her ass makes her yelp. She swats my hand away and pecks my lips. “I think I need more to assess your skills accurately, Sebasti.”

“I think I need more, too.”

Our gazes entwine. My skin tingles, and anticipation races through my blood. As we lie in bed under the white sheet, it feels different. Awesome, but different.

I forget about the nights I spent missing her, scared she won’t forgive me. That she loves me sinks in, and I can’t help but stare at her in wonder.

Tara touches my face. “Where are you?”

“Only here,” I whisper, edging closer.

Our kiss is slow. Our lips worship, and our hands explore. Tara pulls me to lie on top of her, and her legs cocoon me as I lay wet kisses on her chest.

I squeeze her breast and bite her hardened nipple while teasing the other with my fingertips.

She arches her back, offering me more. Alternating between licks and bites, I play with her tits, focused on her pleasure. On the sounds she makes and the way she grips the sheets. On the heat of her skin.

Tara reaches between us, wrapping her hand around my cock. I lift my eyes off her chest, and she nods. “Come here.”

I still. Tara’s brows arch in question, and I groan, leaning my forehead against her collarbone. “I…fuck. I didn’t bring condoms. I didn’t think…”

She buries her fingers in my hair. “Are you clean?”

“Yeah. I’ve never done it unprotected. And it’s been only you for months.”

“I’m on the pill,” Tara says. “So…”

Oh, thank fuck.

She laughs when I bite her neck and lie on top of her. Foreheads pressed together, we stay motionless for a few seconds.

“I’ve never done it like that, either,” Tara whispers.

I move a blond strand out of her face. “It doesn’t matter. Even if you did, I’m just happy you’re letting me feel all of you. I fucking need you.”

“I need you too.”

The kisses begin. This time, they’re open-mouthed and hungry. Tara undulates beneath me and palms my cock until I’m so hard it hurts.

She guides me inside her, and as soon as I feel her wet heat without barriers, my blood rushes to my erection. “Fuck.” I blow out a breath. “This is…”

“So good.” Tara circles my hips with her legs. “So fucking good.”

I moan when we move together, trying to find our rhythm. My wet skin rubs against hers as I thrust faster, and hot gusts of Tara’s breaths caress my ear when I fuck her hard, my face buried in her neck, my forearms holding my weight.

It’s too much. Not enough. The sensory overload makes me even crazier with want. Nothing compares to this. Nothing ever has.

Kissing her lips, I put my right hand on her pussy and rub her clit, helping her get there with me so we can finish together. Tara’s moans and whimpers guide me like the beam of a lighthouse guides a ship.

Silky heat grips my straining cock,  and our synched movements have us climbing toward our peak.

“Bast,” Tara gasps mid-thrust, pressing her hips up. Spasms rock through her body, triggering my orgasm. With a moan, I empty myself inside her, and we clutch each other, riding out the wave of pleasure.

I lie on my side and cradle Tara to my chest, our bodies still joined.

“I love you,” I say.

Her kiss-swollen lips touch my neck. “I love you too, Bast.”

All thoughts and worries drop away. I feel — the moment, her, everything, and promise myself to never take for granted the girl who saw the real me.

***

My body hurts as if I’ve worked out for three hours straight.  I haven’t gotten nearly enough rest after what Tara and I did all night.

I snatch my buzzing phone off the nightstand, groaning. Connor’s name is on the screen, which makes some of the irritation fade.

“Hi, man,” I say, glancing at Tara’s empty side of the bed. The light is on in the en-suite. I hope the call didn’t wake her.

“Hi, Bast.”

Connor sounds too energetic for such an early hour. I yawn, rubbing my eyes. “What’s up?”

“Sorry for calling so early. Your father and detective Solano asked me to call them if I remembered anything, and I kind of did. I’ve been trying to reach them, but neither picks up the phone. I thought maybe you could tell your dad something.”

“Yeah.” I throw the sheet aside and stand. “What is it?”

“Fuck.” A nervous chuckle sounds down the line. “Now that I think about it, it does sound strange. Anyway, I remember Sadie mentioning she ran into the same weirdo a few times. She thought nothing of it, but fuck, man, now I just don’t know. They still haven’t caught anyone.”

I walk toward the en-suite. “What weirdo? Do you know anything else?”

I throw the bathroom door open.

Empty.

Connor speaks, and my heartbeat loses its rhythm. Shivers race over my naked skin.

“Fuck,” I mutter, sprinting to the bag so I can get some clothes to cover myself. “Fuck!”

“Bast?”

"I'll talk to you later. Call the police right now, man. Tell them what you told me.”

I hang up and call my father. While I wait for him to pick up the phone, I yank a hoodie and a pair of sweats from the bag.

I need to get to her.

I need to save her.

Because now everything makes sense, and I hate myself for not seeing the truth.

Nothing like ending a chapter with a bang, right? This took me forever so I hope you got the feels.

I love Bast and Tara so much💔 There's something so endearing about the way they open with each other.

Also, hello to the new readers. Raise your hand if you found Bast and Tara thanks to Instagram or Tiktok❤️

I'll go hide.

But please don't be silent.