(Ocean's POV)
The penthouse door clicked shut behind us, and the quiet was deafening.
No more clinking glasses, no murmured greetings, no Carter leaning too close with his sly smile. Just the two of us… and the tension we'd carried home from the gathering.
Sebastian shrugged off his jacket and tossed it onto the couch without looking at me. His silence was heavier than his words had ever been.
I stood near the entryway, my pulse still erratic from the evening. "You didn't have to do that."
He paused mid-step, his broad back stiffening. "Do what?"
I swallowed. "Make a scene. The way you… the way you touched me in front of everyone. The way you—"
"Claimed you?" he finished, finally turning to face me. His eyes were sharp, searching, and far too calm for the storm I could feel brewing in him. "Yes. I did have to."
"You don't get to decide that." My voice came out quieter than I wanted, but I pushed on. "You don't own me, Sebastian."
He took a step closer. Then another. Each one deliberate, as if he was closing in on prey.
By the time he stopped, we were a breath apart. His scent wrapped around me, heady and impossible to ignore.
"Don't I?" he murmured.
My heart thudded painfully. "No. You… you can't just—"
"I can," he interrupted, his voice like velvet over steel. "And I will. Because if I don't, someone like Carter will try. And I don't let men take what's mine."
"I'm not yours," I said, but even I heard the way my voice faltered.
His gaze dropped to my mouth, then back to my eyes. "You keep saying that," he said softly, "but your body tells me a different story."
Heat bloomed under my skin. Anger, embarrassment… and something else I didn't want to name.
"This isn't a game, Sebastian."
He tilted his head. "No, Ocean. It's not. That's why you need to understand something right now — I don't share. Not my time. Not my attention. And certainly not you."
I hated how much those words sent a shiver down my spine.
"You're not protecting me," I whispered. "You're controlling me."
He smiled faintly, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Control keeps you safe. Keeps you alive in my world. You think Carter was harmless? He would've chewed you up and spit you out before you knew what happened."
I shook my head, forcing my voice to steady. "And what exactly are you doing, Sebastian? You keep talking about protecting me, but it feels the same. It feels like you're just… taking."
He studied me for a long moment, and I could almost hear the gears turning in his head. Then he moved even closer, until his chest brushed mine and I had nowhere to go.
"I take because I can't trust anyone else with you," he said, low and dangerous. "You think I'm the worst of it? Maybe I am. But at least I'm the devil you know."
"I told you—"
"I'm not your devil?" he cut in, his mouth so close to my ear that my breath caught. "Maybe. But I am the man who will make sure no one else touches what's mine."
I wanted to shove him away. I wanted to run. I wanted… something I couldn't even put into words.
His hand came up, curling around the back of my neck. Not hard. Just enough to remind me of his strength, his presence, his claim.
"You're shaking," he murmured.
"Because you terrify me," I shot back.
For the first time that night, his expression shifted. His jaw tightened, and a shadow passed over his features. "Good," he said finally. "Fear will keep you alive."
But I wasn't afraid of Carter. I wasn't afraid of the gathering.
I was afraid of how much I wanted him, even when I swore I shouldn't.
And maybe… he knew it.
That night, Sebastian didn't touch me again. Not really. But the way he looked at me across the room, the way his words lingered in my head, it was worse than any touch.
Because it left me wondering if I was already his — and if there was ever a moment where I'd been free at all.