Divorced CEO's Forgotten Wife Strikes Back (Riley and Bryce) novel Chapter 395

Chapter 395 I Want You

Sebastian stood up and slipped on his shirt, his long fingers moving down the buttons. "Don't take what Thomas said too seriously."

"Which part?" Riley shot back. "You mean the part where he told me not to mess around with you in bed before the bandages come off?"

If it were any other day, she probably wouldn't have said that out loud. But he'd reacted so coldly, as if the only person who ever got flustered here was her.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "You can pretend he never said it."

"And what if I actually want to do something to you in bed? Should I ignore him then too?" she asked.

His tie slipped from his hand and fell to the floor.

For a moment, his beautiful face showed something she rarely saw on him. He looked genuinely thrown off.

Riley blinked at him, surprised. It wasn't often he lost his cool, and it only made her more curious.

Leaning on her crutches, she walked over and bent down to pick up the tie.

"Why? Does that really surprise you?" she asked lightly. "I love you. Of course I want you. And honestly, Thomas wasn't wrong. If we're going to do that, we should at least wait until the bandages are off."

Sebastian lifted his gaze, meeting her eyes. "You still want me?"

"Of course I do. I told you—I love you. Wanting to sleep with the person you love is pretty normal, don't you think?" Riley said.

He lowered his eyes, voice rough. "You saw my injuries when he changed the dressings. Those scars... don't they disgust you?" Even he couldn't look in the mirror without flinching.

How could she look at him and still want him?

Riley paused. "Then what about you? Do you think my body is disgusting?"

"What?" He froze.

"I have my own scars. And there'll probably be more in the future. Do they disgust you?" she asked.

She'd taken plenty of hits during her years in special forces. Some scars were old, some newer, but they were all there.

His lips pressed into a thin line. Under her steady gaze, he finally said hoarsely, "I've never felt that way."

If anything, her scars filled him with shame, regret, and an ache he didn't know what to do with.

The scars on her body were badges of honor—every one of them a price she had paid for what she believed in.

She carried a kind of brilliance that felt untouchable, as if she had been born to stand in the light.

Riley stared at the man kneeling in front of her.

He was the head of the Torres family, someone people were used to looking up to. Even though he still hadn't agreed to get back together with her, he was still willing to kneel like this just to help her with something as small as putting on her shoes.

Just like Thomas said—this man loved her like his life depended on it.

Once he finished, Sebastian moved as if he was about to lift her into his arms. Riley quickly stopped him. "You're still hurt. Don't carry me. I can walk."

"My injuries are fine," he said calmly.

"I don't want them tearing open again. I want your wounds to heal faster," she said.

His eyes flickered. "Why do you want them to heal faster?"

Riley was stunned. Was that really a question? Anyone would think the same way. She explained, "Because if they heal faster, you can get those bandages off sooner and we won't have to worry about what Thomas said anymore."

It slipped out without thinking. But the second it did, Sebastian's expression shifted.

"So you're eager to sleep with me?" he asked.

Riley's face flushed hot. God. That wasn't what she meant when she said it. Thomas' warning had just popped into her head, and she'd said it out loud.