The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon (Celine and Bastian) novel Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Bastian’s hands leave my waist, and he takes a small step back.

It isn’t a great distance. Barely a few inches.

Yet it feels as though he has suddenly placed an entire ocean between us.

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His expression does not harden or turn cold the way it usually does when something bothers him. Nor does he try to hide what he feels behind the cold mask he always wears. For the second time since I arrived at this castle, the pain of his emotions hits me with perfect clarity. A deep ache that pierces my chest and leaves me breathless for a moment.

I am certain he can feel mine as well.

Even though our bond has not been completed, it exists. It is there. I can feel it in the way my heart seems to answer his and in how his emotions blend with mine for a few brief seconds before fading once again.

Astra whimpers inside my mind.

“We’re both hurting. Just tell him.”

My wolf’s voice is much gentler than I expected, and that only makes my throat tighten even more.

I take a long breath without looking away from Bastian.

Water continues to fall over his broad shoulders and slide slowly across the scars scattered over his skin. Damp strands of dark hair rest against his forehead, plastered there by steam and moisture. Even now, he remains immense. Strong. Imposing. The kind of man capable of making an entire room tremble simply by walking into it.

And yet, he has never seemed more human to me than he does right now.

Because he is no longer waiting for an answer.

I see it in his eyes, in the slight tension of his jaw, and in the way he avoids stepping closer again.

Bastian is no longer expecting me to say yes.

He is waiting for me to slide the shower door open and leave him standing alone beneath the water.

The thought alone twists something painfully inside my chest.

Throughout my life, I have cared about people who never returned my affection. People who made me feel invisible even when I was standing right in front of them. People who taught me not to expect too much because doing so always ended in disappointment.

But Bastian is not one of them.

I have known that for days.

Maybe since long before I was willing to admit it.

I see it every time he offers me something before thinking of himself. Every time he makes sure I eat, rest, or feel safe. I see it when he listens to me speak even when he is exhausted. I see it when he looks at me as though I am something precious, even in the moments when I cannot see myself that way.

He has never given me a reason to doubt him.

Not a single one.

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The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon

And yet I am afraid.

A ridiculous, irrational, profoundly human fear.

Because now I know he loves me.

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I know his feelings are real. I know he is not simply waiting for my body, nor for me to move toward him because the bond pushes us in that direction.

What he is waiting for is something far more difficult to say.

He is asking me to open myself to him emotionally.

Bastian is just as afraid as I am, and that simple realization finally tears down the last defenses I was still trying to hold together.

I gather every bit of courage I have and lock away everything that happened before I met him.

All the pain.

The rejection.

The disappointments.

The constant fear of giving away a piece of myself that no one ever seemed willing to keep.

I close the short distance between us and take his hands in mine, intertwining our fingers before rising onto my toes to reach his lips and kiss him softly.

Our eyes never leave each other for a second, and I think I have forgotten how to breathe.

He does not pull away, but neither does he react the way he has before.

He remains still, watching me with an intensity that makes my heart pound against my ribs because he still has not received the answer he needs.

His heart and mine beat loudly beneath the constant sound of the water.

I can feel Astra pushing me toward him, encouraging me to cross the distance that still exists between us, but I try to keep her out of it.

Because Bastian does not want an answer from my wolf.

He does not want an answer from the bond or from the instincts tying us together.

He wants an answer from me.

He does not want a kiss.

He wants me to say the words I have been keeping inside for far too long.

I swallow the knot forming in my throat and fight against the emotions threatening to overwhelm me.

Steam clouds the air between us.

Water slides across our skin.

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The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon

His hands continue holding mine with a quiet steadiness that gives me the courage I need.

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I release a slow breath and gather every feeling that has been growing inside me since the day he entered my life.

“I love you, Bastian Thorn.”

I close my eyes when he joins our lips in a slow, deep kiss.

My hands leave his and wrap around his back as I cling to him, returning the first kiss that truly belongs to the two of u

Not to our wolves.

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