Elvie
My heart stuttered for a completely different reason. Is this man serious? I was sitting here helplessly, hopelessly in love with him, and he was out here talking about hate? I had never once viewed him as my enemy just because he shared blood with Norman. Not even for a single second.
I reached up, settling my warm hand gently against his cheekbone as I looked straight into his dark eyes.
"I don’t hate you," I said softly. "Why would I hate you? Why would anyone hate someone who has done so much for her life? I don’t hate you, Cassian. And I don’t know what problem you have with your family or with Norman... but I do know that you are a good person."
A gentle smile broke across his lips, softening his stern features. He leaned down and pressed a long, tender kiss onto my forehead.
"Okay," he whispered against my skin. "I promise I won’t hide things from you. But for a start... the beef between Norman and me started a long time ago. It started when he took everything. Our father’s inheritance, the whole will—he altered it and took every single thing for himself."
My eyes widened in complete shock. I sat there, stunned into silence. I knew Norman was selfish, but to steal his own brother’s entire inheritance? Suddenly, everything made sense. I thought about all the years I spent living in that suffocating house, treated like a maid, working endlessly while he acted like a grand savior paying my tuition—when he wasn’t even paying a dime.
"But... are you just going to leave him like that? You’re not going to fight for what’s yours?"
Cassian let out a low chuckle, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Oh, my little birdie... look at you getting all worried about me." He smoothed a piece of hair behind my ear. "It’s not something I’m worried about, Elvie. I’ve built my own career, my own wealth. I don’t need his money or anything he stole. He can keep it and do whatever he wants. The only thing I won’t tolerate is him messing with the people I love."
"People like... me?"
"Oh, yes," he murmured, his gaze darkening with possessive heat. He leaned in, capturing my lips in a soft, lingering kiss that made my toes curl under the sheets.
When he pulled back, his thumb brushed over my bottom lip. "And regarding Asher...I sent him another warning today,"
Cassian said calmly, though the edge in his voice was cold as ice. "I made it very clear that if he ever dares to try anything with you again, he’s going to lose his entire career."
My jaw dropped slightly. "Are you really serious?"
"Sure. Why not?" Cassian offered a small, dangerous smirk. "He touched what’s mine, so I need to show him what I’m truly capable of doing."
Would Asher really adhere to a warning like that? Asher was reckless, arrogant, and completely stubborn when he didn’t get his way. If Cassian threatened his future, Asher might just lose his mind and do something even crazier out of desperation.
"What if he doesn’t listen?"
"Then he’ll suffer the consequences," he replied smoothly, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "I have every card in my hand, Elvie. He can try all he wants, but he won’t win."
Before I could voice another worry, Cassian gripped my waist and rolled us over in one swift, fluid motion. Suddenly, I was sitting astride him, my legs resting on either side of his hips as I sat right on top of his hard lap.
He reached up, gently brushing the stray strands of hair away from my face, his thumbs smoothing over my cheeks.
"Enough of all these problems for tonight," he murmured, his hands coming to rest on my hips. "Let’s just sleep, little birdie."
I looked down at him, holding on to his face with both hands as I lifted a skeptical brow. "Just sleep?"
His eyes instantly darkened, turning pitch black in the dim light of the bedroom. His hand slid down my waist, past my hip, and landed on my bare behind, giving it a light, spank that made a quiet gasp slip from my lips.
"Of course not," he growled low in his throat, his hand squeezing my cheek tightly. "With you sitting right on top of me like this, do you really think I’m just going to let us sleep?"
Right on cue, I felt the hard, thick ridge of his erection poking directly against my pussy through the thin fabric of my panties. The sensation sent an instant shot of electric warmth straight to my lower stomach, completely turning me on.
Without giving myself time to overthink it, I reached down and pulled my nightie top right up over my head, tossing it aside on the mattress.
I sat there fully exposed to him. I cupped both of my breasts in my palms, lifting them as I looked down into his burning gaze.
"What should we start with then?" I asked breathlessly.
Cassian’s eyes lingered on my chest, his pupils dilating until barely any color was left. I felt his jaw tighten hard, the muscles flexing against his skin.
"With this," he growled out. His large hand shot up, his fingers wrapping possessively around the back of my neck to pull me down. In a single, hungry movement, he latched his mouth straight onto one of my aching breasts, his tongue swirling fiercely around my hard nipple as a loud, helpless moan tore right out of my throat.
A sharp arc of electricity shot straight down to my core as Cassian’s warm, wet mouth pulled my nipple deep into his heat.
I arched my back, my fingers immediately plunging into his hair, holding his head against my chest as he suckled hard, alternating between deep tugs and sharp flicks of his tongue.
"Cassian... ah, fuck," I gasped, my toes curling against the sheets as my hips gave an involuntary roll against his hard lap.
His other hand didn’t stay idle. It slid down my spine, hooking under the thin band of my panties, and ripped them down over my thighs with one rough, impatient yank. He didn’t even bother taking them all the way off—just cleared a path until my bare, dripping pussy was pressed directly over his burning cock.
He broke away from my breast with a heavy pop, leaving my skin glistening and hyper-sensitive in the cool air, only to slide his lips up the column of my throat to bite gently down on the shell of my ear.
"You like taking control, little birdie?" he growled into my ear, his breath hot and ragged as his thumb found my drenched clit and applied a firm, agonizingly slow circle.
I whined, my eyes fluttering shut as my hands gripped his broad shoulders for leverage. "I... I just want you inside me."
"Open your eyes and look at me," he commanded softly, the possessive edge in his low voice making my heart hammer wildly against my ribs.
I forced my heavy eyelids open, meeting his pitch-black, dark gaze. Holding my eyes locked onto his, Cassian reached down between us, pulling down his sweatpants and guiding the thick head of his cock right against my slick, swollen entrance. Slowly, he let me use my own weight to sink down onto him.
I let out a shaky, desperate breath as he filled me inch by inch, stretching me open until I was completely impaled on his length, my heat clamping down tight around him.
"God, you feel so good," I whimpered, resting my forehead against his as I began to lift and lower my hips, establishing a slow, agonizingly deep rhythm on top of him.
Cassian’s jaw locked tight, a low, guttural groan rumbling from deep inside his chest. His hands gripped my hips and guide every plunge, making sure I took every single inch of him.
"Deeper," he growled, his thumbs digging into my hip bones as he thrust up from below to meet my downward slide. "Take all of it, Elvie."
The sound of our skin meeting and the wet friction filled the quiet room, driving me wild. Every time I rode down, his blunt tip hit that exact, intense spot inside me, sending white-hot waves of pleasure cascading straight through my nervous system.
My rhythm grew faster, more frantic as the pressure in my lower stomach coiled tighter and tighter. My fingernails dug into the smooth skin of his shoulders, my head tossing back as ragged moans spilled uncontrollably from my lips.
"Cassian—I’m... I’m close, I can’t—"
"Don’t you dare close your eyes," Cassian rasped out, his hands shifting up to my waist to take complete control, suddenly driving his hips up into me with powerful, relentless thrusts that hit me so hard my vision blurred. "Look at me while you come for me."
I snapped my eyes back to his dark, burning gaze. Seeing the obsession and desire consuming his face was the final push over the edge.
My inner walls clamped violently around his cock as a blinding, shattering orgasm ripped right through me. A high, breathless scream tore from my throat as my body trembled uncontrollably on top of his.
With a harsh, guttural growl, he thrust up one last deep time, burying himself as far as he could go, holding me pinned tight against his chest as his own climax hit him, spilling his searing heat deep inside me.