Elvie
I sat on the couch my eyes completely fixated on Cassian as he unwrapped the frame. He looked up at me with a smirk. "Chill. It’s not something scary."
"Well, I’m not putting anything scary in my mind! It’s just my anticipation."
"Is that so?" he teased untying the thick ribbon and peeled back just a tiny corner of the brown paper before stopping completely.
"Open it," I urged, gesturing toward the table. "Open it now!"
"I want to keep you in suspense,"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "You were the one that wanted to show me, and now you want to tease me!" I gasped out, shaking my head.
"Okay, okay," he laughed.
He stripped off the rest of the ribbon, tearing away the heavy brown wrapping. The entire frame was turned around so I was not able to see it immediately.
Cassian looked over at me, his eyes shining with amusement. "Are you ready to see it?"
"Yes, sure, sure!" I said quickly, leaning forward on the edge of the couch.
He slowly turned the massive frame around. The moment the front of the canvas faced me, my breath hitched completely. Everything inside me froze.
"Oh my God..." I whispered, staring at the canvas in total shock. "Is this... is this..."
It was a painting of me. A portrait of me sleeping, my hair spread across the pillow and a light beam of sun hitting my skin.
"When did you do this?" I muffled out my eyes traveling from the painting back to him.
I remembered him drawing me before which we didn’t get to finish, but I had no idea he had painted this whole portrait without me knowing.
"Well, I actually did it," Cassian shrugged. "I wanted you to be the one to pick up your own portrait."
Tears welled up in my eyes. A huge wave of emotion hit my chest, making my heart ache in the sweetest way.
"This is beautiful," I breathed out throwing my arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. "I love you."
The words rushed out of my mouth before I could catch them. My entire body went rigid the second I realized what just spilled out. I quickly pulled back, my heart racing. "I mean... I love it! I love the painting so much."
Cassian didn’t say anything right away. His expression shifted, his eyes locked onto mine with an intense, unreadable look that made the entire living room fall silent.
"Is that what you meant, little birdie?" he said, finally breaking the silence with his brows raised. "Just the painting?"
I swallowed, my fingers clutching tightly at the fabric of his shirt. "I... I just mean it’s the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me."
I didn’t even know why I was acting so nervous. I knew I had deep feelings for him, but blurting it out of the blue just felt so strange and terrifying.
Cassian let out a low, breathy exhale that sounded almost like a sigh. He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, pulling me flush against his chest so there wasn’t a single inch of space left between us.
"Don’t take it back," he murmured against my lips, his grip possessive and firm. "Don’t ever hide it from me."
"Sure," I smiled softly, nodding my head.
But deep down in my heart, a tiny voice wondered—did he actually like me too? Or was all of this just about the sex for him?
Before I could sink any deeper into my thoughts, Cassian cupped my jaw with his hand, lifting my face and pressing his lips directly onto mine. I wasted no time. I parted my lips immediately, kissing him back my arms reaching up to wrap around his neck.
Cassian kissed me deeply, pulling at my bottom lip with a gentle bite that made me gasp. His other hand slid smoothly under the hem of my loose top, his warm palm skin-on-skin against my stomach. A sudden wave of heat shot through my entire body, making me throb and turn completely liquid between my legs.
Without breaking the heat of the moment, he hooked his arms under my thighs and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist out of instinct.
I pulled back just an inch, catching my breath as I looked into his dark eyes. "Aren’t you going to eat dinner?"
He captured my lips again for a brief, heavy kiss before pulling back to whisper, "What’s dinner when I have you to feast on?"
I let out a soft chuckle, feeling my face grow hot as a fresh wave of wetness gathered between my legs. "You’re a bad boy," I blushed, hiding my face against his neck.
He gave my ass a squeeze, making me squeal softly. "Well, a bad boy for you."
He leaned in to kiss me again as he carried me upstairs.
"What about the painting?" I murmured into the middle of our kiss as we reached the top of the stairs. "Aren’t we hanging it?"
Cassian leaned down, his lips brushing against my ear as he carried me into his bedroom.
"We have all the time in the world to do that," he rumbled against my skin. "For now, I just want to fuck your little cunt all night."
**
Today had to be one of the boring days of all days in school. I didn’t know why, but all through the morning, I just couldn’t bring myself to enjoy any of the lectures. To make matters worse, we didn’t even have Cassian’s class today. It had just been a non-stop parade of other lecturers, each one droning on longer than the last. I honestly couldn’t wait for the mid-semester break coming up next week. I just wanted enough time to rest at home and be completely free from all this school stress.
When class was finally over after dragging on for what felt like forever, I let out a long sigh of relief. Time had been moving at such a slow pace all day.
Gemma and I gathered our things and started heading out of the building together. "So, by the way," Gemma said, nudging my shoulder as we walked down the hallway. "What are your plans for the mid-semester break?"
"I don’t really have any solid plans yet," I admitted, adjusting the strap of my bag. "Just sleep, paint, and relax."
"Oh, right. So you’re basically saying you’ll have all the free time in the world to enjoy sweet, steamy moments with your sweet man!" She squealed.
My face went hot, and I immediately smacked her arm. "You are crazy!"
"Hey! It’s a valid question!" Gemma laughed, dodging away from me. I shook my head laughing too.
As we stepped outside and headed toward the main gate, the loud, aggressive roar of a car engine suddenly sliced through the air. Tires squealed as a brand-new, flashy sport car sped past the walkway, drawing everyone’s attention before screeching to a halt near the far end of the courtyard.
Gemma crossed her arms and glared fiercely at the car. "Can you believe he’s still acting so childish and immature? Driving like his father owns the whole campus."
It didn’t take a genius to figure out who was behind the wheel. It was Asher.
"Let’s go," I said, grabbing Gemma’s wrist to pull her away.
Asher was completely in my past now. Now that I finally had peace in my life, the last thing I wanted to do was to linger in his affairs.
Right at that moment, my phone pinged in my hand. I looked down to see a text message from Cassian.
Cassian: I’m waiting for you in the parking lot.
A sudden spark of warmth replaced my boredom. "I gotta go. Bye!" I said to Gemma spinning around and fast-walking toward the staff parking lot.
A few minutes later, I spotted his sedan tucked away in the back corner of the lot, under the shade of a large tree. I hurried over, opened the passenger door, and slid inside, dropping my bag onto the floorboard.
"You sure know the perfect spot to park your car," I smiled, turning toward him with a soft giggle.
Cassian’s large hand reached out, cupping the back of my neck and pulled me across the console. He took my mouth in a deep, and completely unexpected kiss.
I gasped against his lips, but within a fraction of a second, I melted entirely into him. My arms reached up instinctively to wrap around his neck, deepening the kiss as a wave of butterflies erupted in my stomach.
Damn.
Maybe this was the exact cure I needed all along. No wonder my whole day had felt so completely boring. I had just been waiting for him.
When we pulled apart, his eyes were heavy and full of heat, searching my face as I tried to catch my breath. His thumb lightly caressed my jawline, sending tiny shivers straight down my back.
"Missed me today?" He murmured, his deep voice sending a warm buzz through my chest.
"Maybe a little," I confessed, a blush creeping up my cheeks. "The classes were so long and dry. School without you around is just plain boring."
An amused smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Is that so?" he whispered, leaning down to press a soft kiss against the sensitive skin right under my ear, making me gasp softly. "Well, I don’t intend to let you feel bored for the rest of the day."
He shifted back into the driver’s seat, starting up the engine with a quiet roar. I settled back into my seat, putting on my seatbelt while looking at his side profile. The smooth way he drove, one hand resting lightly on the steering wheel while his other hand reached over to hold mine, made my heart beat fast in the best way possible.
"Where are we going?" I asked, looking out the window as we pulled out of the gates.
Knowing Cassian, he’s always full of surprises.
"Home," he replied, throwing me a quick glance that made my stomach do a flip. "I have a few hours free before I need to check my emails, and I intend to spend every single minute of it with you."
I squeezed his hand, a sweet smile spreading across my face. Mid-semester break was still a week away, but sitting next to him like this, I already felt like I had everything I needed.