Elvie
Cassian’s hold tightened around Lexi’s wrist just enough to make her wince. "Harassing another student on department grounds is a direct violation of university policy," his deep voice cut through the hallway, laced with absolute authority.
"If I catch you engaging in this behavior again, you will be facing the disciplinary board before the end of the week."
A wave of goosebumps broke out across my arms. The sheer power radiating from him, the icy, unyielding command in his tone left me completely frozen in place.
Lexi was clearly taken aback. Her face flushed a deep, humiliated red as she pulled her arm free the second he released his grip. She opened her mouth as if to protest, but the lethal stillness in Cassian’s posture shut her down instantly.
Scoffing under her breath, she spun on her heel and hurried down the corridor, her heels clicking frantically against the floorboards.
I let out a shaky breath, hoping that warning would finally put her in her place for good. Taking a moment to pull myself together, I smoothed down my top and turned toward him. "Thank you... Professor."
Cassian finally turned his dark eyes onto me. His expression was completely devoid of the warmth or protective instinct I had hoped to see. "I only did what any faculty professor is expected to do,"
"Next time, learn how to stand up for yourself instead of letting people corner you."
He brushed past me, walked down the hall and disappeared around the corner.
I stood there, completely stunned, a sharp sting of bitterness settling in the pit of my stomach.
He had just saved me, yet once again, he managed to speak to me as if I were weak, and incapable.
When I got back to class, the room was half-full, chatter filling the air. Gemma waved at me from where she sat. I slid into the seat beside her, tossing my notebook onto the desk.
"What took you so long?" She said, leaning in close. "And why do you look like you just went three rounds in a ring?"
"Lexi," I said plainly, opening my notebook to a fresh page to avoid meeting her eyes.
Gemma’s head snapped toward me. "What did that viper do now?"
"Just the usual. Running her mouth about Asher. Trying to get under my skin."
"God, I hate her," Gemma hissed, her fingers tightening around her pen. "Did you tell her where to go?"
"I tried," I admitted, a trace of that bitterness returning to my tongue. "And then Professor Reed walked up and threatened to report her to the board if she didn’t leave."
Gemma’s mouth formed a silent O. Her eyes widened, a sudden spark of interest replacing her anger. "Wait... Cassian stepped in? In front of everyone?"
"It was just in the hallway, and it wasn’t a big deal," I said quickly, trying to snuff out whatever narrative she was already building in her head. "He was just acting like a professor stopping a scene. He literally told me afterward that he was just doing his job and that I need to learn to handle myself."
"Ouch," Gemma winced. "Okay, cold. But still... he shut her down. And I thin-"
Before Gemma could dissect it further, the side door of the lecture hall clicked open. The room fell into an immediate, attentive silence. Cassian walked in. His tailored suit fit him so impeccably it made him look more like an executive taking a meeting than a university lecturer.
He didn’t glance up at the rows of seats. He didn’t look at me. It was as if the incident in the hallway had been wiped entirely from his memory.
He unbuttoned his jacket, adjusted the cuffs of his shirt, and leaned lightly against the edge of the wooden desk. "Good morning," his deep, calm voice resonated through the room, smooth and entirely in control.
I stared down at the blank page of my notebook, my chest tight. Sitting in his class, watching him command the room with such cold, effortless distance, made the tension from last night and the moment in the hall feel almost surreal.
I picked up my pen, determined to focus on the class and ignore the pulse hammering quietly in my throat.
**
When I got back home later, I made dinner, plated the chicken and herb-roasted potatoes and covered it with a silver lid before taking a deep, heavy breath. I wasn’t taking any chances tonight.
Getting back to my room and picking up my sketchbook felt like the only way to quiet my racing thoughts. Maybe sketching would finally take my mind off things because I really wasn’t supposed to be thinking about Cassian at all.
Tell me why was it so damn hard to get him out of my head?
What was it about him that kept me so completely on edge? He was cold, rigid, and distant, and the whipping back and forth between his sharp, protective moments and his cold, dismissive words was driving me insane.
Avoiding him was definitely the best thing for me. Living under his roof was already complicated enough without me reading into every look, touch, or passing comment. This constant pull wasn’t good for my peace of mind.
As I walked up the stairs my eyes involuntarily drifted toward his bedroom door wondering what it looked like inside. I had never entered his room to clean, strictly keeping to the boundaries he had laid down.
Just as my hand settled on my own doorknob, a thud like something falling off echoed from the far end of the hallway.
I froze glancing around. The sound hadn’t come from his bedroom, or mine but from a large set of dark wooden doors at the very end of the hall.
Curiosity instantly won over my hesitation. I crept down the hallway towards the door. I reached out, setting my palm against the cool wood, and gently pushed it open.
My breath caught in my throat. The room was vast, framed by shelves packed with leather-bound books and stunning, hand-painted canvases resting on wooden easels.
But was caught my eyes more was the grand black piano. I stepped fully inside taking in the beauty of the study, completely awed by this hidden, artistic side of the man who seemed made entirely of ice.
I walked closer to the paintings on the easels. They looked really good. The colors were deep, and the painted scenes looked so real. Was he the one who painted all of these? If he did, no wonder he was such a good art professor. I wondered if there was anything he couldn’t do.
Moving past the easels, I moved to the tall bookshelves. Right beside the old books were stacks of vinyl records. So he liked music, too. Even though he was always so cold and strict, I felt a sudden wave of respect for him. He had so much talent hidden away in this room, yet he never bragged about any of it.
The next stop was to the piano. I felt a sudden urge to touch it. Slowly, I reached out and pressed my finger down on one of the keys.
A loud, deep note echoed through the quiet room. I instantly slapped a hand over my mouth, my eyes wide.
As the sound faded, I let out a soft, nervous laugh. "Don’t be clumsy, Elvie. Just look around and get out."
"You do know that invading someone’s privacy isn’t a good behavior, right?" Came a low stern voice as I crouched down to pick up the frame that had fallen onto the rug. Cassian’s voice started me and I gasped. My foot caught on the edge of the rug as I spun around, completely losing my balance. With a quick yelp, I slipped and landed flat on my butt right beside the piano.
I scrambled back an inch, my face burning as I looked up from the floor.
Cassian was leaning casually against the doorframe. His arms were crossed over his chest, revealing his strong arms with his dark eyes were fixed on me.
"I—I’m sorry," I stammered, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. "I heard a noise... something fell, and the door was open, so I..."
My voice trailed off. Excuses sounded weak when I was literally sitting on his floor, caught red-handed touching his things.
Cassian didn’t move. He just watched me struggle, his jaw set in that familiar line. "And pressing the keys on my piano was part of checking on the noise?"
I swallowed hard, my fingers digging into the edge of the soft rug beneath me. "No. That... that was just me being stupid."
And now you’re calling yourself stupid Elvie. Well...you are because this wasn’t the first time you embarrassed yourself in front of Cassian.
He let out a quiet breath, finally pushing himself off the doorframe. His long, measured strides sounded loud against the wooden floor as he closed the distance between us.
He stopped right beside where I sat, his shadow completely covering me. For a second, I thought he was going to reprimand me again, to remind me of the rules, or tell me how foolish I was.
Instead, Cassian reached down, extending one large, calloused hand toward me. "Are you hurt?" he asked softly, the sharp edge in his voice suddenly softening into something far more dangerous. Concern.
I stared at his outstretched hand, my chest tightening as the lingering humiliation of the fall battled with the sudden, intoxicating warmth of his presence.
Don’t make this more complicated that it was Elvie. I closed my eyes and opened them before hesitantly reaching out and slid my small hand into his large, warm palm.
The second his fingers closed gently around mine, a spark shot straight up my arm. He pulled me up effortlessly, but as my feet hit the floor, my knees wobbled, sending me off balance once again.
Cassian’s free arm shot out instantly pulling me firm against his chest to steady me. The sudden contact was intoxicating. I could feel the heat radiating off his body, and the strength in his arm supporting my weight.
My breath hitched violently in my throat. He’s doing it again. Being cold and warm at the exact same time. It was driving me completely insane.
A sudden wave of heat rushed into my legs, making them feel like lead. I quickly stumbled backward, pulling myself out of his hold and breaking the contact.
"Umm... I am... sorry," I stammered out, my voice barely a whisper as I hugged my arms around myself. "I won’t... I won’t come back here again."
Without waiting for him to reply, I spun on my heel and practically ran toward the exit, desperate to escape the embarrassment.
My hand slammed against the brass handle of the door, pushing it wide open to bolt when his deep voice echoed through stopping me dead in my tracks. "Wait."