19. Cassandra
CASSANDRA
“ T ake your dress off.”
I froze in place. My spine stiffened at the growl echoing from the door frame, but I didn’t turn around. “Excuse me?”
His wide hands spanned my waist, sliding up and down before he found the zipper tucked away on the side. “Do you still want this?”
“What?” I played dumb to force his hand.
Fingers threaded up my neck, tangling in the back of my hair. They curled against my scalp, tugging firmly. The bite of pain was delicious.
“I don’t do mind games, Princess.” His beard scratched my ear as he whispered against my skin. “If you want me to finish what you started the other day, then take off your dress.”
“And if I don’t?”
My eyes fluttered closed as he pulled my hips backward until my ass nestled against the front of his jeans.
“If you don’t, I’m going to walk back out that door. We’ll both go on with our days like this never happened.”
My body still hummed with electricity after the public dressing down I had the pleasure of giving back at the school. As much as I wanted to egg him on a little longer, I just wanted him. I needed to release all that pent-up energy.
Our fingers brushed as I reached for the zipper and pulled it down.
“So, you do know how to follow directions,” Christian said as he took off his hat and hung it on the rack. His voice was warm and strong like a shot of whiskey.
“Don’t sound so fucking smug,” I grumbled as I wiggled out of the sleeves and pushed the top half of the dress down to my waist.
Rough fingertips grazed my bare skin, sending a torrent of goosebumps skittering across my stomach.
“You’re wasting time.”
“You could help me get undressed,” I sassed.
Christian chuckled. “You’re doing just fine on your own. Besides—” he brushed my hair aside and dotted the crook of my neck with the whisper of a kiss “—I like watching you.”
I shoved the dress off my hips, letting it fall in a pool of black fabric. “If you’re just watching, I’ll need some fresh batteries.”
His knuckle trailed down my cheek. “One day that smart mouth is gonna get you in trouble.”
Christian made my ankles weak. I wobbled on the heels of my stilettos and tipped backward into him. For the shortest second in human history, I let myself lean into him, trusting that he’d catch me.
And he did.
“Is today that day?” I asked.
Hands slid around my waist, across my stomach, then up my ribs—exploring and mapping my body. He took his time, but never once grazed my bra or panties. Warm lips dotted the back of my neck with a line of kisses.
I ached to turn and fall into his chest. To be held. To feel safe.
“Not today.” Christian dug his fingers into my hips and spun me to face him. I matched each of his steps forward with a step back. My back hit the wall, but he kept pressing forward. “I like it when you use your powers for good.”
I tipped my chin up and grazed his lips. “Then just imagine the damage I can do when I’m feeling naughty. Don’t test me.”
“We’ll see about that,” he growled the moment before his lips met mine.
I gasped into the kiss as his hands skated up my abdomen.
Fingers curled around my bra strap, yanking it down my shoulder.
Christian caressed the swell of my breast with the back of his knuckles as he traced my lips with his tongue.
I couldn’t help the desperate moan that slipped out of my mouth when he scraped his fingers over the place where my bra hid my nipple.
“Make that sound for me again.” He slid one hand into my bra, gently squeezing my breast before smoothing a calloused finger over my nipple.
Heat and wanton desire flashed like lightning, striking my pussy in an instant. I bit my lip, stifling it as I tried to clench my thighs together to ease the emptiness.
Christian stopped me. He wedged his knee between my legs, eyes darkening as he cupped my jaw in his palm. “Don’t hold back on my account.”
I pressed my palms squarely on his chest, feeling his heart racing through me like an electrical current. “I have a feeling you’re the one holding back. Do you think I want you to be nice and make love to me or something?”
Christian’s face split in a grin as he grabbed the back of my thighs and threw me over his shoulder.
I grunted as the wind was knocked out of my lungs. “What is the matter with you?” I wheezed and muttered, “Caveman.”
He palmed my ass as he took heavy strides across the kitchen. His boots clomped and echoed through the empty house. Christian yanked open the door to the guest room and, without warning, threw me onto the bed.
I screeched as I plummeted, trying to spot the landing, but I bounced. My shoulder smacked the wall and I collapsed into the space between the bed and the wall in a crumpled heap of tangled limbs.
“Burning daylight,” he said, unbothered, as he toed off his boots and unbuttoned his shirt.
I sat up and dropped my chin onto the mattress as strands of hair fell in front of my face. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’d already be on the bed if you hadn’t thrown me across the room.”
“Right,” Christian said with a smirk. He stopped taking his clothes off to scoop me up and drop me gently onto the mattress. “I forgot. You’re not used to being with someone who can manhandle you.”
I rolled my eyes and scooted back against the pillows. “Let me be clear. I do not like being dominated. I’m in charge.”
His chuckle was dark. “It’s cute that you think that. But let me be clear.” He grabbed a condom from his pocket, tossed it on the bed, and dropped his jeans. “This is the only place I want to dominate you. And I think you’re going to like it.”
I pressed my finger to his lips as he prowled up the bed. “The princess thing is cute because you think it gets under my skin, but if you expect me to kneel?—”
Christian took my wrists in his hands, turned them up, and kissed my palms. “The only time you’ll kneel will be over my face so I can pleasure my queen the way she deserves.”
I wasn’t sure if the gasp that escaped my mouth was shock or arousal. Probably a little of both.
“Men don’t talk like that anymore,” I rasped as he pulled my hips beneath his and braced himself over me.
Christian cupped my cheek and kissed me. “I do.”
I was a tall woman, topping out at six feet—more when I was in heels. Men were always steering clear of me because they didn’t want to feel insecure. But not Christian.
He sat back on his haunches and curled his fingers into the edge of my thong. I watched through heavy lids as he tugged my panties down and cupped my pussy in his palm.
“Let me guess,” I said between labored breaths. “You prefer your women au naturel or something.”
He studied my eyes with an unbreakable gaze as he pressed his thumb to my clit.
“You know, since you’re … like …” I bit my lip, whimpering when he pinched my clit between two fingers and slowly massaged it. “All rugged and?—”
“And what?” he asked as he slid a finger through my slick entrance.
“You’re like a human bear.”
He chuckled. “You need to stop assuming that you know what I like, Cass.”
With the lightest touches, Christian was making me feel more turned on and vulnerable than I had in years.
There was something to be said about bad sex where the other person is selfish or doesn’t know what the hell they’re doing. It never made me feel exposed or fragile. Especially when I was in control.
But Christian made me feel like a window pane with spider web cracks racing through the glass.
My toes curled as he kept steady pressure on my clit.
I was on the verge of shattering.
He reached around and unclasped my bra, pulling the cups away and uncovering my breasts.
“You want to know what I like?” Christian leaned down and pulled my nipple into his mouth, forcing me to arch off the bed as my body sought his touch.
He released it with a pop and kissed down my sternum while skating his hand up and down my thigh.
“I like seeing you in those high heels you love. Your legs are a fucking dream in them. I like the way you always take the time to put on perfume even if you’re working from the house.
I don’t want you rough and rugged, Cass.
” He slid a thick finger into my pussy and slowly curled it, dragging the tip along my sensitive walls. “I like your softness.”
He moved down and slowly lapped at my clit with the flat of his tongue.
Fireworks sizzled across my hips as he eased me close to an orgasm. I clenched my thigh around his ears, desperate not to let it fade.
Christian teased me as he drew his finger from my core and grabbed my thighs. “You’re more than welcome to ride my beard as much as you want, but right now I want these legs open wide.”
I groaned as he slid two fingers inside me. “Least sexy position of all time. I look like a spatchcocked turkey.”
He growled and grazed my clit with his teeth as he shoved my legs apart with his shoulders. “Is that what that little bitch boy told you?”
“Something like that,” I gasped when he found my G-spot.
“Well.” He leaned up and pressed his palm to my pussy, stroking inside of me as he stimulated my clit with the heel of his hand. “Allow me to make it up to you.”
“Christian—” I groaned as he edged me again, closer to the precipice this time.
“That’s right. My fingers in your cunt. My name on your lips. He doesn’t get this body anymore. Not his ring on your finger, not a fucking inkling of him in your mind. I’m going to replace every thought of him. Mark my words, princess.”
“The ring’s gone,” I whispered when he let off the pressure again, dragging my climax out.
Christian paused. “What?”
I swallowed. “I put it in the mail this morning. I sent it to his assistant. She’ll open it in the office and get the rumor mill going because of the note I added about him cheating with a client and framing me for her public outburst.”
He looked up with a wicked smile. “Why didn’t you go to human resources?”
“So he can get a slap on the wrist?” I let out a caustic laugh. “I want revenge, not red tape.”