Chapter 20
R iordan
Silent, I prowled into Cassie’s room, careful not to wake her. After I’d tied her up, she’d cursed me through the walls for a good while then had apparently fallen asleep. Whatever I’d been feeling, guilt argued loudest in my head.
I’d taken a walk. Cooled down.
Slunk back to her like I couldn’t stay away.
In the dark, I climbed onto the bed and untied her, then cuddled the infuriating lass. She didn’t stir. In minutes, I let exhaustion pull me under.
A kick to my shin woke me.
Blinking, I trained my gaze on a furious Cassie.
“So you’re back.”
I shrugged. “We’re supposed to sleep together.”
“Untie me, jackass.”
“I did that hours ago. Your arms are literally wrapped around me, koala girl.” Reaching, I activated my phone’s torch, shining it on the wall to give us light.
She squinted, flexing her hands behind my neck. Pink stole over her cheeks. “What time is it?”
“Not time for Shade to be missing you yet.”
“I hate ye.”
A flicker of unease passed through me. “Don’t say that.”
Her pout faded. “Fine. Maybe I don’t.”
“Even though I was rough with you.” For her first time, I should’ve been reverent. Careful.
“Gentle is boring. Doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven ye though.”
“Ye told Lottie that you loved me.”
Cassie groaned. “Knew that would come back to bite me in the arse.”
“Is it true?”
“Yes.”
Something broken shifted inside me, warmth spilling over shattered edges, soothing and stormy at the same time. It felt like repairing damage. It felt fucking wonderful.
“Describe it.”
“What? No. It’s embarrassing.”
“I want to know how it feels before it goes away.”
Cassie flexed against me. Not for the first time since I’d got in bed with her, I was very aware of how naked we were, both of us just in our underwear.
Her body drove me insane. Last night, I’d been inside her. It was for seconds, but that connection had meant the world for that short time. An unbeatable sense of closeness, even in anger.
As if she read my mind, Cassie ran a hand down to her underwear. Stripped it. “I’ll talk if ye put it in me again.”
God-fucking-damn her mouth. I kicked my shorts off and rolled her to her back.
“You’re not tying me up this time,” she warned.
“Fine.”
I settled against her. With her black curls spread across the white pillow, Cassie gazed at me wide-eyed.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.” I dropped my mouth onto hers.
Instantly, she melded to me. We’d gone from savage kisses to gentle ones then back again. This one, I slowed down. Slicked her tongue with mine then broke away to travel down her body.
“Talk.” I tasted the skin of her chest then kissed her breast, ending up at her nipple. “Does this feel good?”
She moaned and dug into my hair. “Y-yes.”
“Then tell me how you love me or I’ll stop.”
I panted, my lips losing suction until I only hovered. I latched on again when she started talking.
“I fell in love with ye instantly when I saw ye in Divide. I watched ye for less than a minute and knew. It stopped every other thought process and shouted loudly in my busy brain.”
I hummed, moving to the other breast. Perfectly shaped and mine to toy with. “Keep going.”
Cassie breathed, her head tipping back. “I said that I wanted ye but I don’t think anyone heard. I made my claim out loud.”
I came off her to admire my work, her nipples wet and hard. “Why?”
“Everyone needed to know. It’s like marriage vows. It has to be public or it isn’t real.”
I grumbled, though my interest spiked. “Then what? How did it actually feel?”
I explored her belly with my lips. Widened her thighs with gentle pressure.
“Kiss me there and I’ll tell ye exactly what it’s like.”
Holding her gaze, I laid my lips on her clit, opening her with my thumbs.
Cassie moaned and dropped her head onto the pillow, her eyes closing. “It felt like nothing else. Wonderful. Warm. Happy.”
I reached for another greedy squeeze of her breast.
“Nothing’s changed since then,” she confessed.
I drew my hand back down and trailed it over her centre. She was so wet for me and so responsive. Every touch had her shivering or surge against me. I was dying to be inside her. Against the bed, my dick thickened. But we had time yet.
I kissed her between the legs again, flicking her with my tongue. Cassie squirmed and pushed into my touch, her lips parted in desire.
“Tell me you’re still in love with me. Not just casual love but being completely in love. If that’s what you feel, I want to hear it.”
“Then fuck me. If ye don’t, I’ll die.”
Hot urgency claimed me. I’d planned to toy with her for longer, but the need to be inside her was far more powerful. Coming back up her body, I positioned myself at her entrance. Then I just gazed at her. I needed a second. I wanted to mark the moment. It felt vital.
Cassie grasped my hip and lifted her ass, pushing me inside her.
We gave up twin sounds of pleasure.
Whatever words I’d had vanished. All I knew was the tight fit. The need to get her screaming. Rising over her, I caught her gaze with mine.
Purposefully, I drew out then fucked back in. Under me, she went still. I’d taken her virginity already, and I knew she used sex toys, but this would all be new. It felt like that for me as well. The red flush on her cheeks extended to her chest, and I trailed my gaze down further to where we were joined.
A mistake.
The image of my dick spreading open her pussy would never leave me. It branded into my brain. It also made me want to come harder than ever before.
“Talk,” I growled and rolled my hips, going in deeper.
Cassie writhed then bucked to meet me. “It’s like walking around in a dream. Soft and safe. Ye scare me—oh fuck, that feels good—but I know you’d never hurt me. The love makes that so certain. I’d do anything for ye. Go anywhere. Change anything.”
Such a dangerous statement.
I worked harder, jacking my hips and filling her over and over. Cassie drove her heels into the bed.
All words faded while we discovered how we fitted together. She squeezed every inch of my dick. I wanted to be gentle and slow but quickly found a rhythm that had us both panting.
Joyful, I banded my arms around her and rolled so she was on top, but I kept the control. Kept fucking her while our mouths met.
She broke the kiss. “Roll us again, I like your weight on me.”
I did, a hand to her ass to help me drive in deeper, slower. Cassie took it. Moaned at the angle. Louder when I brushed over her clit with my thumb.
“Keep doing that and you’ll make me come.”
“This?” I kept the pressure and position exact.
Badly, I wanted this to work for her. I’d pushed her last night with how I’d walked out. An apology orgasm would go some way to repairing the damage.
“I want those words when you come,” I ordered.
She clutched at me.
Then around my dick, she pulsed. “I’m utterly, heartbreakingly, happily in love with ye, Rio.”
Rio .
My orgasm slammed into me, taking me by surprise. She was already coming, and the sensation was like nothing I’d ever felt. I groaned, filling her up, coming inside her though I hadn’t intended to. Warmth and happiness joined deep satisfaction.
Then I dropped down on her chest, breathing hard and with a mind empty of all but her. Dizzy, I lay heavily on her. She let me.
“Forgive me,” I finally said. I needed her to say she did.
Cassie sifted her fingers through my hair. I sensed her smile in her words.
“Grovel.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have treated you that way. You deserve better, and I’ll learn from it. You’re so fucking incredible. I’m at your feet, begging you.”
Her happy laugh stopped my words.
“Forgiven. I love ye, remember?”
Until she stopped, I’d never forget.