Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
CASSIAN
Sterling was distant for the rest of the day. He worked in the office while I waited at the counter for passing travelers to request their free rooms.
Nothing.
Something had definitely happened to the curse.
By the time I gave up and headed to bed, Sterling was still awake, sitting at the desk examining a letter.
I approached the desk, placing the key to room thirteen in front of him. “There were plenty of spare rooms tonight,” I said.
He frowned at me over the letter, and I saw the handwriting. It was the letter I had sent to the Force. He must have been desperate for a lead if he was reading that again. “Thank you,” he said.
I nodded, and he got back to reading the letter. What could the letter tell him that I couldn’t? I lingered at the end of the desk, watching him. “Hey, I’m sorry about earlier. I think you’re right. This investigation is harder on me than I realized.”
He looked up again with tired eyes, as though there were an invisible shield between us now. Our argument must have done more damage than I thought.
“This place means a lot to me,” I continued.
“I don’t want to know who has so much disdain for me they’d want to pry the last piece of my grandfather away, but I’m coming to terms with it.
I know that’s why you’re here, but solving this case means knowing who turned on me and then losing you to Ladiall, and I just can’t seem to accept that.
I’m sorry for distracting you. I’ll let you handle the case on your own from now on,” I said.
He set the letter down on the table in front of him and sighed. “Cassian, I like you a lot, but it’s ruining my ability to be objective. I’m sorry this is hard for you, and I appreciate you taking a step back for me, but you have to promise me you’ll accept the answer when I finally solve it.”
I hesitated. It would be hard, but no matter what he told me, I had to accept it. “What if I can’t?” I asked.
He pursed his lips, sighing through his nose. “Then someone far meaner and much less attractive will replace me to come up with the same answer, and your favorite sexy investigator won’t be here when you need his shoulder to cry on.”
I looked away as a smile took hold. Sterling was smart, and he would figure it out. I wouldn’t like the answer, but that didn’t change the truth. “I promise I’ll accept your answer. I trust you.”
“Thank you,” Sterling said. He lifted the key from the desktop and examined it. “Thirteen? I heard that room is haunted.”
A laugh slipped from my reluctant smile. “Would you like a different room, sir?”
Sterling set the key on the table, smirking at me. “Is that one available?” He pointed at my bedroom door.
I bit my lower lip, still fighting my relentless smile. It had been hard enough to bring him a key after talking myself out of inviting him into my bed. I hadn’t prepared myself enough to turn down a direct inquiry. “It would certainly facilitate the transfer of your belongings.”
Sterling chuckled. “Ooh, dirty talk.”
Another ugly laugh slipped out. It wasn’t fair that he was attractive, smart, and funny. “Perhaps you need help transferring some of those pesky belongings off your body?”
Sterling’s eyebrows shot up before he laughed and stood up to round the desk. He slid one hand up the side of my face and said, “You can help me with that anytime, Cassian.” He tilted my chin up and moved closer, but he waited to let me decide whether to close the gap between us.
I did, pressing a kiss to his mouth. He kissed me softly until I pulled back to look him in the eyes. “Sterling…” I said.
“Yes? What’s wrong?” He brushed his thumb down my cheek, and the gesture alone made me second-guess the incoming question.
“I don’t want to share my bed again if this is just physical. I have feelings for you, and I don’t want this to end when the investigation does,” I said.
“I don’t want that either. When this is over, I’ll visit you as often as I can. Possibly more,” he said, kissing me on the cheek.
My face broke into a wide grin. Was this real? He wanted to stick around? “You’d ditch work to see me?”
“I’d hire someone to curse your inn again just to see you,” he said.
I laughed. “Please don’t do that.”
He kissed me on the lips. “No promises.”
I turned away to laugh again. “I’m starting to think it was you.”
“Maybe it was. I told you not to be 100 percent certain of anyone, didn’t I?” he asked.
The question annoyed me, so I took his face in my hands and kissed him, dragging him backward to my room.
We stumbled messily through the door and fell onto my bed, peeling layers of clothing off each other.
The night before, we’d touched and kissed each other like we’d been waiting our entire lives for it, and I suppose we had.
That night, we took our time. He kissed every inch of my skin as he undressed me, praising my body the entire time.
I feared on a few occasions he would finish me just from his kisses, but I kept it together long enough for him to whisper in my ear, “Can I fuck you?”
I had to squeeze my eyes shut to answer. “Yes,” I said.
I sat up with him, pulling his shirt over his head and kissing his chest while I unbuttoned his trousers.
He pushed me down gently while pulling his pants off and lowering himself on top of me.
He kissed the base of my throat and worked his way up to my jaw while adjusting my legs around him, running his hand up and down my thigh.
I held him around the shoulders, already breathing hard from the pleasure of his kisses. I slid my hands through his hair, holding him closer while he rubbed our cocks together. A breathy moan escaped me, and I held his hips to stop him.
“If you want to fuck me, you better do it quick,” I said.
He gave a low laugh and sat back, his hard cock pressed against his abs. Gods, how lucky I was.
I reached across the bed to dig in my bedside drawer for a small vial of a slippery substance that I’d created just for this sort of occasion.
“What’s this?” Sterling asked as I offered it to him.
“Put some on your dick and find out,” I said, lying back again with my legs around him.
I enjoyed watching him cautiously open it, dab some on his fingers, and rub it around until understanding crossed his face.
“Ah…” he said, tilting the vial enough for a thin dribble to slide down his cock.
He corked the vial and tossed it aside before rubbing it around his dick, his eyes closing while he pleasured himself.
“Oh, Sterling,” I said, gripping the sheets at my sides. “You’re so sexy.”
“Thanks. So are you,” he said with a wink just as his hand moved from his cock to my ass.
He rubbed the lubricant around before he slowly pushed his finger inside, sliding deeper and massaging me.
He worked his finger inside me until I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
If his finger did this, I couldn’t imagine what his cock would do.
He pulled his finger out, leaving me panting hard beneath him. He lowered himself over me, rubbing the tip of his thick cock against my hole.
“Ready?” he whispered.
“Yes.”
Slowly, he pushed his cock into me, stretching me open.
I dug my nails into his back, moaning from the pleasure and fighting not to come all over myself.
His girthy dick slid deep inside me while I failed to control the sounds leaving my mouth.
I must have been loud, because Sterling placed his hand over my mouth while he started thrusting in and out.
I tried to apologize, but he fucked me so good it probably would’ve sounded like more pathetic moaning, anyway.
“I love the sounds you make,” he said into my ear before uncovering my mouth, “but I don’t want to wake anyone up.” I tried to keep quiet, but I’d never been fucked like this before. Sterling kissed and sucked my neck while his hands wandered my body, and his cock plunged deep into me.
My legs trembled around his sweaty torso, and my dick leaked onto my stomach with each thrust. I’d never felt pleasure like this. Just when I was on the cusp of orgasm, Sterling pulled out.
“What are you—”
He interrupted me to lift me up and flip me onto my belly. He lowered his body against mine and kissed my neck. “Is this okay?” he whispered in my ear as he rubbed his cock over my ass.
“Do whatever you want,” I said, clutching the sheets in my hands. My cock twitched between me and the mattress, and I didn’t care if I ruined the sheets the moment he entered me.
He propped my ass up, holding my hips for support while he pressed his rock-hard dick against my hole again. I opened easily for him, and he slid inside deeper than before, fucking me at an angle that blinded me with pleasure.
I pressed my face into the pillow to moan loudly as he buried himself deep inside me. He lay pressed against me, thrusting into me while pinning me beneath him and moaning in my ear. The sound of his voice and the friction of my cock rubbing the sheets were too much for me.
I cried into the pillow while my orgasm shot through my body. My eyes rolled back, and I breathed heavily while my dick spilled my pleasure onto the sheets.
My orgasm didn’t stop, because Sterling wasn’t finished with me. The bed creaked beneath us while he pleasured himself with my body, and mine with his. I never knew I could come for so long, my stomach and the bed becoming stickier with every deep thrust.
“I’m about to come,” he breathed in my ear, slowing his movements. His cock felt amazing sliding in and out to the sound of his voice.
“Come inside me,” I moaned.
Sterling thrust deep into me and unloaded his throbbing cock inside me, moaning hot breaths against my neck. He stayed there for a while, letting his twitching dick fill me until we were both satisfied.
When he pulled out, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, kissing my cheek while we snuggled under the covers.
“I don’t want you to go back to Ladiall…” I said.
“I have to someday,” he said. “But I’ll come back.”