Chapter 34 #2
Thalia nodded her thanks, hurrying to where the shifter had directed her. She knocked on his door. “Cassius?”
No answer.
Thalia swallowed, glancing back, but Camilla had disappeared. She knocked again, then eased inside.
Cassius’s room was much the same as hers, open to the elements, but instead of facing the waterfall, it looked out onto part of the mountain, a few snowcapped trees dotting the landscape in the distance.
“Cassius?”
He sat in a chair, his back to her, staring out into the night. He didn’t say anything, and Thalia shuffled a bit more into the room, noting the table next to his chair held a decanter of dark liquid and a half-drunk glass.
“Cass?” She moved to his side.
Only when she had moved to the edges of his peripheral vision did he finally look up. His eyes were bleak—dull—the blue so lifeless they were two pools of broken glass.
“This isn’t your fault,” Thalia got out, sinking to her knees.
He huffed out a dark laugh, grabbing his half-finished drink. He downed it in one go. “I wish that were true.”
Thalia swallowed, unsure what to say. His face was a veritable granite mask, one she didn’t know how to crack.
She gently grabbed the empty glass from his hands, setting it on the table. Cassius pulled his stare to her. “Talk to me.”
“I knew that being in this position, having the chance to change things, it would come with difficult decisions,” Cassius finally got out. “Maybe I’ve made the wrong ones.”
“You did what you thought was right. That’s all any of us in power can do,” Thalia whispered, threading her fingers through his.
Cassius stared at their entwined hands.
“I—I’ve been thinking about what you said back in Corithian,” Thalia began, and Cassius flicked his gaze up. “When you said you wanted the power to not sit idly while those in charge dictate behind their own walls. I was angry when you said that. To know that you may have thought that about me.”
“I didn’t think that about you. I still don’t. You did what you could with what you had. That’s always what you’ve done, trying to better the lives of those in Agripa despite your mother calling the shots.”
Thalia swallowed, plowing on. “But you were right to want to change things. To work to get into a position where you could stop this hurt and death that has been lingering for far too long.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I made a bad call,” he said bitterly.
Thalia frowned. “What can I do to help?”
“Nothing.” Cassius stared off, his face once more granite.
“There must be something I can do?” Something to take away that bleak look on his face, to take away the guilt that wrapped around his neck as heavy as millstones.
Because no matter what she said, he’d still blame himself for Sybil, still blame himself for Thalia nearly dying. And that just wouldn’t do.
“You know, I’ve been thinking about something else,” Thalia started, squeezing his fingers.
“What have you been thinking?” he grunted.
“I’ve been thinking about the conversation we had back in Irenbis. About how you would go about seducing me.”
His eyes flicked up at that, and Thalia shifted so that she knelt before him. “What about it?” he asked gruffly.
“Well, you told me how you might seduce me, but I never returned the favor.” She let go of his hand, placing her palm on his thigh.
“Is that so? And how would you seduce me, Princess?”
Thalia shifted forward, rising on her knees slightly. “Well, for one, I would definitely wear that little red nightdress you seem so obsessed with.”
“Oh?”
She nodded, leaning closer, one hand resting on his thigh; the other she slid up his torso, resting on the strong expanse of his shoulder. “And I’d weave those little flowers that you picked for me in my hair.”
He swallowed, shifting in the seat. “And then?”
Thalia tilted her head, her cheek pressing against his. Her lips brushed his earlobe. “And then I would chain you to the bed.”
Cassius’s fingers clenched on the arms of his chair hard enough that the wood groaned.
“And you would be utterly at my mercy,” she whispered. “Not able to touch me. Only able to watch as I had my way with you.”
She took his lobe in her teeth, tugging lightly.
Cassius let out a sharp breath, her hand sliding up his thigh, stopping at the ties of his pants.
“And you would be begging me to touch you,” she continued, pulling on the string with her fingers. Her lips pressed against his throat, feeling the roughness of his skin against her mouth.
“Begging me to take you down my throat.” The laces loosened, and she leaned back.
His irises glowed brighter than the moon, the bleakness replaced with something much more heady.
She looked down, following the light dusting of hair peeking above his loosened waistband. The outline of his cock pressed against the seam of his pants.
Thalia flicked her gaze back up. “But I suppose it’s a good thing I don’t have that red nightdress.”
Cassius swallowed. Hard. “I suppose it is.”
Thalia smirked. “But I guess that means this will just have to do.”
She reached inside his trousers, wrapping her hand around his cock, and gave a long, slow tug.
Cassius hissed, watching her hand, fingers tightening on the arms of his chair.
Thalia chuckled, her other hand doing quick work to free him. She’d forgotten how big he was, how her fingers could barely wrap around him.
She gave another pull, and Cassius groaned.
Thalia smiled, and his heavy lids lifted to hers. “Put your mouth on me,” he practically growled out.
Thalia raised a brow. “Already begging?”
“Please, Thalia.”
Please.
That word, her name on his lips, had her head lowering. Cassius groaned once more as she took him inside her mouth.
She’d missed this.
Missed him threading his hand through her hair, feeling the restraint he kept for himself slowly come undone.
She ran her tongue along the sides, coating him with her saliva. He let out a sharp breath, his hand tightening on the back of her head.
Her teeth grazed the sensitive skin on the top of his cock, just as she tugged downward—
Cassius let out a curse, hips bucking.
Thalia laughed around him. She set to work, using her tongue to swirl up the beads of moisture gathering, her hand working in tandem with her mouth.
“Fuck,” he panted.
Thalia flicked her gaze upward. His chest strained against his shirt, his head thrown back. But he wasn’t nearly begging as much as she wanted. She needed him undone. Needed him fucking her mouth as if his life depended on it.
She took him deeper, and she choked.
He groaned, his hips moving as he plunged into her. She quickened her pace, her teeth scraping as she pumped him.
She choked again, her eyes watering, and Cassius’s fingers tangled so deep in her hair she was at his mercy.
But she relished it.
Relished him as he unleashed himself.
She reached her free hand into his pants and cupped him, squeezing tightly.
That was his undoing.
Cassius roared, spilling himself into her mouth. She pumped him until the waves passed, then she removed herself, swallowing as she went.
He stared at her, chest heaving, his cock still glistening.
She needed him inside her. Now.
Based on the wicked glint in his eye, she knew he was thinking the same thing.
Before either of them could move, a pounding at the door had them both whirling. Cassius shoved his cock back into his pants, grabbing his discard knife.
He motioned for Thalia to get behind him until Keegan’s voice yelled between the pounding fists. “Cassius, you need to get out here. Now!”