41. Cassius
CHAPTER 41
Cassius
Maybe I wasn’t supposed to find that romantic, but I couldn’t help the wave of emotion that tried to break free the moment I heard that devastating confession fall from her lips like poisoned honey.
It didn’t matter if it was poisoned. It was still sweet enough to make my teeth ache, but that edge of destruction managed to temper the ache in my teeth. I couldn’t be more grateful to her for that, because I’d been dangerously close to bonding her again.
Why did I want to bond her so fucking badly? Were we really that compatible?
That didn’t matter right now. What mattered was Lucy and whatever fucked-up shit had to be going through her head.
“You want to eat me alive?” I leaned back and smirked at her, not giving a shit if it pissed her off. I wanted to hear her say it again. I wanted her to get mad .
“I do.” Lucy’s smile shifted and there was an edge of violence to it when she turned to face me, crawling over my body through the water like she planned to devour me.
She was so fucking perfect and I couldn’t look away from her even if I wanted to, not when she was like this .
“Take whatever you want then.” I rested my arms along the sides of the bathtub and waited, hoping she’d show me even more of her soul.
I wanted to see it burning in her eyes with all her righteous rage. I wanted her to say and do whatever it was she wanted to me, and then I’d show her how na?ve she truly was.
Liam was the legacy alpha, but I knew crazy when I saw it, and Lucy was fucking insane. That marble mask she wore and the distance she kept between herself and everyone other than Frankie…maybe even her too…
Lucy was showing it to me .
She considered me a threat, and I was pretty sure I knew why.
It wasn’t because she thought I was a murder suspect either, but because she wanted what I could give her and she hated it. That’s fine. I didn’t need her to like it. I just needed her to stay. The rest we’d work through eventually, and even if we didn’t, I’d just fuck her until she couldn’t move or speak or even think .
Maybe then she’d stop assuming Liam and I would abandon her the same way her mother had abandoned her father.
“Whatever I want?” Lucy settled her hands on my shoulders and then straddled me.
I gritted my teeth at the sensation of her hot pussy against my hard cock, but otherwise I stayed completely still. All I wanted was to be back inside that scorching heat, feeling how much she liked it when I was inside her, knotting her so she couldn’t run away and Liam couldn’t steal her away from me for himself…
All I wanted was to own her. I didn’t care how as long as she stayed with me…who else would look at me like this? No one else on the fucking planet could look so goddamn hungry as they stared into the very same blue eyes that made everyone so fucking uncomfortable they couldn’t meet my gaze for more than a few seconds .
But Lucy had always stared, admiring what others found terrifying.
I fucking adored the moment she realized she’d been staring, and the way she looked away like she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t have. That was my favorite expression of hers, right up until she’d opened her mouth to show me my cum without having to be told.
My grip on the tub tightened, and I nearly shattered the porcelain at the reminder that neither I, nor Liam, had been the one to train her to do that.
“Whatever you want,” I confirmed, forcing myself to sit there and do nothing when her pheromones started flowering again like one of those dark, night-blooming roses. “I have one condition though.”
Lucy smirked – positive she’d won whatever game she was playing, but she had no fucking idea who she was dealing with. “What’s the condition?”
I couldn’t resist my instincts this time. I grabbed her by the throat and pulled her closer until our noses and foreheads pressed together. The look of shock on her face was fucking delicious.
“Who trained you to be such a good little omega, hm? Who taught you how to be so fucking pleasing? I want to know their names so I can…show them my gratitude.”
Her eyes widened and I couldn’t hide anything from her anymore. I smiled , knowing exactly what it looked like too. It was mean and promised violence, but I couldn’t stop myself from showing her the real me even if I wanted to.
The scent of black currants and an omega’s desire wrapped around me, infecting my thoughts and mind – all I could do was breathe it deep into my lungs so she could infect everything else too.
“Trained?” Lucy wasn’t scared exactly, but that wary look was back in her eyes. “No one trained me.”
“No?” I held her gaze and licked the stream of tears from her cheek. They tasted sweet and salty with this edge of despair I didn’t think I’d ever get enough of. “I don’t believe you, Lucy. Someone trained you. How else would you know exactly what I want? How could you open your mouth for me so easily without a single, verbal command? That doesn’t explain how you know how badly I need to hurt you either…”
Licking the other side of her face, I gave her the time she needed to answer me, but she would answer this time. I wasn’t going to let her get away with all this deflecting anymore. I needed her answers before I did something…reckless.
“The only person who’s ever trained me is my father.” Lucy tried to shove my face away, but her strength was no match for mine. My smile turned into a grin when fury flashed through her eyes. “I’ve never been with an alpha. Ever .”
“Not even Frankie?” I yanked her closer, the psychotic grin on my face fading as I tried to decide if she was lying to me or not.
“ No . Never. Now let go of me.”
“So, your father taught you how to be this perfect?” I couldn’t shut my fucking mouth, not after hearing that. It didn’t matter how fucking stupid I knew this was. I couldn’t stop. “Maybe I should thank him.”
“Well, you can’t. He’s rotting in prison for life .”
“A shame.” This time, I kissed the fresh tears instead of feasting on them. I didn’t understand why she was still crying. It couldn’t just be that she was angry. What else was it?
“My father murdered alphas. That doesn’t bother you?” Lucy tried to shove my face away, but I wasn’t going to let her get any farther away than she already was.
Closing my eyes, I turned my head and kissed the palm of her hand, reminding myself I wasn’t allowed to bite her.
Not even a scratch on her palm. Don’t bite her, you stupid fucking idiot. She’s not yours.
She would be soon enough.
But not yet .
I snarled in frustration and glared at her even when I knew this wasn’t her fault. I didn’t care. I wanted my fucking teeth in her flesh, but my pheromones would have to do.
“ Cassius , answer me.” Her serious tone affected me almost as much as Liam’s did, but I hadn’t expected it to turn me into this tortured creature who’d do anything to keep her close.
Maybe I should have, because Liam had done the exact same shit.
“Why would it bother me?” I managed.
Releasing her throat wasn’t an option. I tightened my hold on her, and pressed down on her hip with my other hand, pleased to see her bite the inside of her cheek in response.
I didn’t understand why, but every time one of us released her throat, she panicked, and that was the last thing I wanted right now. “Do you think I care who your parents are?”
“Aren’t you afraid I’m going to end up just like him?!” Oh, she was fucking furious with me.
I grinned as she thrashed around, rubbing that delicious pussy all up and down my cock as she tried to get away. Her tits were bouncing around and water was getting everywhere – soaking her hair and plastering it to her face, but her eyes…
She was burning alive and I’d never seen anything more enchanting than the destruction that look on her face promised me. “I could kill you,” she threatened.
There wasn’t a single weapon she could use right now, but I believed her.
“You could,” I agreed.
Forcing her pussy to slide back down my cock almost broke her out of this little tantrum, but I didn’t want to distract her too much since she was so fucking cute when she was angry.
I leaned forward and kissed the spot where her jaw met her throat. “Maybe I want you to kill me.”
“You fucking idiot.” Lucy dug her nails into my skin until blood slid down to drip into the bath, staining it red. “Why would you want that? ”
“What better way to die than at the hands of my omega?” I grinned and caught her bottom lip between my teeth, tugging just hard enough to break open that split lip again. “If you want to kill me, then I guess I deserve to die.”
“You’re not in your right mind,” she hissed, licking the blood from her bottom lip. “You’re all hopped up on pheromones and have no idea what you’re saying.”
Maybe she was right, but I didn’t really care.
“You’re starving, aren’t you?” The rage in her eyes faded away at my question and I could see the fear trickling back in. “Let me feed you, Lucy. However you need me to. That’s why I’m here – it’s why I’m an alpha.”
When those tears started pouring down her face again, I finally understood what was going on and I felt my grin practically split my face in half.
This…this I could handle.
“Let me be your alpha, Lucy, and you can have whatever you want. Even my death.”
Before she could reject me, I kissed her hard enough that blood gushed into my mouth, and it left such bitter despair on my tongue that it reminded me of the way she smelled.
Black currants and dark roses tinged with something sharp…
I wasn’t going to let her push me away anymore, not when she only did it to see if I would stay. Lucy wanted to test me, and I planned to show her just how fucking stubborn I could be. Even if she wanted to test me every single day for the rest of my life…
Who fucking cares? It was worth it when she melted in my arms like this, holding on to me like she’d never let go.