Page 35

This goes beyond anything I'd imagined when I'd followed that desperate urge to just feel something and kissed him. I'd reasoned that if I was going to die because of Mario, then I didn't want to die without acting on the crush that's been in my heart for longer than I can remember.

He kissed me back.

He's still kissing me back. Every press of his lips is deep and slow, but there's an urgency there that scratches through my mind with a trail of heat and leaves me hungry for more every time our lips part. His hot, muscular arms cradle me close and I nuzzle into his broad chest as his daring fingers slip an inch further into me.

Every inch of me is on fire. Lust burns through my heart with every beat and pleasure curls tight and low in my core. It's been too long since I've been with someone and it shows in how quickly my body melts into his touch. In this moment, nothing else matters.

Cassian's fingers curl inside me, lazily rocking in and out of me while the heel of his hand presses firmly down on my clit. He holds me close enough that I can rock against his palm and chase the pleasure building with every rolling curl of his fingers.

Oh, he knows what he's doing.

The air between us thickens with heat and I run my fingers over his short hair. Each fuzzy sensation against my fingertips just makes me cling tighter to him, and when his tongue slips into my mouth, I give myself over completely. Caught between rocking against his palm and back onto his fingers, hot goosebumps rush down my arms and legs and heat builds tight with pressure just below my navel.

I'm so close, I'm shaking.

Cassian doesn't stop. He keeps kissing me with purpose, tasting me like he's memorizing every detail of me and then his fingers curl deep inside me one last time. My orgasm crashes over me in a hot, tight wave. My body grows rigid as heat flushes across my chest, across my abdomen and down my thighs. A moan catches in my throat as I arch into Cassian and my eyes roll back against the tremors of pleasure coursing through me.

He kisses me through it all, soft and tender, until I sag back down onto the cot with my heart hammering and barely enough space between us to breathe.

"Cassian…" I gasp softly.

"Cassian!" calls a far away voice, followed by the thunk of a door somewhere in this apartment.

Alarm jolts through me and I jerk upward while Cassian moves at a much slower, more relaxed pace. He almost seems reluctant to draw his hands out of me and away from me, and he brushes his lips gently against my cheek as he sits up.

"In here, Val."

Val? I'm so caught up in sorting my clothes and smoothing down my hair while in a panic that we just got caught by someone that I don't notice the woman until she's almost right in front of me.

She stands tall with long auburn hair that catches the sunlight and gleams like fire. Her golden brown eyes narrow ever so slightly as she looks between the two of us, then she smiles.

"Sabina. It's good to see you awake."

I lift my gaze and freeze. "Val… Valentina?" Another person from my restaurant. When Cassian said one of his friends helped him, I was so caught up in everything that it didn't even click that who he was talking about was the Valentina I'd seen once or twice at my work.

"Valentina?" She's familiar and yet, there's something different about her. Over the years I've known her, we've had maybe five conversations in total, as she was always passing through. As she smiles, the light catches on a scar that melts into her hairline. I don't remember her having that the last time we saw one another, but it had to have been months since we last spoke.

"Yes?" She holds up a paper bag in one arm. "I brought breakfast. If you two are finished."

As she turns away, my cheeks flare hot and an uncomfortable knot grows in my stomach. Cassian and I had parted from one another, but there's no way she could know what we were up to, could she?

I look at Cassian. He's watching me with a soft smile on his handsome face. "Do you want to clean up?" he asks gently. "The bathroom is through there. There are some clothes in there as well. Valentina guessed your size so if they don't fit, I can go and get some more."

"I… I'll take a shower," I reply quietly. "Thanks." I stand slowly and hurry into the bathroom where I immediately close the door and press myself against it.

What was I thinking?

Waking up here was surreal. Seeing Cassian was surreal. Hearing that he came halfway across the world to rescue me is even more surreal, and then he kissed me back. I let myself go with the flow because everything is so fucked that I have no idea how much time I even have left.

Once I'm sure no one's going to follow me, I turn and rest my back against the door with a soft sigh.

This is… insane.

"Val?" Cassian's voice drifts faintly through the door, so I press my ear against it and close my eyes to listen.

"You wanted the rye bread, right?" Valentina's voice is equally muffled, but I can mostly make out what she's saying.

"Thanks. Did you see anything on the way up?" Cassian asks.