10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Thea

I t had been a week since Cassius and I kissed in his tent. Each day that passed only made me feel like a traitor because I couldn’t stop thinking about him and touching myself every night. It was sick. I had a real problem.

An overwhelming sense of longing filled me. This had been happening a lot. Random feelings that did not feel like my own constantly plagued me. My eyes glanced around the dark forest we had stopped in tonight. We were still on Crimson lands; I could tell by the tall pine trees and the air that seemed to be the perfect temperature. My lungs sucked in the air that smelled like rain and forest.

I liked Crimson’s lands. Not that I would ever say that out loud. My men had gone to sleep a long time ago, besides the dozen who kept guard. I had been sitting by the fire when a sudden urge to look around the woods overtook me .

“I’m going to look around,” I told the guard closest to me.

“Do you want me to follow?”

“No. I won’t be long.”

I made sure my viper-handled dagger was in my boot before heading to the woods. My eyes darted around when I felt as if I was being watched. Maybe monsters lurked out here. Adrenaline pumped through me, and I liked the feeling of this unknown danger. I glanced over my shoulder at the camp, disappearing into the darkness as I walked farther into the forest. When I turned forward, I ran into Cassius’ hard chest.

I grabbed my dagger and pointed it at him, but he was one step ahead of me. He grabbed my wrists and slammed them above my head into the tree behind me.

“Miss me, little viper?” His handsome face instantly sent lust through me. Damn him. He plucked the dagger from my hand. “You don’t need this right now.” He tossed it to the forest floor.

“What are you doing?” I breathed as he held me in place with his own body.

“Watching you.” His black eyes stared at me like he could see every dirty thing I had ever thought about him in the last week. This position we were in was going to haunt my fucking fantasies .

“You disappeared.”

My eyes flickered down to his mouth when he smirked.

“So, you did miss me.”

“No,” I scoffed. “It’s just a very cowardly way to fight a war.” I lied.

His smile grew. Gods be damned, I was not doing myself any favors by being out here with this handsome monster.

“Have you thought of me, Thea?”

“I’ve thought of stabbing you.” I smiled wickedly at him. His smile reflected mine, and it made lust shoot through me again. Cassius shifted as something made his body soften against me.

“You came into the woods; why?”

“I felt like I should. I didn’t know you were lurking like a creep.”

He laughed at my insult. My eyes took in the sight of his happiness, and it made me feel good to see it. Confusion flooded me.

“What’s the matter?” His brows knitted together.

“Why are you flirting with me? We’re in a war, and you seem to not give a damn.”

His black eyes traced over me slowly. The grip on my wrist lessened, and his hand grabbed my jaw gently.

“Why do you like me flirting with you, is the real question?”

My traitorous body leaned closer to him. Cassius’ jaw tensed as he watched me. He was struggling with something.

“I don’t like you flirting.” I tried to sound confident, but it came out breathless and exactly the opposite of what I tried to convince him of.

“I think we both know how much you’re lying, my little liar. If I reached my hand into your trousers, I know you would be fucking dripping wet for me.”

Oh shit.

I lost all ability to function. A war raged inside of me. I wanted to tell him to reach into my trousers and find out for himself, but then I also wanted to shove him away from me. I was lying to myself; there was no way I would shove him away from me. I was a mess the past few days when he hid away from me.

“You are a cocky prick, aren’t you?” I smirked.

“And you’re a very bad liar.” He leaned forward so his mouth was an inch from mine and stopped. His eyes bounced between mine. Cassius smelled like Crimson, rain, and forest. Fuck. I wanted him to kiss me.

“Kiss me, Thea. We can add it to our list of secrets.”

“I’m supposed to trust you," I whispered. Cassius’ hand holding my jaw pulled me closer to him, and he kissed me. Immediately I pulled him to me and kissed him back, but then he was pulling away.

“I missed you too, little viper.”

My eyes glided over his face as he watched me in a way that made me feel safe. He had moved a few feet away from me. The sleeves of his black tunic were rolled up, exposing that damn red crown again. My vision pulsed red as I looked over him.

“Thea,” he breathed.

“Cassius.” I stepped forward. His shadows burst out from him as I lunged at him. My mouth crushed his as he yanked me against him. Cassius lifted me and pushed me up against the tree. His hips rolled forward, and I moaned at the feeling of him. Fuck, this was better than anything I could think of.

“What are you doing?”

Cassius dropped me to my feet as soon as the man appeared next to us. My eyes moved from Cassius to the Kizar guard who had stumbled upon us. “Shit,” he hissed when he realized the man I was kissing was Cassius.

My darkness lashed out of me without permission and grabbed the man, squeezing until his body exploded. Chunks of his body fell to the forest floor, and I stared at him before looking at Cassius. What would he think of my magic? I was too worried, so I grabbed my dagger and slipped it back into my boot, readying to leave.

When I glanced at Cassius, his shadows swarmed around him in a frenzy. His eyes focused on me. For the love of gods, he was fucking beautiful and terrifying.

“Where are you going?”

“Running away so I don’t have to see you look disgusted at my magic.”

His eyes glided over me so slowly. Fuck.

“Run, my love.” He smiled. “I’ll give you a head start, but just know if I catch you, no one will interrupt us until after I’ve made you cum.”

“Fuck,” I whispered and took off into the dark woods. My lungs burned as I looked behind me to see Cassius watching but not moving from his spot. I smiled as I disappeared down a small embankment and out of his sight. Shit, maybe I should just stand here so he catches me. His heavy footsteps made me hurry into a thicket of willow trees and kneel. My heart pounded as I waited for him.

My breath caught as I watched him walk around the woods. I saw a smile tug at his lips.

“I thought maybe you would be waiting for me out in the open. Gods know how much you’ve thought about me making you cum in the past few weeks. Tell me, Thea, did you start touching yourself after that first kiss, or did you torture yourself and pretend like you didn’t feel something for me? How long did you hold out for?”

Shit, I almost walked out of my hiding spot, but the anticipation of him stalking me and hunting me down like prey was making me stay put. He kept walking past me.

Cassius disappeared behind trees a good distance away. Smiling smugly to myself, I turned to move spots, but instead, I walked into his chest. He smiled down at me.

“Found you, love,” he whispered as he hauled me over his shoulder and carried me out of the trees to the small clearing by the creek. I thrashed around, not trying very hard to get away. Cassius set me on my feet, and I backed away from him. His eyes dragged over me slowly, teasingly.

“Fuck,” he breathed as he came at me, forcing me against a tree by my throat. His mouth dominated mine as his hand slipped into my trousers, and he moaned when he found me wet. He pulled his lips from mine and looked at me as I breathed heavily. “You are perfect, Thea.” He admired me as my hips rolled against his fingers.

“Cassius,” I breathed.

“Tell me how much you’ve thought about me making you cum.” His voice was demanding that I answer.

“Every fucking time I close my eyes,” I confessed.

His mouth crushed mine, and his tongue dominated mine. He consumed me and turned me inside out with that kiss. His fingers gripped my throat as he pulled back to stare me in the eyes. His eyes drifted down to where his fingers were sinking into me. His thumb circled my clit with a pressure that was making me see stars.

“Cassius,” I moaned loudly.

“That’s right, my love, let me hear how good I make you feel.”

I closed my eyes tightly, and his movements stopped.

“Keep those pretty eyes on me. I want you to remember this moment and touch yourself later, picturing how perfect we are right now.”

“For fuck’s sake, Cassius. I like it when you say shit like that,” I moaned.

“I know you do.” He smiled like he had a secret.

My hips rolled into his fingers as he leaned forward and gave me a hard kiss.

“You need to cum before more guards come to find you.”

I didn’t want this to end.

“Please, I want more,” I begged.

“Cum for me, Thea. I want to see you come apart on my fingers. Next time, I promise I’ll give you whatever you want. ”

“Fuck.” I squeezed my eyes shut as his hand gripped my throat tightly. I focused on anything but how good this felt because I wanted to live in this moment forever.

“I know what you’re doing,” he groaned. “Be a good girl and finish. Quit holding back."

“Cass—” his lips crushed into mine to silence my orgasm. I was a whimpering, pleading mess as I tried to prolong this moment. Cassius hummed his approval against my mouth, swallowing down every moan that escaped me. His chest rose and fell quickly as he moved away from me.

Before I could demand that he come over and kiss me again, his shadows swarmed around us. When they pulled away, we were in my tent. Cassius looked at me once more before leaving without a word. Before I could ask him to stay.