25. Cassian

25

CASSIAN

M y heart ricochets in my chest as I stare up at the fucking wonder that is Adrianna Reagan.

In the beginning, I wanted to hate her for so many reasons. Simply breathing being one of them. I wanted to despise the fact that she was fae, more so because she's royal, but it's impossible. So much has changed since then, and it's not even because she's part wolf. It's more than that.

It's her. Just her. Irrevocably, undoubtedly her.

A shiver runs down my spine. Imagine if I'd harmed her, written her out of my fate before I even got a peek beneath the layers she holds so guarded.

Fuck.

The mere thought of her has the power to bring me to my knees. There's no fucking way I could ever do anything that may have a negative impact on this woman ever again.

I'm sure she could give me a long ass list of all the ways I've fucked her over already. I'll deny it out loud, but in my head, I'm free to admit that I will spend the rest of my life repairing every last piece I put out of place. My feelings are desperate to be released because they're so strong, so fierce, and I don't know how to contain them.

Growing up on the compound as a Kenner taught me that you fight for your own, you fight for your family, and you fight for your compound. I believe in all of those values; I just don't believe in the Kenner name. Not when I've borne witness to what it's capable of.

There's not a family-rooted bone in my father's body. He's selfish, strategic, and reckless; none of which a true alpha should be. Instead, he has all of a vampire's traits in a wolf's body, and he's going to lead everyone to slaughter.

Yet, when I look into the emerald eyes that peer down at me like an angel from above, I know those values can still be ingrained in me. Except my family, my compound, isn't the Kenners; it's mine.

There was a reason Raiden, Brody, Kryll, and I were all meant to find each other and start an unwavering friendship. It was for her. They're more than my friends now, they're the family I had no idea I was searching for, let alone needed so desperately. Now we have our center, the piece to hold us all together.

I gulp, desperate to find the words to express what brews inside of me without scaring her away with the first syllable.

She's my Alpha. My fucking queen. And she healed me, just as any Alpha would. If there wasn't a dormant wolf lying deep in her veins, there's no way she could have aided me just now.

But I don't know how to do any of this shit. I don't know how to do anything other than isolate myself. Even my friends don't get the full version of me, but with Addi, fuck…I want to feel everything instead of tampering it all down.

Yet all I know how to do is worship her using my body. At least I know I can show her how I feel that way.

My mind grows quiet as my body comes alive.

Instinctively reaching for her, my hands splayed across the side of her thighs as I inch my way up to her waist, I watch as her pupils dilate, inviting me in deeper.

My fingers run under the hem of her t-shirt, revealing her toned abdomen as I stroke across her skin in awe.

"Cassian," she breathes, a rasp taking root in her words as she shivers.

"Shh." I look up at her for a beat as I swipe my tongue over my bottom lip before focusing back on her body again.

Inching the material higher, I spread my hands wide across her skin, watching as goosebumps rise in my wake. My breath is lodged in my throat, desire curling through every fiber of my body as I try to calm the thundering pulse in my ears, but it's futile. The pent-up need in my bones won't calm until I've taken a piece of what's mine.

The smallest distance remains between us, and with one stilted breath, I erase it, skimming my lips over her exposed stomach as my fingers wrap around her waist.

She gasps, stilling at the soft touch, and when I trail my lips around her belly button, eyes fixated on hers, her gasps turn to moans.

With her hands clamped down on my shoulders, she blinks down at me, anticipation rooting her to the spot, and I know I have her exactly where I want her.

Fuck.

Sweeping my tongue over her goosebumps, I release my hold on her waist to reach for the fastening of the cloak draped over her shoulders. It falls to the floor in one swift breath, somehow taking all of the oxygen with it as I gape up at her with need.

"I can't fucking breathe," she rasps, confirming exactly how I feel too, and I hum in agreement as I reach for the hem of her t-shirt once again, only this time, she helps me slip it from her body.

Her pebbled nipples are the first thing to draw my attention, tight and needy behind the black lace that fails to cover them from my view. I don't move for them, even though I'm desperate to. Instead, I slip my hands beneath the waistband of her pants and slowly trail them down her thighs.

She remains balanced, hands on my shoulders as I make quick work of removing everything until she's standing in her black lace bra and matching panties.

Fuck me.

An angel has never looked so sinful.

Finally removing my mouth from her skin, I lean back to get a good look at the woman who claims every inch of me without even trying. She doesn't shy away from my gaze as I rake my eyes from head to toe. Her confidence only seems to blossom as she stands taller, preening under my appraisal.

When my gaze pauses at the apex of her thighs, I can't stop myself. My hand shoots out, cupping that sweet pussy that brings me to my knees. She moans, her cries far more muted than I want, but it's instantly rectified by the way she grinds against my palm, eager for more.

"This pussy just loves to be punished," I breathe, and her teeth sink into her bottom lip as she bites back another groan.

With my free hand, I blindly search the bed beside me, finding the material I'm after before draping it over her shoulders. She doesn't balk, she doesn't push me away, she doesn't put an end to anything.

It takes everything in me to release her pussy so I can secure it around her neck, but when I do, it's oh-so fucking worth it.

"You look good in green, Alpha," I state, relishing in my origin-issued cloak draped around her.

I cup her pussy again, my favorite thing to do, as I watch her eyes widen and swirl with a mixture of emotions I can't quite decipher.

She's thinking too much.

"Are you ready to venture into your wolf, Addi? Not now. Right now you're all fucking mine, but soon?"

The words hang in the air, leaving me on bated breath with my cloak around her shoulders and her pussy warming the palm of my hand.

She nods.

One single nod and that's all I need.

"Good. Now put that thought away for later. You're thinking too much and I'm going to put an end to that. All I want my Alpha to do is feel."

I replace my palm with my mouth in the next moment, nipping at her through the dark lace and eliciting a sweet moan from her parted lips. Her legs immediately tremble, so I stand, grabbing her waist and depositing her on my sheets as I loom over her.

As much as I like seeing her standing tall for me, watching her beneath my frame is something else entirely.

Reaching for her face, I swoop a hand down her cheek, along her jawline, down her elongated throat as she arches beneath me. Down between the sweet crevice of her breasts, I edge the lace that shields her from me, tugging just enough at the material to reveal her nipples that plead for my attention.

It's not in me to disappoint right now, so her taut peak is in my mouth in the next breath, my hands continuing to trail over her exposed skin. As I swirl my tongue, I tug at her panties, feeling the material snag in my grasp, and I discard it without care.

One less barrier between us is exactly what I need.

Moving to her other needy nipple, I sink my teeth into the pebbled flesh as she groans, writhing beneath me, and I can't contain my grin.

Look at us getting along. It's always the case when we keep our mouths shut and let our bodies do the talking.

Trailing my lips down her stomach, swirling around her belly button, I press my palms against her thighs, spreading her wide, ready for the onslaught we both know is coming.

The first swipe of my tongue, from her core to her clit, has her practically leaping off the bed as a pleasured cry breaks from her lips.

I want more.

I need more.

I have to have her falling apart at my touch. Now.

Clamping my teeth around her swollen nub, I thrust two fingers into her core, relishing in the noises that come from her mouth as her fingers dig into my green cloak that lies beneath her.

I twist my finger inside, feeling her walls clench around me as I rake my teeth over her clit. Her hips move, her pussy grinding against my face as she takes as much as I give.

"Cass. Cass. Cass." Her chants are fucking ecstasy through my veins as she moves, each grind of her hips searching for the release I'm so desperate to give her.

"Come for me, Alpha. Let me taste you."

I don't relent in my efforts, letting the rhythm take control as her fingers find their way into my hair, taking the last nudge she needs to tumble over the edge of ecstasy. Her cries grow louder, her movements erratic as spasm after spasm rocks through her limbs.

Lapping her release, her sweetness coats my tongue as my dick grows impossibly hard. The neglect it feels is warranted, but it's all for a good cause.

With my need now pounding throughout my entire body, I remove my fingers from Addi's core and hover above her. I'm out of my clothes as quick as my next breath, unable to stand the material between us any longer.

"Now I'm going to make you mine," I rasp, nudging at her entrance with my cock, when a knock sounds from the door. "Fuck."

"Ignore it, Cass," she breathes, pleading as she wraps her legs around my waist, encouraging me deeper.

I nod in agreement but push back so I can't feel her pussy against my cock. It's too much. She's too much. "Condom," I grunt, sliding open my nightstand drawer to retrieve one. I can sense the refusal on her lips before she even utters a word. Shaking my head, I sheath my cock as I offer her a clipped explanation. "If I come in you bare, Alpha, I'll fucking mark you, seal us together, and make you my fated mate. I don't think we can make decisions like that in a state like this."

It probably doesn't make any sense to her, it doesn't in my own ears, but she doesn't argue when I realign myself at her entrance with the condom securely in place.

Another knock.

Fuck.

"Please, Cassian," she pleads, fingers reaching for my arms, nails digging into my biceps as I groan.

"Not before I've had my fill of your sweet cunt," I bite, thrusting into her with one swift move. My eyes roll to the back of my head as I fill her.

Gripping her chin with one hand, I fist the other in the cloak and sheets that are spread beneath her, desperate for leverage as I thrust into her again and again, unrelenting as the sound of skin on skin slaps around the room.

She claws at my back, hands making their way to my throat as she cries out louder with every pass of my hips, and I see stars. Her legs release from around my waist as she plants her feet on the mattress and shifts her hips, matching my movements as we collide together again and again.

"That's it, Alpha. Fuck me."

Her back arches off the bed as she takes every inch of me. Her blond hair scatters across my sheets, across my space, my cloak beneath her providing the perfect contrast, and I can't take it anymore.

"Come with me," I growl as euphoria dances over my skin, coiling my muscles tight. Ecstasy claims me. She claims me. I feel her pussy clamp down around my cock, riding another orgasm at my touch, and it makes me pulse again.

Another knock at the door, followed by the sound of Kryll's voice, ends the hope of being left to swim in the pool of our afterglow.

"You good?" I stroke a loose tendril of hair back off her face as she smiles whimsically up at me with a nod.

"Better than good. But we better get that before they start trying to break the door down," she muses, reaching up to cup my face. "I can't believe I healed you," she whispers, still in awe at what she does to me, and I smile down at her, my heart beating wildly as the truth slips from my lips.

"You heal every part of me."