41. Adrianna

ADRIANNA

Her ears are not pointed. Her ears are not pointed. Her ears are not pointed.

What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I wrack my brain, desperate to revisit the memory that plagued me at the castle today to focus on her ears, but I come up empty. I try to recall what she looked like the first time I saw her on the Kenner compound, but I was too shocked to see her to even consider looking at her ears.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Thankfully, Cassian doesn't press me further. I think it has something to do with the fact that I literally felt the color drain from my face as I gaped at him in horror, confirming that the truth that just slipped past his lips was something I had no recollection of. I would call it the truth, but I'm going to have to see it myself to believe it. The gruff expression on his face tells me we won't be going back there tonight.

We eat our food in silence, the steak cheering me up a little as I continue to get lost in my mind. When I'm done, I set my cutlery down and avoid his gaze. I need to go home and wrap my head around what happened tonight. It was already bad enough that she was so… happy, carefree, and relaxed. She's no damsel in distress. She's where she wants to be, and that only confirms the taunting thoughts in my mind; she's happy without me. Without us.

I'm tough. I'm strong. I've been through enough trauma to fight off anything that comes my way, but there's a part of this that hurts my soul in a way I can't fight off. I need to talk to my father, but that's going to take some courage-building first.

"Are you ready to leave?" Cassian asks, and I dare to meet his gaze. There's no anger there, no distress, and it settles a small part of me as I nod. He stands, and Janie appears out of nowhere the second he does.

"Going so soon?"

"I don't want to risk the wrath of my father right now," he states, and I know that's not the truth; he just doesn't want to point the finger at me.

"Keep your chin up, Cass. This is a fucked up mess. Just focus on what you set out to do today, okay?" she breathes, wrapping her arms around him in a brief hug before she turns to me. "And you, keep being the badass bitch I know you are." I gape at her, but she doesn't see because she's too busy treating me to a hug too. It's only a second, but it does something to me. It makes me stand taller and embrace the badass bitch she thinks I am.

"Thank you," I mutter before following Cassian outside.

The night air has grown cold, and I wrap my cloak around me the best I can.

"Do you want to walk for a while or speed?" Cassian asks, and I sigh, reluctance getting the better of me.

"I need to be away from this compound, so speed it is."

He wraps me in his arms without missing a beat, and before I can brace for the move, he takes off. Pressing my head against his chest, I try to focus on my breathing to calm the nausea that threatens to overwhelm me.

We come to a stop sooner than I expect, and I'm relieved to find that I don't feel as terrible as I did earlier. Maybe that's because my body is already dealing with enough stress, and this pales in comparison, or maybe I'm getting used to it.

Taking a step back from him, I note we're by the fountain, the exact one he was at this morning dealing with two girls who Raiden said were planning to attack me. Bitches.

"Thank you," I breathe, a soft smile gracing my lips, and he shrugs, the leather jacket flexing around his arms as he does.

"Don't worry about it," he insists, and I nod. Exhaustion clinging to me when he reaches for my arm, pulling my gaze to his. "What's that look?" he asks, tilting his head at me as his gaze narrows on mine.

"What look?"

"That one." He lifts his hand, stroking his fingertip down the side of my face as I sigh. "You're distant and hazy. It's not something I've seen in you before," he assesses, and I hum in acknowledgment as I avoid his gaze, hating the inability to hide my vulnerability right now. "I don't like it."

I blink up at him. "What?"

"I don't like it at all," he repeats, and before I can understand a single thing he's talking about, he grabs my waist, lifts me in the air, and unceremoniously drops me in the water fountain.

I stumble, landing straight on my ass in the water, and it sloshes up in the air, sprinkling down on me for extra measure, along with the water already pouring from the top of the damn thing.

I'm drenched, right to the bone.

"Oh my… what the fuck, Cassian?" I yell, anger vibrating through me as he stares down at me with the biggest fucking grin on his face.

"There she is."

That fucker. That absolute fucking fucker.

"I'm drenched," I exclaim, not caring how late it is or how loud I'm being.

"So am I," he retorts, and I quickly realize through my furious haze that he's in the fountain with me, the water pouring down on him as he smiles from ear to ear.

Who the fuck is this guy?

I shake my head in disbelief. "That was dumb," I grumble as he offers me his hand and tugs me up to my feet.

"No."

"No?"

"That wasn't dumb, but this is," he breathes, pinning me to his chest, and before I can question what he's talking about, he crushes his lips to mine.

I melt into him, clinging to his dripping wet jacket as he brings one hand to my throat and the other cups my pussy through my pants.

Holy. Fuck.

That move, that fucking move.

Fighting for control is futile. He's in charge; all I can do is succumb to his touch. His mouth claims mine, his palm grinding against my pussy as my nipples pebble, brushing against his chest.

I need him. I need him right now. I don't know whether it's the raw desire for him that courses through me or the need for a distraction from the night's events, but I can assess that in the morning. Right now, all I can think about is feeling him.

"Don't fuck me here," I mutter against his lips, the thought of all this water makes me shudder as he leans back enough to meet my gaze.

"But somewhere?" he confirms, and I nod.

"Somewhere."

I'm bundled against his chest again, and we're moving in the next moment. I hear a door slam shut behind us as his scent envelops me, and I know without looking that we're in his room. I don't get a chance to see, though; he fills my entire field of vision. His hands move to my face, cupping my cheeks as our breaths mingle between us.

Tugging at his leather jacket, it's so wet that it doesn't budge, but I have no patience for snags like this. I need to see him, feel him, and I need it all now.

I take a step back, causing his brows to knit in confusion, but I don't bother to explain. Swiping my hands between us, I grind my teeth as I let my magic drift through the air, despite the gem on my back causing a strain. It feels like necessary magic right now.

The air swirls around us, whipping every wet piece of clothing from our bodies. With a slap, they land on the floor at our feet.

"That's embarrassingly hot," he mutters, kicking his shoes and socks off as I do the same. My magic can't do that, not while we're standing anyway. He makes a dramatic show of slowly rolling a condom down his length with his gaze fixed on mine.

I shake my head, unable to find the words as I rush at him. He catches me, wrapping my legs around his waist as I twine my arms around his neck and claim his lips. Heat burns over my skin in the most delicious way as desire fuels my every move.

He spins with me in his grasp, dropping us onto his bed with a gasp as his lips trail from mine, down my throat, and across the swell of my breasts. My back arches as goosebumps dance over my skin, elicited by his touch, confirming to him just how much I want this.

Stroking a hand down his chest, I blindly reach for his cock that's pressed against my thigh, but he grabs my wrist before I can make it. Heated eyes find mine as his tongue sweeps over his bottom lip.

"We're not rushing this," he rasps, pressing little, teasing kisses on the tips of each of my fingertips as I try to catch my breath.

"Rushing is all we know," I rasp, blinking at him as he slowly lowers his lips to my nipples, swirling his tongue around the taut peaks. I gasp, my back arching as my fingers find their way into his hair. "Please," I beg. The inferno inside of me is incapable of dealing with the teasing. "Enjoy me next time, but right now, please, I'm begging you… fuck me."

His teeth sink into the sensitive skin around my nipple, quickly turning my gasp into a low moan as he adjusts his cock at my entrance. "Are you promising me another time?"

"You're the one who always rushes off," I retort, raising my eyebrow at him. He chooses that exact moment to thrust deep into my core.

The stretch is on the brink of pain, but the euphoria that tingles through my pussy makes it all worth it. "I'll fuck you hard and fast now, but you stay the night, and come morning, I get to feast on you," he states, cocking a brow at me. I nod, too focused on my pussy clenching around his dick. "Say it, Alpha. Tell me you'll be here in the morning," he grinds out, rolling his hips in the most delicious way as my fists cling to the sheets beneath me.

"I'll be here," I breathe, earning a quick thrust from his hips that spreads my thighs wider.

Fuck.

"Where will you be, Alpha? Tell me."

"I'll be here. In your bed. In the morning," I pant, my moans growing louder as his hips move at a more punishing pace.

It's too much and not enough all at once.

"That's it," he rasps, grabbing the back of my thighs and throwing my legs over his shoulders as he pistons in and out of me at a perilous rate.

My chest clenches tight, my face heating as my toes start to tingle.

He leans closer, perspiration clinging to his temples as he looks deep into my eyes. "Soon, Alpha, real fucking soon, I'm going to take this pussy of mine with nothing between us. Do you hear me?"

I clench around him, despite my mind screaming in denial, but I know he feels it because his pupils dilate beyond return and his fingers dig deeper into my flesh.

"Repeat it to me, Addi. Make me come with the words on your tongue, and I swear to take you over the edge with me."

My throat clogs, my brain trying to refuse the words, but my body wants the promise and I'm too caught up in him to deny the inevitable. "You're going to claim me, Cassian. Mind. Body. Soul. Just how you want. You're going to make me yours and fill my pussy with your cum."

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck," he chants, his moves jagged as he chases his release at the same time he presses his thumb to my clit. It's like a trigger.

I detonate at his touch, just as he promised, before the world goes black.