9. Adrianna

ADRIANNA

My hand flexes on the edge of the door, my fingers eager to slam it shut again, but the anger brewing in the gaze across from me has me locked in place, helpless to his rage.

"Let me in." His voice is gravelly, his jaw clenched so tight I'm sure it's going to snap. His hair is ruffled and unkept and his clothes are the same ones he was wearing last night.

It looks like we've both had a fun time. At least I'm not the only one.

Slowly shaking my head, I keep my gaze fixed on him, watching as he bares his teeth.

"Let me in, Addi, or I swear?—"

"You swear what, Cassian? You. Swear. What?" I snap, refusing to let him show up here and give me hell without pushing back. Any frustrations he has can be taken out elsewhere because I'm not dealing with it.

His head droops, his gaze locking on the wooden floor at our feet as his arms stretch out and his fingers wrap around the edge of my door frame.

He looks defeated, exhausted, and as lost as I feel. But when he looks up through his lashes at me, I know we're far from done.

"We can have this conversation out here where anyone can hear how you lied, or we can take it somewhere private." He raises his voice, encouraging others to listen, and right on cue, the door next to mine swings open, revealing Flora's bright red hair.

"Is everything okay?" She peers at me with wide eyes, which narrow on the wolf filling the hallway.

I muster the worst smile, but it's the best I've got. "I'm good, Flora. Thank you, but it's nothing I can't handle." My smile might be fake, but my words aren't.

Before I can think better of it, I grab his arm and haul his ass into my room. He kicks the door shut behind him, and as soon as it's just the two of us in my personal space, I regret it. I think I'd rather have Flora know everything than deal with this asshole in my space again.

He consumes it, sucking the oxygen from my very lungs.

Besides, if these fuckers know, Flora deserves to know too. Hopefully, she won't react like this.

Folding my arms across my chest, I take a step to the side. "What do you want, Cassian?"

My attempt to put space between us is obliterated by him turning to face me head-on. I instinctively take a step back to feel the wall right behind me a moment later.

Framing me in, his eyes are wild. It's disgusting how hot he looks. Truly irritating, but if he thinks I'm going to falter under his rage, he's come to the wrong place.

"You're not going to intimidate me with whatever stare you think you have going on," I point out, and he takes a step closer.

Fucker.

"I can fucking hear the racing beat of your heart telling me something different," he grunts, hands clenching at his sides as I shake my head.

"No, you're hearing it pounding. It's not in fear. It's adrenaline. There's a difference."

He inches closer again, only this time, we're chest to chest. My stomach clenches as my eyes narrow, but before I can give him a piece of my mind, he lowers his face to mine.

"You lied."

"You've already said that," I retort, trying not to roll my eyes at him.

"Aren't you sorry about it?"

"No."

His eyes narrow, but I'm being honest with him. What more does he want?

"It's good to see where we stand then," he grunts, his irritation flowing off him in waves.

"Stand with what?" I can't think straight when he's this damn close to me.

"Us." Two letters, one word, and a million implications.

"What us?"

"Don't play dumb."

Calling me dumb is the equivalent of setting off a detonator.

"Oh, I'm not playing. We fucked, and you made no objections when I was forced into a duel. None of that is on me. Well, maybe the winning, but that's just who I am. I won't submit, admit defeat, or die at the hands of someone when it's just not my time." I punctuate every point with a jab of my finger at his chest.

His eyes search mine, looking for fuck knows what, until he finds the question he's eager to explore.

"And there was no part of you that thought I should know the truth?"

I can't decide if he's delusional or just that self-centered.

"When it was one of your kind, your father no less, that ran me out of my home and scarred me for life? No, I don't think I owed you the truth. Not for a second."

My chest heaves with every word, the truth falling between us as our short and heavy breaths mingle.

He stares and stares and stares.

Cassian Kenner, speechless? No way.

As if sensing my disbelief, he finds his tongue.

"My father's actions aren't a representation of me."

I rear back, my head knocking against the wall as I frown at him. "I didn't assume they were."

His gaze narrows as the tension around us rises. His hands lift, planting against the wall on either side of my head. He leans closer, so close our noses touch. "Raiden said you would blame me."

I scoff. "Raiden doesn't know me well enough to make that assessment."

He runs his tongue over his bottom lip as my pulse quickens. I can feel it vibrating through me.

"You're a princess."

"I'm a fae." That's what's important here. My origin overrules my status—it always has, and it always will. If my father drilled anything into me the most, it was that.

"A fae princess."

"You're a wolf prince."

My chest rises and falls with every breath between us. His pupils dilate as he searches deep into my eyes. I catch a glimpse of the storm brewing in his, but before I can attempt to decipher it, our lips crash together.

I don't truly know who moves first, but my fingers are clinging to the neckline of his tee for dear life. My body pulls him closer, despite my mind being eager to push him away. The internal battle won't stumble into a war, not with how he's claiming my mouth.

My body wins every time.

It may be a huge mistake, but that can be tomorrow's regret. Right now, I'm desperate to lose myself in his touch and forget all of my problems.

Fighting for control, I nip at his bottom lip, forcing a growl from his throat that resonates deep inside of me. He moves one hand to my throat, flexing with precision, just how I like, while his other hand lands on the familiar spot between my legs.

It should not be this hot when someone grips your pussy, but he makes it the perfect possession and I can't bring myself to deny it.

I groan as the heat between my thighs increases from him pressing his palm against my clit. His lips tear from mine, his breath ghosting over my cheek in short, sharp puffs, forcing me to pry my eyes open.

My breath lodges in my throat as my eyes meet his.

Feral.

It's the only word to describe the glint in his dilating pupils.

His lips part as if he's about to say something, but they quickly slam shut before his eyelids fall closed and his nose swoops over my cheek and down my throat.

Fuck.

I pout when his hand moves to accommodate his lips, pressing against my pulse with purpose, but the second he sinks his teeth into my flesh, my tantrum dissolves and desire ignites even deeper in my soul.

My eyes roll back as the thud from my head hitting the wall echoes around us. I can't see, I can't think, all I can do is feel.

A tear rips through the air, and before I can realize what it is, Cassian speaks.

"You ripped my fucking t-shirt."

A ghost of a smile curls over my lips as I run my thumbs over the separated fabric. Blinking my eyes open with utter reluctance, I find him gaping at my hands. His muscles flex as he slowly drags his gaze to mine.

The familiar heat between my thighs disappears as he grips my black tee and offers the same to me. Our arms fall to our sides in sync. Breaths heave with every rise and fall as we stare at each other in our reckless states.

We shouldn't. We really shouldn't. This should be our warning sign to stop, but we sailed past that too long ago.

One breath, two breaths, three… we collide.

Lips, fingers, skin.

Everything. Everywhere.

It's not enough.

Clothes scatter at our feet as he inches backward, and I move with him. I don't shiver when there's no longer a single piece of fabric touching my skin. My body is on fire.

His fingers wrap in my hair, gripping tight as he pulls me toward him. Our lips soften, the urgency ebbing slightly, but as soon as I think that, his movements become savage. Hands grapple at my waist, hoisting me in the air, tossing me toward my bed, and I tumble off the side. He catches me just before I hit the floor, but he only adjusts us enough to maneuver me into position.

My feet press into the carpet as he pushes my head against my comforter. My fingers instinctively grip the sheets in anticipation of the force about to come from him, but to my surprise, he strokes a single fingertip down my spine.

Freezing in place, my nerve endings zap through me from head to toe as my thighs clench together. When he reaches the globes of my ass, I glance back, eager to feel him, as he ghosts the tip of his finger between them. A smirk spreads across his face when I shiver and gasp, but he doesn't utter a word, as if he's locking the reaction away for a later date.

My mouth opens, ready to blast him, but I'm rendered speechless when he brings his palm down on my ass, the echo of the smack vibrating through me. He repeats the motion on the same spot, making my back arch, and he uses that slight movement to his advantage.

I barely get a chance to appreciate the weight of his size lingering at my core before he slams inside me. All the way to the hilt.

I can't breathe.

I can't fucking breathe.

His hand winds in my hair again, making my back arch even further as he rolls his hips, letting me feel every inch of him inside me.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

My body protests as he pulls my head toward him while pinning my waist and thighs to the bed, but it's the most delectable discomfort I've ever felt. There's no moment of reprieve, no time to adjust, but with how slick my walls are, he doesn't need it.

Retreating, I feel the loss of him instantly before he snaps his hips and fills me once again. I'm certain he's determined to break me, but that's simply foolish of me because, after three thrusts like that, his tempo rises.

I grip the sheets for dear life as he takes me over and over again. My body is alight, on the cusp of euphoria, as he takes everything he wants while giving me exactly what I need in return.

I succumb to it, to him.

My breasts bounce, my ass cheeks still tingle from his harsh touch, and my core clenches around his length desperately.

"Come for me, Alpha. Drench my dick in your juices. Prove to me how much you want this while your words still deny it," he rasps, making my muscles clench even tighter. "That's it. Just like that," he growls, slamming into me with more force and relinquished desire than I thought possible.

His words start the detonation inside of me, leaving me helpless but to fall apart at the seams from his touch. My jaw falls slack, my spine stiff, as the world melds into a technicolor mirage on the back of my eyelids.

Pleasure claims me as he slams into me one final time. His release has his cock pulsing against my walls as they clench around him, extending my own climax as I fall limp against the bed.

Holy fuck.

Holy fuck.

The world shifts around me as he slips from between my thighs, and his harsh hold leaves my body. I can hear movement behind me, but it takes forever to turn and look. When I do manage to focus my eyes, it's to watch the back of his head just before he slams my bedroom door shut behind him.