The Bonds We Break by Becca Steele
FOURTEEN
Back at the Four’s house the following afternoon, everyone was tired and hungover. I curled up on the sofa with my Kindle while Zayde and Caiden were setting up some new PS5 game. I was more comfortable here now, and it felt like I’d been accepted, however grudgingly, but I still had reservations. The biggest reservation being a certain blond god, who had spent the rest of the night in Sanctuary dancing with various women. I’d tried not to look, but…well, it was impossible not to. The only thing that made it bearable was that he hadn’t taken any of them back to his hotel. Although, as I kept reminding myself on what felt like an hourly basis, I had no claim to him, and seeing him with someone else was inevitable.
But anyway, all this meant that I was on tenterhooks waiting for Austin to contact me so that I could finally move back into my flat. Time and space was what I needed most now.
“His turgid member throbbed as he thrust inside her quivering mound.”
“Cassius!” My screech was probably loud enough to be heard through the entire house. Cheeks flaming, I jumped up to snatch my Kindle back from him as he held it over my head. Somehow, he’d managed to sneak up behind the sofa and grab it from my hands before I could do anything about it.
Laughing uncontrollably, he held it out of reach. “Babe, I need to see what kind of questionable reading material you have here,” he managed to choke out through his laughter. “Turgid member!”
“I seriously hate you,” I muttered, giving up on the Kindle and collapsing back onto the sofa, burying my heated face in the cushions. Even Caiden and Zayde were laughing at me, or maybe at Cassius, who knew?
“No, no, wait. Listen to this.” He cleared his throat dramatically. “Her moist channel sucked in his giant, pulsating rod, all the way to the root.”
“Don’t ever say the word ‘moist’ again.” Now Winter had appeared, just to add to my embarrassment, and she accompanied her warning with a retching sound.
“Please, just stop,” I begged, my voice muffled by the cushion.
“What the fuck are you actually reading?”
Raising my head, I glared up at Cassius, who grinned unapologetically at me. “It’s supposed to be a fantasy story with elves and things. I didn’t know there were scenes like that when I downloaded it.”
“It’s a fantasy, alright.” A gleam came into his eyes. “Hey, let’s go upstairs and re-enact the scene. You can see my giant turgid member up close and personal.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Winter roll her eyes at Cassius as she swung herself into Caiden’s lap, and I couldn’t hold my laughter in any longer, despite my embarrassment. “That’s such a flattering offer, Cass, but I’m going to have to say no.”
The smile disappeared from his face, despite my teasing words. He handed my Kindle back to me, leaning down to my ear. “I bet if that stripper was here, you’d say yes.”
What?My gaze flew to his. He was frowning, his lips pursed like he hadn’t meant to say those words out loud.
“You mean JJ?”
Straightening up, he muttered, “Forget it,” then made a point of going over to Zayde and asking about the game he was setting up. I stared after him, unsure of what to make of that comment that had come out of nowhere. One minute he’d been teasing me, the next—
There was no time to think about it any further when my phone started ringing, my brother’s name flashing up on the screen.
I crossed my fingers for some good news.
* * *
A few days later, my bags were packed, and I was ready to move out. The last thing I’d heard from Austin was that Petr Ivanov was no longer a problem, and I didn’t really want to know any of the details. It was enough to know that the threat was gone. Suffice to say, a weight had been well and truly lifted.
There was another bonus as well. Somehow, getting it all out in the open and having people actively wanting to help out had reduced my nightmares, too—I’d only had one since the club, and it was almost minor in comparison to the debilitating ones I’d been suffering with before.
Cassius, Weston, and Lena were the only ones to see me leave. After asking Lena to pass on my thanks and goodbyes to the others, I hugged her, and then Weston gave me an awkward half hug. I returned it, appreciative of him making the effort. He owed me nothing, after all.
My Mercedes had been driven back to my apartment building car park the previous week, because at the time we’d wanted Petr to think I was still there if he’d been watching my flat. Weston had been checking the surveillance feeds, but there hadn’t been any sign of him, which we now knew was because he’d been in London, and now there was no need to continue checking the feeds because he’d been dealt with.
Anyway, all that meant Cassius was driving me home, and I couldn’t help wondering if it was the last time we’d be alone together. Both of us had kept our distance since our interaction the day after Sanctuary, not that it had helped with the feelings I had for him. If anything, they were stronger than ever, but I made sure to never even give him a hint of them.
Cassius was uncharacteristically quiet on the drive back to my flat. I leaned against the window of his SUV, lost in my own head, and neither of us made any attempt to break the silence. When he pulled into the apartment car park, engine idling, I wasted no time in unsnapping my seat belt and getting out of there. Cassius was just as quick, jumping out of the car and opening the boot before I’d even reached it. When he pulled out my suitcase and placed it in front of my feet without a word, I got the hint. He couldn’t wait to get rid of me.
I gripped the handle of my case and started around the side of the car. The lump in my throat grew.
I wouldn’t cry.
“Goodbye,” I managed, my voice barely a whisper, my words carried away by the morning breeze.
“Jessa. Wait.”
The sudden urgency in his low tone brought me to a halt, level with the front grille of the SUV. I inhaled a shaky breath.
“Wait.” His voice was much closer. Then he was there in front of me, cupping my face in his hands.
I stared up at him, unable to find any words to say.
“A goodbye kiss,” he murmured, brushing his lips against mine. With a sigh, I gave in to the inevitable. He kissed me slowly, so slowly, like he was mapping out the contours of my mouth, sucking my bottom lip in between his lips before he slid his tongue into my mouth.
He held my face in place, angling me just the way he wanted me, pressing me against his car. My hands came up of their own accord, winding around his waist, pulling him closer. I could feel his growing hardness between us, but he didn’t even attempt to do anything about it. Just kept on kissing me, long and slow and so fucking perfect.
Kissing me like I meant something to him.
The lump in my throat grew bigger, and I struggled to keep my composure.
When we finally broke apart, he just stared at me, looking shaken. His fingers came up to touch his swollen lips, his eyes wide and his pupils dilated.
“Bye,” he said, his voice raw.
“Bye.” Picking up my case, I moved around him in the direction of my apartment building.
This time, he didn’t stop me.
* * *
I’d been back for an hour when the buzzer sounded to let me know that there was someone at the door. My heart stuttered before I remembered that the Petr threat was over, and I hit the button to answer the intercom. “Hello.”
“Jessa. Let me in.”
My heart stuttered for a whole different reason then. Pressing the key button to unlock the building’s front door, I leaned my head against the cool wood of my own front door.
When the knock came, I swung the door open. Cassius stood there, shifting on his feet, tugging his bottom lip between his teeth, his brows pulled together.
“Want to come in?” Stepping back, I pushed the door as wide as it would go.
“I drove around,” he said, taking a step into my apartment. “I drove. And I…fuck.”
“Cass?” Moving around him, I clicked the door shut. He spun around, tracking my movements, and the frown disappeared, his gaze turning predatory.
My stomach flipped.
“I drove around,” he repeated, “and then I came back.”
My back was pressed against the wood of the door, and he crowded into my space. “Why did you come back?” There was no way I could disguise the breathiness of my voice.
“We had one last kiss.” His body pressed against mine. “Now.” His hands hit the wood on either side of my head. “We need.” A press of his hips as he rolled them against me, and I sucked in a shaky breath. “One. Last. Fuck.”
Then his mouth came down on mine.
He lifted me up, and my legs went around his waist, my back against the door, as we kissed and kissed and kissed, hot, rough, and messy, setting me on fire. I moaned into his mouth, and he pulled us away from the door, stumbling in the direction of my bedroom.
We didn’t make it that far. Tearing his mouth away, he stared down at me as I attacked his neck and jaw with kisses, drawing out a growl of pleasure from him. “I can’t fucking wait,” he ground out, angling us to the left, and the next minute I was lying on a hard wooden surface while he tore the clothes from my body in rough, impatient movements. I barely registered that I was lying on my antique wooden dining table, rising up to rip his T-shirt over his head, then tugging down his jeans. No underwear, his cock sprung free, and I reached out, desperate to feel him.
“Not yet.” His hands came to my shoulders, pushing me back down flat on the table. Then his arms were scooping up my legs, throwing them over his shoulders, and his hot mouth was on me, his tongue gliding across my wetness. My hands tugged at his hair as I shamelessly ground myself against his mouth while his tongue continued to drive me insane, the pressure so fucking perfect that I could already feel my orgasm building.
“Cassius. Fuck,” I cried, arching off the table. My orgasm was sudden and blinding in its intensity, my body shaking against him as he kept up his intense movements, drawing out the pleasure to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore.
When he raised his head with a wide, satisfied smile on his face, his lips glistening with the evidence of my arousal, I dropped my head back with a groan and closed my eyes.
There was no way I could look at him and hide the way I felt about him.
I was so fucked.
“I’m gonna come all over you.”
My eyes flew open, and I forgot everything else as he stepped up to me, taking his erect cock in his hand and stroking himself over me. A few short strokes and his cum was hitting my body, his eyes never leaving mine.
“I…you…”
I gave up on words.
He curled his body over mine, and I reached up, running my hands across his strong back and up through his hair as he kissed me. Shifting, he moved so that he was lying on top of me, every inch of me covered by him.
There was an ominous creak.
Then a loud crack, and suddenly he was pulling us both backwards, falling to the floor with my body collapsed on top of his.
We exchanged glances, and I rolled off him, rising to my knees to look back at my dining table.
My now very broken dining table.
“Your table…was it from IKEA?” His voice turned up hopefully at the end.
I turned back to him, shaking my head. “Antique, actually.”
He winced. “Maybe we can fix it.”
A smile spread across my face, warmth unfurling in my chest as I took in how worried he seemed. “I never liked that table.” Climbing to my feet, I held out my hand. “You said something about one last fuck, and I don’t think that counted.”
Heat flashed in his gaze. “Nope, definitely didn’t count.” He reached out lightning fast, swiping my legs out from under me and catching me as I fell, pulling me into his arms. Laying me down on my back, he stared down at me, brushing my hair back from my face. “But this one will.”
I tugged him down to me, and he took the hint, covering my body with his. Raking my nails down his back, I lifted my head to capture his mouth in a kiss. “Bring it on, Drummond.”
A teasing smirk curved over his lips, but there was something about it that seemed forced. And the way he took me this time, slow, unhurried, worshipping my body…driving me close to the edge over and over before he finally let me fall…it felt different to the other times.
It felt like an ending.