Did I hear him right just now?
I can’t help but think: This isn’t my reality. This is some alternate version of my life. One where I’m some fugitive, a supernatural creature feeding off sex, with this dangerous man beside me. He's closed-off, massive, and suddenly willing to push me past every boundary I thought I had.
“I’ll charge you up,” he says.
My whole body goes rigid.
“You mean…” I trail off, because I already know what he means. I just want to hear him say it. To watch him admit it out loud so I can really believe it.
He admits it. Just not with a confession.
“Slide your seat back, so you have more space in front of you,” he tells me, doing the same on his side. Instantly, I start wondering how much this beast of a car costs, because the amount of space Cassian gains looks almost obscene. He leans back, knees spread, like he owns the entire damn car, and me, by extension.
I swallow hard.
“You’re serious?” I whisper.
“I very often am, Skye,” he says.
The air between us thickens. I could almost believe the world outside doesn’t exist: the cops, the crime scene, the danger. It all fades beneath the weight of his stare.
“But here?” I murmur. “With cops outside?”
“Better here than not at all,” he says simply, his hand sliding a fraction higher up my thigh. “They won’t see. The windows are tinted, and they’re too busy processing the house.”
He unbuckles smoothly, his movements sharp and efficient. There’s no hesitation. No uncertainty. He leans across the console.
“Why are you making that face?” he asks.
I have no idea what kind of face I’m making, so I can’t answer. My mind is too busy trying to string together at least one coherent thought. Because, I mean… I never expected Cassian to want to touch me. I know he’s doing this to help me get my powers back, but still… this is so unlike him. It’s the first time I’ve seen this side of him.
Then again, what did Talon say?
Cassian would worship me.
I didn’t give it much thought back then, but what if it’s true? What if Cassian is the kind of man who’s cold and brutal on the outside? He kills people, hunts down those who deserve it, but beneath that, he’s a generous lover?
I can’t think about that. If I do, I might—
“Is the idea of me touching you so abhorrent?” he asks, pulling me out of my spiraling thoughts and back to his eyes. That one good eye, always shifting between deep forest green and muted ash. Now it’s vivid. So vivid that just looking into it breathes a new kind of life into me.
How could I not want a man this fucking beautiful?
“What?” I breathe. “No.”
“Would you prefer it was Talon again? Not me?” he asks.
“Please, can we stop talking about him already?”
“We can,” he says, voice low and dangerously steady. “But I need you to focus, Skye.”
He leans even closer, his large hand flexing on my thigh, digging slightly into my flesh. And damn, it feels good. So good I don’t want him to stop. His other hand slides up, fingers slipping under my chin. His whole torso shifts as he moves—pecs straining against his shirt, the lines on his neck getting more defined, his thighs tightening beneath the fabric of his clothes.
“If you hate the idea, just say so,” he murmurs. “We’ll find another way.”
But fuck, how can I say no?
“I don’t,” I manage. “I don’t hate it at all.”
