“Don’t worry about Blade, he’ll be fine,” Dragon assured her as he began walking with her tucked safely in his arms. “Rest now, little rabbit, you did good, but you can consider yourself off duty. I'm here, and I won't let anything happen to you. When you wake up, you’ll be back home.”
Home.
To her, it had always been people and not a place. Her mom and the dad she barely remembered, her brothers, her grandparents, and now Dragon. Maybe the reason she’d beenstruggling so much these last couple of months was because she’d been sequestering herself in her house instead of surrounding herself with home.
She didn't care that there were a million logistics to work out before they could make anything permanent. Cassandra was ready to embrace the life she wanted with the man who made her feel safe, desirable, strong, capable, and protected.
The rise and fall of Dragon’s chest beneath her cheek, and the feel of his strong arms cradling her, quickly lulled her to sleep, feeling more sure about who she was and what she wanted than she had since she learned the truth about how she was conceived.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
January 10th
11:18 A.M.
Stepping out of his bathroom and into his bedroom, Dragon stopped dead in his tracks.
The sight before him was everything he’d been positive he could never have, and yet everything that had fallen into his lap.
Lying spreadeagled and tied to his bed was Cassandra. She was naked, the cuts and bruises from the explosion clearly visible, along with the wounds from the attack in her home a week ago. As much as he hated seeing those marks on her beautiful body, they were reminders that she was a fierce warrior, stronger than everyone—herself included—gave her credit for.
Last night, she had fought for her life and won, and while he would never be able to erase the image of her pressed into the forest floor with that man on top of her, preparing to rape her, she was there, safe with him, and proving once again that she could handle anything.
The flight back there had been quiet, and Cassandra and Rose had both slept through most of it. He’d stripped her out of her ruined clothes the second they got into their vehicle and dressed her in one of his spare shirts instead. Seeing her in his clothes had filled him with a possessiveness that had made it difficult to let Voodoo examine her.
Once they were finally back home, he’d bathed her slowly, attentively, caressing every inch of her body as though he could erase the pain she suffered. They’d spoken more about what had happened in that van, and she’d told him in broken whispers how the man had started raping her, penetrating her, although not all the way, before she’d thrown up then broken his nose and run.
Holding his little rabbit while she cried had been easier than he would have thought. That instinct to protect, but in a different way, was one he was sure he hadn't possessed, yet the moment tears began to shimmer in Cassandra’s eyes, she was in his arms.
Neither of them had spoken, there hadn't been a need for words. Nothing he could say would erase what had happened, and they both knew that. All Cassandra needed was support, to know she wasn't alone, to know he would do his best to slay the monsters that lived inside her head as well as the physical ones.
When she started shivering as the water in the bath cooled, he’d scooped her up, carried her to his bed, and held her as they slept.
If it were up to him, he wouldn't have initiated anything sexual until Cassandra had had plenty of time to heal. Especially knowing her fears about there being something wrong with her because she liked rough sex, and her mom had been raped. While he knew in her head she understood the difference, when she was vulnerable, it was hard for her to remember it.
But he’d been woken by Cassandra’s hands stroking him, a sultry smile on her face, a plea on her lips that she needed himto wipe away the memories, not let that man take something important from her.
Because he never wanted to be someone Cassandra doubted, he needed her to know that he was always there for her one hundred percent, that she only needed to ask and he would do anything she wanted, he’d given in.
So now he had her tied up, thick bandages around her wrists because while he knew she liked to see her blood flowing, he wasn't going to reopen the wounds on her wrists after she’d just survived an explosion. She’d given into the compromise, and once he had her restrained he’d grabbed one of the toys he’d bought to use on her, turned it on, put it inside her, and then left her there, squirming in his bed, while he took a shower.
Now he stood, leaning his shoulder against the wall, one of his hands absently stroking himself as he watched Cassandra writhe on the bed. Her skin was flushed, dotted with sweat, as her hips rocked, seeking more stimulation than the toy he’d left set on low could offer.
Her green gaze moved to meet his as she realized he was watching her, and she whimpered through the gag.
Stalking toward the bed, Dragon stood beside it, staring down at his pretty little captive. Grabbing one of her breasts, he kneaded it roughly, then took the hardened peak of the nipple between his thumb and forefinger and tweaked it hard.
Moaning, Cassandra thrust her chest up, seeking more, but he withdrew his hand, drawing another whimper from her.
“You ready to beg yet, little rabbit?” he asked, trailing his fingers down her stomach and between her legs. Holding the end of the toy, he pulled it out slowly, then shoved it back in, making her back arch and a moan tumble from her lips. “Well?”
Defiance sparked in her green eyes, and she gave a sharp shake of her head.
Chuckling, he reached for the remote to the toy and turned the setting up a couple, enough to torment her, keep her hovering on the peak of an orgasm, but not allowing her to fall into it.
“Okay then, little rabbit, your choice. I told you, you wouldn't be coming until you begged for it. If you're not ready, I certainly am.”
