Page 55 of Cruel Deception
Softly.
He kissed my cheek. Then my lips.
That kiss was harsher. Possessive. Heat surged through my spine, but I jerked away before it burned.
He reached down and unbuckled his belt.
I flinched. “Don’t—”
He paused. “I’ll never hit you. No.” He dropped the belt beside the bed. “There are better ways to destroy a person.”
He grabbed my ankles before I could move, dragged my legs apart, and tied one to the left bedpost with his belt.
“Let go!” I thrashed, trying to kick him off, but he pinned my body down, grabbed his tie, and fastened the other ankle to the second post.
“Don’t you dare violate me!” I screamed. “I do not want this—I don’t consent!”
Cassian crawled over me, catching both wrists and pinning them high above my head with one hand. His body hovered over mine. He was strong. Too strong. And his breath hit my lips like fire and steel.
“You think you have a say in what I do with you?” he asked. “That’s cute.”
I started to cry.
Not just tears—but full body-wrecking sobs.
“You don’t need my consent?” I choked. “You think this is power? You think this makes you a man?”
His breath brushed my temple. “You don’t understand yet. But you will.”
I was shaking uncontrollably now. “Please...” I begged. “Please, not like this.”
He stilled.
That made him stop.
I wasn’t screaming anymore—I was pleading like a girl who’d been broken before. And he felt it. The shift.
“I’m not afraid of you, Cassian,” I said through tears. “I’m afraid of remembering. I’m afraid of what this feels like. I’ve lived this once and it never left me.”
Something in his grip faltered.
Then, silently, he lowered his head and kissed the tears falling down my cheek.
It was so soft I almost didn’t feel it. Then he kissed my mouth again—but gentler this time. Lingering. Almost human.
“I don’t want it like this,” I whispered, choking. “Not with you. Not with anyone. I want to feel safe again. Is that too much to ask?”
He released my wrists.
Then, one by one, he untied my ankles.
I curled in on myself, trembling, covering my legs with the blanket. He didn’t speak. Didn’t touch me.
He simply stood and walked to the window, his back to me.
It was the first time I’d seen his shoulders fall.
The silence between us didn’t feel like power anymore.
