Page 12 of To Crave Madly
“If you are in trouble then just summon me. You merely need to call my name with intent, and I will be there for you.”
That was pretty impressive. It appeared that I now had a Shadow Fiend at my beck and call which was definitely comforting. “Thank you, Torsten.”
“You’re welcome, Mistress. I shall bid you goodnight.” He gave me a bow and snapped his heels before leaving me to my own company.
What a strange turn of events. This night was certainly going to go down as one of the oddest nights of my life.
Chapter 3
LORI
I awoke with a start. I could sense something looming in my room and it was threatening enough to pull me from my slumber. There was only one person who made my skin crawl like that.
Cassian.
My eyes searched the dark corners of my room until they found the cold eyes of the dragon.
“Have you watched me all night, Cassian? I didn’t take you for a creeper.”
I felt the air stir as he made his way towards me like a predator hunting from the shadows.
“Someone has to keep an eye on you.” His voice was low and sinister. He’d make a great movie villain, with his sharp features and deep menacing voice. I could imagine him sitting in the infamous chair, spinning round just at the right moment when the hero walks into the room, a cat with fur as white as his hair sat on his knee… I chuckled and he gave me a stern look. I wasn’t going to tempt fate by sharingthatimage with him. I liked my head where it was.
“Don’t you sleep?” I asked, wondering if he had actually watched me all night.
“Sleep is for the weak.”
“Yes, well I am perfectly happy to embrace this weakness, Cassian,” I replied with the bleariness that still clung to me. I looked at the pale light trying to make its way through the curtains. I groaned. It was way too early to play at interrogations with a dragon. “What do you want?”
“I want to know if I can trust you.”
He clearly wasn’t going to let me go back to sleep. Fuck it, I might as well get up. I hopped out of bed and stretched the sleep out of my bones. “And how are you going to work that out?”
He cocked his head to one side, his eyes dark with violence as he studied me. “I could always introduce you to my basement.”
My breath stuttered and my stomach dropped. I did not want to go to the basement and see all his nefarious doings. Although I was curious about what went on down there. It was like an unspoken rule around the base. Nobody mentioned what went on down there. It was like it was taboo and that had my curiosity raging for satisfaction.
“And what exactly do you do in your basement, Cassian?”
He grinned maliciously as he stepped closer towards me, but I refused to step backwards. I was not going to cower in front of him, no matter how much he tried to bully me.
“I play games.” He stepped closer still, stopping an inch from me. “Do you want to play games with me, Lori?”
My heart pounded in my chest. Fuck, this guy was scary, but it wasn’t just fear that had my heart racing. It was like I wanted to give in to the violence that I could sense lurking beneath the surface of my skin. Iwantedhim to lash out at me so I could attack him. My body was on edge as he looked me up and down and I could feel the same need in him. He wanted to hurt me, and I was almost mad enough to let him try. What the fuck was wrong with me? Why did the thought of violence in the bedroom have my body tingling with anticipation?
He reached a finger up to trace the contour of my cheek. I knew he was goading me and dammit, but I let him. I slapped his hand away and he grinned at me wolfishly.
Oh, fuck.
“Cassian… Don’t you –”
I wasn’t given a chance to finish my sentence. He launched himself towards me, leading with his shoulder as he hurled his body at mine. I was still half asleep, so my reaction time was sorely lacking, and Cassian knocked me to the floor way too easily. Pain jarred up my spine as I connected with the plush carpet.
Cassian was on me in an instant, but I had spent too many training sessions with him learning how to get out of situations just like this. I threw my head forward and crunched his nose. He grunted in surprise giving me a window to buck my hips and roll him beneath me. I was so fucking pissed at him that there was no finesse to my fight. I bitch-slapped the fucker and my nails raked across his cheek, leaving red welts in their wake. They healed instantly, stupid super healing abilities, but I enjoyed the fact that I’d manage to get a good scratch across his smug face. His eyes darkened as his dragon came to the surface. As much as I hated the guy, I did not want him going full dragon in my bedroom. I hadn’t even had coffee yet.
“Will there be an intermission in this little drama of yours, Cassian? I need to pee.”
He snarled back at me and I caught an elbow to the ribs. I toppled sideways with the shunt and Cassian had me pinned beneath him again. Although this time he managed to completely immobilise my body beneath his large frame. His legs were wrapped around mine, his chest held my torso in place and my hands were pinned to the floor beneath his own larger ones. I hated that he knew how to subdue me so easily. Or maybe I was just tired with it being so fucking early in the morning.
