Page 11 of To Crave Deeply
I wanted him. I wanted to feel his hands on my skin, feel sheer pleasure run through me the moment he finally gave in and took me. It would be brutal and intense, just like him.
“You make me feel at war with my dragon. Like I’m not in control anymore. You’re under my skin, the pulse in my veins. You’re like a tattoo that I can’t remove. You’re constantly there driving me insane, day by day, and I can’t breathe when you’re near me. And I hate it, Lori. I fucking hate it.”
My heart clenched at the pain radiating from him. I didn’t understand why he refused to give in, why he was so determined to hate me and stay away. My mind chose that moment to pull the photo of his family to the forefront of my mind.
“What happened to them, Cassian? What happened to your family?”
His emotions immediately shut down. One second, I could see his pain and sorrow and the next, there was nothing but the pale blue of his cold, unfeeling eyes.
“They died.” He stood up and turned his back on me, putting an end to the conversation. But I didn’t give up that easily.
I got to my feet and stared at his back and those broad shoulders, my fingers itching to reach out and comfort him, but I knew that would be a bad idea. I didn’t want to make his walls between us any firmer. Not when I had a chance to put a couple of cracks in them now.
“I’d figured that much when I tasted your sorrow and grief. I felt it as if it were my own and it was immeasurable. I knew then that you must have lost someone dear to you to even begin to feel that much pain. But I also tasted shame and regret. And then they announced you as King at the gathering and—”
“Stop!” he yelled, his voice cracking under the weight of his emotions. “Just stop.”
His shoulders dipped as the burden of pain settled heavily on them. I walked around him to stand in front of him and my breath hitched. I could see everything written across his face. It was raw and visceral, and tears welled in my eyes at the sight of him finally letting those emotions he hid surface to claim him.
“Oh, Cassian,” I whispered as I reached out to cup his jaw with my hand, but my fingers never reached his face. He slapped my hand away and I flinched in shock.
“Don’t touch me!” he roared, anger blazing in his eyes.
I should have expected an adverse reaction to tenderness from him. It was Cassian, for fuck’s sake. He didn’t want a shoulder to cry on; he wanted a bag to fucking punch.
Well, if that’s what he needed, then that’s what he’d get. He needed to work some of this anger out or he was never going to be able to move on. And Hell, it wasn’t like I could die again, was it?
“Why not, Cassie? Too scared I might break you?”
I knew I was looking at a very angry, very pissed off dragon and goading him probably wasn’t entirely sensible. But I needed him to attack me. I wanted him to attack me. That thrill of danger he elicited crept along my skin, and I could barely contain the manic excitement that was bubbling through me.
He still wasn’t going for it. He was still standing, hands on hips, glaring at me like a raging bull.
Time to take it up a notch.
I extended my right arm quickly and gave his face a light slap. He flinched and his scowl deepened but still he didn’t move. So I did it again with my left arm. He growled and let out a sharp breath through his nose.
“Come on, Cassie. I know you want to hit me,” I sang with a little glee in there just to wind him up further. “Is the big bad dragon afraid of little ol’ me?”
“I know what you’re doing. And it won’t work.”
He clearly hadn’t met my extreme levels of persistence. I could feel my grin widen on my face.
Challenge accepted, tough guy.
I gave him a quick jab to the ribs followed by an uppercut to the jaw. He still wasn’t blocking me. He was just standing there with his scowl getting deeper and his breathing getting heavier. Maybe I should go for a cock shot?
My eyes dipped to his crotch, and he followed the movement before a little flash of panic flared in his eyes.
“Don’t you fucking dare, Lori,” he ground out.
Jackpot.
I lunged forward and aimed my knee at his dick. And, of course, he blocked me. I snorted. Men, so precious about their dicks that the mere hint at inflicting pain there had them protecting them with their life. I rolled my eyes at Cassian’s predictability, but I didn’t wait for him to attack. His hands were so busy protecting his precious cock from my knee that he missed the right hook heading straight for his face. His head snapped back, and a string of expletives fell from his mouth along with the sight of his breath freezing in the air in front of him.
Oh, yeah. The dragon was coming out to play.
I should be terrified. I should be turning tail and running away. That’s what a sane person would do. But not me. I grinned at Cassian and beckoned him closer while those reptilian eyes of his narrowed dangerously at me. I licked my lips as my body anticipated the assault. Excitement was running rampant through me, and wetness pooled between my thighs at the malicious grin that curled Cassian’s beautiful mouth.
