Page 102 of Secrets & Curses of Crimson

I laughed softly. She was flirting with me.

“Little viper, I knew you were letting me win so I’d kiss you.” Her eyes shined playfully. “If I win, I want another kiss too.”

“You won’t win.”

It didn’t matter who won. We both knew what the other wanted for a prize. Thea kicked up her strikes. She was determined to win, and I would let her. Our daggers locked in an ‘X’ in front of us, pulling our bodies close. My eyes dropped to her mouth, but before I could kiss her, she leaned forward and pressed herlips to mine. Shit. It caught me off guard enough that she pulled back and kicked my chest, making me tumble away from her.

Gods, she was looking at me with no confusion or concern. Her guard was completely down. I paused for a moment. Thea looked at me like she did before she was cursed. Her big green eyes glanced over me as I stood staring at her.

“Couldn’t wait to kiss me? You missed me that much, Thea?” I smiled.

“I was just distracting you.” Her lie made my smile widen. I could feel her lust in our marriage bond. She was barely keeping herself in check.

I nodded as I rushed her again. This advance caught her off guard. One misstep and she was lying flat on her back with me on top of her, holding my dagger to her throat.

“Dead,” I smiled triumphantly.

“Fuck,” she breathed because this was too much. Our emotions barreled down the bonds, making both of us freeze. There was no mistaking how we were both feeling.

Her eyes traced over my face like she missed me. It was too much to watch. Thea’s fire magic exploded out of her without permission and swarmed around us, making a shield from anyone who might come near us. I stared at her as she lifted her hands to pull me to her mouth. Then she kissed me like a starved woman. A deep moan escaped me as I deepened the kiss. Thea’s body molded to mine asI adjusted my body, so I was settled between her legs. My tongue dominated hers as she pushed her hips into mine. A moan left her, and I pressed harder against her, desperate to hear those noises she made for me.

“Cassius,” she breathed as I pulled away from her mouth. My hand gripped her throat firmly so she couldn’t move as my mouth crushed into hers again. Thea’s hands ran through my hair as my hips rolled into hers.

Gods, I couldn’t stop this. I needed her. My hands reached between us, and I undid my trousers as she pulled back and yanked her own trousers down. She only got one of her legs freed before she gave up on it. I sank into her with one hard thrust.

“Fuck,” we muttered together.

She rolled her hips up to mine, and it was all the motivation I needed to take control. Her mouth seared mine with a consuming kiss before she pulled back. I rested on his hands so I could watch her face and sear this moment into my memory forever.

“Cassius, please.”

“Tell me what you need, Thea; use your words,” I demanded with a circle of my hips, and the motion made her eyes flutter shut and moan loudly into a mix of shadows and fire mist around us.

“Gods, I fucking love those noises you make for me,” I groaned.

This was too much, but I didn’t want it to end. I wanted to savor it and stay here with her forever.

“More, my love. I want to hear how much you like fucking me.”

“Cassius,” she moaned, but I cut off her sentence with another kiss.

“You’re mine,” I declared. "I can't wait for the day you remember. You feel how fucking perfect we are for each other, don't you? How much we belong together.” My words made longing and lust pump through our bonds. “You can keep pretending like it doesn't consume you too,” I whispered as my hips pounded into her without slowing. My hand came up and gripped her jaw tightly, so she was looking at me. My thumb rubbed over her red lips roughly, and she opened her mouth and bit my thumb. My moan was possessive, as I lost all ability to draw this out.

“One day you'll remember how hopelessly in love with you I am. How each breath I take is for you. How you possess me every waking moment."

I sent images of me on my knees in front of her down the bond, and she gripped my hips tighter with her legs. I swallowed down her moans, but then she pulled away.

"Wait... stop," she said frantically.

I immediately stilled and stared at her. Her eyes were wide with uncertainty.

"Shit." She shoved me off of her. "My father is here."

Thea was fixing her clothing but refusing to look at me. I swallowed hard as her grief hit me again.

“Little viper.”

When she finally turned slightly towards me, I had already fixed my clothing. She looked terrified, but not of me. It’s like she couldn’t look at me because she was being reminded of something she didn’t want to. I felt it through the bond, grief. But not just missing me grief. This was an all-consuming, devastating sense of losing me. It took my breath away.

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