Page 6 of Hounds Ascend
“Fuck, baby.”
I know exactly what my words will do to him. He slowsdown. Long elaborate strokes as he comes. He stiffens on top of me, his head resting on mine. Eyes closed. Mouth open. His breathing is heavy, mimicking my own. He’s drenched with sweat and the heat radiating off of him is enough to warm a small home in Alaska. Still, I relish the moment. I missed him while he’s been gone and I haven’t had the feel of his skin against mine in far too long. He doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to move, and I take the opportunity to run my fingers through his hair then down to his cheek to cup his face.
I don’t even mind the sweat that is now on my hand, that’s how much I’ve missed him. That, and it’s kind of sexy to have a sweaty, pleasured man above me.
“I need you to do something for me.” Cass’s words are quiet and calm.
“Okay.” I’m pretty sure I would agree to almost anything at the moment.
“Stop trying to be disobedient on purpose. I don’t control you and I hate that you feel like that.”
“I’m not allowed to leave alone, Cass. What would you call that?”
“Protection!” he yells.
I flinch back as his sudden outburst. He is so damned wishy-washy with this whole calm one minute then angry the next. He rolls off me and retrieves a wet towel from the bathroom, handing it to me.
“What are you protecting me from? You murdered the men that did that shit to me.” My tone is thickly laced with sarcasmand it doesn’t go unnoticed.
“That’s the whole fucking issue! I murdered two of their members, throw-aways or not doesn’t matter! They did that shit on purpose. They knew I’d kill them and that’s all the fucking ammo Asher needed to point the finger at me and say that the start of this war was on me! Not my men, not my ol’ lady,me!”
His breathing is heavy again, but his face is expressionless. Again with the wishy-washy.
“But, Asher was the only person there that had any decency toward me, why would he do that?” I ask.
“He doesn’t give afuckabout you! It was a money scheme! It was a way for him to get exactly what he wants, or at least in his mind that’s what it is.”
I ponder what Cass says. Maybe he’s right.
“What does he want, exactly?”
“Contacts. He wants my fucking connections. The people I used to get loads of drugs from that refuse to work with them because they’re pieces of shit.” Cass runs a hand through his hair and sits down in the chair at my desk.
“Why didn’t you just say that? Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Because I’d beat the fuck out of any one of the members in my club if they told anyone else that same thing. Whatever goes on at our table doesn’t leave our fucking table.”
Cass’s expression is grim. He doesn’t look happy, or sad, or angry even. He just looks…like Cass. He sits quietly in the chair, presumably waiting for my next question but there won’t be one. I’m tired of asking questions and, quite frankly, I’m tired oflying in this bed alone.
“Come to bed, please.”
Cass doesn’t say a word; he simply turns off the lamp that was on and crawls into bed next to me. He lies on his back, and I curl into the space between his left arm and his body; my spot. The spot I haven’t had in what felt like an eternity.
“I love you, Lilly.” Cass kisses my forehead and squeezes me tighter.
“And I love you,” I whisper.
Chapter Two
Lilly
“Cass!”
Someone is yelling outside the door and knocking. I sit up, sleep-deprived and groggy. I look at my phone. Five-fucking thirty. Are you kidding me? I nudge a snoring Cass.
“Baby.”
Cass bolts upright next to me, looking around the room. Taking in his surroundings before staring at me with wide eyes. Then another knock on the door sounds.
