The Devil's Favourite Obsession

Cixi took a cab back to the mansion, and to her surprise, when she and Marion stepped out onto the main road, two taxis were already waiting for them.

One carried Marion home. The other took Cixi. Another two black cars trailed her taxi the whole way, never falling back, never closing in, until she passed through the gate.

She let herself into the place she shared with Cassian.

She had expected to find him here when he was the one who had arranged the whole evening with a generous dinner with her friend down by the riverside. Atleast she thought it was Cassian’s doing. And some foolish part of her had assumed he would be waiting in the room. But he was not.

The living room sat empty. She checked the study, and it was empty too. Then the bedroom.

Restless, she retreated to the washroom, her eyes drawn immediately to the large, ornate mirror. It was just glass right now. ’Where are you?’

Cixi waited for it to show Cassain. But nothing changed.

A sudden, reckless idea bloomed in her mind. It was embarrassing, even mortifying, but she couldn’t help giving in.

She pulled the scarf from her head and let it drop to the floor. She pulled her t-shirt over her head, tossing it aside, leaving her in a delicate white lace bra. Next came the fake belly, unstrapped and discarded. She stared into the glass with focus, her heart hammering against her ribs.

The mirror won’t show her Cassian. Just her own flushed reflection staring back.

Biting her lip, she unbuttoned her jeans, sliding them down her hips and stepping out of them. Now she stood in only her bra and panties, the cool air of the bathroom raising goosebumps on her skin. She waited, watching for any sign of a ripple, any hint of magic. Still nothing.Nothing at all.

Taking a shaky breath, she reached behind her back. With a soft click, she unclasped her bra, letting the lace fall away to the floor.

The second the cold air hit her bare breasts, teasing her nipples, the surface of the mirror shuddered.

It didn’t just ripple. It distorted into a liquid vortex before snapping into a crystal-clear image of Cassian. The air in the bathroom instantly felt heated.

His eyes found hers immediately, blazing with a dark, feral intensity that physically stole the breath from her lungs.

His gaze burned, dropping agonisingly slowly from her eyes down to her chin, and then to the delicate curve of her neck, lingering at the mark he had left there.

That screamed Cixi belonged to him.

When his eyes finally dragged lower, locking onto her bare breasts, a harsh, visible swallow worked its way down his throat. His teeth sank into his lower lip, pulling at the flesh in a raw display of how much he wanted those nipples between his teeth.

Heat prickled over every inch of her skin. Her skin flushed with a desperate heat, and a hollow ache pulsed low in her stomach, demanding the warmth of his solid body against hers. She tried to school her features, tried to draw an even breath to pretend she wasn’t falling apart under his stare, but the dark, rosy flush spreading across her cheek and creeping up the tips of her ears betrayed every secret she had.

She worked to keep her breathing even. It grew harder when his gaze slid lower still, to the last thin scrap of her underwear, and lingered.

He dragged his tongue slowly across one fang.

”My Mind is turning violent.” His voice was low, and it was almost a question, though he shaped it like a certainty.”Tempting me to ravage her.”

”You...” Cixi’s voice was breathless. ”You know exactly when I am... dropping my clothes...”

It wasn’t a question. It was a realisation that made her knees weak.

Cassian didn’t answer right away. Instead, his gaze swept back up her body, dragging over her bare skin with such heavy, visceral heat that she could almost feel his tongue mapping the path. He licked her with his eyes, ruthlessly and unhurriedly, savouring every inch of her exposure before he devastatingly brought his smouldering eyes back to hers.

”I do not understand what you are talking about.” he tilted his head innocently. ”I missed you. I wanted to see you. And look at my luck, you were getting undressed to bless my eyes.”

Cixi, despite her core aching for him, narrowed her eyes, not believing Cassian.

”You are a demon,” Cixi breathed, trying to steady the wild pounding of her heart. Beneath the bravado, a sharp pang of disappointment twisted in her chest that he was only an apparition in the glass, not flesh and bone beside her. ”I shouldn’tbe trusting a single word you say. You only know how to play games.”

”I am anything but a liar, Cig.” Cassian’s voice was a resonant rumble that seemed to vibrate through the very air of the room. His burning gaze dropped deliberately to the thin lace clinging to her hips. ”Though my eyes are currently being obstructed. Those panties... they aren’t working for you. You should definitely remove them. They clash horribly with your current attire.”

Her core clenched, aching for him, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing just how thoroughly he affected her.

”Too bad,” she shot back, lifting her chin with feigned indifference. ”I like them. And they are staying exactly where they are.”

Annoyed by his teasing and infuriated that she had actually stripped down just to gaze at a magical reflection, she spun on her heel to storm out of the bathroom.

She didn’t make it a single step.

She slammed face-first into a solid, unyielding wall of muscle.

Cassian.

Before she could even process how he had crossed the threshold from the mirror to the room, his large hand snaked around to grip her perfect, round ass, squeezing the soft flesh with bruising, possessive force. A sharp gasp tore past Cixi’slips as the impact of his body against hers sent a jolt of electricity down her spine.

”Missed me?” he whispered darkly against her ear.