Chapter 88: Chapter 88 - First night [1]
Warning! Mature content.
Cassian discarded his trousers to the side of the bed.
He would behead anyone who entered the chamber now if they didn’t have a good reason to disturb him. He would not have a repeat of their unfortunate wedding night.
Cassian trailed his hands along the sides of Lilith’s body, taking in a sight he already knew by heart. He could trace every inch of her, even blindfolded. Every mole, every mark left behind by the cruel beatings her family had given her. Cassian knew all of it.
Cassian lowered his head and pressed a slow kiss to a fading bruise just beneath Lilith’s right breast. It had long since healed, but he kissed it all the same, because it did nothing to dim her beauty, and nothing about it turned him away from her.
In this moment, Lilith’s body carried fewer scars than it had the first time they had married. She had not yet endured the cruel beating that had once lasted an hour, until she had fallen unconscious from it.
The Lilith who had loved him and married him once before would have given anything to return to a body she hadn’t yet learned to call hideous.
This time, Cassian intended to make her feel so deeply loved that the sight of her bruises would never trouble her again. He wished he could have gone further back in time to shield her from all the other beatings.
Cassian found another small scar and brushed his lips against it.
"Are you eyeing every bruise I have?" Lilith asked, her hand drifting to cover one near her neck. "You shouldn’t-"
"They’re beautiful," Cassian said, cutting her off before she could speak poorly of them. "Every inch of you is beautiful. I am fortunate that the men of this kingdom have been so blind to you. I intend to cherish everything they overlooked."
Cassian wished he could keep Lilith hidden away so no other man could try claiming what was his.
Lilith found no witty reply or an easy way to deflect. She felt, with quiet certainty, that he loved the very scars she preferred to hide, though they were proof of every battle she had survived inside that castle.
A lady’s body was meant to be unmarked and untouched, but Lilith’s was nothing of the kind. She wore it with as much pride as she could manage, though it remained a constant reminder of every fight she had ever faced. Even winning had a way of leaving her exhausted.
And yet, for some reason she couldn’t fully name, Cassian kissed her body with a warmth she had never once felt before.
Even Michael, who had once tried to convince her he loved her, had never touched her with such gentleness.
Lilith decided not to rush him. It was rare for her to feel anything but shame over her bruises in front of someone, and this unhurried attention was something new.
Cassian’s hands continued their slow path down her side, drifting lower until they reached her hips.
He pressed his lips just above her waist before lowering himself further, settling between her parted legs.
Lilith smiled, both amused and impressed by how patiently he had worked his way there. "I don’t recall there being any bruises down there. You’re a sly man, Cassian. I’d advise against settling your head between my legs if you don’t know what you’re doing."
"A lady never forgets being disappointed," Lilith added.
Cassian answered by biting gently at the inside of her thigh, leaving a mark that would fade within the hour. "You really shouldn’t speak of being disappointed by another man, or I might feel compelled to have you screaming my name until you forget his entirely and your throat is left raw from it."
Lilith smiled as she had managed to rile him up just as she wanted. "I wasn’t thinking of him at all. I was simply asking that you not disappoint me. Get on with it."
She caught one last glimpse of his smile before his head dipped lower between her legs, and all she could see after that was the dark, messy spread of his hair.
Cassian wasted no time. His lips found the warmth between her thighs, and though Lilith couldn’t see exactly what he was doing, she felt the soft press of his mouth against her most intimate place before his tongue slipped out to taste her properly.
The scent of flowers still clung faintly to her skin from her bath, and Cassian breathed it in, already thinking of having a fresh bouquet brought to her in the morning.
His tongue slid between her folds, savouring every taste of her thoroughly, like a man who had been starving for exactly this.
Lilith’s back arched off the bed, and at the same moment, Cassian’s hands closed firmly around her thighs, holding her steady so she couldn’t writhe free of him.
She tried to lift her right hand, but Cassian held her in place. She turned her head to the side, her fingers twisting into the blanket beneath her as his tongue worked against her without mercy.
It became clear within moments that Cassian knew exactly how to please a woman, and Lilith was going to regret how recklessly she had teased him only minutes before.
Cassian continued tasting her, drawing in every bit of her that filled his mouth and swallowing it without a second thought. His tongue explored her relentlessly, and just as Lilith began to grow accustomed to the sensation, he replaced it with his finger.
Cassian lifted his head, finally able to look up and see Lilith, who had lost all her earlier confidence. He stroked her slowly with his finger before easing it inside her.
Lilith shifted beneath him, though there was no pain in it, no real discomfort. This was far from her first time. Without quite deciding to, she reached out and let her fingers trail along the firm muscle of Cassian’s arm, drawn to him without realising it.
