LOGINNINA'S POV
Somewhere between his breath and my heartbeat, the storm outside stills. Rain drums gently against the window, muffling my moans as I completely melt in his arms. I cling to him like he's oxygen, breath ragged as he pulls me closer into him. He tastes like whiskey and rain. It's intoxicating — reckless enough to feel like freedom. His tongue grazes my lips, hot and seeking. I let him in. Let him taste me. His fingers snake around my throat. He breaks our kiss, eyes glazed with heat. For a second I can catch my breath. Then he leans in, lips grazing my chin. “Last chance, Nina. Leave while you still can.” He says it like he can ruin me. Maybe he can. This man, with his heated gaze and whiskey breath and strong hands around my waist. “You don’t want me to leave,” I whisper, and maybe I don’t want to either. Fucked if I run from this. My fingers graze his shirt, trailing down his chest. I feel him stiffen, muscles rippling under his shirt. “And what do you want?” I don't hesitate. “You. I want you to make me forget.” Knots form in my throat. Tomorrow I'll go back to my apartment. To the mess that is my life. But tonight? Tonight I'm his to claim. To own. He hooks a thumb under my chin, forcing me to meet his fiery gaze. “Careful what you wish for.” He leans in, voice low “I'm very hard to erase.” “Oh yeah? How hard?” I whisper. His hand covers mine, guiding it below his belt. A gasp escapes me as my palm grazes his hardness. “How hard do you think?” His voice rumbles low, like a threat. My belly sings in anticipation — he's going to fill me, completely. Soon I won't feel this ache anymore. Soon I’ll forget my name and moan his. His lips claim mine again. Fireworks explode in my belly as he lowers me into the silk sheets. The air smells of rain and dust and him. I'm intoxicated. I'm alive. But we're just getting started. I thought I had felt it all — experienced everything with Jason. But when he plants a kiss on my belly, I come undone. His lips torture me all the way to my inner thighs, and I forget how to breathe. “Oh…I don't…” “Easy, my darling. I've got you.” His breath fans hot against my panties. The words should calm me, but they only make me fall faster. My heartbeat races. I've never done this before. I lean up on my elbows. I want to watch him take me. His eyes gleam up at me. “Giving up already?” He purrs, thumb grazing my clit. “I don't —” A shiver ripples through me. He lifts my legs gently, pressing kisses from my knees to my feet. Then my legs are on his shoulder, and my panties are coming off. His eyes never leave mine, like a predator circling its prey. I know he's going to ruin me. The eyes never lie. My legs part for him. My back arches off the bed when his lips graze my clit. “Don't you run from me now.” His hands circle my waist, pinning me under his lips. I can't. I'm writhing, shivering as his tongue moves hot inside me. I met this man five hours ago and he's eating me out like he's known me forever. And I'm loving every second of it. His tongue circles my clit, making it harder to stay calm. My chest heaves, nipples tightening. Every lap of his tongue, every kiss of his lips draws me closer to the edge. I'm squealing, damn near tipping over the edge when I say it. One word. One name. “Jason…” My face blooms red. How stupid. For a moment Cassian's eyes hold no emotion, and I steel myself, ready to leave when he asks me to. “Who's Jason?” My mouth goes cotton dry. I should bail out of here. But I don't. “He's…my ex. I'm sorry. It just —” “Just what?” His voice darkens. He's mad at me. He's — Unzipping his fly. I blink, brain fogging. He's so big. So thick and veiny. My body pulses, thighs clenching. “Tell me something, Nina, does Jason feel like this?” He growls as his dick rubs my clit. I suck in a breath, heat swirling in my stomach. “Um…” “That’s a no?” He chuckles darkly, teasing my wet slit. “Please…” my voice trembles, breaking between gasps. He's drawing out my ache, and loving every second of it. “Use your words, angel. Cat got your tongue?” My words form in my throat just as he pushes inside me, hard and deep. I cry out, insides quaking. He's so hard. So hot. I can't think. “Fuck…Cassian —” “Yes, princess, that is my name.” His fingers snake around my throat, forcing me to look at him. To watch him destroy me. Every stroke feels like sin, and yet every thrust convinces me it’s the only thing that’s ever felt right. My legs circle his waist, pulling him deeper into me. He leans down to kiss me, lips covering mine as his thrusts get faster. My moans spill free, and he swallows them all, claiming every gasp like his oxygen. My body quivers as my orgasm builds up. I'm pulsing hard around him, tears blurring my vision when he slows. “You're in my gut…” I whimper, toes curling. My nails dig into his back, desperate for balance as I tip over the edge. “Please don't stop. I'm…” Coming. Hard. “Did I give you permission?” He seethes, wrapping both hands around my throat and pounding harder. I'm begging, pleading, cumming even more. He doesn't stop. He grinds up against my g-spot and it takes everything not to scream. His cocky smile fades into heated desire when I tighten around him. He's pulsing inside me, breath ragged. “Nina…” “Do it. You know you want to.” I tease, brushing my lips against his. My fingers comb through his hair as his body tenses. I feel him — every inch of him — throbbing inside me, hot as he cums. He plants kisses to my neck as I purr in satisfaction. Tomorrow, I'll regret this. But tonight, regret can wait. I just had sex with this hot stranger to get over my fiancé. That's the best decision I've made this year. And when Jason sees me again, I'll make sure he knows I'm not the woman he can just break. Tomorrow, I’ll hate myself for this. But tonight, I learned something Jason never taught me — how it feels to be wanted.NINA’S POVThe result came in on day six, and it threw us into even deeper confusion.I guess I should’ve seen it coming, what with Cassian waking up…different. There was a smile on his face this morning and an extra lilt in his step that made my stare linger. He called me his Nina and kissed me awake to the image of his stormy grey eyes watching me, filled with longing. He made me coffee and we had breakfast in bed. We showered together and he won’t stop trying to help me wash my hair. Soap got in my eyes and he held me steady with one hand and washed my face with the other.I wore his shirt. He wore my cologne. I don’t question any of it.We had finally found our slice of happiness, and how fucking amazing it felt. Maybe the universe needed to give us one last moment of peace before it all went to shit, because it did.It’s evening now. Cassian is lying face up on the sofa in the morning room. He had insisted earlier that it was the best spot to watch the sunset, and he didn’t l
CASSIAN’S POVI’m not foolish enough to think that one conversation can make everything right, but I’m grateful for the little bit of quiet Nina’s promise has given me.But peace has never come naturally to me. Even with Nina beside me and the house finally quiet, some part of me is still waiting for the other shoe to drop.I stare up at the ceiling, thinking about everything and nothing at the same time. Some part of me already knows that Axel is my brother, but I’m clinging to the stupid hope that I’m somehow wrong.It feels like the walls are closing in, like any day I could wake up and realize that the ranch is surrounded by cops. Any day, Nina could slip through my fingers and be gone.The thought fills me with so much fear that my heart physically hurts, and it doesn’t help that my nightmares are back.In the past I’d found myself trapped in these nightmares where I couldn’t find my mother no matter where I looked. Now when I close my eyes, Nina is the one who’s missing. I can
NINA’S POVFor someone who once couldn’t go five minutes without finding an excuse to be around me, Cassian is doing a pretty good job of pretending I don’t exist.It’s been two whole days since our fight, if I can even call it that.Except for the occasional check in, the muttered greetings in the hallway and brief moments of watching him undress and step into the shower, I’ve pretty much been a ghost to him.If I didn’t know better, I’ll say he’s punishing me for speaking up. Maybe I truly don’t know better, and it doesn’t make it hurt less.He’s been spending all his time in his home office, only coming out to shower and occasionally asking if I had everything I needed. Sometimes all I could do was stare at him and wonder how we went from making promises to not even sleeping in the same bed.Sloane must be having a field day with this one.It’s day three now, and I lie still in bed with the covers over my head, listening to the water running in the shower.He’ll be out any moment n
NINA’S POV“Come here. Now.”Cassian’s voice is low, but there’s something in it that makes me abandon every excuse forming on my tongue and move straight toward him.I hear the door behind me opening just as I reach him. Cassian catches my wrist and pulls me into our bedroom, shutting the door behind us. My back hits the wall, and before I can say a word, he leans closer.“Shhh.”I hold my breath. We listen in silence as Sloane’s door slams shut, followed by the heavy thud of footsteps stomping down the hallway. They pass our room and continue downstairs, eventually fading into silence, leaving nothing but the sound of my heart pounding in my ears.Finally, Cassian steps back. He’s barefoot, dressed in black joggers and a singlet, his expression far less amused than I’d hoped.I gulp back a breath and rub my arms, staying perched against the door. I try to come up with a good reason for getting caught outside his ex-wife’s door, but my heart skips a beat when I hear his voice.“N
NINA’S POV It takes the whole day to convince Axel to stay, and I’m still not sure which part makes me feel worse—that I’m asking him to do it for me, or that I know he won’t be able to refuse. It’s bad enough that we lured him here under false pretense, but keeping him here is like tossing a lit matchstick into a gas filled room. Why is nobody else seeing it like I am? But Cassian is right. We don’t have a choice. We can’t let him leave and rat us out to the police…if he hasn’t already. So when he sighs and agrees to stay ‘just until the test is done’, I feel my knees buckle in relief. We’re sitting at the fireplace, and I'm watching his fingers comb through his hair over and over. I try to imagine what it must feel like to have your reality sawed in half, to have a whole new part shoved in your face like it was always meant to be there. I want to reach out and stop him. I want to tell him that it’ll be okay. But my optimism is spent for the day, and I really just want to l
CASSIAN’S POV I invited Axel Cross into my home knowing exactly who he might be. What I didn’t account for was the gun pointed at my head, my pregnant ex-wife’s forehead, or the fact that Nina would have to be the one to make us sit in the same fucking room. I thought that the revelation hit me the hardest, but seeing Axel sitting by the fireplace with his head in his hands…it almost makes me feel sorry for him. It’s not like I sincerely give a fuck about his feelings. Sure, this might all be a part of his plan, but still, his face is really pale, and Nina is staring at me like I should have said something else. “A DNA test?” Her lips purse. I keep my gaze steady on her, my fingers curling tight around my glass. “That’s right.” Axel looks up, eyes red rimmed. “You’re not my brother.” “I wish it were that easy.” I lift my glass to my lips, watching through the corner of my eye as he stands. “This is a game, isn’t it?” He turns to Nina, “did he put you up to thi







