Chapter 3: The Wolf That Submitted

Iris POV

“Then take off your dress.”

I stood still for two seconds.

Only then did it truly sink in that Cassian had agreed.

I had spent the entire night thinking about what I needed to do.

I had never let myself think about what it would feel like to actually do it.

I raised my hands and took off my cloak.

Before leaving my room tonight, I had deliberately changed into a dress I could manage without a maid’s help.

I draped the cloak over the back of the chair beside me.

I undid the clasps of my dress one by one.

The fabric slipped from my body.

I removed the last piece of clothing.

For a moment, I didn’t look up.

Then I straightened, forcing myself to keep my hands at my sides instead of covering myself.

Cassian was still standing behind the desk.

His eyes were still on me.

“Turn around.”

I turned to face the cabinet against the wall beside the desk.

Cassian finally moved.

I heard him come around the desk.

His footsteps stopped behind me.

I kept myself from wondering what he would do next.

His cool palm settled on my waist.

I braced my hands against the edge of the cabinet.

My shoulders tensed.

Cassian did not rush me.

He stayed close behind me, giving me time to adjust to the heat of his body at my back and the steady pressure of his hand at my waist.

For several breaths, nothing happened.

Then his thumb moved once against my skin.

The muscles beneath his hand tightened, and he gave me another moment before moving closer.

The warmth of his breath reached my shoulder.

My fingers pressed harder against the cabinet.

Then, slowly, he closed the last distance between us.

Pain cut sharply through my already tense body.

My fingers clamped down on the wooden edge.

Cassian stopped.

“Breathe.”

Only then did I realize I had been holding my breath.

I slowly inhaled, then let it out.

Cassian did not move again until my breathing began to steady.

When he did, he was slower than before.

The first few movements still hurt.

Each time the pressure returned, my fingers tightened on instinct.

Cassian waited whenever my body resisted him.

Gradually, those pauses became shorter.

Almost at the same time, my wolf lowered herself.

Faster and more completely than she ever had before.

She had never done this before.

Not even when Rowan and I were intimate.

My wolf did not struggle.

Even while she remained low, something in her kept reaching toward him.

I wanted this over.

My wolf wanted closer.

I didn’t understand her.

And right now, I didn’t need to.

The pain gradually dulled.

My body was no longer as rigid as before, and Cassian’s movements settled into a steady rhythm behind me.

The foot of the cabinet scraped softly across the floor.

The force pushed me forward a little.

The hand at my waist tightened and pulled me back into place.

Cassian still said nothing.

But his breathing behind me was no longer as even as it had been at first.

Mine wasn’t either.

Heat gathered beneath my skin despite every effort I made to stay focused on why I was here.

It was only my body responding.

For the first time that night, I felt a little sorry for myself.

It was ridiculous. I was the one who had asked for this.

I knew exactly what I was trying to protect.

Knowing that did not make the ache in my body any less real.

I closed my fingers around the cabinet again and stayed where I was.

If this was the price, I could pay it.

Cassian’s pace remained controlled.

Then one movement brought him closer than before.

His breath brushed the side of my neck.

My body tightened instantly.

That was too close.

What we were doing tonight could still be hidden.

But if Cassian bit me, there would be no hiding that.

Rowan had never marked me. We had only had sex once after the wedding. He hadn’t even had time to bring up marking before he disappeared.

My fingers tightened against the cabinet.

Cassian had never had a mate.

I had no idea what that meant for a wolf like his once instinct took over, or how much control he would have with an unmarked she-wolf beneath his mouth.

That was when I felt genuinely afraid.

His breath stayed against the side of my neck.

With every second he stayed there, my pulse climbed higher into my throat.

I kept waiting, terrified that I would feel the slightest brush of teeth against my skin.

Nothing came.

The warmth at my neck lingered for another moment, then slowly began to fade.

Cassian had lifted his head.

Only then did the breath trapped in my chest finally come free.

The danger I had imagined never came.

Cassian had been close enough to lose control.

But he hadn’t.

His movements continued.

For a while, the rhythm remained steady.

Then his breathing deepened behind me.

The hand around my waist tightened sharply.

His fingers dug in hard enough to sting.

I flinched.

The pressure eased almost immediately.

A little later, his rhythm finally broke.

Then he went still behind me.

For several seconds, neither of us moved.

When it was over, I dressed.

Behind me, a drawer opened.

I glanced back.

A strand of his dark hair had fallen over his forehead. His expression was composed again, but his breathing had not completely settled.

Cassian took out a small jar of salve and set it on the desk.

His gaze dropped briefly to my waist.

“Take it with you.”

I looked at the jar.

A faint ache still lingered at my waist, where his grip had tightened too hard earlier.

He had noticed.

For one beat, my heart seemed to slow.

By the time I fastened the last clasp, I could already hear pages turning behind me again.

I took my cloak from the back of the chair and settled it over my shoulders.

“The verification will be postponed.”

My hands paused on the ties of my cloak.

“How long?”

“Long enough.”

“Next time, go to the private sitting room.”

“The butler will take you through the private passage.”

Of course. One night could never guarantee a child.

“Yes.”

I secured the cloak around me.

My fingers had pulled the ties too tight.

I loosened them and tied them again.

Then I picked up the jar of salve from the desk and slipped it into my pocket.

“Thank you.”

The words came out before I decided exactly what I meant by them.

For postponing the verification, perhaps. Or for the salve.

I decided not to think about it any further.

Cassian did not answer.

Another page turned behind me.

I walked to the door, opened it, and left his study.