Crossing the Line

~SERENA POV~

The control in Cassian's pose broke.

His hand shot to the back of my neck, fingers twisting in my hair as he pulled my mouth back to his.

This kiss wasn't gentle, but it wasn't rushed either....demanding, warm, entirely focused on me.

His lips moved against mine with a slow, mindful pressure, parting my mouth, his tongue sliding along the edge of my lower lip before dipping inside.

The taste of him was clean and faintly bitting, whiskey without the burn.

My eyelids blinked shut, then opened again, wanting to watch, wanting to see. His eyes stayed half-lidded, dark and watching me right back.

A soft sound escaped my throat....something between a whimper and a sigh...and his grip on my neck tightened in response, not painfully, just present, grounding.

He cupped my lower back, lifting me off my feet.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, my arms clinging to his shoulders, fingers digging into the expensive fabric of his jacket.

He carried me through the dark stretch toward the master bedroom, his mouth never leaving mine, the kiss deepening until I felt lightheaded, until saliva lubricated our chins and the corners of our lips glowed wet in the dim air.

He gently placed me in the middle of a large bed. The silk sheets felt cool and smooth against my bare shoulders.

Cassian paused above me, his weight braced on his forearms.

He reached down, holding my gaze, and slowly unbuttoned his white shirt. One button. Another.

The fabric parted to reveal a chest carved from lean, powerful muscle...broad shoulders, a tapered waist, a trail of dark hair disappearing beneath his belt.

He shrugged the shirt off and let it drop to the floor.

His hands found the straps of my dress.

He slid them down my arms with deliberate slowness, his knuckles brushing the sides of my breasts as the fabric peeled away.

The cool air hit my nipples and they tightened instantly, puckering into hard peaks.

"Are you okay?" His voice stayed low. His fingers rested against the side of my neck, feeling my pulse flutter beneath the skin.

"Yes." I panted the word, my hands sliding up his forearms, tracing the corded muscle there.

He leaned down and pressed his mouth to the gap of my throat.

Not a gentle kiss...an open-mouthed, wet drag of his lips that left a cooling trail of saliva on my skin. He moved lower, to the dip of my collarbone, his tongue tracing the bone before he sucked hard enough to leave a mark.

My fingers squeezed at his back, nails digging in, and a sound I didn't recognize bubbled up from my chest....high and breathy and desperate.

He shifted down the bed. His dark hair brushed the inside of my thigh and my breath caught quickly in my throat.

"Look at the ceiling," he commanded, his hands firm as they pinned my hips to the bed. "Just feel."

His mouth pressed against the wet, swollen center of my body.

A shock tore through my nervous system....electric and blinding.

I gasped, my fingers twisting into the silk sheets as his tongue set a slow, devastating jiffy against my clit.

He didn't just lick.

He used the flat of his tongue in all-around strokes, then the pointed tip to trace tight circles around the hardened nub, then his lips to suck with a gentle, rhythmic pressure that made my hips buck off the bed.

His hands held me down, thumbs pressing into the crease of my thighs.

The sounds were filthy. Wet, slick, slurping noises that filled the quiet room as his mouth worked against my pussy, saliva mixing with my own arousal until my inner thighs were lubricated with it, until I could feel it dripping down toward the sheets.

He groaned against me....a low vibration that traveled straight through my clit and up my spine...and my back arched in response.

"Cassian...please...."

He didn't slow.

He fucked me with his tongue, dipping it inside my entrance, curling it, then dragging it back up to circle my clit again.

One of his hands left my hip and I felt his fingers part my lower lips, spreading me open wider.

The cool air hit my exposed entrance and I whimpered.

Then his mouth closed over my clit again and sucked hard.

The kink inside me....that pressure I'd read about, fantasized about, never felt...wound tighter and tighter.

My thighs trembled violently against his shoulders.

My heels dug into the bed. My hands flew from the sheets to his hair, gripping the dark strands, pulling without meaning to.

"I can't....I can't...."

He growled against my flesh. The vibration pushed me over.

The orgasm broke out through my body like a blast.

I screamed....a raw, broken sound I'd never made before...as my pussy clenched and spasmed, as liquid heat gushed from me, soaking his chin, his mouth, the sheets beneath us.

My vision whited out.

My thighs hooked around his head and he didn't stop, his tongue still working me through every pulse, drawing it out, lapping up the slippery proof of my pleasure until I was sobbing from the intensity, until my hips jerked with overstimulation and I had to push at his forehead with trembling fingers.

Only then did he lift his mouth, his chin shining, his lips swollen and wet.

I lay panting, shocked, my chest breathing up and down.

The world slowly reassembled itself...the dark ceiling, the city lights, the scent of sex rising from my own body.

Cassian stood.

His face was flushed, his dark eyes burning.

He stripped off his trousers and I watched his cock spring free...thick, rigid, the head already slick with pre-cum, a vein pulsing along the underside.

He kneeled between my legs, his broad shoulders blocking out the light.

He guided himself against my entrance, the swollen head pressing into my slick folds, sliding through the wetness.

I was soaked...from my own release, from his mouth, from the desire still thrumming through every nerve.

He leaned down, his weight braced on his forearms, but right before he could push forward, he paused.

Every muscle in his jaw locked tight with restraint.

His dark eyes locked onto mine, his breath hot against my lips.

"One more question"

I look at him.

"Are you on the pill?"He spoke with a rough voice, trying hard to control himself.

My heart beat against my chest. I swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes."

He studied me for another beat. "You're still sure?"

"I'm sure."

He nodded once, a dark, deep breath escaped him. His grip on my hips tightened, anchoring me to the bed.

"Look at me," Cassian growled, and pushed deep inside me in one smooth, powerful thrust.

My mouth fell open. A silent gasp.

He filled me completely...stretching my tight walls until there was no space left between us, until I could feel him in my throat, until my inner muscles squinted and gripped around the invasion.

He held still above me, letting me adjust to the size of him, and his thumb reached out to wipe a tear of mere intensity from my cheek.

"He's not in this room."

He began to move.

Deep, serious strokes that pulled out until just the tip remained inside, then hit back in with a force that knocked the breath from my lungs.

The sound of our bodies meeting filled the room...wet slaps of skin against skin, the slick squelch of my pussy gripping his cock.

He angled his hips and the head of him hit something inside me that made stars burst behind my eyes, a spot I had read existed but had never, ever felt touched.

"There," I sobbed. "There, there..."

Cassian changed his rhythm, hitting that same spot with each thrust. His face was above mine, jaw tight, a strand of dark hair falling across his forehead.

Sweat glowed on his chest.

I wrapped my legs higher around his waist and the new angle drove him even deeper, so deep it touched on pain but pain that translated directly into pleasure.

The pressure curled again, faster and unstoppable.

"Cassian....I'm going to...I'm going to cum again..."

"I've got you."

His movements became urgent, hitting me deeply. His hand slid between our bodies and his thumb found my clit, pressing down in tight circles that matched the rhythm of his cock.

I broke.

This orgasm was bigger. Violent.

My eyes rolled back in my head, my tongue hanging out against my lower lip as my pussy clamped down on his rod in rhythmic, milking pulses.

Liquid squirted from me...a hot, uncontrolled gush that soaked his abdomen, his thighs, the sheets.

I heard myself making sounds that weren't words, weren't even human, just raw animal cries of pleasure so intense it bordered on torture.

The violent suction of my climax dragged Cassian over the edge. With a low, ragged groan, he buried himself to the hilt, his body going tough as he poured his heat deep inside me.

I felt every pulse of his cock, every hot spurt of cum filling me, and the feeling triggered a third, smaller wave that made my walls flutter weakly around him.

We lay side by side under the duvet, our skin slick with sweat, our breathing settling.

Neither of us moved.

I stared out at the blurred city lights, my chest light, unburdened. No panic. No guilt. For the first time, I felt grounded in my own skin.

Cassian sat up on the edge of the bed, running a hand through his wet hair. He pulled on his trousers, buttoned his white shirt.

I pulled the sheet up to cover my chest.

"I don't regret it," I said quietly.

His fingers paused on his second cufflink.

His jaw tightened...a brief shadow passing over his features before he pulled his composure back into place.

"Good. Because tomorrow gets harder."

He left the bedroom without another word.

I lay alone for a long moment before reaching for my purse. My phone screen lit up, harsh in the dark room.

14 Missed Calls. All from Ryker.

A flood of text messages: 'Where are you? Answer your phone. I'm standing outside the house.'

A new voicemail notification.

I pressed play, holding the speaker to my ear.

My husband's voice filled the quiet...harsh, angry, controlling: "Where the hell are you, Serena? I'm standing outside our house right now. You better have a damn good explanation for why the front door is unlocked."

The message ended with a harsh click.

I stared at the black screen. No tears. No usual knot of panic.

I set the phone down on the nightstand.

My left hand reached up, fingers wrapping around the thin platinum band on my ring finger. I twisted it slowly, sliding it over my knuckle until it came off completely.

I set the wedding ring on the dark wood of Cassian's nightstand, right beside his empty glass.

I stared at the shiny metal band in the dim light, turned my back to it, and closed my eyes.