Selfish Is the Heart Read online

  Her hips moved, her cunt slick and empty, clit a tight, hard knot aching to be touched. Heat centered in her belly, and in moments his mouth found it. Over her navel, along the slope of her hip. Annalise held her breath, watching Cassian’s sleek dark head move lower and lower.

  He moved between her legs and parted her flesh with gentle fingers. Desire crackled between them, palpable like flames. She had to breathe and could not, waiting.

  She thought he’d use his tongue against her, but he slid a finger inside instead. She gasped at the sensation of being so invaded, and before she had time to take in another breath, his mouth was on her.

  Land Above, it was sweet.

  Sweet, and hot, and wet. Annalise pushed herself up to meet his lips and tongue. She’d thought the pleasure he’d brought her before had been exquisite, but this . . . this was unmatched. To think she might never have known this—

  But she pushed that thought from her head, unwilling to give it even one more moment of her attention. Everything was here and now, the weight and heat of his mouth upon her center. His finger stroking inside her. Soon his cock would be inside her, as well, and that thought sent desire shuddering through her.

  “Cassian,” she murmured, and then again. His name, like a prayer. He made a noise the second time she spoke, and the pattern of his kisses shifted. Became more desperate, and she responded, wanting only to chase this sensation until she exploded from it.

  Ecstasy filled her. She overflowed with it. She shivered from it, body quaking as her fingers wound deep within the dark silk of his hair.

  “Please,” she heard herself say. “Now.”

  She’d asked for it, and even so it startled her to lose the heat between her thighs and discover it hovering over her body. Passion had twisted Cassian’s features, but knowing she was its source only made him all the lovelier. He licked his mouth. Tasting her?

  “Kiss me,” she begged and took him by the back of the neck to draw him to her mouth.

  Her desire flavored their kisses, and Annalise moaned into his mouth. His hands were still working on her body. One slid between her legs. His cock’s blunt head nudged at her, parting her, slipping inside inch by slow, delicious inch. Only when he was fully seated inside her did Cassian pause to catch his breath.

  Annalise waited for him to move. This was making love, she thought, breathless and aching. This was love.

  He moved inside her, slowly, then faster when she dug her nails into his back and whispered into his ear how much she wanted him. His sweat painted her lips with every kiss. They rocked together, and pleasure built inside her again, unexpected and welcomed.

  He cried her name at the end, and she clutched him in triumph. Spent, he buried himself inside her and his face against her neck. Sweat glued them. Her arms around him held him tight. Short moments later he rolled them both so she lay cradled in his arms, and she murmured faint protest at the loss of him from inside her, only to think, in the end, it was but a small and bearable one. She would always have him inside her. She had, perhaps from the moment they’d met in the forest.

  Beside her, Cassian cracked his jaws with a yawn. His eyes closed. His hand stroked her shoulder, tangling in her hair.

  “Cassian.”

  “Yes, love.”

  The endearment warmed her. Annalise snuggled close. She kissed his chest, the heat of their passion cooling but the salt of their labors still fresh. “That pleased me very well.”

  He opened an eye to look at her, then smiled. He had such a lovely smile. “Then I am duly pleased.”

  Sighing happily, she pushed herself up to get a good view of his face. He shifted to return her gaze. Her mind sought the right words, wary of how often they’d tripped her up in the past.

  Before she could say anything, a harsh rap came at the door. Cassian looked, but didn’t get up. Annalise looked, too.

  “Should you answer it?”

  He frowned. “At this late hour, the news cannot be good.”

  “I’ve knocked upon your door at a late hour,” she murmured, wondering for the first time if she were indeed the only one to ever do so. He’d said not, but . . .

  “That’s entirely different.” Cassian leaned to kiss her as another knock sounded. “Fine, I’ll answer it. Draw the sheets about yourself, love.”

  “Should I bury beneath them?” she asked, only half serious.

  He looked at her over his shoulder, one leg already in his trousers. “Only if you’re ashamed to be here.”

  So quickly could the spark of passion edge its way to anger, she thought, but knew this enough to avoid it with him, now. “No, of course not. I was thinking of you.”

  Another knock came as he crossed to kiss her, holding her close. Cassian looked deep into her eyes. “No, Annalise. There’s naught to be shamed of. We’ve broken no rules.”

  Pleased, she held his face in her hands for a moment to kiss him again. “Nonetheless, I shall take myself to your privy chamber, if you don’t mind. I’ve no need to flaunt myself in front of any late-hour guest.”

  Cassian’s laugh poured through her, honey off a spoon. “I’ll get rid of whoever it is. We’re not finished yet.”

  “I’ll hold you to that promise.” With that, she let him go and made her way to the bath chamber, where she dipped water from the basin to wash herself and smiled at her reflection in the looking glass.

  From the other room, the rise and fall of voices caught her attention. Snagging one of Cassian’s shirts from a hook on the back of the door, Annalise pulled it over her head. Her braid could be hastily twisted, though she had naught with which to bind it, so she settled for tucking it into a loose bun at the nape of her neck. The shirt hung to midthigh, the sleeves dangling past her fingertips, so she rolled them up and cracked open the door to peek out.

  Serenity. Annalise knew her just barely. The woman didn’t notice her in the doorway. Her attention was focused entirely upon Cassian.

  The serrated blade of jealousy sawed at Annalise. She’d not even known Cassian and Serenity were well-acquainted, and yet he reached for her with casual familiarity. Not intimacy, at least not any Annalise could see, but this was no mere professional relationship.

  “I thought you should know,” Serenity said. “I wanted to be the one to tell you.”

  “Thank you, Serenity.” Cassian sounded a little hoarse. “You’ve ever been a good friend.”

  The door creaked. Cassian and Serenity both looked. Annalise, caught in her eavesdropping, still believed what he’d told her moments before—they’d done naught to shame them. She pushed the door open wider and stepped through it with a nod at the Sister.

  Serenity looked solemnly at Cassian. “Oh.”

  Annalise lifted her chin, jaw gritting, fingers tightening at her sides. Cassian looked from her to Serenity. Silence, thick with tension, built.

  “Right. I’ll . . . go.” Serenity flashed him a small grin. To Annalise she gave only an assessing look.

  Nobody spoke again until she’d closed the door behind her. Then Cassian strode to the dresser, opened the drawer, and poured himself a glass of worm. He drank it back in a single gulp, and poured another.

  “Will you tell me what she wanted, or is it not for me to know?”

  He shook his head and looked at the bottle. “The bedamned worm’s all been drunk.”

  “Cassian.”

  He looked at her.

  “Shall I go, as well?”

  The answer she desired was no, and a kiss, and his arms around her. She got none of them. Cassian sighed and wiped his mouth.

  “She came to tell me of the arrival of one of her Sisters, long gone from the Motherhouse in the service of a patron.”

  Annalise didn’t want to ask but couldn’t keep herself from it. “Was she your lover?”

  “Lover?” Cassian laughed. “No. She’s my wife.”

  Chapter 21

  She was already with the boy. Kellen shared a room with Leonder, both lads asleep. Bertricia ha