CHAPTER FOUR
INARALAYSLUMPEDagainst Cassius’s broad chest, her head resting on his shoulder, her heart feeling as if it were trying to batter its way out of her chest. The muscles of her inner thighs hurt, the delicate skin between them was burning and her mouth felt full, sensitive and a touch bruised.
She couldn’t see past the foggy lenses of her glasses and the frames were askew on her face, one of the arms having come loose from her ear. Small electric shocks of pleasure continued to pulse inside her. She felt dazed, shocked, astonished and completely unable to move.
Cassius’s rapidly slowing heartbeat was in her ear, his warm breath stirring her hair. His body felt hard and huge beneath her, as if she were lying on a slab of warm granite, and the familiar scent of his aftershave—sandalwood and spice—surrounded her.
She couldn’t believe what had just happened. It had been...amazing. Shocking. Exciting. Incredible. Though, really, none of those words even came close to encompassing the entire experience that was sex with Cassius de Leon.
She hadn’t expected that kiss, his mouth hot and firm, and then the taste of brandy on her lips. The heat of the alcohol had somehow got inside her, made her even hungrier and thirstier, and all her uncertainty and doubt had dropped away.
He’d kissed her and it had been unlike anything she’d ever experienced in her entire life. Better than those gauzy fantasies. More intense and more real, and somehow more confronting too. But so, so good.
And then his hands on her, touching her. Authoritative and demanding. And the pleasure that had followed in its wake...
It had been an intensely physical experience which was quite new to her. She existed so much of the time in her head, often forgetting her own bodily needs, that this had been...well...frankly overwhelming.
She’d never been so aware of physical sensation before, of her own skin and his hands on it. Of the need inside her, pleasure winding tighter and tighter, taking her out of her head and grounding her firmly in her body. She hadn’t known it would feel like that, that she’d like it and that she’d want more, so much more.
He shifted, withdrawing from her and causing her to shiver helplessly in reaction. That moment he’d thrust inside her had been a shock, even though she’d been expecting it. There had been a sharp pain and a burning sensation, and the weird, suffocating feeling of having someone else inside her body.
But then that had all fallen away, leaving behind it an intense, dragging ache that had become more and more acute as he’d moved inside her.
She’d wanted to hold onto it, keep it going for as long as possible, but then his hand had slipped between her thighs, finding that exquisitely sensitive part of her and stroking her, making the pleasure fold in on itself, layering it until it had burst apart like a firework.
Inara let out a shaky breath, the memory making her shiver yet again.
But then his hands were adjusting her, smoothing down her dress, and she wasn’t sure what that meant. Were they done? Was that all sex was? She didn’t know much about it, but she was pretty sure there was more to it than that, surely?
‘Cassius,’ she began in a croaky voice.
He ignored her, holding out the brandy glass. ‘Here. You might need this.’ His face was expressionless, though the gold in his eyes glowed hot with the remains of desire.
She didn’t want to move. She liked lying against him, but the blank look on his face chilled her. It didn’t seem as if what they’d done together had been as amazing and incredible for him as it had been for her.
What did you expect? That you were special?
The chill creeping through her widened. She hadn’t thought about it. She hadn’t expected him to be here at all, let alone to have sex with him in a chair in the library. But now she was thinking about it... Yes, of course she wanted to be special, because he was special to her.
Except that clearly wasn’t the case. The wicked amusement that had curved his mouth and the sensual challenge in his eyes from before had disappeared. The lines of his face were set, his gaze veiled by his long black lashes. She was still in his lap, resting against his chest, surrounded by his heat, but she had the sense that he was slipping away from her. That the warm, wicked, teasing man she’d first met in the limo, who’d visited her many times over the years, was gone again.
It was the King she was looking at now.
And maybe, for the King, she was just another in a long line of women he slept with, because she had no doubt he slept with other women. His fidelity or otherwise was something she’d never thought about, as their marriage wasn’t a real marriage.
But she didn’t like the thought of it now. Specifically, she didn’t like the thought of being just another woman he took to his bed. The warmth and pleasure from the orgasm drained away, leaving her feeling cold and empty, so she sat up and took the glass from him, sipping the brandy in an effort to warm herself up.
He watched her, his gaze impersonal. ‘Are you all right?’ His voice was very deep and she could hear a slight roughness in it. ‘Did I hurt you in any way?’
The questions sounded impersonal too; the only thing giving away what they’d done together was the rough note in his voice.
Inara’s throat tightened despite the brandy. ‘I’m fine,’ she forced out. ‘And, no, you didn’t hurt me.’
‘Good.’ He studied her, frowning, then took the brandy glass away from her before she could have another sip.
She stared at him. ‘I hadn’t finished.’
He ignored that. ‘You were a virgin, weren’t you?’