Cade lay awake in his infirmary bed.
The attack had ended days ago but in his head, he was still fighting. There was too much weighing on his mind. Too much that hadn’t been addressed.
However, everyone around him seemed to be going on with their life, picking up where they left off.
Except for Cassian. Every time he came to visit Cade, his aura was suffocating, overwhelming. There was something seriously dark brewing in him but as guilty as it made Cade feel to admit, that wasn’t what was weighing on his mind. The source of his inner turmoil was resting her head in her arms on the side of his bed.
They had talked over the past few days but the conversations were surface-level. They both knew that a bigger conversation needed to be had.
She shifted in her sleep before lifting her head and yawning. Cade decided that today would be the day.
“Good morning,” he said softly.
“Hi.”
Cade might have been the empath but she could read him just as well as he could read her.
“Go ahead,” she whispered.
He took a deep breath and willed his voice to stay steady.
“Did you mean it?” he said under his breath.
So much for steady.
“Did I mean what?” she asked as apprehension filled the room.
She was really going to make him say it.
“That day, when I…” He quickly stopped. Thinking about that day was physically painful. “Y-you said that you loved me,” he choked as his voice became hoarse. “Did you mean it? Or were you just trying to break the compulsion?”
Cade closed his eyes, head facing the ceiling, as he waited for her response. He felt that it would hurt more if he had to see the look of pity on her face.
It was strange how he’d never felt vulnerable all those times he’d put himself out there with her, all the times he’d given himself to her, but he did now. The possibility that she could feel the same way was far too sweet. He didn’t know what he’d do if it turned out that she was just trying to wake him.
The waiting was agonizing too.
A soft palm on his face had his eyes peeling open. Deianira was standing, her face above his, looking into his eyes.
“I meant every single word,” she said softly.
He felt as if an anchor had been lifted off his chest.
She went on. “I love you.” Her eyes never strayed. “And I might have tried to ignore it for a while but I never lied to you, Cade.”
He stared at her in awe. She actually meant it. Her lips split into a smile at his open-mouthed expression.
“Do you need me to say it again?” she snorted. “I love you. There. You happ…”
He grabbed her face and brought her lips down on his. He held nothing back. Neither did she. His tongue delved into her mouth as she massaged his scalp with her nails. He sucked gently on her bottom lip and she nipped at his as their hands explored each other.
Cade pulled back for a second with what he was sure was a goofy smile on his face.
“Are you sure?” he asked her.
She giggled and rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure.”
His smile grew wider as he pulled her mouth back to his and dragged her waist closer to the bed.
Moving back again so that their lips were a breath apart, he asked her again.
“Okay, but are you really su…”
“Has anyone ever told you, you talk too much?” she quipped.
That question gave him pause. The answer was no. No one had ever said that to him.
He’d grown up trying to take up as little space as possible, trying not to be heard. It was a defense mechanism, probably the reason he’d made it this far.
But with Deianira? Cade didn’t know what it was about her but she made him want to be the biggest and the loudest person in the room just to have a chance of being noticed by her.
He looked up at her warmly.
“Never…”
With that, he rolled onto his side, grabbed her hips, and lifted her body onto his.
“Cade!” she squealed as she straddled him. “You’re still healing and Mikhael said…”
He cut her off again with his mouth. Pulling back, he said, “I don’t care.” He kissed her again. “I want you.”
Cade could feel her resolve wavering as he kissed his way up the side of her neck, pulling a moan from her.
“Cade, you need rest.”
He pressed his hips up and as she moaned and rocked her center against his length, he knew he’d won.
“Fine,” she hissed, as if she was being greatly inconvenienced. Cade snorted. “But take it easy.”
“Yes, boss,” he murmured into her neck.
“Don’t call me that,” she breathed.
As she ground herself on him, Cade helped her as her hands made quick work of undoing his belt. Next to go were her pants as she wriggled out of them with ease. With a hand holding his length and one holding her, he nudged the tip at her entrance and slowly pulled her down, allowing her to feel every inch as he filled her.
Deianira shivered as he bottomed out and didn’t wait to start moving. Hands on her hips, Cade groaned as he guided her up and down on his shaft.
She gripped him mercilessly.
He hissed blissfully as he ground her pelvis down onto his.
As they built up a slow and steady rhythm, Cade pulled her down so that they were chest to chest. He could never get close enough to her.
Placing one hand on her the small of her back and the other just below her head, he started thrusting up into her.
Her startled gasp tapered off into a deep moan.
Cade knew that she told him to take it easy but he couldn’t resist. As gracefully as he could on the narrow bed, he held onto her as he rolled them over and entered her again.
This angle was even deeper, more intense.
“Cade…”
He would never get tired of hearing her say his name like that.
“I know,” he whispered into the crook of her neck.
Cade interlaced his fingers with hers above her head as he deepened his thrusts, grinding his pelvis down against her clit.
Deianira’s hips bucked as she squeezed his hand. “Gods…”
He groaned loudly as she wrapped her legs around him. He was close and the sounds she was making in his ear did nothing to help his stamina.
As he increased his pace a fraction, her channel gripped him tighter and Cade almost spilled right then and there.
“Deianira,” he breathed but she clenched down even more.
Cade squeezed her hand before finding her lips again. He claimed her mouth, swallowing her moans. They came together as their rhythm became frantic. Deianira writhed and cried into Cade’s mouth as he thrust into her relentlessly. With one final, forceful thrust, he shook as he spilled into her.
Their lips barely parted as they tried to catch their breaths. Cade was so overwhelmed with emotion. It was something he should’ve been used to by now, but he couldn’t stop his heart from speeding up every time he looked at her. Every time she spoke.
“I love you,” she whispered against his lips.
There she goes again.
