Chapter 195: Lucian, let a man breathe
Cass ate his cookies in silence as Lucian was not really giving him any privacy as he did so. Hell, Lucian wasn’t giving him personal space. Not with his hand on his waist, his other hand on the back of his neck.
Lucian was watching him intently, his gaze unwavering as he stared at Cass’ lips. Cass felt his gaze like a brand as they never left his lips. Hot, unblinking, not even the second eyelid that covered his eyes came into view. Cass’ cheeks were pink as he was trying to finish his cookies quickly. He could tell that the rest of the group was getting restless, and he could practically feel their probing stares.
He really didn’t want to give Lucian any ideas right now. He didn’t want the others to know that they were kissing each other. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to be kissing him. He kind of felt that last night had been a desperate situation. Outside of his control.
"How are those cookies, Cass?" Cass felt a different kind of shiver run down his spine as he froze, cookie midway to his mouth to look up at Lucian. He hadn’t realised that his gaze had wandered to his chest until he had to jerk it back up to his eyes.
Lucian’s voice was deep, casual. Too casual for how close the man was to him, and how close Cass was to him in turn. Cass felt his grip tighten on the cookie in his hand and it crumbled slightly.
"Uh, good?" Cass offered, slightly confused as Lucian’s lips turned up into a smile.
"Good. You were so excited about them yesterday I just wanted to make sure they were up to standard." Cass didn’t know what to say in the face of his genuine words. Cass felt his jaw drop slightly as he looked up at him.
"Are you serious?" Cass felt the words tumble out of his mouth and watched as Lucian’s brow furrowed slightly.
"Why wouldn’t I be?" He asked back and Cass just didn’t know what to say. He just stared at the other man, crumbly cookie in his hand as Lucian watched him. "Are you going to finish eating? You only have a few more bites." Lucian said and Cass dropped his gaze and began to eat the cookie again.
He wasn’t sure what this was...but it felt dangerous.
"Lucy? Cass? Is everything alright?" It was Fiona. She was shouting, but it was loud enough that Cass and Lucian could hear her, but not so loud that it felt painful. Lucian finally turned his head, his mouth opening as he yelled back to her.
"Cass is just having a snack. We’ll be over soon." He told Fiona, and Cass, for his part, kept eating his cookie.
"Oh. Okay." She didn’t sound like she completely understood what was going on, but Cass didn’t blame her. He didn’t know exactly what was going on either.
Cass finally finished his cookie and Lucian let out a rumbling sound that sounded suspiciously like the same sound a cat made. He hadn’t been around a lot of cats, so he couldn’t be sure. Lucian’s fingers began to rub the back of his neck, causing Cass to shiver. His hand on his waist had felt like a brand already, but it was searing hot right now.
"Good boy. Are you full?" Cass’ face was on fire. How dare he use those words on him? He wasn’t some kind of man who liked that kind of treatment! Good boy? Who the hell was a good boy here?
"I’m full enough." Cass muttered angrily and Lucian chuckled.
"You’re annoyed. Why?" Lucian asked, his voice dipping lower. Cass swore he could feel the vibration of his voice through his hands on his skin. Maybe he could. He was a dragon in human skin, there were bound to be some things that Cass didn’t understand.
"Does it matter why I’m annoyed?" Cass shot back and Lucian chuckled again.
"Yes it does. I would like to know if it’s something that I did. If it is, if there is anything I can do to fix it, and if it isn’t, who I need to eliminate." What had gotten into this man? He was being so forceful, so caring, so...Cass wasn’t sure what else to label this behaviour. All he knew was that he’d never had anyone like this around him before. Even his sister hadn’t been this forward about her care for him.
"I doubt it’s anything you would apologise for or fix, and I honestly don’t want to tell you to change who you are, Lucian. Just...don’t call me that." Cass mumbled, sounding confident at the beginning, and growing quieter by the end. Lucian leaned in, his facial hair brushing against Cass’ cheek as his lips touched his ear.
"Hmm? What was that? Don’t call you what?" Lucian was being an asshole. Cass knew it. He knew it. From the way his lips were turned up slightly as he spoke, he knew what he was doing. Cass felt his hands tighten into fists.
"You know what, Lucian." Cass warned and Lucian turned, pressing his lips against Cass’ cheek before he pulled back, a smug, satisfied smile on his face.
"Mm. You’re right. I do. I just wanted to see if you would say it out loud. I was fishing a bit." Lucian admitted and Cass felt his eyes widen. Fishing? What did he mean by that?
Wait. Was he saying that he wanted Cass to call him a good boy? Lucian? What?
"You want me to call you that?" Cass blurted out, perhaps a bit too loud since Lucian started laughing.
"Wow. I didn’t think you would try to embarrass me, but honestly, I couldn’t find it in me to feel an ounce of embarrassment if the others overheard you. Yes, Cass, I would like that. It’s in my animal nature. I like being called that kind of thing. Especially with my romantic partners." Lucian’s gaze was molten as he took in Cass’ slightly open mouth, his widened eyes, and his flushed expression. He licked his lips. "Especially when they are so tantalizing." Cass wanted to stumble back, put some distance between them but he was already pressed against the wall.
Instead, he raised his hand and pressed it against Lucian’s lower stomach. That was a mistake because Lucian’s shirt was just for fucking show. He could feel each damn muscle group that the man’s body had defined. Cass felt his face explode with colour as Lucian’s smile grew slightly predatory.
"So bold." Lucian murmured and Cass wanted to dart out of this situation. Unfortunately, Lucian had a grip on his neck and his waist. On opposite sides. If the man wanted to, he could hold him in place indefinitely. Cass wasn’t strong enough to break free of any hold he put him in.
"I-I just think we should head back now. I’ve eaten, like you wanted, and we should wake up Lady Ava to see if she’s okay." Cass said and Lucian let out a rather loud sigh.
"Always the responsible one. I guess I’ll let you go. I wanted to cuddle some more." Cass stared at the man. Cuddle? He thought that was cuddling? That was nothing like what cuddling was supposed to be. It was supposed to be closer, more intimate.
Not that what they had just done wasn’t intimate, but it wasn’t...
If Cass opened his mouth right now and told Lucian that what they were just doing wasn’t cuddling, he knew he would be digging his own grave. So, Cass just nodded along numbly, dumbly, and Lucian laughed.
He had a little glint in his gaze as if he had been hoping that Cass would call him out on it. Cass was getting wise to his traps. At least that was what he was telling himself. It wasn’t like Lucian was particularly good at setting them. He himself had admitted that.
It was only a few minutes after that that Lucian let him go and the two of them made their way back towards the group. Cass had a little more pep in his step, trying to put some distance between him and Lucian but there was no way that was going to happen.
Lucian was walking beside him, all smiles, all mirth with his hands behind his back like he wasn’t keeping pace with an angry man. Cass was just trying to tell himself that he couldn’t be upset with him because he was a dragon, not a human. He couldn’t keep up with that kind of beast. If Lucian was going to behave like this, Cass needed to not react. For his own sanity.
"How was your snack?" Fiona asked, her voice warm as Cass and Lucian approached. Cass nodded.
"It was good. Is Lady Ava alright?" Cass asked, wanting to not speak about himself. Vespertine glanced at him before his lips turned up slightly as if he knew what had happened. Hell, at this point whatever that man thought of could be correct. Lucian was not on his best behaviour right now.
Lord Ridgewood was more focused on Lady Ava, who was still resting.
"Where did she get that thing that she is resting her head on?" Lord Ridgewood asked to the still air and Cass felt his face warm. Vespertine coughed.
"Uh, well, that belongs to Cassian." Vespertine said and Lord Ridgewood turned to look at Cass, as did Fiona. Lucian just chuckled behind him and that was enough to make his hands tighten.
"You, Cass? You...brought that?" Lord Ridgewood sounded quite surprised and Cass cleared his throat.
"We normally have our own tents." Cass muttered quietly and Fiona covered her mouth. Cass didn’t want to know if she was doing so to prevent laughter, or a smile. Both didn’t make him feel good.
"I-I see." Lord Ridgewood seemed quite taken aback. It was just a damn pillow, Lord Ridgewood. Calm down.
"So? Is she alright?" Cass repeated, pushing the conversation about a damn pillow down. Vespertine was smiling when he responded.
"I think so. She seems to be breathing evenly, but we are going to have to wake her up now. I also think we’re going to have to be careful about using her powers, since she pushed herself so much already today." Cass nodded, his expression growing grim.
"Did she ever get any training with her powers?" Cass asked and everyone blinked, before looking at him.
"Of course. Why?" Vespertine’s brow was actually furrowed, confused by his line of questioning and Cass exhaled slowly.
"Because I think she’s...wasting her powers. As in, she’s not using them efficiently and thus, leading to this kind of situation. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Are you sure they didn’t just teach her how to do showy things just because she had so much power and not how to maintain her power for a long time?" Cass asked and Vespertine’s jaw dropped slightly.
Lord Ridgewood got tense and Fiona even looked a little stunned. Maybe...maybe that was too far of a question. Maybe that was something he wasn’t supposed to ask. Don’t question the temple’s teachings.