She had made him react, and that thrilled her more than it should have.

He shut his eyes and gripped the armrest tightly, his knuckles pressing deeper into the leather, letting her continue this new game.

Her lips dragged upward, grazing his warm skin until his firm upper lip was pressed between both of hers. She sucked the soft flesh, drawing a ragged breath against his mouth. With a second pause there, she was now using her tongue, licking the dip of his cupid’s bow, while tightening her grip in his hair, drawing his head slightly forward to close the remaining distance between their lips.

She slid her lips down to capture his lower lip once more, gripping it tightly between her teeth and biting down harder than before, remembering Cassian’s almost response. She nipped with fervour until his lip bled.

The drop of copper flooded her senses, hitting her tongue, and strangely, it felt like a potent drug, completely scrambling her brain, and that was when he finally broke.

Her body reacted. She arched her lower back deeply, causing her core to press perfectly flush against his groin.

His eyelids flew open, revealing irises that had lightened even more than before.

Before she could fully understand what was happening, his massive free hand shot instantly upward, wrapping securely around the delicate curve of the back of her neck. He tilted her jaw backward, deeply exposing her vulnerable throat, separating her lips from his, and then he crushed his mouth entirely over hers.

What Cixi did was play with fire that he had never allowed anyone else to do. Yet she had not done it once, but twice. She shouldn’t have tasted his blood.

It was no longer her trembling attempt to tempt him into signing a contract. In the space of a heartbeat, Cassian took savage control.

He parted her lips wide open and forcefully thrust his dominant tongue straight into the slick cavern of her mouth. He tasted her breath, her heat, and every single inch of her tongue. Cixi gasped aloud directly into his mouth, utterly overwhelmed by the sudden, physically dominating heat.

He kissed her with the hunger of a starving predator, finally claiming its willingly trapped prey.

Cixi’s fingers dug into his hair as her entire body melted against his. Every terrified, reckless thought in her mind short-circuited under the demanding claim of his mouth. He swallowed every ounce of her control, replacing it with dizzying arousal.

Cixi moaned softly into his mouth as he pulled her even closer, their bodies pressing together. Her core pressed against his crotch, a wave of heat rising between her legs, a feeling she had never felt before.

His right hand slid down the centre of her spine, pressing firmly before dropping lower to grip the curve of her hip as he pressed it harder. Another jolt ran down her body. Her mind screamed for her to create distance, but her body betrayed her, responding to his touch.

While holding her completely flush against his torso, his left hand began exploring the bare skin of her exposed leg. His palm dragged slowly upward from her calf, tracing an excruciatingly slow path until his long fingers wrapped firmly around her folded knee.

Cixi moaned helplessly into his mouth once more. She arched her hips backwards, desperately chasing the hard friction against her clit, but Cassian tightened his iron grip perfectly on her thigh.

He held her in place firmly, making it clear that she could not move without his permission.

Cixi lost herself completely in the dark, intense intimacy.

His left hand did not stop at her knee. His fingers traced slow circles higher along the soft inner skin of her bare thigh. He pressed into the muscle, dragging those circles upward with a maddening lack of haste, as though he wanted her to feel every second of it. That deliberate pace was what undid her most. He was not rushing. He was taking his time, learning every reaction of her body with terrible patience.

Intense heat pooled between her legs beneath his possessive touch.

Unbeknownst to her, Cixi had already been caught in the devil’s web, believing it had been her own doing. She had climbed into his lap thinking she could manage this, thinking she could lead him where she wanted him to go, but now she could barely remember how breathing worked beneath the force of his kiss and the slow destruction of his hands unmaking her.

She moaned louder this time, the sound trembling against his tongue.

That desperate sound triggered something even darker in the mafia lord. Cassian shifted the angle of the kiss and caught her swollen lower lip between his teeth, biting down.

Cixi let out a sharp gasp as a hot drop of blood welled on the broken skin.

Cassian sucked the blood from her lip.

His eyes narrowed into slits. Then he slowly closed them again, visibly savouring the metallic taste of her blood on his tongue. That single act sent a chill racing down her spine, because there was something almost feral in the way he enjoyed it.

At the same time, his right hand released her hip and slid back up her spine to grip the cheap floral scarf hiding her golden hair.

With one brutal pull, Cassian tore the silk fabric from her head. He dragged his fingers through her tight bun, pulling the pins apart and letting her long golden hair cascade freely over her pale shoulders. The sudden release made her shiver. One moment, she had been contained, disguised, held together. Next, he had stripped that away from her with one ruthless motion.

Having torn away her disguise and tasted her blood, Cassian wrapped both arms around her waist. He crushed her body against the hard wall of his chest, locking her there as though he had no intention of ever letting her move again.

For one breathless moment, Cixi could feel nothing except him.

The strength of his arms.

The heat of his mouth.

The iron steadiness of his chest underneath her.

And then a loud, piercing ringtone suddenly shattered the moment.

The sound ripped through their heated moment, dragging their attention away from each other.

Cixi’s eyes flew open as reality crashed back into her in an instant. She had lost herself in him. Entirely. Instead of controlling him, she had let him consume her.

Cassian remained still, his heavy eyelids closed, his dark lashes resting motionless against his sharp cheekbones. His breathing was deeper now, but his face remained unreadable, as though he were holding himself perfectly still through sheer force of will.

Heat rushed into Cixi’s cheeks.

She pressed her trembling hands against his chest, feeling the frantic beat of his heart beneath her palms, and broke the wet seal of their mouths to pull back. The separation felt almost violent after the intensity of the kiss.

Her own heart pounded wildly against her ribs. She could still feel the slick phantom pressure of his mouth on her swollen lips, as though he had branded himself there. His hands remained locked around her waist for a moment longer, maintaining that possessive grip, and the delay alone made her breath catch.

Then she made a jerky movement, trying to dislodge herself from his lap. This time, he loosened his hold and let her go.

Seeing his eyes still closed, a horrifying thought entered her mind.

Does he regret it?

Cixi forced herself back another inch as she dragged her knees off his tailored trousers, planted her trembling feet on the floor, and pushed herself upright.

Her pale legs shook beneath her. Her fingertips trembled. Her body was still vibrating from the overwhelming force of what had just passed between them. She felt raw, heated, and strangely unsteady, as though her bones themselves had softened under his hands.

The loud phone refused to stop ringing, forcing Cixi to move before she could stand there, drowning in the aftermath.

She knelt awkwardly and grabbed her discarded purse from the hardwood floor. Her trembling fingers dug blindly into the fake leather bag before finally yanking out her glowing phone.

The bright screen displayed the incoming caller ID: Officer Bill.

Her stomach dropped at once.

Cixi swiped her thumb across the green button to answer while deliberately refusing to turn around and look at Cassian, who sat silently behind her on the sofa. She could feel his presence at her back like heat. She did not need to see him to know the air in the room had changed.

"Officer Bill," Cixi answered, her voice low and quivering. She was still reeling from what Cassian had just done to her, from the taste of him that lingered in her mouth and the dangerous weakness still trembling through her limbs.

"Cixi? Are you alright?" Officer Bill’s deep, concerned voice echoed through the quiet speaker.

Directly behind her, Cassian’s dark eyes snapped open at the sound of another man’s voice.