All the Wrong Reasons

Part 32

Chapter 32

"Damned thing!" Colin shouted causing Cassandra to jump and look up at him.  His finger was in his mouth while his eyes glared at the piece of cloth across the room.  Biting her lip to keep in her laughter, she set down her own project and went to him.

 "Let me see," she cooed in a voice she would have used for a child.

Colin did not pick up on the tone as his finger popped out of his mouth.  Thrusting it towards her, he sent her a pout.  "It hurts.  How do you do this?  My finger is throbbing.  Do you understand?  It feels like it has its own pulse." 

She nodded at him and attempted to keep her expression blank.  The grown man was acting like a child.  One small prick on his finger, and he reverted back to his childhood days of pouting. 
Grabbing his finger, she pulled him closer.  "Let me look at it," she said while bringing it towards her face.  Pressing the tip of his finger to her lips, she placed a kiss on it.  "There, all better."

As she attempted to drop his hand, the grip changed and it was him holding her.  One tug was all it took to have her body pressed against his and his arms wrapped around her.  Leaning down, he whispered, "Are you sure you have no magic?"

She shook her head and opened her mouth to answer, but he cut her off.  "The fact is that I feel better.  It must be something women can do.  Kiss it and make it feel better."

Cassandra pointed at her bottom lip.  "My lip hurts.  You said you would prove that anything I did you could also."

Smiling, Colin closed the distance between them.  Cassandra did not fight him this time as he attempted to deepen the kiss.  Opening her mouth, she allowed him to pull her even closer than before.  Her leg rose on its own accord to wrap around his.  Colin's hands shifted down as he lifted her from the floor.

She did not realize that they were moving until something hard pressed into her thighs.  Colin set her down on the flat surface and removed his hands from their spot in order to tug at the back of her gown.  Cassandra moaned and placed her palms on the flat surface to give him more room.  The flat surface was not as flat as she had thought because her hand soon made contact with something.  Warm liquid flowed around her fingers.  Wiggling them, she tried to identify the substance while Colin still tugged at the strings.

"Who tied this bloody thing?" he growled.

Letting out a laugh, she brought her clean hand up and placed it on his face.  He immediately stopped what he was doing to look at her.  "Colin, you tied it."

"Remind me to never do that again," he mumbled while trying to push her hand away.

She kept it firmly in place.  "I am sorry, but you know we cannot do this here.  Anyone could walk into the study at any time."

"You are right," he told her while placing his forehead to hers.  "Why must we stop?  Remind me once more."

"Peirce would see me with no clothing."

"A fine reason," he admitted with a nod.  Dropping his hands, he attempted to take a step back. 

Cassandra was not ready to leave his warmth yet.  She wanted his body next to hers.  Not being one to wait to accomplish her goals, she grabbed him with both hands and pulled him towards her.  Colin tried to push back once before giving in.

They stayed there in that exact position until a knock sounded on the door.  Sighing, she snuggled her face into his shoulder and whispered, "We should see who is at the door.  It may be important."
Nodding, he stepped away from her.  Cassandra hopped off the desk and waited for Colin to lead the way.  Her eyes traveled down his body as she watched him walk towards the door.  He was a fine specimen.  The finest she had ever seen, and he was her husband.

The door opened to a smiling Peirce.  She could see the grimace on Colin's face as he asked his friend, "What is it?"

"Someone is not in a good mood," Peirce mumbled.  "I wanted to say that dinner is served."

"Thank you, Peirce," Cassandra said with a large smile.

Peirce gazed at her and raised an eyebrow and her appearance.  "What were you doing?"

"Catching a mouse!" she blurted before Colin could say a word.  Judging by the masculine smirk on the man's face, Cassandra had a feeling she would not have liked the words he planned to utter.

"A mouse?" Peirce echoed.  "Could this be the reason why ink covers your hand?"

She looked down and, for the first time, realized that the liquid she had felt earlier was black ink.  Biting her lip, she nodded. "He ran over the desk."

"Yes, I can see that something was on the desk.  Who would have thought that a mouse can make that much mess?"

Glancing over, she winced.  The mess that littered the furniture was too large to be caused by such a small animal.  Why hadn't she claimed there was a cat?  The lie would have sounded a tad less like a falsehood if she would have thought of the cat.

"I was attempting to grab it.  The little thing kept running from me; I promise that I did not mean to make such a mess," Cassandra assured him while darting her eyes to the ground.  When would the questions be over?

"Hmm, I do not believe a single word you have told me, but I shall pretend I do.  Now, I made cobbler."

"You did?" Colin asked with newfound happiness.

Peirce nodded.  Colin darted out of the room.  Turning towards Peirce, she laughed.  "Is he always this happy about dessert?"

"You have not tried my dessert before," he told her with amusement shining in his eyes.  Offering his elbow, Cassandra slipped her arm into his and walked down the corridor by his side.  "Tell me, Cassandra, I thought it was the men who marked their women."

"What do you mean?" she asked in confusion.

Peirce motioned to Colin with his free hand.  Her eyes landed directly on the man's back and journeyed down.  Stopping on one of her favorite parts, her eyes widened and the laughter she had kept in earlier escaped.

"I did not mean too," she said between laughs.

Peirce shook his head at her.  "I think your hand print looks fabulously on the back of the man's pants.  It adds, let's just say, character."

"Character?  I like you choice of words, sir," she joked.

Suddenly, Peirce's eyes sobered.  "I wanted to speak to you about a certain matter that has occurred."

"You may speak to me freely, Peirce.  I consider you a friend."

"Colin," he told her with a tiny sigh, "he loves you, Cassandra.  The man would do anything for you.  I know you have only known him for a small amount of time, so I will explain this to you.  He would kill for you; he would throw his life away for you.  When a man like Colin loves someone, there is no stopping him."

"I understand," she whispered, but Peirce only shook his head at her.

"You do not understand.  I am the same way.  I take those who I love seriously.  Colin is like a brother to me.  I do not want him to be unhappy.  No matter how much I like you, I will not sit here and watch you lead him on.  If you think that you will never reciprocate the feelings he has for you, then leave.  I do not want him hurt."

"You are a true friend, but I can assure you that you shall not have to worry about me hurting him intentionally."

"May I ask why that is?"

"I love him," she told him with a smile.  "I have since I met the insufferable cad."

***Cover by Little_ifrit***