Empire

Chapter Forty Eight - Cassandra

Cassandra ~

Xavier had washed every inch of me in the tub, joining me in the hot water and holding me until I nearly fell asleep.

"Tired?" He asked against my wet hair as I sat between his legs.

"Yes, but I'm not sure why, it's late afternoon."

Wrapping his massive tattooed arms around me a little tighter, Xavier rested his chin on top of my head.

"Hormonal drop." He muttered.

Looking up at him over my shoulder, I gave him a quizzical look, wondering how he became a sudden expert on female hormones.

"Sub drop, princess." He chuckled. "It'll go away, just rest."

He closed his eyes and rested his head back against the edge of the tub with his arms stretched out along the sides. I leaned back against his hard chest remembering feeling something similar after particularly intense sessions with Wade.

"Aftercare." I said under my breath, remembering the word that Wade had used.

"Exactly."

Xavier's eyes remained closed and he took long slow breaths, occasionally reaching down and running his hands over my skin. The movements and strokes of his strong hands weren't forceful and dominant like they were in the bedroom, they were gently and soft, causing waves of goosebumps to occasionally pepper my arms and back.

"Feel good?" He muttered with his eyes closed and his head back.

"Yes."

The word was sigh and I nestled against him, completely content in the hot water. I noticed Xavier's intentional breathing and the way he paid special attention to my breasts which were sore and sensitive at the moment. He'd run his hands over them with a feather light touch as if he was making up for the harshness in which he'd handled me earlier.

This is his aftercare too.

After our hour long bath, the water had cooled and my skin had pruned at my finger tips. Xavier helped me from the tub and ran a towel over my entire body.

His expression was stern and serious as he moved the towel over every inch of me.

"I can dry myself off." I offered.

"No." It was a single harsh word and I knew better than to give him a rebuttal.

Pulling the towel out of my reach, Xavier didn't say another word as he continued to dry me off, placing several soft kisses across my skin in the process.

Xavier held me in place and a thought crossed my mind, a deviously delicious thought that caught me off guard. His massive 6'5 frame was muscle on muscle - raw power that could end me if he chose to. He was so strong as he held me in place. I knew that even if I fought against him I'd be no match. Xavier had the ability to take anything he wanted from me and the knowledge that he could hurt me - even end my life but didn't, was more of a turn on than I had ever imagined.

My eyes drifted over his inked skin and I felt like I could see straight into his soul through those images. Skulls and lions, snakes and blood soaked wire, harsh dangerous images on such a gorgeous body.

"Like what you see?" He asked in a deep voice that made my inner thighs clench as he helped me into a soft robe.

"You're dangerous aren't you?" The words escaped my lips before I could stop them and I watched Xavier's playful expression harden into stone.

He stood and towered over me, only solidifying the fact that I would never be able to defend myself against him. Several scars on his biceps and chest caught my attention and I looked up into his dark threatening eyes that seemed to swallow me whole.