Groaning, I sat up and held my throbbing head that felt like it would explode any second.
What had happened again?
Strained, I closed my eyes but still couldn't remember anything. Did I really drink that much yesterday?
»Are you finally awake?«
Startled, I flinched and jerked my head around towards the voice.
Cas leaned shirtless in the doorframe, with crossed arms over his naked chest and his hair still tousled as if he just got out of bed. That probably was true because he came from his bathroom and I could still hear the flush from the toilet.
»How late is it?« I grumbled and pulled my knees closer to my torso to hide my face that was red from blushing.
Why did I react that extreme to his sight? Okay, even before our bond was already terribly strong but now it felt like it doubled or even tripled.
»Almost 15 o' clock. We slept pretty long. From the aspect that we partied until 7 o' clock or even a bit longer, I think that's okay.«
He shrugged his shoulders and came over to his bed to sit next to me and lean his back to the backrest of his bed. Cassian crossed his arms behind his head and through that movement his abs and arm muscles stood out even more than before.
And again, I was jealous of his perfectly fitting abs. I too was muscular and not weak at all – after all I could stand my ground against Fynn, a Valkyrie – but my abs weren't as defined as his were.
And sometimes it still made me envious. Though I liked my athletic body.
»What happened yesterday? My head throbs as if a bumblebees built a nest inside it.«
If I didn't know it better, I would say I drank too much and mixed every drink with some of the wolfsbane powder.
Or Toby got me the drug that we took in Canada to walk on another star.
Helpful to forget but the headache afterward wasn't worth the trip.
»Black out?« Cas asked, amused and twisted his welcoming lips. Damn it, stop thinking about that, I warned myself.
»I wouldn't ask if that wasn't the case,« I grumbled and squinted my eyes as another headache rolled over me.
»Hm... Should I be mean, or should I be nice because you already feel bad?«
»Be nice. If I'm drunk and have a hangover I will turn into a fury. Ask my friends. They probably can tell you some stories of the times we went through a few bars in Canada and some guys weren't quite nice.«
Angrily, I squinted my eyes to slits and groaned in pain. If I didn't get some strong pain reliever, I would go ballistic.
»Bar fights?« Quietly he laughed when I nodded, grumbling in pain.
»Funny when a two-meter large idiot stands before you. Bald, full with tattoos and a grim expression and the dwarf of good 1,70 meters and not really visible muscles punches that beefcake guy to the ground. Crawling from me away while whimpering and pleading...«
I needed to laugh because of that memory but whined in pain the next moment.
»Why did you even punch that guy?« Cas questioned and twisted his lips in amusement.
»He stumbled into Naika who wanted to bring me outside. For your imagination, I was supported on her shoulder and hung on her like a sip of water on a curve. And Naika with her height obviously had problems with carrying me. Actually, Toby could have carried me but he had more than enough to do with Fynn who didn't want to leave the counter. Well, back to the main story. The beefcake dude stumbled into her and apologized in a sarcastic tone that he didn't see her because she was so small. I, who more or less listened to that, and heard he called Naika small and called her cutie at the end. And of course, my brotherly instinct to protect my little sister took over and pushed my drunk me into the background, and in the next moment I grabbed the beer glass of the next person to me and threw it into that guys face before I jumped onto him and sent him to the ground with me on him punching him until he was ready for the hospital. So, sweetheart, I would really recommend you tell me what happened yesterday because as you see I can turn into a damn fury.«
When I called him by the nickname his cheeks took on a red shimmer before we cleared his throat.
»After the dance you grabbed a beer bottle and disappeared inside the house. And how I could have assessed you or better said Ethan, he carried a few wolfsbane packages in his pockets which you got and mixed it with your drink. And with time you got drunk. When the night slowly turned into the next morning and the older generation went home, we younger ones played 'who had never'. Well and you and your friends needed to drink pretty much. That night... Morning I got to know much more and new things about you.«
»Let me die. Where is my shovel? I need to shovel my grave,« I groaned and hid my face in my knees again.
»Och, you weren't that bad. Not as bad as I had expected. In contrast to me you are pretty comfortable to be around when you are drunk,« he said and I snorted.
»As if.«
»Just the truth,« he declared.
»Tell me one situation where you were worse than I am.«
As it seemed, he didn't need to think long about it because only after two seconds he grinned at me
»You remember the old couple which lives close by?«
»I guess... Yes. You mean the old lady that gave us sweets every time and the old man that always sat on his garden chair.«
»And that in every season,« we said in sync and laughed.
»Yes, exactly that couple,« he affirmed and nodded.
»What did you do?«
»After you left, I got drunk a few times at first,« he laughed, embarrassed and scratched his neck.
»Well and one time I got the great idea to decorate the house of the couple with toilet paper. Of course, they didn't like it when I was on their roof and started to strip. Ugh, and from below Kate cheered for me while Lucien apologized to the couple a thousand times. Caleb collected me from the roof. From then on, the couple only looks angry at me if they see me.«
»Who the hell gets the idea to strip on the roof of two pensioners?! I understand the toilet paper, because it was meant as a joke, though it is not nice, but if you would have cleaned it up afterwards, okay. But who gets the idea to strip on a roof?!«
Though I would have liked to see it, I added in my mind.
He answered with a shrug of his shoulders. A damn shrug of his shoulders. Could he not say more to that?
He did a damn striptease on the roof of some pensioners and could only answer that with a shrug of his shoulders.
»You are too high leveled for me,« I grumbled and hid my face.
»Well, this story and the other story would be the time I was drunk and gave you those scars.«
His voice grew darker and rougher and in the next moment I could feel his fingers on my bare skin. Since when did I not wear a shirt? Slowly he stroked down my belly and left with every single touch a tingle.
An uncomfortable silence appeared between us which made me tense up. Even my heart didn't beat as fast as before.
His touch felt like ice cold daggers digging into my flesh and even though I wanted more of his touch.
»Let us forget that,« I whispered and turned to him.
In his green eyes was something I didn't want it to be. Such tormenting sadness shouldn't be there, no because of me.
And at the same time, I looked him into his eyes, a desire grew and was so enormous that I couldn't suppress it any longer – furthermore because it appeared so suddenly.
With a shallow breath I crawled to him and he fixed his eyes on me in confusion.
»What are you doi-«
He couldn't finish the sentence because I already sat on his lap with my legs right and left to him and my hands on his shoulders.
»Kyran?« he whispered hoarsely when my hands dug into his hair and pulled his head carefully backwards. And then I bound our lips violently together and couldn't hold back my desire anymore.
At first, he seemed to be confused and overwhelmed but then he put his huge hands half on my hips and half on my thighs and pulled me closer to him.
My hips rubbed against his.
Demanding more and more your lips danced, a kiss that went deeper and deeper and our tongues that fought for the upper hand, a fight won with ease because I drowned in his touch and scent.
Rasping for breath we separated our lips and stared each other in the eyes.
»You're driving me crazy,« Cas growled hoarse and turned me abruptly around so I lay on my back and the quick movement made me squeak in surprise.
His body steamed from the arousal, even the bulge in his pants that rubbed against mine showed that and as he lowered himself to my face, they rubbed even closer together.
Just when he wanted to close the distance between our lips again, the door flew open with a loud BANG and crashed against the wall.
»Wake up, boys! Midday breakfast is rea-«
Kiana broke her sentence off and Kenneth who was behind slapped his hands over her eyes with a panicked expression and closed his own eyes.
»We will go, don't let you feel disturbed.«
Slowly he pulled his mate back and pushed her away through the hallway, away from Cassian's room. The door obviously closed.
»Fuck,« Cas cursed and leaned away from me while running his fingers through his hair that was even more tousled from making out than it was before and it looked damn sexy on him.
God, what was wrong with my mind?
I quickly sat up and looked down at me. Shit, did it really affect me that much?
»I-I think we sh-should take a shower,« I stammered overwhelmed and saw how much our making out affected him too. I needed to swallow when I saw it though it was still hidden beneath fabric.
With wide eyes his head jerked to me and I realized my words.
»Separated!« I yelled loudly in shock and could immediately see how relieved he was.
And for whatever reason it hurt seeing him relieved like that. Didn't he want to shower together?
Though we just made out and from my subconscious alone I could say that we would have gone much further if Kiana and Kenneth hadn't crashed in. Maybe he was relieved his parents interrupted us.
Maybe he didn't want to go to the second step of the marking with me, though we were in a relationship now. After all, he never was interested in the male gender and still had a man as his mate.
The Beta problem was solved but there were many more problems ahead.
»You can shower here, I will go to the guest bathroom,« he whispered and jumped out of his bed, grabbing fresh clothes from his closet before he disappeared from his room. And that deed hurt me even more than his relief.
He seemed to still have something against me, though I tried my best to forgive him and forget everything.
I already forgave him everything. His deeds and words from our past. Yes, even the fact that he marked me as a traitor, though he still didn't tell me the reason.
And I would do anything for him now, I needed to admit bitterly. And not only that. I needed to admit that the reason why my heartbeat quickened when he was close and why I reacted so sensitive and extreme to him.
I had already fallen in love with him.