Chapter 406: The Glow Between Us
The Glow Between Us
Steam still clung to their skin when they entered Leon’s quarters again, the morning sun slipping in through the tall windows, spilling liquid gold across the burnished marble and the velvet-covered bed.
Cassidy entered first. Her dark hair, still damp from the bath, hung in sodden curtains down her back, tendrils clinging to the curves of her hips like tangles of midnight silk. Droplets ran down her skin smooth shoulders, pursuing the curve of her chest, each drop of water shining like gold until it vanished against the dark flush of her skin. Her eyes—black, deep, and bold—still contained that smoldering fire of one who had yielded to heat and contact, and yet desired more.
Each inch of her radiated—dewy, flushed, a glow that only came after heat, hands, and a bath that never remained innocent for long.
Leon trailed behind her, just as naked. His gold-hued eyes were slitted, lazy but keen, following the swing of her hips with the sort of deference that bordered on adoration. To him, each curve of Cassidy was a gospel, each step of hers a ritual he was required to observe.
There was hunger in his eyes, yes—but hunger born of desperation, no. Hunger of a man who already had, who already consumed, and yet who found himself famished again the moment she stepped away. Hunger that required no words between them.
But then—
Cassidy halted. Mid-step.
Her smile faltered, just for a breath. Her brows pulled ever so slightly. She blinked once. Then again. Something had clicked in her mind, stealing through her playful haze.
"Leon..." Her voice was softer than usual, almost hesitant.
Leon tilted his head, one brow quirking up, that slow, crooked smirk curling at the corner of his lips. "Mm? What is it, my Cassidy?"
She shifted her face towards him, mouth opening as if she was going to say something substantial, something heavy—but it betrayed her instead, playful and blushing all the same.
"I just realized something..."
Leon’s smile grew wider, golden eyes sparkling. "Oh? And what naughty thought found its way into that gorgeous head of yours?"
Her cheeks flushed, but her confidence never faltered. She met his stare, black eyes glinting with that hellish sparkle he had grown to desire.
"I don’t have a single article of clothing in your rooms."
Leon blinked once. Beat. Then his smile spread, slow and ruinous.
"So you weren’t going to spend the night, hm?"
Cassidy’s pout came fast, exaggerated—her lower lip caught between her teeth, her eyes narrowing in mock offense. "I didn’t know I’d end up spending the night like that, okay?"
He laughed—low and rough, still warm from her body. She shivered at the sound of it, because she knew he only sounded that way when he was looking at her—when she was near enough for his heat to seep deep into her bones.
His eyes wandered over her once more, shameless and nearly worshipful. "Perhaps we should just exist this way from then on," he rumbled, his voice weighted with amusement and adoration, "bare and unencumbered. You—" his gaze raked over her form, intent, dwelling upon the gentle rise of her breasts, the curves of her waist, the round of her hips— "you look too beautiful ever to be clothed.
Cassidy rolled her eyes, but the minor upward curl at the corner of her mouth betrayed her. A spark flared up once more, her saucy playfulness back in full measure.
"If I could rule the world," she breathed, advancing closer, "perhaps I’d make that the law."
Her naked chest was against his, skin to skin, tender heat crashing into his chiseled strength. Fire ignited at once, a flame that spread like wildfire in the vacuum between their breathing. Her mouth lingered just above his ear, her breath vibrating in a barely perceptible tremor within inches of his skin, and yet she did not move closer—did not offer him the kiss he already craved.
Leon’s fingers slipped down her sides, slow, almost taunting, brushing across her slick skin as if probing how much control he could maintain. "Be careful, my Cassidy," he murmured, his voice low, menacing in its gentleness. "If you make that statute, I’d never allow you out of this room again.
She shivered, but not from cold, from the pressure of his words—the promise of them. Her black eyes sparkled with that forbidden, intoxicating thrill that had held them back ever since the first time. She was no maid, no servant—she was Mia’s mother, and now his wife. Their connection had the taste of something illicit, yet one that throbbed with unassailable love, a forbidden flame that had been transmuted into something holy in their own eyes.
Cassidy smiled softly, a breathless sound, one hand tracing up his chest, her nails barely skimming over the hard lines of muscle until she rested against the collarbone. "You speak like I’d object," she murmured, her voice heavy with teasing defiance. "Like I would set fire to the world myself just to remain in your arms."
Leon’s smile faded to something softer, though—not to weakness, but to something hotter, more deadly. His golden eyes were fixed on hers, and she felt it. The love. The unrelenting, paralyzing depth of it.
"Cassidy..." His palm swept up to cup the jaw that held him, his thumb dancing across the rim of her lower lip. "Do you even know what you do to me?"
Her breath hitched, for a second. She wished to taunt, to play as she always did, but that gaze stole her words. It wasn’t hunger. It wasn’t possession. It was devotion—one so powerful it hurt to breathe for it.
Her voice fell to a whisper. "Show me."
Leon did not hesitate. His lips pressed against hers, not soft but not harsh—commanding, devouring, as if the sun itself had dipped into their kiss. She answered with an equal blaze, her arms coming up around his neck, drawing herself closer to him until there was no room, no breath, only flame.
The kiss halted on a breath, their lips puffy, their eyes locked. She was smiling once more, that brash, confident smile that seemed to say she could bring down kingdoms.
"You’re mine, Leon," she said softly against his mouth, her voice daring, playful, but beneath it ran a primitive truth. "Regardless of how many wives you may have, regardless of who else might claim you as theirs... you’ll always belong to me."
Leon’s smirk came back, this time softer, edged with a sort of pride. He leaned his forehead against hers, golden eyes burning.
"And you, my Cassidy," he breathed, voice full of feeling, "are my forbidden flame. The one I will never extinguish."
Her lips curled, sweet and wicked both. She kissed him again—slow, lingering, with all the feelings words could never contain.
Morning sun streamed brighter through the windows, bathed them both in molten gold, as if the heavens themselves bore witness to their defiance, their closeness, their love that could not be concealed.
And neither of them—Cassidy or Leon—ever wanted it to end.