Chapter 131: Cannot Keep His Hands To Himself

Chapter 131: Chapter 131: Cannot Keep His Hands To Himself

Before changing, they walked into the small bathroom attached to their bedroom.

Click.

Cassie turned the metal handle, letting cold water splash into the sink. Derrick grabbed his toothbrush and stood right beside her at the mirror.

They applied toothpaste and started brushing in silence.

Scratch, scratch.

The quiet bathroom filled with the steady rhythm of them brushing together.

While rinsing her brush, Cassie reached over and pinched his waist lightly.

Pinch.

Derrick didn’t hesitate.

He reached right back and lightly pinched the hard peak of her nipple peeking through the thin silk of her gown.

Gasp.

Cassie let out a sudden, breathless squeal and bent backward over the sink in a fit of quiet laughter.

Her hands flew up to cover her chest as her shoulders shook with giggles.

"Derrick!" she squeaked around her toothbrush. Then, she stopped playing around brushed normally.

Derrick just smirked at her reflection in the glass, keeping his cool.

Splash.

They both spat into the sink and rinsed their mouths with cold water.

Cassie wiped her lips with the back of her hand, her dark eyes glittering with amusement.

When she missed a spot, Derrick cleaned it for her with his hands and a faint smile on his face.

"Handsy this morning, aren’t we?" she mumbled.

"You started it," Derrick replied, drying his face with a towel.

They stepped back out into the bedroom. Derrick took a slow breath to steady his pulse.

He didn’t need to touch his wardrobe.

With a single thought, his clothes changed.

Hum.

His loose morning clothes shifted instantly into a simple dark shirt and trousers. He turned around, expecting Cassie to be over by her own wardrobe across the room.

But instead...

She was standing right in the middle of the floor, directly in front of him.

Her dark eyes were locked on his face, heavy with mischief.

Without a word, she reached up to her shoulders.

Rustle.

She unhooked the thin silk straps and let her nightgown slide straight down her body. The gown instantly fell down at her feet.

She was standing before him completely bare, in nothing but her white panties.

Derrick could even see the dampness on it.

Instead of changing it as well, she kept it on.

Her pale skin was still flushed from his touch before. Her bare chest was rising and falling softly, her delicate rose peaks were tight from the chill and his pinch.

Cassie did not even try to cover herself.

She casually reached over to pick up a dark sweater and fitted trousers resting on her single bed and slowly put them on while looking at him.

Derrick’s jaw snapped tight as he looked away.

Damn it, he thought, his pulse spiking all over again. She knows exactly what she’s doing.

"You could at least face your wardrobe," Derrick muttered, his voice rough and low.

Cassie let out a soft, amused chuckle.

Rustle.

"Why?" she asked, her voice muffled for a second as she pulled the sweater over her head. She popped her head through the neck of the fabric, making her blonde hair spill out and smoothed it down over her chest.

She picked up her dark trousers and pulled them up over her hips.

Zip.

"We’ve shared this room our whole lives, Derrick," she murmured, her tone dripping with quiet playfulness.

She sat on the edge of her bed and stepped into her dark boots.

Thud.

She tied the laces and stood back up, walking right into his personal space.

She tilted her head up, her eyes glinting softly.

"There’s nothing on my body you haven’t seen," she whispered, leaning in just close enough for him to feel her warm breath.

A small, dangerous smirk touched her lips.

"...or touched."

After a light kiss on his cheeks she backed away and walked out of the room first.

Derrick followed after her.

Rebecca was already sitting at the table, food waiting for them.

They crossed into the kitchen, where Rebecca was already sitting at the wooden table, hot food waiting for them.

Rebecca glanced up at Cassie before turning her sharp eyes onto Derrick.

"Did something happen at the warehouse?" Rebecca asked. "Why did you suddenly come back at midnight?"

"I went to see Keira in the hospital," Derrick replied smoothly.

Cassie’s expression shifted, a flicker of genuine concern crossing her eyes.

She pulled out the chair right beside Derrick on his side of the table, sitting directly across from Rebecca, and placed her hand gently on his lap beneath the wood.

Derrick reached down, taking her fingers in his hand and squeezing lightly.

"Is she alright?" Cassie asked softly.

"She’s fine," Derrick said, keeping his voice calm and steady. "She just needs to stay there for observation."

He chose not to tell them about Keira faking her condition or her hidden motives—he didn’t want either of them burdened by any of that dangerous political weight.

"In fact," Derrick continued, looking between both of them, "she offered to grant me a late admission to the Golden Dawn Academy."

Rebecca froze, her eyes widening in genuine surprise.

"The Academy?" Rebecca asked, leaning forward. "What do you plan to do?"

Cassie turned her head to look straight at him, her grip tightening on his hand beneath the table.

"What about the company?" Cassie asked quietly.

"I have one month before I need to enter the academy," Derrick said calmly.

"And I’m not abandoning the company. I can keep everything running remotely."

Cassie tilted her head, listening closely as her thumb rubbed over his knuckles.

"I’ll leave the simpler everyday tasks for you to handle, Cassie," Derrick explained.

"Beth will step in to help with the product side of things."

"And whenever we need materials, I’ll take care of sourcing them myself."

Rebecca leaned back in her chair, processing his words carefully.

"For this month," Derrick added, looking at both of them, "I just want to focus on my training... and spend time here with you."

"Besides, the warehouse won’t be an issue at all," he said.

"I’ve already programmed the AI to take full control of the operations over there."

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, looking genuinely puzzled.

"An AI?" Rebecca asked, resting her tea mug on the table. "Since when do you have an AI managing the warehouse?"

Cassie’s eyes lit up instantly.

She sat up straight in her chair, a wide, excited grin spreading across her face.

"Silly Bot!" Cassie blurted out eagerly, unable to hide her enthusiasm.

"He built a whole AI named Silly Bot to handle everything!"

She let go of Derrick’s hand for a second to gesture with her arms, her voice full of pride.

"It handles all the sorting, organizes the stock, manages the deliveries, and keeps the whole warehouse running without anyone needing to be there!"

Rebecca blinked in surprise, turning her gaze back to Derrick with an amused shake of her head.

"Silly Bot?" Rebecca echoed, a faint smirk tugging at her lips. "You named a high-tech warehouse system Silly Bot?"