Chapter 263: It would be a lie to deny it

Cassian called it an easy death, yet Cixi knew that wherever Cassian was involved, death could never be simple. It was bound to be brutal, messy, and terrifying for anyone foolish enough to cross his path.

“Why are you so hell-bent on saving those three?” Cassian leaned closer, his eyes narrowing as he searched her expression for anything more. “I haven’t ‘interrogated’ them yet, but let me tell you, I am itching to make them sing, to wring out every last drop of misery they have caused. And I would do it without a second thought. I already know with certainty that they deserve the worst.”

It was not that Cixi lacked the desire for revenge. When she first fled the university, she never wanted to lay eyes on Silviya or her vicious lapdogs ever again. She had chosen to swallow her bitterness and let it go, hoping to live a peaceful life for herself. She convinced herself that if she simply removed herself from their sight, the torment would end. But it was never that easy, Cixi realised.

Silviya wanted nothing less than to turn Cixi’s existence into a living nightmare. Cixi had never insulted her, never wronged her, and never competed with her. Her only crime had been existing in the same space as Silviya. This led Cixi to meet with Silviya’s endless hatred for her. So much hate that Silviya made a deal with a person to sell her off to… as a slave.

“I want to decide their punishment,” Cixi replied with firm resolve. “No one has the right to punish them other than me.”

Cassian decided not to push Cixi further. He respected the fire in her words and decided to let her take the lead for now. He lifted his hand to caress the crown of her head, but the moment his fingers brushed against the hidden contusion beneath her hair, she winced and drew a sharp, pained breath.

The slight flinch hit Cassian like a blow. His jaw locked instantly. He leaned forward, burying his face into the soft curve of her neck and breathing in the sweet fragrance of her skin, letting her scent anchor the violent demon thrashing inside him.

“There is an easy way to heal your wound,” Cassian remarked in a smooth, untroubled tone.

Cixi’s eyes gleamed with curiosity. “Really?”

“Yes. Let us go to bed.”

The moment the word bed left his lips, Cixi’s excitement vanished, replaced by an incredulous glare. “I am wounded, you know!”

“I know. That is why I need to make you feel better soon.”

Cixi narrowed her eyes at him with suspicion. “Why the bed and not right here on the sofa?”

“You are getting naughtier day by day. I like it. We can definitely try the sofa today.”

Cixi couldn’t find the words to retort.

“Oh, did I forget to mention that when you have sex with a demon, it heals your wounds?”

Her mouth fell open in utter disbelief. She stared at him with wide, unblinking eyes, searching every angle of his face for even the faintest flicker of a joke. “Stop joking.”

“I am always serious when it comes to your wounds.”

“You mean sex.”

“I mean both are interlinked.”

“You are impossible.”

“I make the impossible possible.”

Cixi scoffed, shaking her head as heat rose into her cheeks. “You sound completely cheesy right now.”

Cassian’s lips curved into a wicked, devastating smile. “Then let us take these cheesy things and make them sensational.”

Cixi’s cheeks scorched with a fresh wave of crimson, the heat spreading down to the base of her throat. “You are truly shameless, I must say.”

“Am I?” Cassian chuckled, his voice dropping into a low, rumbling purr. “I am entirely sincere, Cig.”

Desperate to steer the conversation away from sex before she lost whatever shred of control she had left, Cixi grasped for a distraction. “You are not smoking anymore. Did you stop smoking?”

Cassian’s smile only deepened, knowing what she was trying to do. “Who said I am not smoking anymore? It’s just that no one can see it.”

Confusion tangled Cixi’s thoughts into a knot. She blinked a few times. Her grey eyes darted across his features as she tried to make sense of the answer. Could a demon smoke in ways invisible to human eyes? But there was no drifting haze in the room, no lingering smell of ash or tobacco in the air, and certainly no trace of smoke when his mouth had pressed against hers moments ago.

“Do not lie to me,” she countered, narrowing her eyes.

“I am not lying, Cig.”

Cassian’s hand tightened around her waist, drawing her closer until there was barely any space left between them. Cixi’s breath caught when his gaze dropped to her lips before slowly returning to her eyes. There was something almost indecent about the way he looked at her, as though he had already decided she belonged exactly where she was and saw no reason to pretend otherwise.

“You keep calling me that,” Cixi muttered, trying not to react to the heat crawling up her neck. “And I still think it sounds ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous?” His eyebrow lifted. “You have wounded me.”

“You don’t look wounded.”

“I suffer beautifully….. You have become my new favourite brand of cigarette… Why do you think I call you Cig? It is short for cigarette.

“So you compare me to something people burn and throw away?”

His fingers slid beneath her chin, gently forcing her to meet his eyes. “I would never. A cigarette is an addiction,” he continued quietly. “Something a man knows he should put down, yet his fingers keep reaching for it. Something he thinks about when it is not there. Something he craves after telling himself he has had enough.”

Cixi swallowed hard. And Cassian watched the movement of her throat.

“That,” he murmured, “is you.”

Her pulse betrayed her immediately.

He leaned closer, his voice sinking into that low, dangerous tone she had learned meant he was enjoying himself at her expense. “You are my newest addiction, Cig. Unfortunately for you, I have never possessed a much enthusiasm for rehabilitation.”

“Cassian…”

“I wake up wanting you near me. I leave and wonder what you are doing. Someone looks at you too long, and suddenly I start thinking of new ways to commit crimes. You are the only smoke I want, the one I want to suck, lick, and fuck all the time.”

The raw, filthy weight of his words struck Cixi like an electric shock. Her breath hitched in her throat, and she squeezed her thighs tightly together as a fierce, liquid heat pooled low between her legs. The crude possessiveness of his confession did not offend her; it dismantled her. A tremor of pure arousal rippled through her veins, stripping away her defences until only raw need remained.

It would be a lie to deny it. She desired him just as intensely, just as desperately, as he desired her.

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Dear readers, if you enjoy strong FMC and comedy. This book is for you!

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