Chapter 317: Before She Returns
Martin remained braced above Cassandra, one hand pressed into the mattress as he absorbed her request. Minutes earlier, she had needed him to stop after every inch. Now her black hair covered half the pillow, her cheeks were still warm from her climax, and impatience had replaced the caution in her crimson eyes.
"You only just caught your breath."
"Then you have given me long enough to decide what I want." Cassandra curled her fingers behind his neck. "Come here."
He kissed her before she could turn the invitation into another order. Cassandra pulled him down with both arms, but her appetite had recovered faster than his body. The moment his softening cock pressed against her thigh, she eased her grip and looked between them.
Instead of disguising the problem behind a dry remark, she ran her fingertips along him and asked, "This will take a little time, won’t it?"
"A little." Martin took her hand and closed it around him. "You could help."
Cassandra’s first strokes were so measured that each felt identical to the last. Martin kissed the side of her neck, then covered her hand with his and showed her the pressure he preferred. She adjusted at once, watching his face with the concentration she usually reserved for information that might matter later.
"You’re studying me," he murmured.
"I would rather learn what you enjoy than rely on guesses."
"This isn’t an assignment."
Her mouth curved against his shoulder. "Then stop looking as though you intend to grade me."
Once he released her hand, her rhythm became less precise and more responsive. Cassandra noticed every change in his breathing, slowing when he grew too sensitive and tightening her grip when his hips shifted toward her. By the time he began to harden again, curiosity had softened the stern line of her mouth.
She slid lower on the bed and pressed a kiss to the broad head. The next one lingered. Her tongue followed the underside of his shaft, and Martin caught a fistful of the sheet before his hand could close around her hair.
Cassandra glanced up at him. "That seems more effective."
"Much more."
She continued until his cock stood hard between them, slick from her mouth. Several minutes had passed by the time Cassandra returned to the pillows and opened her legs beneath him. Though she welcomed his weight, the first press of his cock against her entrance drew the tension back into her thighs.
Martin stopped before entering her. "Are you still sure?"
"I told you I wanted you again." She lifted her hips, forcing the thick head inside herself. Her voice faltered for an instant, but her gaze did not. "This time, I would prefer not to request every individual inch."
He pushed forward slowly enough to feel her body resist and then yield. Cassandra was still swollen from their first time, and her nails sank into his shoulders as the widest part stretched her again. Martin gave her several shallow strokes until the tension in her body eased and her hips began meeting his.
When Cassandra caught him with both legs and pulled him closer, he drove deeper. The force shifted her across the rumpled sheets, but she drew him back with her hips rather than issuing another instruction.
"You can stop being careful now," she said.
Martin pushed one of her thighs toward her chest. "Like this?"
Her reply became a cry when his next thrust buried him to the base.
The bedroom door opened while Cassandra was still trying to recover her voice. Katherine walked in carrying a tray with the wine, two glasses, and three bottles of water. She stopped at the sight of Cassandra pinned beneath Martin, then looked pointedly at the tray in her hands.
"I leave you unsupervised for ten minutes, and you start without me."
"You took ten minutes," Cassandra managed.
Katherine laughed as she set everything on the bedside table. "So much for making him wait until I returned."
She ignored the already-open bottle, chose water instead, and drank before climbing onto the bed. Martin expected another joke, but Katherine merely swept the damp hair from Cassandra’s cheek and kissed her. Cassandra’s startled breath warmed Katherine’s mouth, then turned into a moan when Katherine cupped her breast.
Martin kept driving into Cassandra hard enough to shake the mattress, while Katherine slowed their kiss and held her breast, offering a gentler rhythm between his harder thrusts. Cassandra clung to them both, one hand gripping Martin’s shoulder while the other disappeared into Katherine’s red curls.
"He learns quickly," Katherine whispered against her lips.
"He was being far too careful before."
"That sounds like him." Katherine let her fingers drift down Cassandra’s stomach, stopping just above the place where their bodies met. "Would you like some help, or do you want him to yourself?"
Cassandra looked from Katherine’s hand to Martin’s face. Rather than giving the question a formal answer, she widened her legs.
Katherine understood. Her fingertips settled over Cassandra’s clit and began moving in tight circles that matched Martin’s pace. Cassandra arched from the bed, squeezing him hard enough to break his rhythm, but he recovered with a deeper thrust. Katherine adjusted with him, pressing harder each time Martin filled her.
The first shudder ran through Cassandra before she could warn either of them. She caught Katherine behind the neck and held their foreheads together as the pleasure built beyond anything she could organize into words.
"Martin, I’m..."
Her voice rose into his name. Cassandra’s legs locked around him, and her whole body shook beneath their hands while Katherine kissed the corner of her mouth. Martin shortened his strokes and carried her through the contractions, then withdrew before his own control failed.
He dropped beside them, breathing hard enough that speaking would have required more effort than he had left. Katherine passed him the open water without comment. After he drank, Cassandra accepted the bottle and took several long swallows before reclining with one hand over her racing heart.
Katherine looked across the enormous bed, where the bedding had gathered into a ruined mound around their legs. "You could sleep six people in here."
"I sleep alone," Cassandra said.
"That is a criminal waste of square footage."
Cassandra turned her head toward Martin. Her thumb idly traced the edge of his shoulder while she considered him. "I never found anyone worth sharing it with."