Chapter 320: Beside Us Again
Cassandra’s spine stiffened against him. Katherine lowered the water bottle but stayed silent, understanding that this part of the conversation did not belong to her.
Martin slipped one arm around Cassandra’s waist. His other hand traveled over her stomach and closed firmly around her breast as he drew her back until no space remained between them.
"Look at her," he said near her ear.
Her nipple tightened beneath his fingers. "I am looking."
"Then tell me what you see."
The young woman in the portrait had one arm around a teammate’s shoulders. Her smile was proud and sharp without being guarded. There was no crimson throne behind her, no contract waiting on a desk, and no guild expecting her to make every choice for them.
Martin kissed the side of Cassandra’s neck. She tilted her head to grant him more room, and the motion rubbed her ass along his cock until he hardened against her.
"Martin." Cassandra closed one hand around his arm at her waist but did not pull it away.
He tightened his arm around her waist. "If you want me to stop, say it."
Instead, Cassandra placed both palms against the wall on either side of the championship photograph. She shifted her feet apart and pushed her hips back, answering him through the position she chose.
Katherine’s gaze traveled down Cassandra’s body before returning to Martin. The smile she gave him was softer than the teasing grin she had worn through most of the night.
"That looked like a clear answer," she said.
"It was," Cassandra replied.
Martin guided his cock between her thighs and through the wet heat of her pussy. Cassandra shuddered as the head passed over her entrance, but he continued rubbing her instead of pushing inside.
She looked at him in the photograph’s reflection. "You have spent the entire night doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Making me wait after you already know what I want."
Martin answered by pressing forward, and Cassandra’s next words broke into a low cry as the thick head entered her. Her fingers spread across the wall while he worked his way deeper. Even after everything they had done, her body still stretched tightly around his girth, so he stopped at the first hint of resistance and held her against his chest until her thighs loosened.
She pushed back before he could ask. "More."
Martin drove the rest of the way inside and supported her with the arm around her waist. Her forehead nearly touched the glass over the portrait as his other hand kneaded her breast. When he drew out and filled her again, the deeper stroke pulled his name from her.
Martin settled into a steady rhythm, and Cassandra soon began meeting him instead of merely receiving each stroke. Her hips rolled back whenever he moved forward, sharpening the wet collision of their bodies. Beside the polished frames and carefully arranged medals, the sounds filling the hallway felt indecent enough to make Katherine’s expression brighten.
She stepped closer, set the water safely on the shelf, and reached beneath Martin’s arm to sweep Cassandra’s hair away from her face.
"You look good like this," Katherine whispered.
Cassandra opened her eyes. Katherine’s reflection hovered beside hers in the protective glass, red hair wild around her shoulders and lips swollen from hours of kisses. Faint marks from Martin’s hands colored her breasts.
"You have little reason to complain about your own appearance," Cassandra managed.
Katherine laughed softly and kissed her. Cassandra turned her head as far as the position allowed, accepting the slow press of Katherine’s mouth while Martin continued taking her from behind.
His pace quickened. Cassandra broke their kiss with a gasp as her pussy tightened around him, stopping his next thrust for half a heartbeat. The pressure dragged a groan from Martin and a pleased look from Cassandra when she heard it.
"I want that one again," she said.
He drove into her harder as Katherine slipped her hand down Cassandra’s stomach and found her clit. She stroked it in time with Martin’s thrusts, quickening whenever Cassandra pushed back to take him deeper. Her arms began to shake, and Martin gathered her against his chest with his palm still squeezing her breast.
"Keep your eyes on her," he told Cassandra.
She fixed her gaze on the laughing archer. "I barely recognize her anymore."
"I do. I know the player who fought beside us before everything fell apart."
"You never knew that version of me."
"Maybe not, but I know the woman who took the same risks we did instead of sitting somewhere else and deciding what everyone ought to do."
His next thrust pushed Cassandra onto her toes. The rough sound she made belonged to neither the composed CEO nor the untouchable guild leader.
"That woman made mistakes too," she said once she could speak again.
"So did I."
"Not like mine."
Martin did not offer comfort she had not asked for. "No, not like yours."
Cassandra closed her eyes, though only for an instant. Martin kissed beneath her ear and waited until she looked at the photograph again.
"What happened tonight doesn’t erase Victoria," he said.
"I never expected it to."
"And tomorrow, I may still decide that I can’t trust you."
Her body tightened around him, but she kept her voice level. "I know."
Katherine continued touching her, gentler now, with her attention fixed on Cassandra’s face rather than the movement of Martin’s hips.
"But you were at your best when you stood beside us as another player," Martin continued. "Not when you were trying to control everything as a guild leader. Come back with me and face the others. If they’re willing to have you beside us again, we’ll clean up the mess you started as Victoria together. How does that sound?"
Cassandra stared at the portrait until the young champion blurred behind the glass.
Martin stopped moving. Then he withdrew, released Cassandra’s breast, and opened his arms so nothing prevented her from stepping away. Katherine removed her hand at once.
"You don’t have to decide while I’m holding you against a wall," he said. "Think about it tonight. We can talk when we wake up."