Without breaking eye contact, he reached over and picked it up.
Ryan’s name flashed on the screen.
My heart stopped.
"Cassian—"
He swiped the screen to answer, ignoring me. He pressed the phone to his ear.
"Speak."
One word.
His tone changed instantly. Even the air felt cold.
"Where is she?" Ryan’s voice came through, his voice tense. I could hear him since Cassian was close to me.
"She’s with me," Cassian said.
There was silence.
"You took her away yesterday without permission... it’s already past noon," Ryan said. "I’m outside; bring my sister out."
Cassian’s grip on the phone tightened slightly.
"Your sister?" he repeated, almost amused, his tone dangerous.
"Yes. I took Isabelle out of the house to cheer her up because someone couldn’t control his emotions..."
Cassian’s narrowed eyes moved toward me; a sharp glint flickered beneath the surface.
I hurriedly shook my head.
What was Ryan trying to do?
"...I’m here to take her home; Isabelle is my responsibility."
Cassian let out a quiet breath.
"No." His tone was calm and absolute. "You don’t get access to her."
Ryan’s tone hardened. "You don’t get to make that decision."
"I already did."
For a moment neither of them spoke. Then Cassian added, softer this time— "Try to take her from me... and I’ll break more than your authority."
My pulse spiked.
Throughout the exchange, his voice never rose. But the threat—
It made a shiver run down my spine. His tone was deadly.
He ended the call without waiting for a response.
Then he looked back at me with that same intensity. His blue eyes filled with that same storm.
And this time when he captured my lips again... There was no pretending it was just a test anymore.
But before we would both lose control again, I pressed my palms against his chest, breaking away slightly.
"Um...Cassian...about...R–Ryan—"
"I’ll send you back to the Quinn estate myself," he said, tone final.
Before I could say anything else, he lifted himself and made his way through the class door, which I was sure led to the en-suite bathroom. The sound of the shower running was the only sound I could hear left in the large bedroom.
Why did I feel that he was angry? Was it me, or Ryan?
The fact that I didn’t know made it worse.
~~~
Author’s POV...
Downstairs in the hall, Selena sat on the sofa, her eyes trained on the stairs, waiting for that familiar silhouette to appear.
But she had been waiting for what seemed like an eternity now, and the man never returned.
If it had been another man she had seen doing everything Cassian did for Isabelle a while ago, she wouldn’t have felt so lost and confused like she was currently feeling.
This was Cassian Knight, the famed ice king. Was he even capable of such gentleness? Such care?
Could such a proud person, who was naturally detached from human emotions and unmoved by desire, do these things?
Three years ago when Selena joined Knight Corporations, she couldn’t even look him straight in the eye.
Just seated behind his desk in his office, his presence was so cold, and he radiated such authority that she always instinctively kept her distance... unless necessary.
Maybe that was what attracted him to her. At that time he was deeply paranoid and didn’t even trust his guards.
He was always expressionless, his icy blue eyes looking at you as if he could see right through you.
But like all women in Pearl City, she couldn’t help but want those eyes to soften... only for her.
She wanted to be the one who could melt his frozen heart, so that was why she became obsessed with gaining his trust.
The man hated physical contact the most, and she began to wonder how it would be for him to crave and want her physically.
That was why she worked at it as if her life depended on it.
It became her lifetime project... until she succeeded.
He had clearly told her after she confessed to him that she had a crush on him.
"I don’t do love, Selena. I’m not capable of it... You can only be my bedmate... it’ll be just sex. If you’re not okay with that, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear a word you just said."
"I’m willing," she had said, her tone firm. "I won’t regret it."
Her mind moved to their first night together two years ago. She had been his secretary for over a year then.
Flashback ##
That night when she entered his suite and met him leaning on a couch with a cigarette on his lips in an all-black three-piece suit with a bored look on his face, his expression blank, as if nothing could ever touch him, her stomach had twisted... uncomfortably.
But the sight of him seated there, in the middle of the room, one leg swung over the other with his wrist resting on top of his knee, looking sexy even without trying, sent shameful heat coursing through her.
"Come here."
Two words.
He had said two words, and she strutted forward, her legs feeling weak just by his mere presence.
She had mentally prepared herself, knowing he wasn’t going to be gentle with her since he wasn’t in love with her, but nothing prepared her for what happened next.
"Strip."
She did, fingers shaking as she peeled off her blouse, skirt, and lingerie until she stood completely bare before him.
The cool air kissed her skin, raising goosebumps. She felt exposed, vulnerable—painfully aware of every imperfection under his unrelenting gaze.
She couldn’t even breathe properly. Then he gave her another command.
"Get onto the bed and spread your legs."
Selena complied. She climbed onto the massive bed, heart pounding. She parted her thighs, cheeks burning with embarrassment as she lay open and displayed for him.
Cassian rose slowly and opened a drawer, retrieving a sleek pink dildo vibrator from the black box inside it.
He handed it to her without a word, his expression unchanged—the same bored look.
"Pleasure yourself."
"W-what?" Her voice cracked.
"Don’t make me repeat myself. You have five minutes to make me aroused... or get out."
Humiliation burned through her, hot and sharp. She switched on the toy, pressing it against her already slick folds, trying to lose herself in the vibrations.
She felt ashamed and uncomfortable at first, but she also felt desperation as she tried to prove to the man before her that she could do it.
Soft moans escaped her lips as she circled her clit slowly, building up momentum, and then she pushed the toy inside her.
She watched him through her trembling lashes, trying to find any crack in his perfect demeanour.
Surprisingly the coldness in his eyes spurred her on as her hips rocked desperately.
She arched her back, gasping, putting on the most erotic show she could manage—all while his cold blue eyes watched her like a detached observer at a clinical trial.
Five minutes passed. Then ten.
Cassian remained completely unmoved, his breathing even, his arousal nonexistent beneath his perfectly tailored trousers.
He watched her squirm and whimper with the same indifference he might give a spreadsheet.
Finally, when her voice grew hoarse and her body trembled on the edge of frustrated release, he spoke.
"You’ll do."
No praise. No desire. Just a flat verdict.