CHAPTER 224: WE ARE PLOTTING, CASSIAN

The room was....quite good. If this had been Cass’ time, he would have never seen a room like this outside of a super special occasion and a lot of saving up.

But for Lord Blackburn? Who had several rooms for fucking walking through in his own mansion?

It was alright.

The sheep girl left as soon as she could, leaving Cass and Lucian alone in the room. Cass headed for the bathroom, checking it out and found that thankfully, it had running hot water taps like at his mansion. He had worried for a second that he was going to have to ask for hot water like in some of those books and t.v. shows he had watched during his time, but he was glad that he was wrong.

He hadn’t realised that Lucian had followed after him until the man spoke.

"Are you that wanting of a bath? You smell fine." Lucian’s voice scared the shit out of Cass and he let out a shout of surprise. He spun, staring at the shocked look on Lucian’s face, sure that his wasn’t any better. Cass felt his face flush with embarrassment, and he adjusted his clothes nervously.

"You scared me." Cass muttered, justifying his reaction. "I thought you were still...out there." Cass gestured to the main bedroom and Lucian just stared at him for a moment.

"Why would I leave you to explore a place we haven’t checked alone?" Lucian asked, giving Cass a strange look as he raised his gaze and glanced around. "Granted, I have great hearing and I didn’t sense anything in the room before we entered, but I’m not going to let you get attacked." Cass felt his eyes widen.

Lucian wasn’t making fun of Cass, instead he was more surprised by his actions. Cass kind of...appreciated that? A little bit?

"I didn’t even consider that as an option. It’s not like many people know that I’m here instead of my home, or that we had even finished clearing the dungeon. It’ll be all over town tomorrow, but that’s fine." Cass said and Lucian huffed, crossing his arms.

"Cassian, you’re almost a Duke. There are always targets on your back." Lucian said and it was kind of surprising that Lucian was the one saying it. Cass blinked at him several times, before he started laughing.

"I am aware, thank you. That’s why I have three guards nearby and a dragon in my rooms." Cass teased and watched as Lucian’s face changed colour. He hadn’t seen the man blush like this in a long, long time.

"O-Oh. So you were aware. Alright." He said, and Cass chuckled. He reached out, gently touching Lucian’s arms and pushed.

"Get out so I can get a bath. Do you need one?" Cass asked and Lucian shook his head.

"No. I use magic to maintain my cleanliness." He told Cass, staring down at the hand touching his arm. "Unless...you want me to take a bath with you?" He suggested, meeting Cass’ gaze and Cass snorted.

"There is no way the tub is big enough for two men to be in it, let alone a man and a woman. Don’t get your hopes up. I’m not going to take too long, and then before we go down for food, I want to talk to you about something. Not a bad thing." Cass finished because he didn’t want to leave the other man anxious.

He didn’t think it would do him any good if Lucian got too worried about what Cass wanted to talk to him about that he broke the door down while he was bathing.

Lucian nodded, still staring at the hand on his arm.

"Alright. I’ll wait in the bedroom. Don’t jerk off, or else I’m going to be pretty angry. Or, do jerk off. Don’t care about my feelings." Lucian said, switching his attitude quickly and Cass snorted, rolling his eyes.

"I’m not touching my dick around you, Lucian. Get your mind out of the gutter. I also don’t think this inn is that sound proof, especially not for ears like yours. The mansion barely is. Byron hears too fucking much sometimes." Cass said and Lucian’s expression darkened.

"Byron? Why are you bringing up the baby right now?" He sounded upset and Cass stared at the other man, before he felt a tingle run down his spine. Was the man jealous? He really shouldn’t be. Byron had made it clear where his intentions lay. He was sure the whole mansion knew.

Cass chuckled.

"You’re right, Lucian, he’s a baby. I don’t go for babies, especially babies who already have someone in their heart." Cass told him and Lucian’s gaze remained still, unmoving, before he blinked and let out a sigh. His cheeks warmed again.

"Right. Sorry. I knew that. I’m just getting into my head about the fact you’re going to be naked in here in water and I’m going to be...out there with a door between us. Shit. I shouldn’t have said that either. This whole inn thing has me flustered." Cass felt his lips curl slightly as Lucian leveled him with a look. "You do know that most nobles use places like this for hook ups, right?" Lucian asked, clearly wanting to make Cass know. As if Cass didn’t know.

There was a chance that Lord Blackburn didn’t, but Cass was sure he did. Any chance to blackmail someone was something the man was looking forward to. Especially if it was related to something that Lord Blackburn wanted.

"I did know that, Lucian." Cass told him, his grin growing more. "That’s kind of related to why I want to talk to you after my bath. Now, scram. I need to undress, and I don’t need help." Cass told him, shooting him down before he even asked. Lucian pouted, turned, and glanced over his shoulder at Cass several times like a pitiful creature as he was leaving.

Cass just shook his head, not buying it as he turned on the taps, watching the water pour into the tub. Once the door was closed, he slid the lock home and heard Lucian grumble on the other side. Cass snorted.

"Like a lock is going to stop you." Cass told him and Lucian grumbled louder.

"It’s not the fact that it would stop me, it’s the action of it. You don’t trust me." Lucian was upset and Cass rolled his eyes.

"Who would trust you, you fool? Now be good and wait." Cass felt like he was talking to a dog more than he was talking to a dragon. That only made him laugh more. He began to undress, letting the clothing fall to the floor and not picking it up right away because he didn’t need to. He slipped into the tub right away, not caring that it wasn’t full and sighed as the hot water slowly filled the tub, making his muscles relax. It was nice.

~

When Cass came out, all warm and fuzzy, wrapped in a soft coat, Lucian’s jaw nearly dropped.

"W-What are you doing?" Lucian asked, his face warm as he took in how relaxed, calm, and pretty Cass looked. Cass had no idea, and instead took a moment to look over the room. 2 gold and there was still only one bed. Tragic.

It looked decent though, and the room came with a little sitting room-esque space when you walked in. That was where Lucian was currently. He had been sitting slightly hunched, his elbows on his knees like he was considering a lot, but when he heard that Cass was unlocking the door he had opened up his sitting position.

Cass wandered over to the bed, pressing down on the mattress. It was going to be way softer than the ground they had been sleeping on before.

Cass halted at that thought.

Had he...been subconsciously thinking that Lucian was going to sleep on the bed with him? What? Cass blinked several times as he realised even though he had told him that he was sleeping on the couch downstairs, he had no intention of denying him if the man asked to sleep in the bed.

Holy shit. What was wrong with him?

He didn’t think he was that fond of Lucian.

"Cassian? What were you wanting to talk about before we went downstairs?" Lucian’s voice was nearby, but not close enough to startle Cass like he had done in the bathroom. Cass swallowed, slowly turning to face the other man.

Cass scanned him for a moment, taking in everything that he was before he sighed.

"I want to start a slight rumour that I’ve been ’abandoned’ by my grandfather over something petty. I haven’t fully decided what that petty thing is, but I would appreciate it if you played into it." Cass told him and Lucian blinked, before he nodded.

"Alright. Is this a plot?" He asked and Cass stared at the man before he started laughing.

"A plot? What the hell? It’s a plan, not a plot. A plot to me usually has nefarious intentions." Cass said in between his laughter. Lucian stared at him, his eyebrows drawn together slightly.

"Nefarious? Like bad? Well, doesn’t this have bad intentions towards your grandfather? You want him out, so you are coming up with a plot to do so. I see nothing wrong with this." Lucian’s casual way of saying it only had Cass’ expression warming and Lucian swallowed as he stared at him.

"Sure. We can say it’s a plot then. I’m going to get dressed now. I’ll be out in a few moments." Cass told him, reaching out to pat his upper arm as he passed the other man. Lucian watched him as Cass continued towards the bathroom, shaking his head in amusement. What a silly man.