CHAPTER 345: WICKED SORCERY-I

Beside the flickering candlelight, their shadows clung to one another as though separation would shatter them.

Arabella had lost count of the hours since Cassius entered their chamber. She only knew one thing, he had no intention of stopping.

His crimson eyes still burned with hunger as his hips pressed deeper into her, drawing a breathless moan from her lips. She trembled, the wave of release breaking over her again, but his desire did not ease. It was not that she wasn’t enough, it was that she was too much. Now that he knew the taste of her, he could not bear to let her go.

She was tired, yet every movement from him coaxed another spark of need, heat pooling low until she could not form the words to tell him to stop.

The blanket slid from her shoulders, and the heat of his body seared through her skin, making her shiver.

After another intoxicating climax, she caught sight of Cassius moving backward and thought that he was about to stop only for him to lift her ankles that had gone numb.

Feeling tired, she raised her hand, gently hitting his naked chest that was layered with sweat, "Stop, stop, I’m tired," she was still breathless as she reminded him of the time, "We aren’t in a rush so why are you so needy today?"

Cassius narrowed his eyes slightly and leaned forward, "Needy? Oh dear, so now my birdie thinks that I’m needy?"

Did she hit a nerve there?

Arabella shook her head, "I just wanted to know why you seem so... even more than ever."

"You mean so beastly?"

"I was going for wild or something similar to it- ah," she then quivered as a deep ache tingle inside her stomach when Cassius pressed her stomach lightly. Her body jolt and she pulled his hand to stop, "I’m still sensitive there, stop pressing!"

Cassius didn’t speak at first, his gaze lingering, too long, on her stomach. Arabella’s lips curved in a teasing smile. "Are you in such a hurry to make children?"

His brows lifted, but he said nothing until she raised her hands toward him. He obliged without hesitation, his fingers curling around her waist as he drew her gently against his shoulder. With deliberate care, he arranged pillows beneath her back.

"I was thinking about that," he said at last.

Arabella caught the shadow in his voice. "And something else?"

His eyes met hers, colder now, the softness in them replaced by a bitterness that didn’t belong to the moment. "Pregnancy and labour, they are life threatening for women." His tone was low, taut with restrained fury, as though the very thought hurt him. Once, he had spoken of children with an almost boyish eagerness. Now, his words carried the weight of something darker.

That look, raw and unguarded, sent an ache through Arabella’s chest, an itch she could neither name nor soothe.

"Are you worried I might die if I give birth?" Arabella asked gently. She knew brushing off such fears would only make them fester, and she couldn’t bear for Cassius to carry them in silence."Is that why you’ve looked so haggard these days?"

Cassius didn’t answer. For a man who always had something to say, either sharp, clever, or cruel words, but now his quietness felt almost like a storm building behind his eyes.

She took his hands in hers. "Cassius... it won’t happen. We have the best physicians in the kingdom, and even a court sorcerer to aid the delivery. Besides, I’m not even pregnant yet. Why are you already so afraid of a future that hasn’t come?"

When she pressed her palms to his cheeks, he frowned, his voice rough, "I don’t think I can live without you."

Arabella’s lips curved into a soft smile. She met his gaze and coaxed him, "And I cannot live without you either. If I were to leave this world, I know you would follow me quickly, and the thought of that aches my heart. That’s why you mustn’t worry. I have no intention of dying early. Whether it’s illness, accident... or childbirth, I promise you I will fight death with everything I have, until the day it comes for us both."

Her words were sincere enough to wound and soothe all at once.

But still... Cassius’s eyes did not ease. Because what haunted him was not the thought of losing her by chance—

—but the knowledge that someone might make it happen.

"Cassius," she called her, holding to his hands, "Is there something that you are not telling me?"

Is it about Lucien?

Arabella knew exactly that he wasn’t hiding the situation about Lucien but they were just so busy. If he had planned to hide it, the maids she had asked earlier regarding the situation would hesitate in telling the entire incident.

So it wasn’t about Lucien... then what is?

"You speak as if you worry that I might die tomorrow," Arabella pressed, "It makes me question whether something is happening which you hesitate to tell me."

Maybe it was a blessing in disguise but Cassius’s ever so perfect poker face played well in such situation where he needed to hide his truest, rawest emotions to his loved ones.

He found himself staring back at her green eyes, firming his grasp on her hands, "Nothing. I suppose when I thought about the future, I turn into a cold feet man."

"You’re not a coward," she gently stated, "I know that it had been such a long road for you and being alone all the time made it even more difficult for you to take someone by your side. You trust me but that still doesn’t heal the wounds of losing the people you care to death."

Cassius smiled at her, pecking at her lips, "You know me well, darling."

"I have been watching you closely after all," Arabella closed her eyes, "But are you sure that this is the only concern you have?"

"Yes, I was just worried that if one day I lose you... I might go insane," and unknowingly, his grasp became tight to the point that Arabella had winced.

She looked at him, "You fear too much. Everything is going to be alright, Cassius... it will."

Cassius reached out his hands, gently bringing her body to his arms as they both gently fall to the bed.

"Let’s sleep this way then," Arabella whispered as she turned to look at his face. After gently kissing his cheeks, she placed her hands before his eyes and coaxed him, "Goodnight Cassius."

"Good... night."

Elsewhere away from the castle, A woman dragged her body to the white castle of sorcerers...