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“I-I need to come,” she begs. “Andrei!” she cries out.

I continue to pound into her, reaching around and rubbing her clit with my finger.

“Yessss!” she cries out.

With two more hard thrusts, my cum shoots into her ass. I thrust into her until my balls are empty. I keep my weight on my forearms as I collapse over her. A deep sense of satisfaction surges through me, knowing I marked her and made her mine.

I lie beside her with one arm beneath her shoulders. Rain brushes the window in brief bursts, and a car passes on Main Street below. Cassie turns toward me, her cheek resting against my chest. I put my hand over hers where it lies near the scar.

“You can sleep,” I tell her, brushing her hair away from her face.

Cassie tips her chin up to look at me. “I was checking whether you were going to sneak out.”

“Cole is outside,” I say. “If he needs me, he’ll call.”

“That wasn’t what I asked.” Her fingers curl lightly against my chest, holding me there.

“No,” I admit, pulling the sheet over her shoulder. “I’m staying.”

Her hand relaxes, and she closes her eyes. A minute later, Murphy jumps onto the foot of the bed, kneads the blanket near my ankle, then lies down. Cassie feels him arrive and smiles without opening her eyes. I rest my hand against her back and let myself sleep beside her.

I wake when Murphy walks across my legs. He pauses near my knee, looking at me as if breakfast is a matter we agreed to handle together. Cassie is still asleep, one hand tucked beneath her cheek. The morning light shines on the books under her window.

I ease out from under the sheet without waking her. Murphy follows me into the kitchen and waits beside his bowl while I find the food Cassie set on the counter last night. He begins eating before I’ve put the scoop away.

Cole answers on the first ring when I call from the kitchen. He reports no activity around the building. I tell him to stay there until we leave and that I’ll bring down breakfast and coffee. After ending the call, I find bread, eggs, and a pan in Cassie’s cabinets.

She appears as I turn the second egg. She wears an old T-shirt and soft pants, and her hair is gathered into a loose knot that’s already starting to fall apart. She stops in the doorway when she sees me at the stove.

“You found breakfast,” she says, leaning against the kitchen doorway.

“I found enough to make it.” I turn an egg in the pan and glance back at her.

“Did you find the good coffee?” she asks, eyeing the two mugs on the counter.

“You don’t have good coffee,” I tell her.

“That’s a rude thing to say in my kitchen.” She comes up beside me.

I pour the instant coffee into two mugs. “You took it as a statement of fact last night.”

“I was distracted last night.” Color rises in her cheeks as she takes the mug I hand her. She looks at me over the rim. “Maybe we should act normal before Birdie gets here.”

I turn off the burner and move the eggs onto plates. “What would that involve?”

“I don’t know. You could tell me this was an unusual evening, and I could pretend to believe you.”

“I won’t tell you that.” I carry the plates to the table and wait while she sits. “I chose to stay, Cassie. I’m glad I did.”

Her fingers close around her mug’s handle. She looks relieved, though she tries to hide it by reaching for a piece of toast.

“Good,” she says. “Because Murphy likes you, and I’d hate to make him question his judgment.”

I sit across from her. She eats more than she did yesterday, which is enough to keep me from commenting. Halfway through breakfast, she takes out her phone and calls Birdie.

Birdie answers with a noisy greeting that I can hear across the table. Cassie glances at me, then puts her phone on speaker.

“Are you still with Harris?” she asks.