The Devil's Favourite Obsession

He pulled his hand back and slowly tilted his head to the right as he examined his thumb, now stained with colour red.

”Most people beg me when I stand this close. You chose to bite instead...” Cassian smudged the blood across Cixi’s cheek, earning a filthy look from her. ”Who are you again?”

Cixi groaned in irritation. ”You deserve teeth marks!” She decided not to tell him her name when he acted as if he did not remember her.

By the door, Lily and Marion were truly aghast. They stared at their best friend, utterly flabbergasted, genuinely wondering whether Cixi had suddenly grown four demonic horns on her head, or whether she thought she had miraculously turned into some mythical nine-tailed fox.

Because only someone with nine lives, someone completely unbothered by instantly losing one, would dare to slap a mafia boss, kiss him, and then draw his blood by force.

They feared for Cixi. Hell, they feared for their own lives too. But then, through the sheer terror, an impossible realisation struck them like lightning.

Cixi had distinctly called him Cassian Crown.

Wasn’t that the name of the billionaire? Cassian Crown?

The man had dominated the frantic front pages of every news outlet. The media had been talking non-stop about him being on the terrifying missing list.

’Is he the one? The missing billionaire?’

Their bewildered minds churned frantically. What on earth was the missing CEO of a global conglomerate doing in a hidden, notoriously lethal room on the Trance floor of a nightclub?

Had he voluntarily faked his own disappearance? If so, why?

And the most baffling question of all:

’Why was Cixi behaving as if she knew this terrifying mob boss?’

That was when it finally clicked for Marion, sickeningly and all at once.

The ’customer’ who had gifted Cixi that ridiculously expensive winter coat and those luxurious, comfortable boots.

’Was this him?’

Just how well did these two know each other for Cixi to slap him across the face so brazenly, without an ounce of fear?

”You clearly have a habit of making incredibly poor decisions.”

A deep, unhinged amusement vibrated in his chest, dark enough to send a physical tremor through the air. He did not sound angry about the blood. He sounded dangerously captivated.

”You have my attention,” Cassian murmured smoothly, casting a sidelong glance at one of the trembling hostages on the floor before returning his gaze to Cixi, while his heavy knee remained firmly pressed between her thighs, locking her against the couch. ”If sleeping with me was your plan, you should have sent a request letter.”

He leaned closer, invading her space without hesitation. Cixi felt the heat of his body when his chest pressed against hers. He bent towards her neck and inhaled her scent slowly, as though committing something rare to memory.

”With pictures,” he whispered against her ear so only she could hear, his warm breath enough to send a slow shiver down her spine, ”from every angle... revealing every line and curve of you, without a single thread left to the imagination.”

Her eyes widened in shock, and her breath caught in her throat as his words settled over her skin like sparks. She burned even hotter than before.

”FYI,” he continued almost lazily, his lips still dangerously close to her ear, ”blonde hair and pale skin are not my type. And I don’t do boyfriend and love crap.”

The way he said love made it sound like something beneath him.

His breath brushed her ear again, raising goosebumps across her neck and arms before he finally pulled back just enough to study her expression properly.

”If you still want to try,” he added coolly, ”send me the application with the requirements I mentioned. I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.” A faint smirk touched his lips. ”And do not forget to attach a medical report.”

”My arse will send you the letter,” Cixi shot back through gritted teeth. ”I wonder what was I thinking while looking for you....? I regret worrying about you... Oh, not you –– about your dead body!”

Why was she talking nonsense instead of leaving? She has no clue.

Now that she had seen that Cassian was alive, she should have left. If he did not remember her, that was good news for her, because then he would not claim her or imprison her. But then, did he only forget about her?

That should have been a good thing, right?

Yes. It was a good thing.

Her chain of thoughts was broken when she heard Cassian Crown’s voice. ”Your arse? Should I take that as a sign that you are asking me to spank it?”

How did he always arrive at the wrong conclusion? Cixi wondered. Did he even understand the word called ’sarcasm’?

”I haven’t examined your round arse properly yet. Let me turn you over,” he declared, as though he were fully prepared to do exactly that.

Any normal person would have been trembling for their life. But Cixi was still not terrified.

She was furious. Was spanking really his favourite game? She wondered to herself. He was lying to her about not remembering her. The last time they spoke on the street, he had told her he would spank her seventy times.

”Liar! You are a Liar!” Cixi snapped indignantly, glaring up at him from underneath his heavy, intimate pin. ”No, I am not asking for it! It is you who needs a spanking!”

The other people in the room could not hold it in any longer and coughed all at once, disguising their laughter badly.

Only then did Cixi realise she was not alone.

In reckless moments, she had forgotten that her friends were still there.

She looked at them, and both Lily and Marion were staring at her with utterly disbelieving expressions, as though wondering whether she was truly Cixi, or whether she had been hijacked by some reckless spirit and possessed on the spot.

Meanwhile, Cassian stared back down at her with nothing short of dark, unhinged, absolute possession.

A loud crash erupted from where Marion and Lily were standing. The door burst open with such force that both of them were thrown to the floor, and the men who had been searching for Lily, Marion, and Cixi came charging inside.