Page 28 of Neptune

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CASSIE

T oday's breakfast is a sausage and cheese egg muffin, and it looks so delicious that I should have finished it by now.

However, I'm staring at it like I'm studying math. Even though my mind thinks that it's yummy, my stomach feels funny.

Actually, my heart feels funny to the point that I have no appetite. My mind revolves around what happened last night in my room.

I can't believe that I broke down in front of Luke, and that he held me until I calmed down.

My cheeks heat up for God knows how many times since I woke up this morning. I glance at Aiden, who's sitting beside me, finishing his breakfast.

A smile touches my lips as I notice a few breadcrumbs on his cheek. I wipe it with a napkin, and he grins at me.

However, Luke isn't present yet. I wonder if he woke up late because of a lack of sleep last night, and somehow, I feel guilty.

As far as I remember, he let me cry on his chest last night until I fell asleep due to tiredness from crying. When I woke up this morning, I was already lying comfortably on my bed, covered with a blanket.

The problem is that I have no idea how long he was holding me until I fell asleep.

While I'm lost in my thoughts, Luke emerges in the dining room, ready to go to work. Relief washes over me, but then I notice that he's in a hurry .

Luke takes a seat but then gets up again, rushing out of the room. "Damn, I forgot my phone."

I chuckle lightly. Who would have thought that the invincible Luke Klein would have a morning rush?

"Yummy." Aiden licks his lips after finishing his breakfast. He then drinks his milk. He's already done with the food, while Luke hasn't touched his breakfast at all.

I glance at my wristwatch and notice that if they don't go soon, Aiden will be late for school.

Luke comes back, still in a hurry. He doesn't even bother to take a seat and snatches his cup of coffee instead. Unfortunately, it's still too hot so it burns his tongue when he sips it.

"Shit," he curses.

I let out a small chuckle again, finding the view before me adorable. I continue staring at Luke until I realize what's going on.

Wait. Why can't I stop staring at him? And did I just say that he's adorable?

Aiden looks at me and then Luke with a clueless expression. Damn . Even Aiden notices it.

"Let's go, Aiden." Luke puts his coffee back on the table. "I'll see you later, Cassie." With that said, he walks off.

Wait. Is he not going to have any breakfast? Are they that late?

Aiden gets up from his chair and slings his backpack across his shoulders. "Bye, Cassie." He beams at me, and I hug him.

"Bye, Aiden." I give him a warm smile.

Aiden grins and follows Luke. Automatically, I stand up from my chair, watching them go.

Isn't breakfast the most important meal of the day? Luke shouldn't have skipped it. I hope that he's not so busy at work that he'll skip another meal.

Geez. Chill, Cassie . It's just a fucking breakfast. Even I myself have skipped three meals in a row. Luke surely doesn't have that sick mentality and gastric acid problems like I do.

I sit back and stare blankly at my plate, which is still full of my food. This startles me. I haven't even touched my own breakfast. I've been too busy thinking about him.

Oh, gosh, did I just say that I was thinking about him too much?

Yeah, sure. I did. I even said that he's adorable, and I'm aware that I worried about him just now.

I can't believe myself. Haven’t I always thought that he was annoying as hell? Didn't I always want to choke him to death?

Burying my face in my hands, I feel my cheeks heat up again. My heart is beating fast, restless.

What the hell is wrong with me?

???

"Now, you're the demon." Aiden laughs.

Later in the afternoon, after Aiden comes home from school, we play hide and seek. It's my turn to count, and I lean my forehead against the wall of the living room, counting from one to twenty, while Aiden searches for a place to hide. A small smile forms on my lips.

After I finish counting, I look around the room. From what I heard just now, there's no sign that Aiden has gone far.

"Aiden," I call. "Where are you?" I tease.

When I first thought of taking a break from the spotlight and living with Luke Klein, I never expected that my heart would feel so light, that I would be able to play with a bundle of joy like this.

Right now, I feel so grateful for everything that has happened.

I look for Aiden behind the piano. He's not there. Then I look behind the sofa. Still, I can't find him. My eyes dart to the curtain of the window, and I catch sight of his tiny feet below the curtain.

I have to suppress my laughter. Oh, Aiden, why do you have to be so cute?

Slowly, I approach him. "I wonder where you're hiding, Aiden," I say in a playful tone before pulling the curtain open and catching him, attacking him with tickles .

Aiden bursts into laughter, and so do I. He laughs so hard to the point that he has tears in his eyes, because I haven't stopped tickling him.

"Well, well, well," a deep voice startles us, making us freeze.

We snap our heads toward the source of the voice, only to find Luke coming from the foyer.

"How could you two play the game without the real demon?" He raises his brows, his signature smirk on his face.

"Luke!" Aiden rushes toward him, and Luke catches Aiden in his arms, lifting him in the air.

Their laughter echoes in the room before Luke puts him down.

Smiling, I approach them. "So early?" I ask Luke.

It's unusual that he's home this early—it’s not even evening yet. That's so rare for a busy businessman like him.

He shrugs. "Had I stayed in the office longer, I wouldn't have had the chance to play with my wife and..." He turns to Aiden. "Our little Aiden!" he growls, attacking Aiden with tickles too, making the boy burst into laughter again.

I giggle, watching them with adoration, ignoring the strange feelings I have from hearing his words just now.

" Our little Aiden. "

It doesn't mean that Aiden is our son—it means that Aiden is someone we both cherish. But somehow, I can't help but feel strange.

"So, who's the demon now?" I ask them, knowing that it's Aiden's turn to be the demon, but Luke has just arrived and declared himself as one.

"Me!" Aiden exclaims.

"Alright, demon, let's start the count," Luke says as if he's a soldier on a battlefield.

Aiden covers his eyes with his tiny hands and starts counting. Before I know it, Luke has already rushed out to God knows where.

Damn . He's hella excited about this game—I find it funny, though .

I snap my head around, looking for a place to hide. Unfortunately, there's nothing in this living room that can hide my body.

The thought of losing to Luke fuels me to look for another place to hide. It's indeed funny that even though this is just a game, losing to him would hurt my pride.

Damn . I feel like a kid.

Stepping out of the living room, I totter along the hallway, Aiden's voice fading out. I come to a halt when I notice a door to a guest washroom that's slightly opened.

Without thinking further, I slip in.

Just as I step in, I bump into someone's chest. Shocked, I look up and find Luke hiding here too. I'm about to step out, but Luke grabs my hand, putting his finger on his mouth, telling me to keep quiet.

I gulp as he pushes the door until it's almost closed. The place is too small for the two of us—it's just a square space with a sink and another door leading to the toilet.

I can feel his breath as he corners me, my back pushed against the wall.

Silence falls, and I close my eyes, secretly hoping that Aiden is smart enough to find us soon. I snap my eyes open when I feel Luke moving my hair from my neck.

Oh, God, it’s happening again.

A frown touches his lips as he stares at one hickey. "I see that you were trying to cover it with your hair," he whispers.

The hickeys are fading out, but they're not completely gone. However, it's too hot to wear a turtleneck during the day, so I'm wearing a shirt dress instead, hiding one hickey on my neck under the collar, covering it with my hair too.

Luke leans closer and breathes on my neck, sending chills through my body. To my surprise, he begins unbuttoning my shirt dress.

What is he doing? Is he going to inspect all of his marks ?

"Luke?" I’m aware of what’s going on, but just like before, my mind is far away from stopping what’s going to happen.

Before I know it, Luke has already unbuttoned my shirt dress until my bra is exposed.

He stares at my skin, at all the marks he has created on me. My heart almost stops when he places a soft kiss on one of them.

"Does it still hurt?" he whispers again, so softly.

No, it doesn't hurt anymore.

In fact, it feels so good when you do that.

Please, Luke—

My mind is a mess when he places another soft kiss on the next mark, and then on another, and another.

Luke softly kisses all the hickeys on my upper chest, as if he's curing all of them.

"Luke," I beg.

Luke stops and shoots me a playful stare. "Are you scared that Aiden will hear you moan and find us?"

My face flushes. "You must be misunderstanding something," I deny. "I don't moan."

Luke scoffs, his eyes glinting with amusement. "Oh, but you did. You moaned when I created those marks, Cassie." His voice sounds dangerous.

Did I?

Then I remember the sound of my moans echoing in his home office back then. My mind spins as I stare at him.

Oh, no. I think that I just challenged him.

Luke lowers the straps of my bra, exposing my breasts. A gasp escapes from my lips as Luke runs his tongue on my earlobe.

It trails down to my neck and lower, until he licks the area between my breasts. He places multiple kisses on my left breast, and then, without warning, he captures my nipple in his mouth.

I can feel his tongue teasing it inside his mouth, and I bite my lower lip, trying to suppress the sound that's going to leave my lips.

Luke holds my arms in place while he keeps open-mouthed kissing my breast. I'm trying my best to keep sane, but he's now giving the other breast equal treatment.

When he softly bites my skin, I bite my lower lip even harder, to the point that it might even bleed. It's when Luke French-kisses my nipple that I can't hold it any longer.

A soft moan, along with his name, escapes from my lips. It sounds so vulnerable.

Luke stops and looks at me. "Cassie." He smiles. "You moaned."

I blush, admitting my defeat. Luke stares at me intensely, and the silence is killing me. I even wonder if he can hear my heartbeat. He might be able to feel it, though, because he's so close to me.

"Damn," he curses. "When you blush, you make me even more turned on."

I don't know how to respond to that. Luke’s face draws closer to mine, and when his eyes land on my lips, I know that he’s going to kiss me. My heart thumps hard, and a few seconds feel like forever.

I close my eyes, feeling his lips brushing against mine. His tongue enters my mouth, exploring. And I can't hold it anymore. I move my tongue against him, kissing him back. Just after I do that, Luke pulls away.

He looks into my eyes, as if trying to figure out what I'm thinking, what I'm feeling. An emotion so deep in his eyes makes me wonder.

Our lips meet again, but the kiss is softer and slower than before. Our tongues still dance with each other, but there's just something different about this kiss.

I kiss him back passionately—I even want to circle my arms around his neck, but he keeps holding them in place.

Movement from the door startles us, and we abruptly pull away from each other. Quickly, I fix my bra and pull my shirt dress to cover my breasts.

As the door slides open, Aiden comes into view. Instead of shouting in excitement because he finally managed to find us, Aiden stares at us with a confused look.

His brows furrow. "What are you doing here?"

I'm too stunned to utter an answer. Thankfully, Luke beats me. "Nothing," he simply says.

"But I heard strange sounds," Aiden cutely mumbles, still looking confused.

Luke ruffles Aiden's hair. "We were just...whispering so that you wouldn't hear us."

Aiden stares at Luke, trying to get the idea. After a while, a grin creeps onto his face.

"Yeah." Aiden smiles from ear to ear. "I win."