The Devil's obsession with the Heiress

Back at Cillian’s mansion...

Moments before Aliana’s call came through, Jade and Cillian were tangled together in a deep sleep.

The quiet, persistent hum of a phone buzzing against the floorboards brought Cillian back to consciousness.

Opening his eyes, his gaze landed on the fiery red-haired woman sleeping peacefully against his chest, and his expression softened instantly.

But when the vibration caused her to stir, Cillian gently slid out from under her, determined not to ruin her rest.

Half-asleep, he scanned the room for the noise until he spotted a phone lying screen-down on the rug, surrounded by a chaotic trail of discarded clothing.

Without bothering to check the caller ID or whose phone he was holding, he slid it open and brought it to his ear.

The conversation with the woman on the other end confused him, but he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that her voice sounded familiar.

The moment she stated her name, every drop of sleep evaporated from his system.

Panicking at the realisation that he was speaking to Aliana, he scrambled to disguise his tone before slamming the call shut.

Hearing the strange noise, Jade stirred in her sleep.

Her skull throbbed from the excess alcohol from the night before, and every muscle in her body ached. Wincing as she stretched out a hand, her palm landed squarely against a broad, warm chest.

"Ugh... who is dying?" she grumbled, her eyes still glued shut.

When no reply came, her palm explored the firm muscle under her hand before she finally blinked her eyes open.

The first thing she noticed was the handsome side profile of the man leaning back against the headboard, staring blankly at the ceiling as if he were currently contemplating all his life choices.

"Cillian?" Jade’s brows knitted together as she observed the utterly lost, haunted expression on his face. Pushing through the fog of sleep, she rubbed her eyes and asked, "Why do you look like you’ve just seen a ghost?"

Cillian slowly turned his head, his gaze dropping to meet hers. "Not a ghost," he confessed quietly. "Aliana."

"Hm? Aliana?" Jade’s brain took a split second to process the name before she bolted upright in bed, frantically yanking the silk sheets over her bare shoulders. "Jesus Christ! Where?!"

Her wide green eyes scanned every corner of the bedroom in sheer horror, expecting her friend to pop out from behind the velvet curtains.

Finding the room completely empty, her head snapped back to the man sitting beside her.

Seeing the sheer terror plastered across Jade’s face, Cillian let out a low, weary sigh and held up her phone between two fingers.

Jade stared at the screen, her brows furrowing further as he offered his defence. "My apologies. I assumed it was my phone."

Jade blinked, the silence stretching tautly between them. "And?"

"And..." Cillian swallowed hard, his voice dropping an octave. "I answered it without checking who was calling."

Jade froze as the reality of the situation hit her like a bucket of ice water. "Fuck! You answered my phone when Ali called?!"

She lunged forward, snatching the phone from his grip to check her notifications, her thumb flying across the screen as she searched for any incoming messages from her best friend, but found nothing yet.

Snapping her head back toward him, she pressed, "What did you say to her? D-did she recognise your voice?"

Cillian’s brows furrowed at her question. "If she did... would that be so terrible?"

Jade parted her lips to reply, then slowly shut them before releasing a sigh.

"Maybe..." She buried her face in her hands, muttering, "I... I just don’t know how she would take it."

"Why? It’s not like I’m her ex or someone off-limits," Cillian countered, a sharp prickle of annoyance rising inside him at her eagerness to keep him a secret.

Jade pulled her hands away, her gaze locking onto his. "No, you’re not... but you’re practically Gavriel’s brother."

"And you think Gavriel would care?" Cillian raised an eyebrow.

Jade shook her head, releasing another sigh. "Not him..." She went quiet for a moment before choosing her words carefully. "Cillian, you are close to him, and I am close to Aliana."

She lifted her eyes to meet his. "Last night was fun..."

A warm blush crept up her neck as the vivid memories flooded back, but she quickly masked it.

"However, you made it clear you don’t do relationships, and frankly, I don’t like getting serious either. That’s why I agreed to this in the first place. This no-strings-attached arrangement was good... good enough that we shouldn’t end up complicating things when we cross paths in the future, solely because of Ali and Gavriel. So... it’s best we keep this to ourselves and just move on."

Cillian blinked, unable to believe what he was hearing.

Usually, whenever he spent time with a woman, he was the one delivering the "done and dusted" conversation and telling them to move on.

But with Jade... he hadn’t even considered bringing it up.

Hell, he had actually slept beside her, something he never did, no matter how late it got. He always retreated to his own room.

Yet here he was, with the sun bright outside, still lying next to her long after waking up.

Why? Why had he done that?

He had made it clear to her from the start that he kept things casual, so why did hearing her demand secrecy and tell him to move on after a single night stand irritate him so damn much?

Seeing that he hadn’t uttered a word, Jade decided it was best to leave as quickly as possible. Remaining in close proximity to him could only lead to one thing... rolling around in the sheets again before she could stop herself.

She couldn’t deny that it was the best night of her life, but that exact realisation made her understand just how dangerous this was. Last night, neither she nor Cillian had shown any intention of stopping until her body had protested to the point that she had passed out.

’Yes... this is for the best,’ she murmured in her head, preparing to slip out of bed.

Just as she swung her legs over the side, a firm hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her back until she crashed against his bare chest.

"What are you..." Jade frowned, turning to question him, but the words caught in her throat.

He was staring down at her with a feral intensity that sent a wave of heat rushing straight through her veins.

"Where do you think you’re going?" Cillian demanded quietly.

"T-to take a shower. I need to get ready and go see Ali... why?" Jade stammered, bewildered by his intense reaction.

"So you’re just going to walk out like that? After telling me to move on?" Cillian’s voice dropped into a dark, gravelly murmur.

"Y-yes?" Jade squeaked, looking at him as if he had suddenly grown a second head.

Cillian let out a disbelieving scoff, looking down at her as his grip tightened around her wrist. "Do you really want to write off what we shared as a one-time thing and just... move on?"

Jade stared into his eyes and whispered, "Cillian... what are you getting at?" She searched his face before lifting her free hand to poke his forehead. "Did you roll off the mattress and hit your head while I was sleeping?"

Cillian clenched his jaw, his chocolate brown eyes narrowed. As her fingers brushed past his dark hair, he reached up and caught her wrist. "I didn’t hit my head, Jade. I just... I just..." Even he didn’t know what he was trying to say.

His gaze dropped to her lips, and when words failed him, he did the only thing that came to mind.

He leaned in and captured her lips.

Jade was caught completely off guard.

In her surprise, her lips parted slightly, and he wasted no time sliding his tongue past hers. The sensation melted her resolve to the point where her body took over. Her light green eyes fluttered shut as she began to kiss him back and let out a soft moan.

At the sound of her own voice, her eyes snapped open as she realised what was about to happen.

Quickly, she placed both hands against his chest and pushed hard to break the kiss.

Breathing heavily, she demanded, "Cillian, have you... have you completely gone mad?"

Cillian’s gaze remained locked onto her swollen lips as he replied softly, "I think you’re the one who’s mad if you think this was a one-time thing, Jade."

His broad hand slid across her bare back, yanking her flush against his chest as he ducked his head to steal another kiss. But Jade reacted instantly, slapping her palm flat over his lips.

Cillian froze, his chocolate brown eyes flashing up to glare at her.

Jade glared right back. "I say this was a one-time thing."

Cillian caught her wrist, pulling her palm down from his mouth to reply with absolute finality, "I say no. I don’t agree."

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