It had been about half an hour since Cassian had begun massaging Katherine's legs, working diligently to ease the tension in her muscles. He focused on loosening them up first before moving on to anything more playful. Her legs were so stiff that he couldn't believe she'd been walking around without feeling intense discomfort.
Now, with a concerned expression, Cassian shifted his attention to her thighs. Her leg rested on his shoulder as he worked, his face nestled between her thighs, pressing them against his chest as he massaged them in midair. "My lady, your muscles are really tense," he said, his voice laced with worry. "I think it would be best if you got them massaged daily.
I should come back every night to take care of them from now on."
Cassian was right—Katherine's lower body had returned to being tense, almost reverting to the same condition as before he started massaging her regularly. Though the massage had made her muscles stronger, she hadn't felt the sharp pain caused by the tension in months, thanks to Cassian's help. Now that it had returned, the pain was nearly unbearable when she moved.
Yet, Katherine didn't want to show her discomfort. It wasn't that she couldn't admit to the pain, but because it made her appear weak, and she hated being seen that way.
Shaking her head, she replied, "No, you don't need to come every day. I can handle it. Just come on your days off."
"But..." Cassian still looked worried, trying to get her to reconsider. Before he could finish, Katherine cut him off with a firmer tone. "No buts. Just focus on your work there."
Cassian still didn't fully understand why Katherine had insisted he join the law enforcement team. There was barely anything to do besides training under a 7th-circle swordsman, which, admittedly, he enjoyed. But he could have asked Julius, the same person teaching him there, to train him on the side.
He was confident that if he fed into Julius's narcissistic tendencies a little, it would've been easy to get him to teach him privately, especially since they had already sparred together before.
Still, Katherine must have had her reasons. Cassian didn't want to question her, but he couldn't bear seeing her in pain every day. "If I can't come here, my lady, you can visit me," he suggested, a hint of concern in his voice.
"I'll see," Katherine responded, though her tone was unenthusiastic. Cassian felt a flicker of irritation at her indifference. Pressing her thighs a little harder to catch her attention, he said more firmly, "No 'I'll see.' You have to, my lady."
Katherine glanced up from her book, initially a bit frustrated, but when she saw the genuine concern in Cassian's eyes, she sighed. "Cassian, I can't come to see you every day. It would look suspicious to some people, and if anyone at your work finds out you're connected to me, you'll be in trouble. Right now, it's only Julius who knows and won't say anything, but others can't see you with me.
There are people who want me dead, and they might come after you if they find out."
Cassian hadn't considered this before, but now that she mentioned it, a chill ran through him. Fear crept into his voice as he realized the implications. "Then, my lady, we need to do something. The worker who guided me here knows I'm connected to you."
Katherine chuckled softly and reassured him, "Don't worry about that. Only a few people know I'm here. To everyone else, I'm just another person named Katherine."
Cassian nodded, feeling a wave of relief wash over him, but his worried eyes remained fixed on her. "But my lady, you'll still be in a lot of pain. You might be able to endure it, but I can't stand to see you . I'm sure it would help you with whatever you're doing here. Pain can make it hard for anyone to focus."
He spoke, but Katherine didn't seem to hear him. Growing a bit frustrated, he playfully poked her unmassaged butt, causing her to let out a surprised cry. "Ouch!"
"See, my lady? You're in pain," Cassian said, his worry deepening.
Katherine shot him an annoyed look, her cheeks flushing slightly. "No, it's because you poked me there... ahhhh…" She paused mid-sentence, releasing another pained sound as Cassian poked her on the other side.
"You are, my lady don't lie, and either I'll stop working there to stay with you, or you need to find a way to come see me," he insisted, continuing to massage the spot where he had poked her.
Katherine, feeling frustrated by his persistence, sighed and nodded. "I'll try."
"Try what, my lady?" Cassian asked, still unconvinced that she would make the effort.
Rolling her eyes in irritation, Katherine replied, "I'll try to find a way to meet you outside the tower, but I can't come every day. Since you'll already be here once a week, I'll aim to come once or twice more. Happy?"
Cassian wasn't entirely satisfied but nodded, considering the circumstances. "Then I'll practice my massage skills more so you won't have to endure the pain," he said.
Katherine smiled and replied, "I'd like that, but to do that, you need to practice on someone other than me. Who are you going to massage?"
"I hadn't really thought about it, but there are quite a few people at work who could use one. If I had to pick, Sergeant Dallas would probably appreciate it. She trains a lot, so her legs must be in pain, especially her thighs," Cassian said, recalling the impressive size of Sergeant Dallas's thighs from their training sessions.
As he thought about her thighs, Cassian felt a shiver run down his neck. He glanced at Katherine, sensing a threat in the air. She was still smiling, but her expression seemed forced, a hint of danger lurking beneath the surface. In a tone that was sweet yet not at all pleasant, she said, "Oh? And who is this Sergeant Dallas? Who, our Cassian, wants to give a massage?
I believe I've forbidden you from massaging anyone but me."
Cassian's heart sank as he realized he had unintentionally crossed a line. He looked at Katherine with wide, apologetic eyes. "I-I'm sorry, my lady. I didn't mean to—"
But Katherine just turned her gaze away, her expression unreadable. The light in the room seemed to dim as Cassian watched her face twist into something that resembled a pout.
"What was that?" Cassian muttered to himself, a bewildered expression on his face. Whatever it was, he found it endearing, making his heart flutter as Katherine looked particularly cute with her puffed cheeks.
He was surprised to see her cheeks puffed up, an expression he had only heard about women making when they were jealous. 'Is the lady jealous?' Cassian wondered as his hands continued to knead her thighs.
'But who will be she jealous for? for me?' Cassian's mind was filled with questions, struggling to believe that she could be jealous of him. But all signs pointed to that possibility as he grabbed her waist, gently squeezing it. His thumbs and fingers glided upward from the bottom, tracing along her sides until they reached her ribs. "My lady, I forgot about that.
I haven't given this massage to anyone else, and I won't ever be... Can you forgive me for this mistake?"
The soft skin of her waist and stomach felt so erotic under his fingers that he could feel himself straining against his pants, the pressure of his arousal pressing against Katherine.
"If you want to do that, I can't stop you, Cassian. You're my servant, not a slave I can force," Katherine said, her face hidden behind the book, but Cassian could still sense the anger and jealousy in her words. It made him smile and find her reaction cute for some reason. "You're not forcing anything, my lady. I really don't want to massage anyone other than you."
Katherine lowered the book from her face, raising an eyebrow at him. "But you said you wanted to massage that Sergeant Dallas of yours."
"I didn't say that; I just mentioned she could use one," Cassian replied with a grin. He then playfully lifted her butt a bit and squeezed it, prompting Katherine to release a soft moan. "Just like you could use one right now."
Katherine looked at him in surprise, taken aback by his boldness. She smirked and nodded. "Well then, give me one, and I might forgive you if it's good enough."
She shifted her position, pulling her legs down from his shoulders and laying on her stomach, her butt facing up. "Just enough that I can sleep without feeling any pain…" she said, a playful smirk on her lips as she hid her face from Cassian, who was grinning, thinking he finally had a chance with her.
What he didn't realize was that it wasn't just him using Katherine to satisfy his desires—though he was, she was willingly letting him. Inside her head, she thought, 'Yeah, just like that… you'll be my puppy, dear Cassian…' Her smile widened as she felt a thrill from Cassian getting convince from her jealous act.