Heat crept into Cixi's cheeks at once. She hated how the memory of their passionate kiss became visible on her face.
Cassian, of course, noticed. He leaned back on the couch, watching the flush in her cheeks and ears, a satisfied smile twitching at the corners of his lips. "And when I kissed you back," he recalled vividly how Cixi had looked flustered and red, her chest heaving as she gasped for breath. Her eyes had glistened with unshed tears from lack of oxygen, and she appeared disoriented, lost in his gaze after the kiss broke. The sight of her reactions intrigued him, and he found himself wanting to see those expressions again. With that thought, he decided to tease her a little more and continued speaking. "You did not retreat from me, Cixi. You kissed me! You tried to match what my lips and tongue were doing to yours. You wanted more than you had meant to want."
Her breath caught. "No," she said at once, though the denial emerged weaker than she would have liked.
