Because she was picturing it now, and struggling not to chase after me.
My lips curled.You can hunt me any day, sweet lioness. I’ll always be easy prey. For you. And only you.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
IZZY
Cam’s wordshummed through my mind, stirring heat across my being.
His promises had been so sensual. So alluring.So perfect.
Why am I fighting this?I marveled.Cam’s mine. I want him. He wants me. We’re mated…
He might not be the man I remembered, the man I’d fallen in love with, but maybe he was right. Maybe we could be something new. Something even more powerful.
If I can trust him again.
Can I…?I wondered.Can I trust him again?
It had only been a few days since our link had been restored, but Cam was notably a different person. Not the same as his previous version, yet also not the same as the one I’d met mere weeks ago.
He was… unapologetically dominant. Thoughtful. Caring.Protective. And he treated me as his equal, not as a pawn or a toy. Not a delicate swan or a breakable doll. But a woman.A queen.
My heart fluttered, his words warming my skin once more.
When you’re ready, I will consume you. I’ll make you fly. I’ll show you what kings are meant to do to their queens.
He’d been direct. Straight to the point. Honest. And respectful.
The choice on how we proceed here is yours, my queen.
He hadn’t pushed me. Hadn’t bitten me. Hadn’t attempted to use me in any way. He’d simply been there for me, feeding me, bathing me, holding me while I slept, whispering all the right statements into my mind.
They weren’t lies. They were truths. He wanted to make this work, to move into the future and be stronger than our past.
While he might not be the old Cam, he was stillmyCam. Just a revised version of him.
Maybe even a better version,I thought, my lips curling as I recalled Cam’s certainty that he was the superior version of himself.
I hadn’t agreed at the time.
But now I found myself wondering if he was right.
Neither of us was who we used to be. I’d changed, too. Grown in a way I hadn’t fully appreciated until Cam had started calling me his queen. Hislioness.
I used to be the soft one of the group, always listening rather than speaking up.
But this week, I’d voiced my part. Provided my input. Made suggestions. Served as a leader in a way I could never have anticipated.
And I’d done that with Cam by my side, his silent presence a supportive force that no one could deny. He’d deferred to me, asked for my thoughts instead of voicing his own, and made it clear to everyone that we were a team.
It’d been… surreal. Beautiful.Empowering.
I stared at the maps on the table, not really seeing them. Because all I could envision was Cam hoisting me up onto the messy space, spreading my legs, and pleasuring me. Just like he’d considered doing mere moments ago.
Yet I let him walk away.
Why did I do that?
