I bit my lip as the apex between my thighs began to sting again.Definitely not a fan of being bittenthere,I decided. It’d been enjoyable at first, euphoric even, but now… now not so much.
I absolutely do not want to stand. But if Cam demanded it, I wouldn’t have a choice.
Instead, he merely admired my breasts for another moment before lowering his gaze to the mark he’d left on my sex. His nostrils flared and he stepped closer, the scanner in his palm.
Rather than speak, he sat beside me on the bed and used his free hand to comb my hair away from my face.
“It might be easier if she stands, my liege,” Michael said as he moved closer to us. “Just to ensure you can scan every inch, I mean.”
Cam considered me for a beat, his gaze flickering between my mouth and my eyes. I held my breath, waiting for him to issue the command and hoping I could find the balance to follow it through.
“Easier, yes,” he murmured, his blue irises swirling with a darkness that had me shivering beneath his perusal. “But I prefer a challenge.”
“Of course, my liege,” Michael replied.
Cam continued to study my face, his fingers untangling my hair with gentle pulls. His gaze seemed to burn into mine, his power a whiplash to my senses that revitalized my veins and caused my heart to beat faster.
Something about this felt dangerous.
Hypnotic.
Terrifying, yet arousing.
His scanner wouldn’t reveal anything. I knew that. But there was a violent undertone to his movements that left me uncertain of what would come next.
I fear this version of Cam,I realized. Which made sense, given everything he’d done. But to feel this way about my mate, about the love of my existence, was perplexing. Both upsetting and invigorating.
Because I couldn’t anticipate his next move.
He wasn’t the version I knew and trusted. He was an ancient being with a reprogrammed sense of humanity. Or lack thereof. He didn’t care about me or the mortal race.
Yet he continued to pet me with a tenderness that reminded me of my Cam. Only, the male I loved would never have allowed another man to see me this way. To degrade my sense of privacy. To force me into submitting so thoroughly.
I swallowed as his fingers ventured downward to my neck, his thumb brushing my racing pulse. “Hmm, you’re afraid.” He canted his head. “Because I’m about to find out you’ve been lying about working with your brother?”
“No.” I was positive he wouldn’t find anything at all.
“Then why is your pulse racing, little mouse?” he asked, his voice whisper-soft and filled with lethal intent.
But I was too hung up on the nickname to allow the threat underlying his tone to disturb me.Little mouse?I mentally repeated, my lips curling down a little. “You usually call melittle swan.”
He stared at me for a beat. “Little swan?”
“Or sweet swan,” I told him.
He focused on my mouth, his palm encircling my nape. “I suppose you have some swan-like features.” His attention shifted to my neck as he squeezed slightly. “If you tell me where to scan you first and help speed up this process, I may be inclined to lessen your punishment.”
I narrowed my gaze. “You’re going to have to scan every part of me, my liege. Because I’m not hiding anything.”
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. I was technically hiding a whole history from him. But that wasn’t my fault. Lilith had done something to his mind, making her the culprit instead of me.
And I couldn’t just blast him with the truth. At least not under these circumstances. He wouldn’t believe me. I was just a toy to him right now.
One he seemed very intrigued by at the moment as he ran his gaze over me again, his lips curling just a fraction. “Do you hear that, Michael? She insists she’s done nothing wrong.”
Michael grunted. “Our current technical issues suggest otherwise.”
“Is that why you attempted to interrogate her?” Cam glanced over his shoulder at the blond man standing near the bed. “Because I don’t recall you bringing proof that the interference is Damien’s doing yet.”
