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He nudges me with his thigh, pressing hard against me.
I pull back, but his hands drift to my hips, the casual way he rests them there so claiming, so bold.
So right.
“Princess,” he says, the word like a warm caress coming from his mouth, “I’m not your husband. I’m not your kidnapper. I’m not one of ‘The Men’ they scare you into thinking are coming to get you.”
“Then who are you?”
“Someone who wants more of this,” he says, giving me another kiss, his touch turning my mind into a spinning top, my blood fired by his hands, his tongue, his everything.
Winnie begins whining, and the sound makes me look down at her.
Cam pulls back this time, running one hand through his hair, leaning down. “We have one or two more minutes here, and then we need to start walking. Listen to me carefully, Paigelynn: the wrong people do want you, but it’s not who you think. And it’s not why you think.”
“They want me because there are evil people who wish to thwart the prophecy,” I tell him. I don’t want him to think I’m completely naive. “I know this, of course. The Mother taught me.”
He jolts at the words “The Mother.”
“She’s lying to you.”
“The Mother does not lie!”
“They all lie, Paigelynn. Every single one of them. Let me guess. Rudy made a pass at you and they killed him.”
A sound comes out of me, sharp and shocked. “How did you know?”
“I could tell at the dog obedience class he had the hots for you. Happens to the best of the guards. They get cocky, then they get handsy, and then they get dead. Was it Jason or Malcolm?”
“J – J - Jason,” I stammer.
He reaches for my hand and bends down, eyes intent. “Listen to me. Do you trust me?”
“I want to.”
“That is not an enthusiastic yes.”
“How do I know if I can trust you?”
“Have I hurt you?”
“No.”
“Have I been wrong about anything so far?”
“I -- ”
He bends down, patting Winnie, and looks up at me.
“I am the light,” he intones.
I burst into tears. Big, fat tears that fill my eyes suddenly, the sour taste of fear driving out the taste of him.
“Oh, no. Don’t cry, Princess. If we go back and Jason sees you with red eyes, he’ll think I hurt you and he’ll kill me.”
His words make it harder not to cry. The thought of Cam dead makes me --
No. I cannot even fathom it.
