Chapter 31

31

T he second I slam the door, I freeze. My hand's still on the knob, my breathing ragged and my heart threatening to beat out of my chest as I agonize over whether I should go back in there and tell him the truth or just walk away.

I know what my wolf wants. She's a jealous bitch with a one-track mind, and she wants to stake her claim so that everybody knows Cam's ours . One of us has to be rational, though, which is why I keep shoving her back down. I can't allow my judgment to be clouded by my wolf's instincts. I need to decide what I want.

The thing is, I'd already come to terms with letting Cam go. Our hookups weren't supposed to mean anything, and given his history with the hunters, he'd never be accepted into any of the packs here. His best bet is finding his biological father and joining the pack he belongs to by blood, while my place will always be with the six-pack. Our futures don't align.

Still, whenever I'm around him, it's like the air is charged with electricity. The tension simmering between us is so volatile that at any given moment, I can't decide whether I want to punch him in the face or jump his fucking bones. That can't be healthy, right? Part of me still wants to hate him, but the other part…

Ugh, why can't I just walk away, damnit!

It takes all of three seconds for those chaotic thoughts to race through my brain, and then I'm twisting the knob and pushing the door open again, locking eyes with Cam as I step back into his holding cell.

"There's a reason you can't stop thinking about me," I say, planting my hands on my hips as I stare him down. "I played you, Cam."

He arches a dubious brow, folding those thick, inked forearms across his chest as he waits for me to elaborate.

"I needed to get out of that cell by any means necessary," I continue, looking him dead in the eye as I confess my sins. "It was all fake."

He stares back at me for a long, contemplative moment, those endlessly dark eyes boring into mine with a level of intensity that makes me want to squirm. Then he sighs, swiping a hand over his chin before giving a little shake of his head. "No, it wasn't."

I make a scoffing sound in my throat, flinching back. "Excuse me?"

The corner of his mouth lifts. "There were certain things you definitely didn't fake."

A pulsing starts in my core, a blush heating my cheeks. "Okay, maybe not that part," I admit, suddenly a little flustered. "But that doesn't mean I wasn't manipulating the situation for my own benefit. I needed you to get attached to me so I could use it to get out of there. I honey trapped you, Cam."

He doesn't gasp dramatically or gape at me in shock. Turns out, this guy never reacts how I expect him to. Instead, his lips curve into a sexy-as-fuck grin as he takes a step toward me, those dark, haunted eyes never leaving mine.

"You think I didn't know what you were doing?" he asks in a low voice, closing the distance between us until he's close enough to touch. I lift my chin to hold his eye contact, his own tilting down to maintain the connection. "You're not as good of an actress as you think you are, Luna."

My brow furrows with my responding scowl. "You knew ?"

"It wasn't hard to put together," he grumbles. "Why do you think I didn't react every time you came at me with that demure, sweet shit? That's not you." He reaches out to graze the backs of his knuckles down my arm, leaving me shivering beneath his touch. "No, the real you drives me fucking insane, but for some reason, I find your specific brand of poison to be addictive."

"That's your wolf," I mumble, averting my gaze.

"Didn't you say we're one and the same?"

"Yes, but…" I heave a frustrated sigh, taking a step backwards to put some much-needed distance between us. Because even though I want to say ‘fuck it' and climb him like a tree right now, he needs to have all the facts.

"Your wolf can't help but be drawn to me because I'm your mate," I admit.

He flinches back, his brows drawing together in confusion. "Because we fucked?"

"What? No!" I snap in frustration. "That has nothing to do with it. It's this whole… thing , with the moon." I huff out a breath, scrambling to determine how to explain the concept of fated mates to someone who, up until a few days ago, thought he was human. "You've heard of soulmates, right?" I ask tentatively.

He jerks a nod.

"Well, this is like that, but different." I scrub my hands over my face, sighing again. "Basically, all shifters have a fated mate out there; someone who's their other half. Not everyone finds the person who's meant for them, but if they do, then the bond snaps in when they're together under the full moon. That's what happened the other night when you shifted, and I think our bond is what actually triggered your first shift. Your wolf must've finally broken through your mental barriers because he recognized his mate."

Cam frowns, staring at me as he chews over all the information I just dumped on him. "And you're just telling me this now ?" he growls.

"Well when was I supposed to tell you, when I was running for my life?" I scoff, throwing my arms up dramatically. "It's not like I was expecting you to suddenly turn into a wolf!"

"Yeah, me neither," he fires back. "But some fuckin' context would've been nice while I was in the middle of an identity crisis, dontcha think?"

"Don't you dare try to turn this on me!" I shout, glowering at him. "You held me prisoner for weeks , Cam. Weeks! I finally had a chance to get away, so I took it. What'd you want me to do, stick around to be tortured right beside you? Die in that cell?"

His expression shutters, his frown deepening. "No," he mumbles, that haunted quality returning to his eyes. "I'm glad you got away."

My throat bobs with a hard swallow. "I'm glad you did, too," I reply quietly.

A tense silence settles between us, the mate bond humming in my chest and my inner wolf whining in discontentment as I resist the urge to go to Cam and offer him comfort.

"Do you wanna sit down again?" I ask, gesturing to the chairs.

"No."

I nod stiffly. "Okay, I guess I'll just go, then," I mumble, my heart sinking in disappointment as I pivot toward the door.

"Don't."

I swivel back around to find Cam dragging a hand down his face, blowing out a harsh breath. "It's not my wolf," he murmurs, showing more emotion in his expression than I've ever seen from him. "You want the truth? Well, here it is. I've been obsessing over you since the day you were brought in, when I pulled up the camera feed and saw you freaking out over what those guys were doing to your friend."

He advances toward me, my heart beating harder with every step. "Most people would cower out of a sense of self-preservation, but not you. You're fucking fierce, Avery. You never once took your captivity lying down, never gave up, even when your own life was in danger." He stops when we're toe-to-toe, his gaze dropping down my body. "And yeah, I'm attracted to you. You're sexy as fuck." His eyes lock with mine again. "But it's more than that, always has been."

"Cam…" I whisper.

He reaches up to take my chin in a hand, pressing the pad of his thumb into my lower lip to silence me. "I tried to fight it. Tried to tell myself that we were just playing each other. But we weren't, were we?"

I give a little shake of my head, unable to resist darting my tongue out to lick his thumb. Because he's right- I've always liked him more than I should've, especially considering he was the asshole keeping me locked up in a cell. And when the bond snapped in that night, it only confirmed that my feelings were valid all along.

That still doesn't change the shitty circumstances that brought us together in the first place, though, or the fact that he's partially responsible for all the death and destruction the hunters' Guild wrought.

Cam's gaze flickers down to track the movement of my tongue, and when it lifts again, his dark eyes are smoldering with devious intent. He tips my chin up at the same time he leans down, but before our lips can brush, I grab for his wrist, yanking his hand from my face as I pull back to look at him.

"That doesn't mean this can work," I grit out, trying my best to ignore both the needy throb pulsing between my thighs and the fact that I'm craving his touch right now more than oxygen. "Like I said, the damage is already done."

His hand drops to grip my hip, lips twisting in a scowl. "Because of who I am, or the part I played in your captivity?"

"Both," I breathe.

"Then what the fuck am I supposed to do here?" Cam growls, his fingers tightening around my hip and tugging my body into his. His chest heaves with his ragged breathing, his eyes glittering gold as he glares down at me. "Just tell me, and I'll fucking do it."

I lift my chin to meet his stare defiantly. "Get on your knees."

"What?" he asks gruffly, brow furrowing.

"You heard me," I snap. "I got on my knees for you, so I think it's about time I take the power back." I fold my arms over my chest, daring him to meet my challenge. It's a wicked game I'm playing here, but there's still a score to settle between us.

Liquid gold bleeds into Cam's irises as he wets his lips with his tongue, lowering in front of me while my insides turn to jelly. What can I say? There's just something about seeing a big, strong man on his knees that really does it for me. I feel powerful as fuck as I look down at him, knowing that while it's against his dominant nature to be in this position, he's willingly giving up control to show me he means what he says.

Actions speak louder than words, right?

"Happy?" he asks, cocking his head.

"Not quite," I cluck.

"Then take those shorts off and ride my face."

Jesus fuck. All rational thought flees my brain the second he growls that command, a rush of heat flooding my core and soaking my panties. My mouth falls open, words failing to form, but Cam doesn't wait for my response. He just hits me with a smug grin before taking matters into his own hands, yanking my shorts down my hips, my panties coming with them.

"If you think this is some sort of punishment, you're sorely mistaken," he comments with a low chuckle, guiding me to step out of my shorts and nudging my thighs apart. "I've been dying to taste this pussy."

My thoughts are too clouded with lust to come up with a sassy comeback, but it doesn't matter, anyways. The moment those words leave his lips, he tosses one of my thighs over his shoulder and dives right in, licking into me like a man starved.

And here I thought his dick was my undoing. Turns out, the man's skills with his tongue are fucking otherworldly, and all I can do is sink my fingers into his hair and hold on for dear life as he devours me like his last meal.

"Holy fuck," I gasp, thighs trembling as he plunges his tongue in and out of my opening, then kisses and licks his way to my sensitive clit. He suctions his lips over it at the same time he spears a thick finger inside me, and between how worked up I was before this even started and what he's doing to me now, I can already feel my orgasm looming, the pressure steadily building inside me like an impending storm.

I cry out as my knee buckles, but Cam doesn't let me fall. He grips my ass with his free hand, supporting my weight while he slides a second finger inside me, stretching my channel as he sucks my clit harder. I bury my hand deeper in his hair, tugging at the strands while my other hand grips his shoulder, my fingernails digging crescents into his skin.

He may be the one on his knees, but I'm putty in his hands as he pushes me to the precipice of my climax, breath stuttering and body shaking. His rough beard rasps against my inner thighs, creating glorious friction that only heightens the sensation of his mouth on me. The needy moans falling from my lips only seem to spur him on, and he grips my hip, encouraging me to grind over his face in pursuit of my release. Then he pumps his fingers harder, nipping my clit with his teeth, and I detonate, gushing all over his face as I scream out in ecstasy.

I'm pretty sure I black out for a second, because when I finally catch my breath and the haze of pleasure clears, Cam's sitting back on his heels, looking smug as fuck as he licks his glistening lips.

"Are we even now?" he asks darkly, holding me steady with a tight grip on either hip.

"Not even close," I pant, finding my balance before brushing his hands away. "But that was a solid start."

He grins as he reaches out for me again, not letting me get away that easily. "Then get back here," he growls, yanking me close and sliding his rough palm up my inner thigh. "Guess I'll have to try again."

I should push him away, or maybe just turn around and walk out; treat him like a piece of meat so he knows how it feels. But instead, I sink my hand into his curly hair once again, spreading my legs as I tug his head back to the apex of my thighs.

At least the road to hell is paved with orgasms.