TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 190

One hundred and ninety

Evangeline POV

+15 Bonus

Cameron slept beside me with one arm across his stomach. The bedroom stayed dark except for the night lamp. The oils Selene placed beneath the headboard spread through the room, stopping me from sleeping. I sat against the pillows and watched him breathe.

It hurt more than I admitted to myself. Cameron still would not have sex with me.

He kissed me and held me close. He let me touch his cock, but even that was worse as I realized he wasn’t even hard. Every attempt to pull him further ended the same way now. Apologies followed, then distance.

I reached toward his chest and rested my hand there. The transfer compounds worked best through contact and even faster through sex. Selene mocked me for not having access to my partner’s body anymore. I stared at Cameron’s sleeping face and scoffed.

Nobody understood how difficult he was to break. Even exhausted, some part of him kept fighting.

I adjusted my pillow and closed my eyes to sleep when his breathing rattled. At first, it sounded like normal, uneven breathing. Then his mouth moved.

“Lisa…”

Rage hit me hard enough that my fingers dug into the blanket.

“Lisa…”

I bit down against the inside of my cheek.

“I need you.”

Even unconscious, he reached for her.

The fury burned through my chest while he twisted against the sheets. Then his body jerked sharply.

The compounds were working now.

Sweat spread across his skin. His breathing turned rough while his hands shook against the blankets hard enough to wrinkle the fabric beneath them.

I climbed off the bed.

“Cameron.”

His body shook harder while his eyes stayed closed.

“Cameron. Wake up.”

Nothing.

I hurried toward the door and pulled it open.

“Jax!”

One of the night guards appeared from the downstairs corridor almost immediately.

“My lady?”

1/4

+15 Behus

“Help me.”

We got Cameron upright with difficulty. He stayed conscious enough to move, though his body fought us every step across the room. Sweat soaked through the thin cotton shirt clinging to his back.

“What happened?” the guard asked quietly.

I didn’t respond. Cameron tried to push away from us.

“I’m fine.”

“You can barely stand,” I snapped.

“We’re taking you to the bathroom,” the guard told him.

Cameron muttered something under his breath that I could not make out. His weight dragged against both of us while we moved him across the bedroom. By the time we reached the bathroom, sweat ran down his neck and arms fast enough to drip onto my robe.

The guard helped lower him into the tub while I turned on the cold water. Cameron leaned forward with both hands gripping the edge of the bathtub. Water soaked through his hair and streamed down his shoulders into the drain.

His breathing finally slowed.

I knelt beside the tub and watched him as the guard stayed near the doorway.

“You can leave,” I said. The guard hesitated, then nodded.

Cameron opened his eyes slowly.

“I’m okay.”

“You were shaking.”

“I’m fine.”

I helped him back toward the bed afterward. The guard left quietly after Cameron managed to walk again without collapsing. He lay back against the pillows heavily.

The name “Lisa” in his sleep made my blood boil. It wasn’t jealousy anymore. The fetal bond changed everything.

The confirmation came that afternoon through Meridian testing. The child’s bloodline was strong enough to disrupt Dominion reinforcement. Lisa’s pregnancy had become a threat.

That explained Selene’s anger and why the Thrones rushed the timeline. Surveillance gave way to extraction plans centered on Lisa. If the child lived, Cameron’s resistance could recover. If Dominion failed now, I wouldn’t survive the fallout. Selene made that clear already. Finish the assignment alone or become an example.

I stared at Cameron lying beside me and tried to keep my breathing steady. He drifted back toward sleep eventually, though his breathing stayed uneven.

I remained awake, watching him and waiting for him to say her name again. Hours passed before I reached for my pillow and blanket to turn toward the door. I could not stay beside him after hearing Lisa’s name leave his mouth

like that.

“Where are you going?”

2/4

+15 Benus

His eyes stayed half-closed from exhaustion.

“You should rest alone tonight.”

“Why?”

I lowered my gaze.

“You were calling her name. I don’t want to make this harder for you,” I continued softly. “You already carry enough.”

Silence followed. Let the guilt settle inside him.

Cameron pushed himself upright, and every movement looked strained.

“Eva.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it isn’t. I wasn’t conscious.”

“But you still said it.”

Cameron stood from the bed afterward despite the obvious difficulty.

“You should lie back down, please, Cameron.”

“I’m not letting you leave upset.”

“I’m not upset. You need sleep.”

He stared at me with heavy exhaustion in his face. Dominion fatigue pulled at him physically now. His shoulders sagged while his hands braced against the bedpost beside him. 1

That mattered more than the argument because this was a test too. Selene said Dominion could be measured through obedience patterns eventually.

Cameron took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for.”

“Yes, there is.”

I forced myself to smile weakly. “You’re tired. Go back to bed.”

He stayed there watching me before finally nodding and walking back toward the bed. I watched him lower himself beneath the blankets, then I left.

The second my bedroom door shut behind me, rage tore through me hard enough that I threw the pillow across the room. It struck the side table and knocked a glass vase onto the carpet.

He still went back to sleep thinking about her.

3/4

Andronety one