TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 26

Twenty-Six
LISA POV
Later that day I sat in Franklin’s car watching the city pass outside the window.
“Your people are weird,” I said.
Franklin laughed. “That’s one way to put it.”
“I still don’t understand why Nadia reacted so strongly to you taking me out. It almost sounded like she was jealous.”
Franklin glanced at me, amused. I lifted an eyebrow.
“Is there history there?”
He laughed harder. “God, no. Nadia’s…” He shook his head and gestured between us. “She’s way up here and I’m way down here. Besides, she treats me like furniture most of the time.”
“She does seem kind of mean to you. My best friend has a theory that when someone is unnecessarily mean to a specific person, it means they like them.”
Franklin chuckled. For a moment he stared ahead at the road, the smile fading into something quieter.
“She’s mean to everyone,” he said finally. “That’s just how she is.”
He took me to the market first, a wide open space crowded with vendors selling produce, spices, and handmade jewelry. From there we stopped at a bakery where I had the best cinnamon roll I’d ever tasted, then a park overlooking the river where people sat along the railing watching boats drift past.
For the first time since arriving at Silver Creek, I felt like a person instead of a transaction.
I took a few pictures and sent them to Sasha with a short message: I survived my first field trip.
She responded almost immediately with three heart emojis and a demand for details.
By the time Franklin drove me back to the estate, the sun was already dropping behind the hills.
I went straight to my room and called James.
He answered on the third ring but said nothing.
“James, why are you making Mom’s life so difficult? She’s going through hell right now. The divorce, me being gone, and you’re just what, punishing her?”
“I’m not punishing anyone,” he said, his voice flat.
“You’ve been staying at Parker’s for days. You won’t come home. She’s worried sick about you.”
“Maybe if she’d thought about that before she let you sell yourself-”
“Don’t you dare.” The words came out sharp enough to surprise even me. “Don’t you dare this on her. I made this choice. Me. Not her. Because Dad left us with nothing. Because he drained the accounts, hid his assets, and walked away.”
I paced the room as I spoke.
“So yeah, I’m doing this. And if you have a problem with it, you can take it up with me. But you will go home and stop making her suffer.”
James stayed quiet.
Then he said, “I don’t need your money.”
I stopped walking.
“Your ill-gotten blood money,” he added.
“James-”
“Mom shouldn’t take it either. It’s disgusting.”
“Well it’s too late now.” My voice shook despite my effort to control it. “So you can either accept it and help Mom through this, or you can keep acting like a selfish brat and make everything worse.”
The door behind me opened.
I turned.
Cameron stood in the doorway with a lit cigar between his fingers.
Damn it.
“I’ll call you back,” I said quickly and ended the call before James could answer.
Cameron stepped into the room and shut the door. He took a slow drag from the cigar and
exhaled toward the ceiling.
“Who were you talking to?”
“My brother.”
He watched me without reacting,
“Teenage angst,” I added, trying to lighten the moment. “We used to be close but now he doesn’t listen to anything I say. It’s weird for-”
“I didn’t ask for specifics.”
I pressed my lips together. “Sorry.”
He walked farther into the room. I glanced at the clock on the nightstand.
Six-thirty.
“It’s not nine o’clock,” I said before I could stop myself.
Cameron’s gaze shifted to me.
“I have the right to do whatever I want.”
“I know,” I said quickly. “I just meant-”
“Lie down.”
I hesitated before moving to the bed.
My body reacted before my mind caught up, heat gathering between my legs even though he hadn’t touched me yet. I hated the way my body anticipated him.
“On all fours,” Cameron said.
I blinked. “What?”
“You heard me.”
Evangeline had told me to lie flat on my back, but I didn’t argue. I turned over and positioned myself on my hands and knees, arching my back the way those late-night research articles had described.
Behind me I heard the soft sound of fabric shifting and the metal slide of his zipper.
Then he was there.
He pushed inside in one hard thrust.
Air left my lungs and I buried my face in the pillow.
Cameron gripped my hips and began to move. The angle drove deeper than before, striking something inside me that made my whole body tighten. The sound of skin against skin filled the room as he drove forward again and again.
I bit into the pillow to stay quiet.
He lasted longer this time.
Much longer.
Each thrust sent another wave through my body. The pressure kept building until I felt myself climbing toward something I didn’t want and couldn’t stop.
The swell locked us together and his release followed immediately. Tears ran down my face as he stayed inside me, breathing hard above my back.
When the knot finally loosened he pulled out.
“Why the hell are you crying?” His voice carried irritation.
I shook my head without turning around. “It’s not-”
“I’m not assaulting you.”
“I know.” My voice broke anyway. “It’s not about you.”
Silence settled between us.
For a brief moment our eyes met.
Then he looked away, cleaned himself up, and left the room.
The door closed behind him.
I stayed where I was until the quiet settled over the room again. Then I rolled onto the bed and pulled the blanket over my head while the sobs finally broke free.
Because I didn’t understand anymore.
I didn’t understand what this was or what it was doing to me.
I only knew I couldn’t stop.