TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 56

Fifty-Six

Lisa

Franklin came to pick me up at five. I had planned to stay until six, but he appeared in the nursery doorway with an apologetic look.

“You didn’t need to come get me,” I said as I gathered my bag. “I can walk back.”

“I know,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you anyway. Come on.”

I said goodbye to the children, promised Benji I would see him tomorrow, and followed Franklin to his car. We drove for several minutes without speaking before I finally asked the question that had been sitting in my head

“Did Kade leave? And Luna Catherine?”

“I’m not sure about Kade,” Franklin said. “Catherine and Marcus left this morning.”

Relief moved through me.

“Was Kade bothering you?” Franklin asked.

I told him about the ball, about Kade offering to “rescue” me and insisting Cameron was taking advantage of me.

Franklin gave a short, irritated laugh. “Kade has always been an entitled idiot who thinks every woman should fall at his feet.”

“He meant well,” I said, although the words sounded weak even to me. “In his own misguided way.”

Franklin stayed quiet for a stretch of road before speaking again.

“Have you noticed anything strange about Evangeline?”

I frowned. “Strange how?”

“A smell,” he said. “Rotten eggs.

“What? No.” I thought back to the few times I had been near Evangeline. “She smells normal. Floral perfume. Nothing unusual.”

Franklin nodded slowly. “Cameron seems to be the only one who can smell it.”

That felt strange.

Franklin’s voice shifted as he continued driving.

“Lisa, you should be careful.”

“Careful of what?”

“I don’t know exactly.” His hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel. “Something about this whole situation feels wrong. Just be careful about what you eat or drink.”

A cold feeling slid through me. “You think someone might poison me?”

“I think you’re in a vulnerable position,” Franklin said. “People in vulnerable positions sometimes get hurt. Intentionally or otherwise.”

I did not have a response to that, so I nodded and watched the road.

1/4

+15 Bgnus

Cameron came to my room at nine.

I had already showered, taken the fertility herbs, and checked the conception guide again to confirm the moon phase and positioning instructions. When I heard his knock, I lay flat on the bed the way I had the first few nights.

Like this was simply work.

Cameron entered and closed the door behind him. His posture carried tension, as if he would rather be somewhere

else.

“I need to explain something,” I said before he stepped closer. “About the conception ritual.”

His brows lifted. “What ritual?”

“The fertility specialist gave me guidelines that supposedly increase the chances of a male child.” I gestured toward the paper on my nightstand. “Timing based on moon phases and positioning.”

Cameron picked up the paper and read through it, his skepticism growing clearer with every line.

“You want us to have sex facing north?”

“That’s what the guide says.”

“This is superstition.”

“Maybe,” I said. “But if there’s even a small chance it helps, we should try. We need this to work.”

He looked ready to argue. Instead he set the paper down.

“Fine.”

He shifted on the bed and adjusted our position according to the instructions.

The situation felt ridiculous.

If it worked, none of that would matter.

His hand slid between my legs and his fingers began to move. I focused on keeping my breathing steady and stared at the ceiling.

His pace changed. His fingers pressed deeper until they found the place inside that made my vision blur.

Pleasure built faster than I expected. I bit down on my lip and forced myself to stay silent. If I reacted, if I let him hear what my body was doing, it would confirm what Luna Catherine already believed.

That this meant something to me.

My hand covered my mouth to trap the sound trying to escape.

Cameron watched me. “You can make noise, Lisa. It’s just us.”

I shook my head.

His fingers moved harder and faster until control slipped away from me.

My body clenched around his hand as release tore through me, soaking his fingers and the sheets beneath us.

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+158cnus

Heat rushed through my face.

Cameron pulled his hand back and positioned himself between my legs before pushing inside me.

The slickness from my orgasm made the movement easier despite his size, although the stretch still burned.

He began to move.

His pace carried a harsh urgency, as if he were trying to force this encounter into something purely physical.

I kept my hand over my mouth and refused to make a sound even when pleasure started to climb again.

His knot swelled and locked us together.

He stayed longer than usual.

Most nights the knot released after ten or fifteen minutes. That night he remained inside me much longer.

I could feel his heartbeat through where our bodies joined and the rise and fall of his breathing above me.

The closeness felt more intimate than the sex itself.

When the knot finally released and he pulled away, the sudden absence left a hollow space behind.

The words nearly slipped out.

Stay.

Hold me. 1

Don’t leave yet.

I swallowed them.

Cameron cleaned himself and moved toward the door.

“Goodnight,” he said without looking back.

Then he left.

I lay there in the dark while the aftershocks faded from my body. That was when I noticed Evangeline’s portrait hanging on the wall across from the bed.

The painting faced the bed.

I was certain I had turned it toward the wall the week before and covered it with a landscape painting so I would not feel her watching while Cameron slept with me. 1

Now it faced forward again.

Someone had turned it back.

A chill moved through me.

Who had been inside my room?

I climbed out of bed, crossed the room, and turned the portrait toward the wall again. Then I hung the landscape painting over the back of the frame so it stayed covered.

I returned to bed and tried to sleep.

3/4

+15 Bonus

The next night Evangeline interrupted us.

Cameron had just arrived. We had not started yet. I was still dressed and he was standing near the door when a soft knock sounded.

“Cameron?” Evangeline called. “Are you there?”

“I feel dizzy,” she said through the door. “Could you help me?” i

Cameron glanced toward me.

“I’ll be right there,” he said.

He left.

He never came back.

I waited until midnight before finally giving up and going to sleep.

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