“You’re not making sense.”
Franklin tried to look away, apparently determined to make it impossible for Cameron to do any of the things Arslan said he was supposed to do.
How the hell was he meant to look after the man, to take care of him and see that he had everything he needed, if Franklin wouldn’t even keep his requirements consistent for two sentences in a row?
The skin on the sides of Franklin’s cheeks were turning white.Cameron was holding him too tight.Even after he realised that, it was several seconds before Cameron could convince himself to release his pet from what must have been a painful grip.
Spinning away from him, Cameron strode across to the other side of the room.Resting his hands on the back of a chair set in front of a small desk, he took several more deep breaths.Whoever started the rumour that deep breaths helped in stressful situations was an idiot.
All that time he’d spent in those clubs, wishing he could go back to a time when he could be part of a pride and take a mate.It had never occurred to him that the clubs would be so easy to understand by comparison—at least he knew what those men wanted from him.
“I am your master.You are my pet.”Cameron wasn’t entirely sure whose benefit he was repeating that fact for.
“Yes,” Franklin agreed, without any sign of hesitation.
“I’m responsible for you,” Cameron went on, as he turned to face Franklin once more.
Franklin was about to say yes, Cameron had no doubt about that.But, at the last moment, he seemed to hesitate.
Cameron‘s gaze narrowed.
“No.”Franklin looked up and met Cameron’s eyes then.He squared his shoulders slightly too, as if ready to do battle over the answer if necessary.
“No?”Cameron stalked several paces forward.
“I don’t expect you to take responsibility for me, or to look after me.I’ll be your pet, if that’s what you want to call it.You can give me any orders you want and do whatever you want with me.”
Cameron frowned.Stepping past Franklin, he slowly circled him.
“You can treat me exactly the same way the men in the clubs treated you,” Franklin went on, while he stood very still under Cameron’s gaze.“You can take whatever revenge you want on me.”
Cameron made another complete circuit around Franklin before he realised what the guy was actually talking about being punished for.“You weren’t one of the men who paid to screw me.”
Franklin looked down for a moment before seeming to force his head up and fix his gaze on the far side of the room, fighting against every instinct he possessed.“I would have.”
Cameron stopped.He stood perfectly still behind Franklin for several long seconds.
“When I came to find you, I intended to pay whatever it took to get you to leave the club with me,” Franklin went on.“I’m no better than the men who bought your time in the past.”
Cameron stepped around Franklin once more, until he stood face to face with him.“You’ll do whatever I want?”
“Yes.”
Cameron reached out to him, only to hesitate.Franklin’s words called up all the anger and confusion he was so used to feeling.But, at the same time, the memory of the lions curled close and protective around him made him so desperate to hold onto the other man the same way—to pass that safe, protective feeling on to him.He dropped his hand back to his side
“You don’t wish to be treated the same way the other pets are treated, to have a master who cares for you and—”
“No.”He sounded very sure about that.
Cameron looked into Franklin’s eyes, and suddenly, the truth was obvious.He didn’t want a master at all.
He just wanted a lion who would screw him and get him off.Cameron turned sharply away from him.In some ways, Franklin really was just like the men who’d paid him in the past.The only difference was who screwed who.
Somehow, Cameron kept those words back, and even he didn’t know if he did that because Arslan had told him to be patient or because he was scared to think how much pain they might reveal, how much he wished he was the kind of lion a man might want more than sex from.
“Fine,” he said, almost calmly.He turned back and met Franklin’s gaze.“Whatever I want.”
Franklin swallowed rapidly as he nodded.
