Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)
Chapter 209 - [K] The Camera... Doesn’t Love Me As Much

Chapter 209: Chapter 209 - [K] The Camera... Doesn’t Love Me As Much

***[POV: Really Ready Rimecoat]***

My werewolf shifted hands begin to clench and release, but I don’t get to count to ten. Citra responded faster than she ever has, even when I asked such a formulaic question.

C: [Productive. This is very good.]

C: [You can see I’m enjoying it.]

I stared at the words, then back up at the still visible part of the photo in the message log. I can still see her tongue out, her black hair trailing down her exposed neckline... but not her eyes anymore.

It does not make anything better. Without her eyes to look at, there is only the neck and the curve toward her bust. The top of it sitting there in that mildly compressive bright orange shirt.

"She is wearing that color a lot lately..."

Not that I can say anything. I was shopping for gray clothing that would stand against her eyes and hair better than the too contrasting white. And there was really no logical need for that to involve whole new sets of undergarments as well.

My wolf prowled restlessly beneath my skin, wanting to claim, to mark - to respond to this obvious set of invitations with action rather than any calm care. But I’d promised her and myself to let her set the pace.

"Lodestar, reply. I was worried you’d get caught up and forget to eat entirely. It’s something I’ve done before."

To not push for more or to assume she wants anything. Even when she was clearly pushing me. Food is now not what I want to-

I stood abruptly and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows. In one of those apartment buildings down there, Citra was probably still sitting at her food with a smirk.

While I’m here with my pulse racing erratically from the very woman who, only days before, had turned red a few times as we walked and talked. Without seeming to realize it.

"What do I do. What can I do that won’t cross another line so soon?"

All too quickly, the urge to reciprocate this test of patience hit me. She’d shared something so deliberately enticing. The least I could do was...

What? Take photos of myself eating stew the same exact way? That seemed like it could only be a pathetic copy when compared to the sort of artistry of what she’d sent.

"I’m already just drooping down to the tactic of mirroring her interests and behavior, aren’t I?"

When she’d asked if I was trying to copy her with that selfie I’d taken in bed, I finally realized it *was* subconsciously what I’d been doing. But maybe I could try something else. Something that matched her boldness without using the food itself as the prop.

Finally calm enough, I walked back to the kitchen and took my phone in a human hand. Thinking critically, I decided that this room was no good. The lightning was bright, but a few tries made things look washed out at my level of skill.

Twenty-five minutes, thirteen poses in different parts of the apartment and thirty-seven deleted photos later, I was standing in my bedroom doorway with my phone held at arm’s length, trying to capture something that looked even half as naturally sexy as Citra’s.

Every composition I tried looked forced and staged. Nothing like the natural, sensual confidence she radiated on the screen. Even while sitting at a countertop with such common food as props.

"This is harder than it looks. How is she so good at it... was she born for this?"

As that assessment of her ability wars against my feelings that she should only be tempting me and no one else, my phone finally buzzed with another message.

C: [Yes... Thank you for not waiting this time. All finished. Good night.]

I’d been so focused on this that I’d completely forgotten to continue our conversation this whole time. But it took her almost a half hour to finish the rest? After seeing her eat, that doesn’t sound right.

It is also not all that late, but I seem to be getting a final dismissal?

"Well, maybe she did get busy again too. Or intends to not be bothered... or get up early?"

I chuckle at the irony. Here I was, letting my own meal go fully cold after I’d been worried she would do the same - or that she wouldn’t eat anything at all. I took a bite and grimaced, deciding I’d have to warm it up if I’m going to eat it.

Glancing at the last photo attempt on my phone I hadn’t removed, I tilt my head an tap on the broken table. This one has me leaning against the bedroom door frame, with the bed itself distant in the shot behind me. Hair tousled and messy instead of combed, with buttons of my shirt undone and disheveled.

The hand not holding the phone... is back to showing what sort of being I really am - what we are - to make it all more personal. Those claws pulled down at the collar over one expose shoulder to show more of the decolletage. With two of the sharp points depressing my skin.

It wasn’t terrible... it certainly hit all the obvious notes. And it wasn’t at all like her choices, except maybe the intense eyes. But it just didn’t capture whatever magic that Citra Lomdi seemed to possess in front of a camera.

"And that’s with the hassle of taking the photo herself..."

My thumb hovered over the button that would allow me to add it to a message. She’d opened the door a crack again... and the smart, cautious thing would be to delete this and stick to words.

But while I liked to be conservative everywhere that is smart to... when had anything most successful in my life ever been about choosing the cautious option when my instincts, and not only those of my wolf, are telling me to attack?

In moments, I’d sent it, regretted it, and saw my life flashing before me. I’d always thought that the cartoons that some of the young members of the pack watched were silly in how they over-expressed a feeling with the animations.

However, if my soul did not actually visibly leave my body just now and float up before snapping back down when a return message chimed back, then I’m not sure what to say just happened.

C: [You look a little tense. I’ve recently received an interesting set of clothing. Would you like to come for a relaxing swim tonight?]

⧖ ☾ ❄ ☽ ⧖

And by the time the night was through, I was sure I’d made the right decision over so many things with my Princess.