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Natalia watched her strong jaw tighten. Watched her eyes soften and her energy shift into wistful. Watched her access something old and deep and still sore. She was different from the woman she’d watched speak confidently about her research and ideas for the last hour. She was vulnerable. The kind of vulnerable that could only be described as terrifying. “Why are you telling me this?”

Samantha leaned against the front of her hideous car, one long leg over the other, while she did. “How can I trust a person with my life’s work if they don’t know me?” She cocked her head to the side and pulled off her glasses. “I’ve been inside of you and yet I have no idea who you are,” she mused. “And what do you know about me?”

“What is there to know? It’s a business deal.” Natalia failed to follow her logic. “Do I need to know your favorite color or where you had your first kiss to be good at my job?”

“Incorrect.” Samantha sighed. “This is not just my business, it’s my passion, my soul, my message. The moment you let anyone else touch your message, they tarnish it with their perception, their bias, their interpretation of my words. I can’t have that.”

Her words, dripping with sincerity, were hard fingers prying Natalia’s sternum apart, trying to crack her open to get at what lay inside the cage. Natalia shoved the sensation away and changed the conversation. “Have dinner with me again,” she demanded more than she asked.

Raising both brows, Sam replied with a soundless chuckle that made her shoulders bounce. “Why?” She shook her head. “So you can show me how bad you are at giving up a single shred of control?”

Clenching her back teeth, Natalia resisted the urge to wear her frustration on her face. Was this woman physically incapable of saying yes? Of giving in a fraction? “So we can get to know each other enough that you’ll listen when I tell you that the best thing for your work is to share it.”

Samantha smirked and drifted closer, the warmth of her body pulling Natalia into her orbit. Their lips were a breath apart, and Natalia found herself leaning in despite her better judgment.

“Natalia,” Samantha murmured, mouth grazing hers when she whispered.

The memory of Samantha calling her name as she unraveled was a slick heat pooled low in Natalia’s belly. She clenched her thighs together against the sudden ache. Samantha was playing with fire, and Natalia wanted nothing more than to let the flames consume her.

When Natalia’s eyes slipped closed and she nearly forgot what they were talking about, Samantha said, “How many glasses of bold wine and overpriced food would it take for you to hand your agency over to vultures? Scratch that. Not vultures. Suits promising to give you everything you want if you just hand over the keys to what you built.”

Knocked on her back foot by the hypothetical, Natalia refused to stumble. Even if her full-body gut response was to show her fangs like one of Samantha’s vampires and lunge at the imaginary intruders, she opened her eyes and straightened. “That’s where you’re wrong, Professor.” Natalia’s voice was mercifully strong and steady. “I’m not trying to take anything from you. I want your ideas to be amplified.”

Samantha was close again, the scent of her skin and the rhythm of her breath threatening Natalia’s resolve. Her gaze, dark and brilliant, bored into Natalia. Testing and challenging and defiant. “And what is it that you think you know about my ideas?”

Sure not to give away how confident she was, Natalia hesitated. She leaned back, projecting an air of uncertainty until Samantha’s face relaxed and signaled her false victory.

Natalia paced slowly, holding Samantha’s gaze. “Your fascination with Lilith is not truly about vampires or monsters. It’s about feminine power. Raw, unadulterated, unapologetic power.”

She knew Samantha was hooked on her every word. “You’re drawn to these myths because they represent a radical idea: that a woman can claim authority over her own body, her own power, and she can unleash it without mercy. Without concern for patriarchal demands.”

Natalia stepped closer, emboldened by the look in Samantha’s eyes.

“In claiming that power, Lilith and her daughters became villains — cautionary tales about the dangers of women controlling their destinies. But you want to redeem them. To recast their strength as revolutionary, not monstrous.”

She stopped mere inches from Samantha, lowering her voice. “It’s about women — ages ago and today — who are told they had to make themselves small and harmless. To push down their ambition and desire and thirst.” Natalia tilted her chin up to hold Samantha’s gaze. “You’re fighting to change that narrative. To envision a world where no woman must make such an impossible choice. Where every woman is celebrated in all her power and complexity.” She didn’t so much as blink. Didn’t give Samantha anywhere to run. “Have I come close to understanding why this mythology, this message, is so dear to you?”

“Don’t brag, it’s not very sporting,” Samantha replied, though her eyes shone with awe. She really did love this myth. It was impossible to hide.

Before Natalia could respond, Samantha grabbed her face in both hands and crashed their mouths together. The kiss was fierce, urgent, punishing in its intensity. It was almost enough.

Samantha’s fingers twisted in Natalia’s hair, holding her in place as her tongue plunged past her lips. Natalia nearly gasped, dizzy with the onslaught of sensation. She clutched at Samantha’s hips for balance.

With a low growl, Samantha bit down on Natalia’s bottom lip. Natalia moaned despite herself, the sharp sting going straight to her core. She imagined her biting down harder. Fantasized that she could taste the metallic tang of blood, feel it smearing between them as Samantha sucked hard on the tender spot.

When Samantha finally let her come up for air, Natalia was breathless. Her lips throbbed, swollen from the bruising kiss. Samantha looked just as dazed, chest heaving, eyes nearly black with arousal.

“Yes,” Samantha whispered without releasing her from the embrace.

“Yes, to the book?” Natalia confirmed, heart pounding and head swimming.

Samantha’s smirk brought Natalia back down to Earth. “Yes, to the date.” She moistened her enticing lips. “Your client is never getting my book.”

“We’ll see about that.” Natalia’s eyes darkened, a sly smile spreading across her face. “And I never said it was a date.”

Before Samantha could respond, Natalia threaded her fingers through Samantha’s hair. She dragged her nails across Samantha’s scalp again, scratching lightly. Samantha’s eyes fluttered shut, lips parting in pleasure.

Natalia tightened her grip on the back of Samantha’s neck, holding her in place. With exquisite slowness, Natalia leaned in, brushing her lips teasingly along Samantha’s jaw. Samantha strained against her hold, desperate for more contact.