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“Tell me you want me,” Natalia commanded, her breath hot against Samantha’s ear.

“I want you,” Samantha confessed, like she didn’t mind giving up power even though Natalia knew better.

Satisfied, Natalia finally claimed her mouth in a searing kiss. She kissed Samantha deeply, hungrily, as if she could devour her whole. When Samantha melted against her, Natalia basked in the satisfaction of winning. The battle first. Then the war.

CHAPTER 13

“That’s because you didn’t see her,” Blanca said while putting the overfilled salad bowl next to the lasagna on the dining table. She offered Sam, who was already seated next to Greta, a sly smile.

Across the dining room, their friend Lolly followed Blanca out of the open kitchen basket of bread in hand. “Come on,” she tutted. “And this smoke show was there for you?”

“Hey!” Sam feigned offense, clutching her chest and leaning back in Greta and Blanca’s dining chair. The three of them had been friends since college and knew how to poke at each other.

“And I saw you two sneak away.” Blanca peered at her with all-knowing mom eyes. “So don’t pretend nothing is going on.” She sat down, signaling that the foursome could start eating.

“Manisha is going to be so sorry she missed this tea party,” Lolly said, red hair pulled back in a tight bun. “She’s obsessed with your love life.”

“Tell me about it. I’m the one who gets a weekly email from her all about how I, as a Taurus, should modify my day to increase my chances at love.”

Lolly laughed. “My wife just wants you to meet a nice girl and settle down.”

Chuckling, Sam shook her head. “Natalia is not nice, and she’s most definitely not a girl.”

“I feel like she for sure has a red room,” Greta chimed in, a hand through her short, bleached hair. “And I’m not saying I wouldn’t do things to see it.”

Sam tipped her head to the side. She hadn’t been inside Natalia’s house, but she had a strong suspicion Greta was right. Her pulse jumped into her throat at the intrusive image of Natalia dressed up like a dominatrix. She’d never had that particular kink before, but as her mouth went dry, she accepted that it was something she’d love to see, too.

“Oh, my Lordy, you slept with her.” Blanca slowly lowered the fork from her mouth like sudden movement might set off a landmine.

The room shrank. Three pairs of eyes turned on Sam at once, each more curious than the last. Her skin was too tight, her temperature too hot.

“Holy shit, you did.” The usually mild-mannered Greta leaned in like she wanted details.

“I’m not one to kiss and tell.” Sam poured herself a glass of merlot, eager for a little space to decide whether she wanted to talk this out. To make sense of it.

“Bullshit,” Blanca fired back. “What’s going on with you two?”

Sam rested an elbow on the table and took a few healthy gulps from her glass. “Seriously, nothing. We had one night?—”

“I knew it!” Blanca’s thunder clap shook the windows.

“But it was just one night.”

“And the make-out sesh you had tonight,” Greta mumbled, before filling her mouth with the baked pasta. When they cracked their necks turning their attention to Greta, she shrugged. “Pretty sure Sam didn’t start out the night with lipstick on… or wearing Chanel number five.”

“Alright, forget all this and start at the beginning.” Blanca pinned her down with her gaze. “What the hell is going on with you and Natalia Flores?”

Sam exhaled, like completely emptying her lungs would help. “She has ulterior motives. She’s actually been surprisingly forthcoming about that. Natalia is interested in me for the Lilith myth. She has a client who wants to buy the film rights to my theories and interpretations.”

“What? That’s huge.” Blanca beamed. “That’s so exciting! I told Greta I could see this as a movie. Didn’t I, babe?”

“She did.”

“It’s not happening.” Sam served herself a heaping mound of Caesar salad.

“Why?” Lolly took the salad tongs next. “Don’t you want to be rich and famous? How many people can say Hollywood is banging down their door?”

“I’m not giving anyone the power to manipulate the myth for entertainment value.” She took a bite.