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“My work has been stolen before.” Sam ripped off the old bandage, gluey from age, and stuck to her skin. If Natalia really wanted the truth, she’d give it to her. Maybe she would finally understand why the sale was not an option for her.

“What do you mean?” Natalia’s energy shifted. Her body tensed, and jaw set in a way that was genuinely intimidating. But Sam knew it wasn’t directed at her. On full display was a protective energy Sam hadn’t anticipated. Not from a woman who claimed that all she wanted was a fuck buddy.

It made Sam drop her own defenses and revisit a painful memory. One she’d worked to rise above and insulate herself against. One that made her feel stupid and weak and naive.

“Early in my academic career, I was just starting my Master’s, and I was working on this paper challenging enduring masculine assumptions in ancient mythology,” Sam explained. “It was groundbreaking work at the time, looking at gender roles in folklore through a feminist lens. And it was years of research that I’d started during my undergrad studies.”

Natalia’s brow furrowed enough to show her displeasure at where the story was going, but she let Sam continue without question.

“And one of my professors thought it was so interesting, she mentioned it to the chair of the humanities department.” Sam sipped her water, ice bumping against her lips. “Imagine my surprise when ten months later, all of my ideas — nearly word-for-word in some places — were published in a paper that went on to win accolades. Of course, through his lens, the focus shifted away from the feminine to make space for the same tired theories.”

Natalia’s face flushed with color. A violet wave that cresting over her throat and up her cheeks. “Didn’t you tell your professor? The one who told the chair? She would have seen your work. She would have been able to verify that it was your research. Your sources. Your ideas long before they were stolen. I mean, that’s illegal. You could’ve sued. The copyright was established the moment you wrote?—”

Sam nodded, interrupting Natalia before her visible anger peaked. “That was the most painful part,” she explained, wishing she could recall the experience without feeling the old hurt in her stomach and chest. “I did go to her. And she told me the truth of it.” She took a breath and raced through to the end. “I had two choices. I could absolutely go after him and win. Or I could have a career in academia.”

“Because what? You’d be alienated? Even though you were the aggrieved party? That literally makes no sense.”

Sam nodded, the discomfort pushed aside by the spreading warmth in her chest. Natalia’s energy was so protective. She looked ready to reach back in time and avenge her. It was almost sweet, in a slightly terrifying way.

“You know how the world works. How powerful people keep power. And how people rally around revolting behavior when it’s perpetrated by one of their own.”

“Closing ranks around the problem instead of expelling it,” Natalia added like she’d experienced something similar, even though she couldn’t imagine anyone crossing Natalia. Not at twenty years old and not today. “That will never happen to you with this, Samantha.”

“I believe that you believe that,” she said after a beat, voice softer than she intended. “But these things just have a way of getting a life of their own. People start sticking their fingers in it.” She shook her head. “I just can’t give my ideas to anyone again. It’s like ripping out a chunk of my heart and watching someone drop kick it into a toilet.”

“I would never let that happen,” she promised, leaning in, hand on Sam’s hip. “I’m trying to give you everything you want.”

The promise was so low and sultry that Sam felt it like fingers unfastening her belt. Sam couldn’t resist the intoxicating effects of Natalia’s voice. Not when it was so soft and earnest and her eyes were ignited with a mix of rage and admiration. Like she’d find the man who wronged Sam and destroy him.

Sam moved closer. Close enough that all she saw was Natalia. All she smelled was her perfume. All she heard was the sound of her own racing heart.

“Well then… what I want is to talk less,” Sam said, while slipping between Natalia’s legs. Legs that parted effortlessly for her.

Natalia tilted her head toward her, lips full and dangerous and close enough to kiss. “Don’t let me keep you from taking what you want.” She moistened her lips. “Isn’t that what us unapologetic and unbound women do?”

The words were an electric current shocking every one of Sam’s systems. “That we do,” she agreed before leaning in, mouth hovering over the shell of Natalia’s ear. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Natalia slid her hand over Sam’s back before digging in her nails. “You’re the one who is still talking.”

CHAPTER 20

The last place Sam expected to be that night was pinned against Natalia’s driver’s side door. Especially not after having shared one of the most hurtful memories. After having made herself so vulnerable, it was almost humiliating.

She could hardly breathe with Natalia’s body pressed against hers, every reckless curve calling Sam’s name.

Capturing her mouth in a searing kiss, Natalia’s full lips were insistent as her tongue plunged past Sam’s parted lips. Sam groaned and held Natalia’s face in her palms, bringing her closer.

Natalia kissed her deeply, hungrily. Her hands roamed greedily over Sam’s body, nails raking down her back before grabbing her ass and grinding their hips together. Sam gasped at the friction, desire building low in her belly. She clutched Natalia tighter, lost in the taste and feel of her.

When Natalia’s teeth grazed her neck, Sam let her head fall back, exposing more skin for Natalia to devour. Natalia’s tongue and lips blazed a trail of fire down to Sam’s collarbone. The combination of her mouth and the warmth of her hands slipping under her shirt was enough to make her forget they were in a parking garage. Forget her fears and step out onto the ledge. Make herself believe that Natalia could protect her.

“I’ll consider the deal,” Sam panted, barely able to form words, “but only with a bulletproof creative control clause and full veto power.” She pulled Natalia closer, desperate for her. “And that’s just to consider it,” she repeated.

Natalia paused, eyes dark and lips swollen from their kissing. She smirked, a devastatingly wicked sight, before claiming Sam’s mouth, kissing her again.

Sam’s hands slid under Natalia’s dress, fingers splayed over the smooth skin of her thighs. She ached to touch more of her, to feel Natalia come undone beneath her hands.

But some small voice of reason in Sam’s lust-addled mind gave her pause. As Natalia’s tongue claimed hers, Sam realized she didn’t just want sex from her. It wasn’t enough to see her naked. She wanted to truly know Natalia — the real woman beneath the glossy veneer.