Page 20 of Breadwinner

And yet . . .

She wanted to see what happened if she did.

A flicker of something sudden and electric passed through her, but she did not react. Not outwardly. Internally, however? A heat was pooling deep within.

She lifted her drink again, took another sip, and let the gin burn slightly as it settled.

“Why?” Sarah found herself asking. Another question, a tactic to buy herself time. But her voice was even, composed, because she didn’t actually need time. Sarah already knew what she wanted, but she wasn’t about to give Nell that satisfaction. Not yet, anyway.

Nell leaned in, closing the space between them, her presence heavier. “Because I told you to.”

There it was.

The shift. The moment when this stopped being a conversation and became something else that Sarah didn’t yet have a name for.

She watched Nell closely. The way her eyes narrowed in delight at her own words. There was a definite gleam in her eye that hadn’t been there before. Like something inside Nell had been lit on fire, the same way Sarah felt her desire burn.

Sarah knew she could end it right then and there if she wanted to. She could push back, could laugh it off. Nell had told her as much. That was rule number one, wasn’t it? To use her voice?

The rules.What the hell was with the rules? How many more rules were there?

The truth was, Sarah didn’twantto end this. She wanted to see how far Nell would take it. Sarah wanted to see how far she would let it go.

With purposeful ease, Sarah set her glass down, her fingers brushing the polished wood of the table but not quite settling. Her pulse had steadied, but something under her skin still buzzed.

And then, a flash of a thought.

Beth.

She hadn’t thought of her all evening. Not since she had stepped into The Prescott. Not since she had seen Nell waiting for her in the lobby. Not since she had seen the way the gray of her eyes had darkened when they landed on her.

The realization dashed across her mind, but she shut it down just as fast.

No. Now wasn’t the time. Beth belonged in a different box. One sealed shut, with other things Sarah had already decided she couldn’t afford to reopen or re-examine.

She met Nell’s gaze, steadying herself, back in the game.

Back in control.

Her fingers trailed lightly over the cool crystal.

And then, as instructed, she spread her hands flat, palms-down.

Satisfaction intertwined with Nell’s smile as she leaned back, bringing her glass to her lips, taking a sip, watching her over the rim, the weight of her gaze landing fully on Sarah.

“Good.” Nell’s low voice sent a whisper of heat right through her.

Sarah did not move. She waited. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do next. Nell hadn’t given her any other instructions—only to put her hands on the table.

Nell reached forward—painfully slow—and, with nothing more than the tips of her fingers, grazed the inner side of Sarah’s wrist.

It was the softest touch imaginable. A whisper of skin against skin.

Sarah’s pulse stuttered. It was nothing.Nothing.She was fine, except for the fact that she wasn’t because,fuck,how was a touch as minuscule as that the hottest thing she had ever experienced? And that look in Nell’s eyes as she had done it? Like she had claimed a small part of her in the process? Yeah, Sarah felt that look in every nerve of her body.

Then, Nell withdrew her hand, and it was gone. Like it had never happened. But the heat remained.

Nell reclined slightly, giving no indication of what she was thinking or what she had taken from that moment.