Page 17 of Kiss of Seduction (Court of Chains #1)

“No way!” Blake said. “You did not do that.”

Evie grinned. “Stilettos are pointy. And the bouncer wasn’t within earshot. Guy had to hobble out of the club.”

“Good grief.” Flea cringed, his hand going near his groin as if to protect it from an onslaught of sharp heels. “Don’t say stuff like that. You’ll give her ideas.”

“Yeah, she is,” Blake said. She was lying on one of Natalya’s couches, her head in Flea’s lap. “Great ideas.”

“They’ll have to wait. I’m winning tonight.”

Blake slapped his thigh. “No, you’re not.”

“Oh, really?” Flea held up a gold coin, running it over his knuckles. “Then why do I have this?”

“Because you stole it, you dickhead!” Blake tried to grab the coin, but Flea yanked it away. A squabble ensued, with Blake and Flea scratching each other for possession of the coin.

“You’re acting like children,” Lily chided. She was sitting next to Evie on the couch opposite the bickering couple.

Blake scowled at Flea, having managed to pry the coin away from him.

“I’ll remember you did that. And thanks to Evie, I know just how to show my annoyance.”

Flea pulled her onto his lap, laughing into her hair. “Please, no! I was just teasing.”

“Fuck you,” Blake said, but she was smiling. She gave Flea a kiss, biting his lip when he tried to steal the coin out of her hand.

Evie laughed at the couple playfighting. In the weeks since Stefano’s attack, she’d gotten a habit of inviting Blake and Lily over when the two women had a window to see her. That evening, Blake had brought Flea, and the two almost never stopped squabbling.

Evie noticed Lily looking at them. She was smiling, but the sadness in her eyes made it look pitiful. Evie nudged her shoulder.

“You alright?”

“It’s nothing.” She looked back at the dining table where Natalya and Aleksander were sitting. “I just miss him. We haven’t been together in a while. Everything’s been so busy.”

Evie followed her gaze. Natalya and Aleksander were engaged in conversation, sitting next to one another so they could face the couches Evie and her guests were sitting on. The vampire was as imposing as ever, his face dour and dark.

In the time Evie had lived in Natalya’s apartment, the King of Chains had been there several times. He barely looked at her, and Evie still tensed whenever she saw him.

“Aren’t you scared of him?”

“He’s scary.” Lily smiled, the sadness fading from her face. “But he doesn’t scare me. He did at first, and sometimes he does frightening things. But he wouldn’t hurt me.”

Evie’s eyes trailed to the fresh bite marks on Lily’s wrist.

“I don’t mind that he feeds on me,” she said, having noticed the look. She blushed. “I like it, actually. He’s always careful, even when he pretends not to be.”

“He scares me ,” Evie admitted. “They all do. A little, at least.”

“Even Natalya?”

“Not Natalya.” Evie thought about the pouch of salt she still slept with every night. Since the evening in the kitchen weeks before, she considered it a charm. Like holding it would keep the strange thoughts about Natalya at bay. It didn’t really work. “Not all the time.”

“If you’re scared, you should talk to her. Let her know if you need some distance. Natalya can be harsh, but if she’s scaring you, I’m sure—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Evie interjected. “I just need to get used to things being different. And Georgina says I’m doing fine, so…”

She didn’t share what was really going on. That the sessions with Georgina had turned into hours of spiteful small talk as the therapist tried to get Evie to open up about the Varro discussions. About how they made her feel .

Occasionally patrol members would come and ask Evie about certain names and words.

They still didn’t know why Varro wanted her so badly, and there had been so many conversations she’d overheard at his estate.

Recounting them was painful, and while it provided interesting information for the Chains, they still weren’t satisfied.

Evie didn’t want to be introspective. She was fine behind the emotional wall she’d built up for herself.

“I don’t know what you went through, Evie,” Lily said. “But it’s okay to not be fine.”

“It’s okay to be fine too,” Evie bit. “And it’s easy. It doesn’t hurt to be fine .”

Lily was about to respond when Blake interrupted.

“Bastard!”

The gold coin she and Flea were fighting over had fallen on the floor and rolled towards Evie.

“Don’t use the stiletto thing.” Evie picked up the coin and flipped it to Blake. “Save it for when he really annoys you.”

Flea sulked, and Blake laughed. “I like you, Atkins. Or Anderson. Whichever.”

“Just Evie. The last name thing makes me sound like an agent.”

“After the stiletto story, I’d say you’d kill it in the field.” Flea fidgeted in his seat. “Just thinking about it hurts. Damn.”

As they laughed, Evie glanced back at the dining table and stilled. Natalya was looking at her, her eyes keen and intent. She was still speaking with Aleksander, but her attention was entirely on Evie.

Evie quickly turned away, trying to ignore the sensation of violet eyes burning into the side of her head. She got the sudden feeling she’d done something wrong, and Natalya was upset about it.

“You know people draw lots for the privilege of guarding you during your classes?” Flea said, reclaiming her attention. “Everyone wants it. The night teams are annoyed they can’t have the gig.”

Evie raised an eyebrow, smirking at Flea. Her usual confidence was easily summoned in the present company. “Are people that desperate for a show?”

“Not just a show. Your show.” Flea looked at Lily. “Have you seen Evie dance? It’s wild. It’s like she forgets gravity exists.”

“I haven’t,” Lily said, smiling more warmly now. “That would be a sight, though. If you’re impressing Flea, you must know what you’re doing.”

Evie couldn’t help but return the smile, adding a cocky tilt to it.

She’d never been good with compliments when they concerned her as a person.

Comments of her being sweet, or pretty, or anything like that felt hollow, and she tended to dismiss them as a result.

But dancing was a skill, one she knew she was good at.

“I’ll have to bring you along sometime.” Evie grinned at Lily. “I’ll give you a private lesson. I’d love to see you flounder around on a pole.”

“Can we come?” Flea asked excitedly. He pinched Blake in the side. “I love nothing more than watching her flounder.”

“You are talking way too much for someone destined to lose later today,” Blake said sharply. “And I’ll make you lose a lot .”

“Is that a promise?” Flea smiled with so much adoration it made Evie’s heart hurt a little.

“It’s a threat.” Blake returned the smile, the expression warm despite her cutting tone. Though their words were mean, those two were so disgustingly in love it had ruined them for other people.

“Normally, I’d blame this behavior on them moving to the Blue Ribbons last solstice, but they’re always like this,” Lily whispered. She hadn’t needed to. Blake and Flea were too busy threatening each other to hear her.

Evie furrowed her brows. “Blue Ribbons?”

Lily pulled at the silver pendant around her neck. Blake had one just like it, except hers was tinted blue. “It’s called a Ribbon contract. A human signs one to be Claimed and protected by a member of the Court. Some contracts let a member feed on you, while others let them… you know.”

Evie leaned back at the words. She’d heard Lily mention the contracts before, but she’d left out the Claiming part, as well as the other details. “Why would you want that?”

Lily glanced at Blake, who was laughing at something Flea had said. She looked happy. She didn’t look cowed or frightened. And neither did Lily, for that matter.

“Would I need to be…” Evie stopped herself. She couldn’t make herself say the word ‘Claimed.’ The thought of someone owning her in any way was frightening.

“You’re here as a guest. No one expects you to enter the contracts.” Lily smiled calmingly, but it turned a bit stiff at the end. “But people are talking. About you and Natalya. She’s never had someone stay with her this long before. Given what Natalya is, people are assuming she’s using you for—”

“She’s not,” Evie said quickly. “Nothing’s going on.”

When she’d first come to Chicago, the subject of sex had only come up in relation to her nightmares. Then once, after several weeks, Evie had found herself gazing after a woman she saw on the street. Not in a desiring way. Just with a faint appreciation she’d forgotten she could feel.

Then Evie found herself thinking of not being alone in her bed.

Of having someone next to her, holding her.

At first, the person had Amanda’s features.

Then they sometimes had Natalya’s. They were innocent thoughts, really.

After the night in the kitchen weeks before, her thoughts were far from innocent.

They confused her. They frightened her too. Mostly, they filled her with a strange yearning she hadn’t felt since before she was procured for Varro and which she couldn’t bring herself to do anything about. And no matter how much she tried, pushing the feeling away didn’t help.

Evie touched her lips. They had started tingling.

“Would you like there to be?” Lily said, quietly enough that only Evie could hear. “Something going on, I mean.”

Evie opened her mouth to object, but the words got stuck in her throat.

“I don’t know,” she said instead. “It’s confusing. It’s scary.”

“I understand.”

“No, you don’t. You really don’t.” Evie said it harshly. Probably harsher than she should have. Lily’s only reaction was to stay quiet for a moment before speaking again.

“Have you talked to Natalya about it?”

“She’s already doing so much.” Evie scoffed. “I doubt she’ll want to help me sort out my feelings too.”

“You’re thinking too poorly of her. She helped me when I first got to Court, and she didn’t even like me. She likes you.”