Page 20 of Kiss of Seduction (Court of Chains #1)

It was just as Evie predicted. The words were out, the first domino had fallen, and now she couldn’t stop.

She told Natalya of when Stefano approached her at the Love Light.

Of how she’d woken up in her chamber cell at Varro’s estate, weak and with blood running down her neck.

Of how terrified she’d been of Natalya the first time she saw her, and then in the car and the office too.

When Evie kept clutching her hand, Natalya moved them over to sit on the couch rather than stay at the dining table.

Evie didn’t share any specifics about her time at Varro’s. It hurt too much to talk about. She mainly talked about her life before, and then Natalya wanted to know everything. They talked for hours, long past midnight.

When Evie asked questions in return, Natalya was reluctant to talk about the time before she settled in Chicago. A darkness came over her then, making it clear it was a time better left alone. Though one topic gnawed at the back of Evie’s mind.

“Did you ever have someone? Like I had Amanda?” she asked after several hours of conversation.

“In a way,” Natalya said dismissively. “The first human who summoned me. I haven’t had someone like that since.”

“Not Aleksander?”

“I’m closer to Aleksander than anyone, but no. The Sin I was made for is Lust. My purpose in this world is to bring pleasure to the humans who would summon me. Even without being bound, that infernal purpose remains.”

Natalya looked away, face hard. “It’s a cruel trick, really.

I’m unbound, but unbound to do what? Unless I remain in perfect control, humans can’t touch me without suffering pain or death.

Supernaturals are resistant, but I can’t bond with them.

They may as well be made of stone for all the good it does me. I was made to want what I can’t have.”

Evie was quiet at that. She bit her lip, wondering if she should say what she was thinking.

“Something’s on your mind,” Natalya said, having noticed her hesitance. Evie took a deep breath before finding enough courage to speak.

“I’ve touched you. And I wasn’t hurt. Even when you weren’t ready for it.”

When Natalya didn’t say anything, Evie quickly looked away from her.

“I just mean… If I can, I’m sure others can too. There are probably a lot of people like me.”

“There’s no one like you, Evie.”

Those words caused a rush of strange longing to flow through her body. A warm, forgotten feeling. She turned away, hugging herself.

“There are other Seraphics.” Evie’s hand went to her ribs, touching her tattoo through her clothes. “The Night Queen of the South-West has one, and I heard the King of Italy has a few.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Natalya put a hand on hers. “It took bravery to leave Varro, especially with how afraid you were. I admire you for doing that.”

“You shouldn’t. I almost took you to him.” Evie was still ashamed about that. She’d intended to go to the nightrooms and tell Varro everything. “I fought you in the car. I tried to go back.”

“But you didn’t. You left, with me. And when we got here, and you were given your freedom, you made it your own. You found work. You found friends. Those things aren’t easy. They take strength to do.”

The words, combined with Natalya’s hand still resting on Evie’s, summoned another forgotten feeling. Pleasant fluttering in her stomach. It was only made more insistent from Natalya’s touch spreading tingling warmth through her arm.

“I’m glad you found me,” Evie said quietly. “Even though you scared me at first.”

As they continued to look at each other in silence, Evie cleared her throat.

“And I’m sure there’s someone out there for you.”

“I have yet to find anyone I can be with. That I want to be with. It’s not a simple thing for me.”

Natalya sounded dejected and she leaned away from Evie, ending the touch and the wonderful warmth.

She seemed lost in memory. It made it a little easier to let out the thoughts that had loomed in the back of Evie’s mind ever since that night in the kitchen.

Thoughts that made her toss and turn and horribly wonder .

“But you do feel attraction.” Evie’s heart started pounding against her ribs when Natalya turned to her again. “Or at least you… you could .”

Natalya narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at her with keen interest. And something deeper Evie wasn’t sure how to identify.

“I can. And I do.”

Her words were followed by silence. Heavy, loaded, electric silence. It was like it held the thousands of sparks Natalya could produce with a simple touch.

“What are you asking?” Natalya said.

Evie’s breath had turned shaky. She was scared of this, she realized.

Desire had been connected to pain and fear for so long that it was difficult to separate it.

But she wanted to. She wanted to reach over and touch Natalya.

She wanted Natalya to touch her. And not in the soothing way she had done so many times before.

“I think you know.”

“Evie, listen to me.” Natalya took her hand again. There was no sensation other than the warmth of her skin. “I don’t want you to think you need to repay me for staying here. Especially not in that way.”

“No, that’s not why. I just…”

There was tension all through Evie’s body, preparing her for coldness and pain.

It was overcome by the warmth of Natalya’s hand.

By the many times Evie had caught herself looking at Natalya and wondering, silently, how it would feel to touch her like a lover would.

How it would feel to have Natalya do the same to her.

“Do you remember what you told me in your office? About the next time I kissed someone, it should be because I wanted to.”

“You’re scared.”

“I am. But I’m not scared of you.”

Natalya stayed quiet, and the silence was awful. Embarrassing and humiliating. Evie was inviting nothing but painful rejection with what she was saying.

Why would Natalya even consider this? Gorgeous and powerful as she was, she could have anyone. And here Evie was, broken and messed up and covered in scars, asking to kiss her. It seemed both so pathetically small and overwhelmingly huge at the same time.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Natalya said then.

More silence. A longer one. Tenser and filled with anticipation. Maybe Evie was telling herself it was like that. Maybe she was imagining things.

But if Natalya didn’t want to, wouldn’t she just say that? Rather than worry?

“You won’t hurt me,” Evie said, voice almost inaudible.

Natalya kept looking at her, violet eyes shining. She didn’t break eye contact, didn’t move away. Didn’t take her hand off Evie’s.

“This stops if you become unresponsive.” Natalya’s voice had a new tone to it. A commanding cadence. Hearing it made an excited shiver run down Evie’s spine.

“If you feel pain or start to feel weak, you let me know,” Natalya said. “Bite me, hit me, or yell. Whichever is easiest.”

Evie was so tense her muscles hurt. She was shaking, and it was making her breathing uneven. It would probably make her voice tremble if she spoke.

When she didn’t say anything, Natalya leaned closer to her. “Do you understand?”

“I understand.” Surprisingly, her voice didn’t waver in the slightest. Her gaze flicked from Natalya’s eyes to her mouth and then back again. She was just as tense as Evie.

She had seen Natalya be many things. Frightening, stern, worried. She hadn’t seen her nervous. It hadn’t occurred to her that Natalya could be scared. Scared of hurting her.

After a long moment, moving slowly and with great hesitation, Natalya leaned forward.

She paused when her lips were an inch from Evie’s, warm breath hitting her skin.

A scent of lavender engulfing her. Then Natalya closed the gap, pressing against Evie’s lips in a touch that was so light it was barely there.

The act was unlike any kiss Evie had ever had. At first, she only noticed how soft Natalya’s lips were. How perfectly they molded to fit hers. Then she noticed the same tingling sensation that always came when Natalya touched her. A soothing, familiar feeling that filled her with calm.

Natalya deepened the kiss, tongue easing into Evie’s mouth. There was a tightening in her muscles as an otherworldly calm rushed through her, meeting resistance in her body. It dismantled the tenseness limb by limb, leaving her feeling warm and alert. A startling feeling. Evie let out a small gasp.

Natalya quickly pulled away. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” Evie said breathlessly.

“You don’t feel weak at all?”

“No.” Evie could taste Natalya on her lips. Smell her lavender scent.

There was a tension building between her legs. She’d felt it faintly a few times since she moved into the high-rise. Desire and want. Before, she’d ignored the feeling. Now she didn’t want to.

“Can I touch you?” Evie asked.

Natalya looked hesitant. It wasn’t until Evie noticed her quickened breathing that Evie realized why. She’d been holding back. She was still scared.

Even now, all Natalya worried about was if Evie was hurt. She took a deep breath.

“I’m okay, Natalya.”

Natalya was quiet for a long moment before she nodded, her body still rigid. “Be careful.”

Slowly, Evie reached out and touched Natalya’s arm.

Sudden energy, like a spark of static electricity, rushed through her hand.

It left a faint tingling sensation that was as strange as it was pleasant.

With her other hand, she ran her fingers up through Natalya’s long brown curls.

When she reached her shoulder, Evie put her hand on Natalya’s neck and drew herself into a kiss.

Evie took a sharp intake of breath as their lips met. A piercing surge rushed through her, more intense than before. It sharpened her senses, and the tingling in her fingers expanded to take over her entire body. She tightened her grip on Natalya, letting out a soft moan.

Natalya abruptly ended the kiss. “You’re still frightened.”

“I’m fi—” Evie stopped herself. She’d almost said she was fine. Natalya looked serious.