Page 4 of Kiss of Seduction (Court of Chains #1)

Evie was doing her best to remain calm. She’d been taken to one of the guest rooms to await her temporary owner, and she was on the verge of panicking. Why did Dominic have to pick her to entertain and not someone else? If she hadn’t danced, Natalya would have never even looked at her.

Now she was forced to wait behind a locked door for that doom of a woman.

For hours she’d be Natalya’s. For hours, Natalya would feed on her, whatever the hell that meant. At least with vampires, Evie knew what to expect. She could prepare herself for it and shut down before it happened. This was new. Awfully new.

What was it Natalya had said? That there’d be a mess? Worse than when Stefano fed on her even? He’d gotten the habit of using tools other than his teeth to open her up before drinking from her.

Pushing down the fear, Evie arranged herself in a somewhat inviting pose on the bed. She was still in the red lingerie, the lace matching nicely with her green eyes and the black silk sheets. She rolled over on her side so she could show off her body when Natalya came in.

She did not want to show off. She wanted to hide from that woman and her strange, horrible gaze, but then Natalya would report her to Varro as insufficient entertainment. That thought was more frightening.

When the door finally opened to allow Natalya entry, Evie put on a sweet smile that withered the second Natalya looked at her. Her eyes shined scarlet, and the fear Evie had tried to suppress surged into her chest. She quickly looked at the floor.

“I’m here to serve you.” Evie’s voice was little more than a squeak.

Natalya was dead quiet, and the silence was almost worse than looking at her and then at least having an idea if she was upset or not.

Evie wasn’t selling this right. Natalya would be disappointed, and then she’d get angry. Evie knew what happened when these monsters got angry. People died when that happened, or they wished they had.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Natalya’s voice was firm and assertive. The words heightened Evie’s fear.

Shortly after Stefano procured her for Varro, a guest had told her the exact same thing. He’d had her for hours. By the end, her throat was so raw from screaming she couldn’t make any noise.

“Evelyn,” Natalya said sharply, and Evie snapped to attention. She was used to obeying when she heard her name.

Natalya stood right in front of her, and Evie stared at the stylish white shirt she wore under a form-fitting suit jacket, not daring to look anywhere else. She laughed to clear the tension, and it came out shrill.

“I’m fine.” Her voice was trembling. She could mask it as anticipation. She could pretend she was just excited. “I’ve been waiting for so long. I was all alone. I was going to think about you and pleasure myself until you—”

“Quiet.” Natalya put her hands on Evie’s face, forcing Evie to look up at her. Her blazing scarlet eyes surged into Evie’s, and she couldn’t remember ever being so scared in her life. Fear filled her completely, dreadful and panic-inducing. She was too frightened to even scream.

Natalya held her firmly, making it impossible for Evie to look away. She caressed her skin. Her hands were warm.

“Breathe.”

Evie drew in a small breath, and as she released it, a wave of calm rolled through her. It was like an ocean had come and washed away the fright that threatened to consume her only a moment ago.

With each exhale, the knot of terror in her chest grew smaller, and her breaths became less shallow.

“Breathe deeper.” As further direction, Natalya took a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly. Evie followed the rhythm, and the tension in her shoulders loosened. Her body started to relax.

Natalya gave Evie a soft smile that didn’t match her sharp features. Someone that dangerously beautiful should not look soft.

“That’s it. Well done.” Natalya was about to say something more when she lost her balance and stumbled. Her hands left Evie’s face to grab the side of the bed. She only just kept herself standing.

Without Natalya touching her, Evie immediately tensed up again. Fear simmered in her chest, but it wasn’t the overwhelming panic she’d experienced a moment before. It was a muted feeling, not unlike what she always felt when servicing a guest. It was fear she was used to.

Natalya’s hands clutched the side of the bed, her body tense with the effort of keeping herself upright. She was gasping, and she looked exhausted. Evie’s mouth fell open.

Natalya was breathing .

The realization made a difference. For so many months, every creature she’d been made to service had been an icy husk of a person. They were too corpse-like, the proximity of a stranger’s body so much worse when they were cold and quiet.

“Are you okay?” Evie asked.

Natalya tried to smile, and it transitioned into a pained grimace. “Forcing emotion is more difficult than enhancing it. It tired me, and I was already spent.”

Forcing emotion? She’d forced Evie to be calm? Why had her being calm mattered?

Not knowing what to do with the information, Evie returned to the routine she’d learned and mastered over the past year. If her charge was tired, she was supposed to help them relax.

She sat up on the bed. Hearing movement, Natalya looked up, and her eyes went straight to Evie’s, making her pause. Evie swallowed, swung her legs off the bed, and put one on either side of Natalya’s hips.

She moved slowly so Natalya could take in her toned legs and abdomen. Guests often ignored her face in favor of her body. It made it easier somehow, which meant Natalya’s insistence on keeping eye contact was even more disconcerting.

“If you’re tired, I can help you,” Evie said, keeping her voice low. “I can make you feel good.”

“I’m sure you can. I’m sure you can do a lot of things. Right now, you need to leave me alone.”

That was new. Guests never asked her to leave them alone, not after they called for her. Some had made her run from them in the gardens, turning it into a chase, and some had told her to be quiet while they used her. She didn’t know what to do when someone told her to stay away.

Maybe Natalya just wanted to look at Evie some more. Evie went to undo the clasp of her bra.

“ Stop .” Natalya’s voice was tight, and Evie froze for a moment. She lowered her hand to the bed, accidentally setting it on Natalya’s.

A powerful surge of emotion rolled through Evie at the touch. It was like in the parlor, where every feeling she’d muted and pushed away was brought to the surface, except much more intense. She screamed, more from shock than pain, and pulled her hand away.

“What was that?” Evie asked, forgetting herself.

“A jolt to your senses,” Natalya said, sighing. “It’s one thing to control my gaze when I’m this spent. I didn’t expect you to touch me.”

She frowned at Evie. “A touch like that should have sent you running in a panic. It should have hurt. Did it?”

Evie inspected her fingers. They felt the same, except there was a tingling sensation that was quickly fading.

“No. It didn’t.”

Natalya narrowed her eyes, looking Evie over with newfound interest. Then she turned her head, hearing or sensing something outside the room. Her face twisted into a grimace.

“Stefano is nearby. He found someone else to have his fun with.”

Her scarlet eyes were turning a darker shade of red, but there were traces of violet in them too. As the minutes passed, the scarlet waned in favor of mostly purple.

Evie sat awkwardly on the mattress. Guests ignoring her for a time was common enough, but then they always gave her something to do.

Like pose in a specific manner, or they made her dance.

Sitting on the bed so close to Natalya, doing nothing , filled Evie with dread.

A dissatisfied guest meant Stefano got to use his pliers.

“You’re afraid,” Natalya said, and Evie flinched. Natalya was looking at her again, eyes bright and intense, but they didn’t drill into her anymore. Evie gave her best attempt at a flirtatious smile.

“I’m not afraid.” She got on her stomach and splayed out on the mattress, raising her hips slightly so her ass stuck in the air. “I’m just waiting for you to be ready.”

“I see… I assume this is what Varro has selected to be your purpose. To entertain him and his guests?”

“Oh, yes. Whatever you want of me, I’ll do,” Evie said, relieved. If Natalya could just get on with it, she could stop feeling so anxious. She knew it would come. It always did. Better it did on her terms.

“You came from Chicago as I heard it,” she continued. “That’s a long journey. You must be tired. I can help you relax.”

Please , Evie thought. Anything but this horrible waiting.

Natalya looked to be considering something. Then she gestured Evie over.

She returned to Natalya’s side of the bed, moving sensually and slowly. No women had requested her while at Varro’s, so any experience with it would come from her previous life.

The thought stung. Evie had only ever been with women before she came to Varro’s estate and only men afterward. To bring memories of that old life into this one felt wrong, but it couldn’t be helped. She couldn’t refuse.

She wondered what Natalya would do. Sometimes guests liked to kiss her before moving on to other things. Feed on her was guaranteed, however she’d do that.

Evie’s hands started trembling.

“Easy.” Natalya gathered up a bedsheet and put it around Evie’s shoulders. Her breath hitched as Natalya’s fingers brushed against her skin, producing a barely present tingling sensation.

Natalya bundled up the sheet so it covered Evie’s body completely. She had to physically grab Evie’s hands to get her to wrap it around herself.

“Your name is Evelyn.” Natalya glanced down at her now-covered tattoo.

More confused than frightened, Evie nodded.

“Is that your real name or one they gave to you?”

“My real name.”

“You flinch every time someone says it. Is there something else you want to be called?”