Page 60 of Kiss of Seduction (Court of Chains #1)

Evie glanced back at Natalya, who was pacing the floor of the apartment, on the phone and visibly irritated. Her shoulders were tense, her face twisted with annoyance, and her whispering into the phone sounded a lot like hissing.

Evie couldn’t stop looking at her. Longing. Sighing. Like a lovestruck teen.

Things had been unusual in the weeks since she was almost taken.

She had never experienced Natalya so tender.

So doting and sweet. When she held Evie, which she did whenever they spent any significant time alone, it was gentle.

Her touches were soft, almost unnoticeable.

Her kisses so brief and light they were mere flutters against Evie’s skin.

When they talked, her eyes shined with strange wonder but just as much with worry.

For almost three weeks, she had been so sweet, so gentle, and so, so careful.

In that time, it was like Natalya’s purpose was to care.

For most of those three weeks, Evie had been so unbelievably horny she was close to losing her goddamn mind.

“Something wrong?” Lily asked when Evie stared longingly at Natalya again.

“Nothing’s wrong.” She could tell how unconvincing the words were as soon as they left her lips. Lily frowned, looking concerned. Then her lips tensed as she tried to keep a smile from forming on her face.

“Oh.”

Evie scowled. “Oh… what?”

“I know that look.” Lily lost the fight of trying not to grin. “I’ve worn that look.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t.” Lily glanced at the pendant around Evie’s neck. “Dry spell?”

Evie considered keeping up the ruse. Before, she would have. Before the vampires and the Courts and Natalya. Then she would have kept something as embarrassing as this to herself.

But Lily was smiling knowingly, and Evie was not only hot and bothered. She was hot and so fucking frustrated.

Evie put her face in her hands and groaned. Lily laughed.

“That bad, huh?”

“Worse.” Evie’s voice was muffled against her hands. “She’s being so damn sweet about it too. It doesn’t exactly help.”

“How long?”

Evie looked up at Lily, grimacing with annoyance. “Not since she woke up. So twenty-five days. Thereabouts.”

Lily whistled. “I assume it’s not due to lack of trying on your part?”

Evie had done everything short of putting a sign around her neck reading, ‘Please fuck me, Mistress.’ Not that it would work if she did.

Despite Evie’s near-pleading, Natalya had kept all their time together strictly nonsexual.

It produced such a constant ache in her stomach Evie feared it would turn into a damn ulcer.

“It’s not me, it’s her. She’s scared.”

The word choice surprised Lily. “Natalya? Scared?”

“Maybe not scared, just… apprehensive, I guess.” Evie hugged herself, hunching a little. “I get it. Somewhat, at least. I was pretty shaken after the whole thing with Sam.”

Lily was quiet at that. She’d only met Sam once, but her anger was still obvious. Though not as obvious as Blake’s. When Blake had seen how messed up Flea was, she’d apparently looked like she wanted to go on a murder spree.

Evie hadn’t seen Sam since that day. She hadn’t left the high-rise either. Knowing Varro’s men were near, Evie had quit her dance classes too, meaning she didn’t leave the building anymore. That hurt as much as the friendship with Sam being revealed as a farce.

Evie continued. “But it’s not just me. It’s Natalya too. The last time we were together was a lot. For me and for her.”

“A lot, how?”

A lot in the sense that Evie hadn’t been able to walk properly for two days afterward.

“Natalya had just woken up, and she didn’t have as much control as she thought she should have. I think she’s nervous about slipping like that again. That she’s going to hurt me.”

“Are you afraid of that?”

“No. Not really.” Evie gave Lily a shy smile. “Not in a way I mind, at least.”

She had been frightened the last time. Too frightened, perhaps, but not in a way that had been paralyzing. Not in a way that had dimmed her desire any. In fact, it had increased it, oddly enough.

While she wasn’t sure she wanted to experience Natalya like that again—mostly because of how guilt-ridden Natalya had been afterward—the memory of that day was one laced with excitement rather than fear.

Though it was anxiety-inducing being at the mercy of another person, the feeling turned both freeing and intoxicating when that person was someone you trusted. When that person was Natalya.

“Have you told her?” Lily asked.

“Many times. So many times. And she ensures me it’s not because she doesn’t want to, she just… She worries . It’s getting annoying.”

It wasn’t just annoying. It was confusing. Natalya acted so dotingly, so lovingly, that it started unwelcome hope in Evie’s mind. Hope of what couldn’t be. It distracted her enough that she forgot what they were, with Evie being just a Purple and Natalya being just her protector.

It was too easy to forget those facts and give in to hope when she held Evie in her arms like she was afraid she would vanish if she let go. When she made Evie laugh and the sound made her eyes shine. When she kissed Evie out of sleep in the morning.

Lily looked to be considering something. A piece of advice that carried risk, perhaps. And some mischief, by the glinting look in her eyes.

“There is something you could do.”

“What?” Evie sounded way too hopeful. Then her shoulders sank. “Is it the kneeling thing? You told me about that, and I tried it already.”

That had been particularly embarrassing. Evie kneeling on the floor, all but begging , and Natalya had still refused. She’d just held Evie instead, whispering sweet words in her ear.

“Not that. Remember when I got a bit too drunk at the bar for Aleksander’s liking?”

Lily bit her lip, looking impish. With a glance at Natalya still talking on the phone, Lily leaned in and whispered in Evie’s ear. As Evie listened, her eyes widened.

“That is… No, she would be so upset.”

“Maybe you want her upset.” Lily shrugged, looking pleased with herself. “The punishment could be interesting. Let’s just say that.”

Lily’s grin spoke volumes about how she knew the efficiency of what she’d just suggested.

“I don’t know if I can do that,” Evie said, but she was smiling as she spoke.

She was already planning what she would do. What she would say. What she would be wearing . The nervousness at doing something like it was outweighed by the thought of Natalya’s reaction. Of what could come afterward.

She looked at Lily again, finding her grinning widely. She’d noticed Evie’s excitement.

“You’re a bad influence,” Evie said, laughing.

“Is she?” Natalya’s voice cut through the laughter, ending it in an instant. She was standing right behind Evie, brows raised and with an almost invisible smirk on her lips.

Evie’s face went hot. “Uhm…”

Great response.

“I think I liked you better when you were terrified of everything, Lily. Those were the days.” Natalya gave Lily a sharp look.

She cowered a little, reacting in a way that reminded Evie of how she herself responded to Aleksander.

She often forgot Natalya terrified most people.

Even people she liked and who liked her in turn.

“Sorry, ma’am,” Lily said quietly. She didn’t look sorry.

Natalya held Lily’s gaze a moment longer, releasing her by turning her attention to Evie. Lily let out a small gasp as she did so. Natalya’s eyes were even more piercing to people without Evie’s resistance.

“I’m going to the Second Circle for a few hours.” Natalya ran her fingers through Evie’s hair as she spoke. Evie had noticed she often did that when she was tense. Like the act soothed her.

“Oh…” Evie paused. Natalya had gone before and had never seemed this grave about it. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, darling. You stay here with Lily.” Natalya shot Lily a look. “Whom I trust to be the picture of innocence.”

Lily looked down but, notably, didn’t say anything. Natalya brushed a lock of hair behind Evie’s ear.

“Don’t wait up. It’ll be late before I’m back.” She gave Evie a small smile, brushing a thumb over her lips. It lingered there a moment, pressing gently. Then she pulled away, nearly making Evie sigh.

Once she exited the apartment, Lily gave Evie a sympathetic look.

“That was just mean.” The sympathy waned in favor of mischief. “Want to be mean to her in return?”

Natalya looked over the room covered in feathers, strips of bedsheet, and broken pieces of wood. Torn pillows and sheets littered the floor, and the ornate four-poster bed set in the corner had been reduced to kindling.

“How mad will Aleksander get if I skin Diana without permission?” Natalya said.

“I’m to blame, Lady. I should have stopped her.” Drago was standing behind her, body radiating furious heat. Unsurprisingly, the Wrath fiend angered easily. That he was keeping himself under control spoke of how much he’d improved since he first arrived at the Court of Chains.

“Did you tear one of my private rooms to shreds? Unless you did, it’s not your fault.

” Natalya considered a moment before starting back towards the main hall.

“I’ll confine her to the public spaces for the next month.

Then I’ll reassess the dog and see if she’s allowed off her leash. And she’s paying for the damages.”

“Yes, Lady.” Drago bowed his head. “I’m pleased you’re back.”

She smiled at that. “I’m pleased to be back.”

The familiar energy of the Second Circle was like a chilled drink on a hot day.

She’d ruled this place for almost thirty years.

Though small, confined to just a dungeon, it gave her power that lingered with her as long as she remained in the territory.

Though the building and the Court were Aleksander’s to rule, he didn’t govern the Second Circle. That would always be hers.