She let go of Evie’s hands. They hung a moment, touching her skin, before she lowered them and Natalya stepped away.
Evie felt heavier, as though she’d been given a responsibility, which she had in a way. Natalya had put her freedom in Evie’s hands and then trusted her to be careful with it.
Thinking about it, it strangely wasn’t too different from what Natalya had done for Evie. She’d fought to get Evie her freedom. Literally against Stefano and Austin, but also against Varro and the many problems Evie’s liberation had caused for the Court of Chains. She trusted Natalya with her life and her safety. By taking this step, Natalya showed that she trusted Evie just as much.
That realization was awe-inducing. As were the final words Natalya had said. A step that needed to be taken.
She knew what shewantedto do. She’d wanted it in the Second Circle. She’d wanted it for weeks. She wanted it still.
Evie paused at the thought, remembering what Natalya had said just a few hours earlier. About how feeling desire for her was an enforced emotion. She didn’t know how she’d react if she found out Natalya had been right all along. That this attraction she felt was a summoned feeling and not genuine.
Concentrating again, she pushed against the desire. If it really was Natalya’s influence making her feel like this, she needed to know. So she focused and pushed against the want building in her chest, telling herself it was just a simple conjuration. That it wasn’t real. That it was fake.
Nothing happened. Nothing lessened.
Her body still ached from the prospect of being touched by Natalya. Natalya’s purpose may be to summon sexual passion in others, but Evie's desire for her wasn’t a manufactured thing. It came from the certain knowledge that Natalya would never hurt her. That she would do everything in her power to keep Evie safe, even if that meant never seeing her again.
The first time they’d been together, it was an experiment. The next time, an invitation from Natalya. Evie took a deep breath, knowing how she wanted to take this next step.
“Natalya?”
Natalya was picking up her clothes from the floor, her movements graceful and elegant. She turned, her face calm and at ease, and when she smiled, it summoned a similar feeling as when Evie let herself slip from the top of a pole only to halt her descent right before hitting the floor. A sudden surge that made her stomach drop.
Without taking her eyes off Natalya, Evie kicked aside the line of salt she’d drawn in front of the door.
Chapter 22
Seeing the salt line broken felt like the floor had dropped out from under Natalya. It was such a small thing. Just a line of minerals treated with herbs and incantations. For her, it may as well have been an ocean during a storm. Impossible to cross, impossible to influence.
Evie had broken it. And by the expression on her face, she knew what that act meant. She knew what she was inviting.
“Are you sure?” Natalya said, not quite believing what she was seeing.
“I’m sure. It’s real. I felt it. I tried to push against it, and it didn’t lessen. It just…”
Her voice trailed off as Natalya stepped closer to her. She still stood on the other side of the threshold, but they were close enough now that they were sharing air.
Evie struggled with maintaining eye contact. Natalya couldn’t do anything else. She couldn’t help butstareat Evie. At this woman who was breaking all the rules. Who wanted Natalya butdidn’t want to possess her. Who had been so relieved to see her outside the bedroom door while at the same time being angry at her. Who had seen Natalya’s marks, and her first thought hadn’t been how to use them for her own benefit but rather about the risk Natalya would face.
And now, she’d pushed against the desire she felt. Tried to undo the fabrication of yearning Natalya could instill in others with a look or a touch. And she felt the same as before.
Genuine emotion. Genuine desire. Not an ounce of enforced Lust. Not a shred of possessiveness.
Natalya curled a finger around a lock of Evie’s long hair. Vibrant and full. Healthy. She looked so different than she had when Natalya first saw her. Then she’d been a frightened, frail woman Natalya feared was broken beyond repair.
But she had fought. She’d survived. The strength it took to do that after everything she’d been through was incredible. That she’d then dared face Natalya’s wrath in her own domain was beyond courageous. It was unheard of.
This woman was a treasure. She was so certain Natalya wouldn’t hurt her.Natalya, a fiend and a monster. After her time with Varro, she shouldn’t be able to trust anyone like this. And never so genuinely.
“You amaze me,” Natalya said, her voice sounding as astonished as she felt. She tugged on Evie’s hair ever so slightly. It was soft between her fingers. “Kiss me.”
A small request Natalya had never made. For her, a kiss was something to be taken or given. It wasn’t something she asked for.
She was asking Evie. And Evie didn’t hesitate.
Evie threw her arms around Natalya and kissed her. She did it with all her weight, and had Natalya not been as strong as she was, the act would have knocked her backward. Instead, shecaught Evie as she pressed soft lips against Natalya’s and sighed so deeply it sounded like she’d been holding back a breath.
Though its start was desperate, the rest of the kiss was not. It was soft. Gentle and confirming. Filled with want and relief both. It surged through Natalya like a flame along an oiled wick.
