After Happily Ever Afte- Astrid Ohletz Page 0,33

having the power, meant so much. How it had meant everything.

And then, finally, when Natalya had been gasping, on the edge again, voice and nerves raw with want, Alison had entered her for the first time. She had nudged her way between her swollen, wet lower lips with a single, long finger. Slow and gentle, with a tiny, sweet smile on her face, she’d pushed in as far and as deep as she could. And in so doing, she’d discovered Natalya’s darkest secret.

Natalya had tensed because, like the kissing earlier that evening, this was not something she’d done before. Even when alone, she’d never explored much beyond the surface. Without the thrill of power, there had never seemed much point before.

Thanks to her highly active life, Natalya had no idea whether she even still had an intact “virgin’s veil” as they used to call it. So she had lain there, frozen, expecting something—pain, blood maybe… Not everyone experienced these things, but still, she’d tensed, waiting for it.

Alison’s shocked eyes had told Natalya the moment she’d worked it out. Because while Requiem had claimed dozens of women over the years—aggressively, powerfully, confidently—no one had ever taken Natalya.

Nabi had come closest; Requiem had indulged her more than most. But it had still meant nothing and hadn’t crossed her strictest of lines—she’d never allowed such a liberty as kissing or this particular intimacy.

No one had crossed that line until Alison.

Alison had withdrawn her finger and whispered “Oh,” her eyes bright with emotion.

Natalya had found no words sufficient to tell her to stop whatever that look was. How could you put a concept so big into sliced up, rearranged spreads of letters? How could you explain the threats to her body and soul that she’d experienced so young? That in order to feel strong and protected, she’d allowed no one to touch her beyond the superficial?

The act of touching others was nothing to her. Getting people off meant the power was hers, the control hers, and her invincibility was assured. But to allow someone inside you—in every sense—that meant something.

Alison’s hand had cupped Natalya’s reddening face, eyes filled with questions.

Natalya hadn’t been able to explain the heat in her own cheeks. It wasn’t shame. Not embarrassment. Whatever it was, it had burned across her skin, and she’d wrenched her head away. She hadn’t the words for any of this.

But Alison hadn’t wanted her words. Instead she had laid herself across Natalya’s body, pressing her belly, breasts, and thighs against Natalya’s; she’d threaded herself under and through her arms, merging with her. She’d kissed her once more. Thoroughly. Because she now could. Then she’d rocked against her.

Under those delicious, intoxicating, soft kisses that had felt like a fever to Natalya, and against the sweetness of Alison’s body, rhythmically sliding against hers, Natalya had burned from the inside out. She had gradually come apart, gasping in a shuddering orgasm that, for the first time in her life, had absolutely nothing to do with power. It had to do with something else entirely. Something she hadn’t been ready to think about.

“Where were you just now?”

Alison’s voice broke into Natalya’s memories, and she blinked back to the present. Her fingers drifted through the rose petals on the sheets and she glanced up. “That night together. After your concert. When I came back for you.”

There was a nod, like she already knew. Maybe Natalya always had the same distant look on her face each time she thought of that experience.

Alison pushed her flat onto her back, pressing their bodies together. The weight and warmth was reassuring in its familiarity. “I’ve been thinking of you all day,” she said against her throat between feverish kisses, “thinking of all the ways I’m going to have you. All the ways you’ll know you’re mine.”

The words took a moment to penetrate the fog of Natalya’s overheated brain. Her breasts were seized by hot, frantic fingers, and then a tongue and teeth asserted their claim on her.

But Natalya was still stunned. How had she known?

“They can look at you,” Alison was murmuring. “All your fans, outside the Musikverein every night. All those women, all those men who want you. I see their eyes. I’m not blind. I recognise the look. I see it in the mirror every day.”

Alison sucked hard on her nipple, causing Natalya’s back to arch. “I see your eyes too,” she said. There was a pause and only cold air, as her soft lips lifted off Natalya’s breast.

Alison’s knowing gaze met