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“How is that like acting?” I ask.

“I took some acting classes when I first got here to help my stage presence. A lot of it is about calling up past emotions and channeling them into the present. I was horrible at it. My teacher told me I was a block of wood and that I needed more intensive one-on-one training sessions to catch up to the class, but I couldn’t afford them at the time.”

“Are you certain that he wasn’t just trying to upsell his services?”

She shakes her head. “No, I’m self-aware enough to know that he was right. I was awful at acting. If I have to essentially act in order to use my powers . . .”

“You just need practice, ma souris. We will figure out how you can protect yourself. Perhaps you will become even more terrifying than me.”

She laughs again. “Heaven help us all.”

I fucking love her laugh. The things it does to me are as good as any drug. I tip her chin up and say, “I’m going to kiss you again, ma jolie fille. Stop me if you must.”

She doesn’t stop me, just tips her head up further to grant me easier access. I smile and go to take her lips when she whispers, “Julian?”

“Yes, ma souris?”

She bites her lip. “How do I know this is real?”

“How what is real?” I question, confused. I was just going to kiss her. Why is it turning into twenty questions?

“How do I know that you really want to kiss me?” she asks earnestly. “How do I know that you really are attracted to me? I don’t want to be like Helen, making you want me against your will so that you hate me later. You’re enthralled to me. This could be happening when you don’t really want it to.”

I huff a laugh. “Is that all, little siren? I have wanted to have you since the first time I looked into your luminous eyes. Before you even said one word, I was drawn to you. Having you in my bed, little mouse, is not against my will. It is because of it.”

Andi’s face has gotten closer and closer to mine as I talk, like a magnet to a lodestone. Her lips are a breath away, and those blue-purple eyes of hers shine in the dark.

“I’m still mad you threw me in a dungeon,” she whispers, tilting her head.

“Then make me pay for it, Andi. I can take your punishment.”

Then her lips are on mine, her kiss fervent and full of passion.

Finally.

Chapter 21

Andi

As I kiss Julian, punishment is the last thing on my mind. All I can think of is need, his and mine. The flutters in my belly move south, and I can feel myself getting wet just from his kiss. I push myself closer to him, opening my mouth to let him in, and his tongue begins to tangle sinuously with mine in a seductive dance. My breasts push against his chest, the nipples hardening into points under my dress, and I mewl a little at the sensation of moving against his bare skin.

Julian doesn’t let me control the kiss for long, however. Soon, he is rolling me onto my back, pressing me deliciously into the soft mattress. One of his hands reaches down and begins gathering my skirt, exposing my legs to the air. A warning bell goes off in my mind. That we may be moving too fast, but I ignore it, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him harder. Our makeout session is hot and heavy, making me feel alive, and I need that after all the horrible things that happened tonight. His other hand skirts along the edge of my neckline, playing with the lace there, before teasing a strap down my shoulder, the tips of his fingers leaving a fiery sensation in their wake. I’ve enjoyed a makeout as much as the next girl, and I’m certainly no virginal prude, but the way my body is completely lighting up under the barest of his touches is something that I've never experienced before. Our chemistry is electrifying. I arch harder into his chest and grab onto his back, my dull nails biting a little into his skin.

He huffs a laugh against my lips. “It would seem that my little mouse has claws. Perhaps you are a cat, after all.”

“I’m whatever you want me to be,” I say, chasing his lips so that I can kiss him again.

“No, ma souris,” he says, hitching his large hand around my thigh and pulling it up so that it rests on his hip, “you are so much more.”

I melt a little at his words. I shouldn’t. This could all be manipulation to get into my pants, but somehow I believe that Julian means them. His fingers tease along the waist of my underwear, the lacy briefs that I picked out this morning.

“May I continue?” He asks, a dark promise in his words that makes me get even wetter.

“I shouldn’t let you,” I say, halfway teasingly, halfway serious. This is ill-advised, but I’m not going to stop. “Maybe that’s your punishment. Maybe you can look but not touch.”

My hands leave his back, and I slide them seductively down my body, teasing my own skin and the sides of my breasts, until they rest at the edge of my underwear. When I know that I have his undivided attention, I slip my fingers under the lace, finding my warm, wet core and begin massaging, all while huffing out a breathy moan.

Julian groans. “A harsh punishment, indeed, ma souris. But why punish yourself? Let me do the honors, and I will take no release of my own. Let me pet your pretty petit chat and feel you come on my fingers.”