Page 101 of The Blade in the Ashes
“Your methods also leave little to the imagination,” Nikolai grumbled, glaring at me as he scanned down the expanse of my body.
My grin grew as I rose to my feet and spun in a tiny circle. “What? You don’t like my dress?”
The bodice was unforgivingly tight, squeezing against the waist I’d magically shrunk to impossible proportions. I’d pulled the skirt up into a bunch, cinched to my belt so that the large majority of my toned thigh was visible. Then a tiny touch of magic had turned my hair into full dark waves, cascading to my waist, lengthened my eyelashes, and rouged my cheeks. The last change had been my eyes. My natural almond shape was too discerning, too knowing, so now they were wonderfully,innocently, doe-eyed.
I was a perfectly corruptible temptress.
Nikolai sighed, placing his hands on his hips as he appeared to consider his next words carefully. “Bird, I love your dress. Truly. In fact, I love your dress so much that I’m very close to abandoning this plan entirely, throwing you onto that bed and not leaving until you’re limp with pleasure. I do not, however, love the idea of watching other men see you in it.”
I snorted, piling gold coins into the satchel on my hip. “You act as if this is the first time I’ve been to a brothel.”
That got his attention.
His brows jerked upwards. “It isn’t?”
I had to bite down on my lip to keep from laughing at the equal sounds of frustration and intrigue in his voice.
“Drunken men will say anything to a woman they think they can bed,” I explained, looking at my reflection once more to ensure everything was perfect. “Taking advantage of that fact is the single easiest way to get information.”
Nikolai stepped closer to me, his heat rolling towards me as hazel eyes crested over my face.
Watching Nikolai watch me was a strange sensation.
He looked at me the same regardless of the face I wore. For others, there would be a momentary pause when they would have to reconcile the person they were seeing with the person they knew I was. Nikolai, though, always seemed to know me. Regardless of the hair color, eye shape, or body type, he saw through to the very soul of me in a way no one else ever seemed to.
“And have you visited these establishments for any other reasons?” His voice was low, creeping over my skin.
I tilted my head up at him, mischief in my smile. “That’s a rather personal question.”
His fingertips traced my jawline, wrapping around the back of my neck and leaving a hum of anticipation coursing through me. “Perhaps I do not wish for there to be secrets between us anymore.”
I paused.
There was a difference between a secret purposefully kept and information not yet shared. And there was so much about each of us that had yet to be shared with each other. For all the heat between us and the history that lingered under our every glance at one another, we were still just a step above strangers.
And as persistent as he had been in his pursuit of me, I couldn’t help but question if he would still want me once he knew every part of me.
“Yes,” I whispered, the confession pouring out of me with uncharacteristic seriousness. “I have been to brothels before forthat.”
He didn’t flinch or hesitate as I had expected him to. If anything, his eyes only darkened in the way they did when he was thinking wicked thoughts. “And were you satisfied by the men you found there?”
“Would it bother you if I had been?”
He chuckled under his breath, his hand snaking over my collarbone to trail over my shoulder. I gulped as his attention focused on my lower lip.
“I care very little about who else you have bedded, my lovely bird. I have no need to as I am quite confident that you enjoyed our time together infinitely more.”
Cocky.
And correct.
He wasn’t the last person I had slept with. I’d had certain dalliances at court over the last year that we’d been apart, but I’d left each of them thinking about the way he’d been able to wring out every ounce of pleasure I could manage. He’d ruined me for anyone else.
That single night with Nikolai had been indescribable.
And the bastard knew it.
“I found satisfaction with the men,” I admitted, then inclined my head. I wondered how far I could push his confidence? How much of myselfcould I expose to him before he turned me away? “And the women, too. Sometimes... together.”
