Evita always had a way of showing up when you least expected it. She was an anomaly among the company. No one really knew her story. There were rumors, of course, but no truth on the matter ever passed her lips.

“Who was that?” Emil asked.

“Evita.”

“What was up with her Morticia Addams look? Or does she think it’s Halloween or something?”

“She always dresses like that. Rumor has it she’s in mourning.”

“Huh?”

“Her husband died or something,” I answered. “So she wears black.”

“I see.”

We were silent for a moment. I wondered what it would be like to have a love so strong that it would transcend even death. I frowned a little, yearning for that level of intimacy and knowing that I’d probably never achieve such a thing.

“So…” Emil tottered on his feet.

“Don’t think this gets you off the hook. You’re going to regret trying to escape.”

He gulped dramatically.

I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a child.”

“You secretly like it, don’t you, Cassandra?”

“You’re delusional,” I growled, snatching his hand and dragging him back home. “I’m going to make sure you don’t run off again.”

“What are you going to do? Shove me inside a cage?” he mocked.

“You should be careful what you wish for,” I whispered, pushing him onto my bed. A second later, I jumped on top of him, smirking down at him, my eyes blazing. My smirk deepened when I saw the look of surprise on his face. “You know, you’re not the only one who can tease.” I leaned down, feigning that I would kiss him. Doing so, his scent wafted up to my nose, turning my mind to mush.

Damn. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

I took a deep breath, becoming intoxicated by the musky scent. I was momentarily dazed, my heart beating fast.

He grinned up at me. “I don’t mind.”

His voice broke me out of my trance. Quickly, I reached into my nightstand, pulled out some handcuffs, and slapped them around his wrists.

“Oh, we doing this the kinky way, huh? I should have known a redhead like you would be into some freaky stuff.” He flashed a dazzling smile, which made my heart pound even harder.

Pushing aside the arousal I felt building up between my legs, I tied him to the headboard and tested the bonds, making sure they were strong enough so that he couldn’t get away again. Once I was satisfied, I got off the bed and headed for the bathroom.

“Hey! What are you doing?” He yanked on the cuffs, making a raucous. “You aren’t just going to leave me here, are you?”

“Pretty much.”

“You can’t do this,” he protested.

“Watch me,” I challenged.

“I’ll scream.”

“Do that, and you’ll be rewarded with a gag.”

“You’re evil,” he accused. “All I want is to have some fun with you, but you’re adamant about making this harder than it needs to be.”

“You seem hard enough to me,” I said, looking at the growing bulge in his pants.

Before he could say anything in response, I disappeared into the bathroom. There, I turned on the shower, getting the water to the perfect temperature. As steam started to fog up the mirrors, I shrugged off my clothes. My skin was covered with goosebumps, sensitive from my lust.

Why was I so turned on by that man?

He was a criminal. It didn’t make sense. And yet, the fire in my stomach had erupted into an inferno, threatening to consume me. I wanted to quench my desire, to just give in and have sex with him, but I couldn’t let that happen. I would never stoop that low.

So I stepped into the shower and let the water wash over my body. I moaned ever so softly, my fingertips dancing against my pussy.

It had been so long since I’d had an intimate relationship. I craved that sense of closeness – the heat that built up in the moment.

But Emil was not the man for me.

He was hot, sure, but that’s all he was. I’d just be wasting my time.

Still, by the time I stepped out of the shower, my cheeks were glowing with a deep pink hue and my thighs were shaking. Slowly, I dried myself off, careful of my sensitive areas. When I slipped on my pajamas, my stiff nipples poked through the thin fabric. I waited for them for them to calm down, but they seemed determined to cut through diamonds.

I thought about putting on a bra, but I detested sleeping with one. So I guess Emil would get a little bit of eye candy.

As expected, he was still lying in my bed. He turned to look at me, his dark eyes shining with lust as he drank in my figure, his lips twitching into a satisfied smirk. “My, my, what do we have here?”

I didn’t bother to respond. Instead, I slipped into bed next to him, my back to him.

“Are you seriously going to ignore me?”

“Yup.”

“You really are evil,” he grumbled. “How am I supposed to sleep like this? It’s not exactly comfortable. Plus, it’s unbelievably cruel to place a beautiful woman in bed with me only to say that I can’t have her.”

“You should have thought about that before you tried to run away.”

“Are you saying that you would have slept with me if I had been a good boy?”

“Maybe.”

“Dammit… Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place?”

I held back a chuckle.

We fell into a silence. Soon enough, I heard his soft, regular breathing. I turned slowly to find him fast asleep. As I watched him, I felt a stirring inside of my chest that I hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

My heart was beating fast. My cheeks burned with blush.

Was I really attracted to this man?