Page 28 of Obsession & Oath

Come on, Carmen, be logical. You’re smarter than this.

I need something. I need a…reason. Yes. A justification. Does it matter that I’m coming up with it after the fact? Probably. But…if I could just…

“Then come back here.”

There is no mistaking the undertone of desperation in his tone. The longing, the want. Despite everything, I’m appealing to him.

I can work with this.

I can…

God. I can seduce him, can’t I? I can use my traitorous,curiousbody to my advantage and offer him something so he keeps coming back. Something so that he keeps slipping up and feeding me pieces of information that I can utilize to make my escape.

He holds the key to my cage. I could pluck it right from his sleeping, satiated hand after a night of…inexperienced, non-penetrative sex with a virgin.

I might need to workshop this a bit more.

But it’s a start. And if there’s something Idoknow a lot about, it’s about how to remain flirtatiously unavailable.

Seduction at a distance it is.

“I don’t think I will,” I take another step back so that the backs of my thighs press against the mattress of my bed.

Dante seems to take the movement as a personal assault. “You forget that I can open up this cell.”

“And what exactly is it that you’d be coming in for?” I force myself to keep my tone light and take a seat. “I think the moment might have passed now, and I’m not in the mood to be accosted by my captor.”

I see some of the tension leaving his shoulders and panic.

“No matter how attractive he is.”

This perks him back up a little. His arms slide through the bars to dangle at my side.

“Well, I think I’d be curious to learn how you could have gone so long touching yourself without describing it aspleasure.”He tilts his head slightly, a crooked smile that does little to offset the intensity of his eyes.

I bite at my lip as an insane idea begins to form in my mind.

“There’s no need for you to come in for that.” I try for nonchalance, but it comes out too breathy. “You can watch from there.”

And oh, how his jaw goes slack. All pretense of casualness evaporates from his posture.

“Carmen.”

Before I can mentally talk my way out of it, I slide a hand across my chest, curving my fingers around the swell of my breast as they journey south.

The clothes they provided me were basic and thin—glorified pajamas in a dull gray, complete with an elasticated waist on the pants. There’s no way he misses the outline of my taut nipple through the fabric.

“Carmen.”

Emboldened, my hand plays with the top of my pants and the other tugs at the bottom of my tee, balling it up to expose a sliver of bare midriff, giving him a perfect view of the moment my fingers slip beneath the elasticated waist.

I can feel the flush of my cheeks as I get close enough to feel the wetness already pooling between my legs. A small whimper escapes my lips.

This is my first mistake.

Unable to look at his face, my gaze travels down to where his legs press against the bars. To where they perfectly frame the bulge of his crotch.

An insidious thought courses through me at a speed I’m unprepared for.

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