Chapter 40

Returning homewith Natalia sitting in her passenger seat, Sam felt like she’d been gone for a month. She hadn’t anticipated that the dynamic between her and Natalia could change over the course of a few days.

She should have guessed that Natalia wouldn’t do anything the way other people did. Not even the getting-to-know-each-other part. Instead of a slow, steady road toward sharing the hurts and joys that blended together to make them who they were, Natalia had poured hers out like a waterfall. In retrospect, it made perfect sense.

Engaging her power of self-control, she tried not to wonder if things would change now that they were out of their little Keys bubble. Tried not to worry that Natalia would pull away.

She wanted to ask more questions. To delve deeper into the beauty and pain that made Natalia the formidable and unstoppable force that she was. But she demonstrated restraint instead. Natalia would tell her more if and when she was ready.

An ache started in the pit of her stomach when she turned down her street. It spread into her chest and took control of her mouth when she pulled into her driveway. “You don’t have to go, you know.”

Natalia turned her head, eyes shielded behind sunglasses she didn’t need when the sun was minutes from setting. “Do you think I’m going to pull up my U-Haul, Professor?”

Laughing, Samantha shifted into park. “It’s still early.” She leaned over the center console, inhaling Natalia’s perfume before kissing her cheek. “And maybe I’m not ready to let go of you yet.”

“So clingy,” Natalia said with a sigh, but kissed her lips before opening the door.

Instead of demanding that Sam release her vehicle so she could retreat to her castle, Natalia sauntered out of the car and toward the front door. Making no effort to hide her grin, Sam followed, an overt bounce in her step.

“I suppose I’ll let you feed me dinner before I go,” Natalia said, like she was bored. Like it didn’t mean anything that they’d just spent so much time together, but it hadn’t been enough.

Sam unlocked the door for her before turning back to the car to unload their bags. It took all of her focus not to whistle. Not to let hope get away from her.

When the sushi she ordered arrived, Natalia had made herself at home on Sam’s couch and was working on her phone. The warmth in Sam’s chest while she poured them two glasses of chilled sake was unbearable in the best way.

She loved how comfortable Natalia looked in her home. How mortal. After laying out the colorful sashimi spread, Sam raised her glass to Natalia.

“Are we toasting to your movie deal?” Natalia’s dark eyes were sharp and focused. “Or are you taking back your dramatic offering?”

Sam laughed, leg tucked under herself while she sat next to Natalia on the couch. “You think I’d throw that out there and not mean it?” She sipped her sake.

“You were having a rather magnanimous moment.” Natalia shrugged and extended her chopsticks toward a piece of toro. “Perhaps you’re having seller’s remorse.”

Propping her elbow on the couch, Sam shook her head. “I always mean what I say, Ms. Flores. I’m not one to take things back.”

Natalia’s response was a skeptical rumble in her throat. After a bite of seaweed salad, she verbalized the sound into proper speech. “I’m not saying this to you as your agent. Let me be clear. I cannot give you any compromised advice?—”

“Disclaimer noted,” Sam said before reaching for the spicy yellowtail.

“Have you considered developing a film treatment?” Natalia picked up a sliver of pickled ginger. “It may be a good idea to have a clear picture in your mind before you start sitting down for meeting after meeting.”

Sam cocked her head to the side, skin warm and stomach fluttering. “Are you trying to look out for me?”

“Jesus, don’t make it weird.” Natalia sipped her drink and leaned back. “After you’ve made such a big deal about being in the driver’s seat, you might want to know where the hell you’re going.”

Despite her best efforts, Sam couldn’t completely swallow her grin, goofy as she was sure it was. Natalia showed her affection with actions rather than words. It was sweet and only marginally intimidating.

“If pushed, I suppose I can admit that I have a vision for the project,” she replied coyly before taking another piece.

Natalia waited expectantly for Sam to elaborate. After eating most of their dinner, she finally relented. “Well, are you going to tell me, or are you precious about that too?”

“Precious, huh?” Sam laughed, reaching for the bottle of sake to refill their glasses. “Is that what you call me behind my back?”

Natalia’s glare grew out of the permafrost preserving dinosaur DNA. The tip of her eyebrow flicked, signaling her lack of amusement.

“I’m thinking it could go one of three ways.” Sam handed her the fresh glass. “A focus on the origin story. We go back to the very beginning. Lilith emerging from the primordial chaos, dissatisfied with her second-class status, and rejecting the establishment. Discovering the Blood of Eternity and transforming into the matriarch and forging her own realm. And we would end on her pouring her power into her seven daughters.”

Sam took a gulp of her drink, emboldened by Natalia’s rapt attention. “Or we could focus on the four daughters who waged the great war against all other sentient beings and were destroyed. We could end on Lilith, who, overcome in her grief and loss, threw herself into the sea, extinguishing her own light.”

“That sounds like a seven-figure budget,” Natalia said, giving breath to Sam’s own concerns.

“Or… something of a modern take. A look at what remains of the world after the end. Or the perceived end.” She smirked. “It could be about the story of the three surviving bloodlines. We emphasize the constant fight for survival in a world that is largely hostile to their kind. This struggle shapes their behaviors, strategies, and interactions with the world at large. A blueprint for radical feminism and inclusivity.”

Natalia sipped her sake, her expression unreadable. Sam set down her glass and slid closer to her on the couch. She didn’t want Natalia to leave — even if it was like trying to cling to the sun slipping beyond the horizon.

“You know, there’s an inherent sensuality to vampires that we could really play up.” Sam let her gaze drop from Natalia’s eyes to her lips.

Natalia set down her glass. Her mouth didn’t move, but she communicated everything she needed to say with the shift in her hips and the way she crossed one leg over the other.

“Vampires have these heightened senses. Their world is one of textures, smells, tastes. Everything is intensified.” Sam trailed a finger slowly up Natalia’s knee and over her inner thigh.

Natalia’s legs parted for her. Just enough to make Sam’s pulse throb in her ears. She flattened her palm against her soft skin.

“The feeling of skin… the rush of warm blood pulsing just under the surface…”

Sam closed the small gap between them, inhaling Natalia’s perfume, lips grazing her exposed collarbone.

“And the eroticism of the bite, the penetration of fangs into yielding flesh.” She dropped her voice and kissed a line up Natalia’s neck. “Those are very valid themes that warrant exploration.”

“Is that right, Professor?” Natalia’s voice was a sexy fraction above a whisper. “It sounds more like True Blood than a feminist tale.”

“Vampire stories always have romantic elements. This would just give that a more sapphic slant.” Sam slid her hand over the outside of Natalia’s thigh and gripped her hard. “What do you think of that? Professional opinion.”

Natalia’s fingernails slid up the back of Sam’s neck, sending a current of electric need coursing through her body. When she made a fist in the hair long enough to grasp, Sam couldn’t stop her moan.

“Stop talking,” Natalia breathed before yanking Sam’s head back and biting her neck, a sensation that exploded in her body.