Moving past the nightstand, Eric left his jeans on and walked slowly toward his victim. Without a sound, he stood behind her. An involuntary shiver raked her body. A small sound, the rush of air, came out when his hand cupped her bare ass. He liked the G-string on her. It gave him access to her flesh, without making her strip, yet. This teasing, making her wait, should increase her apprehension, but the girl’s heart pounded the same. Eric slid his hand over her smooth skin, withdrew it, and then hit her hard.

The sting nearly made her cry out, but she bit her tongue. The girl pressed her head to the wall, trying to ignore the disturbing sensations that were crawling out of her stomach and tightening in her throat. Breathe, she thought to herself, Don’t speak.

Eric leaned his toned body against her, pressing her to the wall. She was holding her breath, trying to remain silent. Eric pressed his finger to her face, trailing it down her neck before breathing in her ear, “I want you to cry, Sasha. I want to feel your body shake as you scream when I’m with you.” For Eric, it was part of the game and a part that he couldn’t do without. When he was here, this girl would do what he said.

Natalia blanched when she heard it—his voice. Eric. For half a heartbeat, she told herself that she could do it, that he was the same as the rest. But her mind protested the thought of Eric’s hands sliding down her skin, feeling her in a way that made her hot all over. He was attractive, and she wanted him—and completely hated herself for it. There was no relationship with Eric. Everything was fake. Every piece was staged, an act that went on and on. This wasn’t part of it. There was no way she could do this to him, and this wasn’t the way she wanted revenge.

Eric slid his hand between her legs and she sighed, wanting him there. Every bit of her being wanted him. Anger coursed through her. Why? Why did he make her feel like this?

Eric didn’t know what changed, but he sensed it. Something he said made her angry, but his mind was too slow. He didn’t see it coming. Before he knew what happened, the girl bucked backward, knocking him away. Caught by surprise, Eric staggered back a step. Natalia’s leg swung out, chains attached, and kicked him away. Aroused, he jumped back to his feet. None of Carina’s girls had ever fought back before. It went against the owner’s rules, but he liked it all the same.

Eric lunged for her, grabbing her long dark hair, yanking it back hard, exposing her neck to him. Her breasts swelled at the top of her corset, distracting him from her face. It wasn’t until she said his name that he stopped, that he realized who he was hurting. It felt like a cloud lifted and he could see her. He knew her.

“Eric! Don’t!” Wide blue eyes were locked on his face, searching for recognition, knowing his name would break the power that masked her from him. If she remained silent, he could have been with her and not realized it was Natalia. But she spoke. She defied Carina, because she couldn’t stand the idea of being with Eric. Her body longed for his and she hated herself for it. What kind of assassin does that? “Eric,” she snapped his name again, and it was like someone hit him in the face.

Eric dropped his hold on the girl. His eyes narrowed in on the side of her face. She was still chained to the wall, hands above her head, ankles shackled. His heart was racing like it would explode. Was that who he thought it was? It couldn’t be. He brushed back the curtain of dark hair that hid her face.

“Natalia,” he breathed, shocked. Anger flashed through him and he stepped away from her like she was poison. Why didn’t he recognize her? He was staring at her, but he didn’t really see her until she spoke.

Natalia was livid, trying to twist around to yell at him. Lies were rapidly forming in her mind. She broke the trance, and had to give a reason for her presence—one he could believe. “Eric! This is going to completely screw me! Do you know how long it took to get her to let me do this? And you! She gives me you!” Natalia pulled on the chains, her long hair tangling in the silver. Her body stilled. She took a deep breath through her crimson lips. Make-up stained her face, making her nearly unrecognizable.

Eric stood there mute, watching her struggle for a moment. His eyes lingered on her skin. He could still feel her firm bare skin in his hands. The sheer dressing gown was translucent, revealing the tightly laced corset. The steel boning that ran up the seams in the corset was what he planned on using on her instead of his pin. Pictures of what almost happened ran through his mind. Fuck. He tugged his hair, pushing it out of his face. Natalia hung her head, her heart beating slower. He felt it—the slowing of her pulse—she thought she was safe with him. Pressing his eyes shut, Eric turned away from her. He headed for the door when her voice called out behind him.

Natalia saw him walking away. Panic choked her. Carina was powerful and she needed this place. If Eric walked out she was screwed. Thinking fast, she said, “Eric! Don’t! You can’t tell her you don’t want me!”

He stopped in his tracks and looked back at her. The tension in his shoulders was dripping down his arms. He wanted this—he needed this—but not with her. “Watch me.” He inserted the golden key into the barred door, trying to fumble the lock open.

Natalia struggled, pulling at the chains, pleading, “She won’t let me come back. Eric, don’t do this to me!”

He rounded on her, crossing the room in a flash. Suddenly he was in front of her, hands flying, golden eyes glowing like embers about to combust, “What the hell am I supposed to do with you? With this!” He gestured to her chained body, her dark hair, the make-up that covered her face making her something she wasn’t, something he couldn’t see. To him, Natalia was perfect and innocent. This clashed with his version of her.

“Please, Eric. Please. If you tell her that you know me, she’ll hurt me. If something like this happens, I’m not supposed to say anything. I shouldn’t have said anything!” She was panicking. He could hear her voice cracking. The panic was real.

Eric turned from her, looking for something to smash, and finding nothing. He growled, his hands clenched into fists, “Did you think I wouldn’t see you? That I wouldn’t notice that it was you? I know you’re name’s not Sasha! I know you! What the fuck were you thinking?”

“No,” she cried, her crystal blue eyes wide and pleading, “you shouldn’t have noticed it was me. She did something, but saying your name messed it up. Carina said no one would recognize me. That there was more to it than make-up and lights. Please, Eric. Don’t leave this room. Not with me like this.” Her heart was racing, blood surging through her body like she was afraid.

Was that enough?she wondered. It wasn’t like she could admit to knowing there was a spell on her, on him, and she broke it—on purpose. Her breathing was shallow, as blood rushed through her veins faster and faster. The roar echoed through her ears, deafeningly loud. She’d worked so hard to get close to him, now all that work was gone. How did she not realize he came here! They’d both been here for years and never seen each other. The possibility wasn’t mind-blowing. If he only came in a few times a year, like her, then it was unlikely that their paths would cross. But they had, and now she risked losing everything. And being chained to the wall and having Carina pissed at her was a bad place to be. She had a soul and she knew that soul-sucker would take it if she could.

Eric’s golden eyes locked with hers. “Why are you so frightened?” He felt it, the sudden surge of fear that should have been there the moment he walked into the room, but it had been glaringly absent. “You signed up for this messed-up shit, so what’s the worst that could happen if I leave you hanging on the wall like a slut?” This wasn’t her. Why was she here? He didn’t understand. He wanted to unchain her and take her with him. He wanted to feel the sting of his hand on her skin again and make her remember not to come back. If she needed this, he could have given it to her. Delusions of control swam in front of his eyes, but he still didn’t understand.

Her chest heaved as she tried to breath, but between the corset and the chains holding her arms up, she couldn’t. Natalia sucked in air like she was going to pass out. Her head felt heavy. Natalia was talking, not really thinking about what she was saying. “The screams,” she staggered, her body leaning to the side like she was going to go down. “The screams that come out of Carina’s room when a girl fails… Eric. She’ll do that to me…” the room started to spin. Natalia felt like her ribs were being crushed. There wasn’t enough air. Her neck felt so weak and her head couldn’t remain upright.

Eric growled. Crossing the room with the golden key in hand, he unchained her. Forcefully, he ripped off the shackles one by one. Natalia was leaning hard against him as he released her ankles. When he rose and stood eye to eye with her, she was still gasping like she’d run a few miles. Eric muttered things she couldn’t hear, grabbed her tiny waist and spun her around. If he had a knife, he would have cut the damn thing off of her. Instead, he pulled the strings on the back of her corset, loosening them so she could inhale.

It pained him to realize that she was working here, what it must mean. Natalia was a good girl—at least he thought she was. When he got over the shock of seeing her, of what he nearly did to her, he asked, “Why are you here?”

Natalia looked at him, a lost expression on her face. Dark hair hung in long waves making her look perfect, like a porcelain doll. She shrugged, “Same reason you are, I suppose.” That was the god-awful truth, but she knew he wouldn’t listen to her. He never did.

Rage surged through him. Shaking his head, he grabbed her shoulders, “No, it’s not. There’s no way in hell that you’re here for the same reason as me! Tell me why.” When she didn’t answer, his fingers dug into her flesh harder. She didn’t wince, Natalia kept her gaze locked on Eric like she was a defiant brat. With one shake he released her.

“Fine,” she said rubbing her arms, crafting another lie. She’d already told him so many. “I needed a job and I’m good at this, okay? The only down side is that Carina’s a freak—she scares the hell out of me.” It was the truth, and she knew Eric would sense it. There was more to it than that, but that was the core reason she worked for Carina. Dread pooled in her stomach. He had to believe her. It would destroy everything she worked for if he didn’t. Natalia turned her gaze toward Eric. Her cold blue eyes met Eric’s for a moment before she sat on the bed. She pressed her lips together, asking, “Are you going to tell her?”

Eric shook his head and sat down next to her on the bed. It was soft and gave way, slumping beneath him. Eric leaned forward and put his head in his hands. “No, I won’t tell her.” His voice was so faint that she shouldn’t have heard it, but Eric knew she did.

What the hell was wrong with her? If she needed money, he would have given it to her. There had to be more to it than that, but what? What was she hiding? She wasn’t a Valefar, he would have noticed that by now. They needed to feed frequently and he spent long stretches of time with her, so he knew she didn’t go off pillaging souls at night. And yet, she was here. Something was wrong with her. The question was what? He glanced at her, “How long?”