Free Dark Diary by P. Anastasia

a hand up to latch onto a balcony post. I climbed several feet, and then stretched out my other arm to grab a hold of the top of the banister railing. I pulled myself up and over and took a third glance in both directions. It was silent. Empty. Everyone had gone to sleep by now—everyone but Kathryn.
    She pushed the balcony doors open quietly and welcomed me with a smile, taking me by the hand and pulling me into her room. She shut the doors behind me and closed the drapes. As a final precaution, she went to her bedroom door and turned the lock, holding her hand tightly over the keyhole to dampen the click.
    “Is that a good idea?” I motioned toward the door she had just locked.
    “You are here after dark, my dear Matthaya. Is this a good idea?” she replied, challenging my question and proving my suspicions were correct.
    Of course not…
    She returned to me and snuffed out one of the two candles atop her dresser. The room became dim and the remaining glow was… intimate. The dress she wore tonight was much lighter and softer than her usual ones. The fine white satin flowed down her body, hugging the curves of her waist and hips. There were two lines of indigo lace ties hanging gracefully down each side of her ribs. Each one was intertwined with a row of grommets used to fit the dress more tightly around her. The delicate bows at the end of each looked painstakingly perfect.
    It was not the kind of dress she would ever be seen wearing in public.
    She looked me in the eye with a deep and determined gaze, and then licked her lips in preparation to speak. “I cannot stand this anymore, Matthaya,” she said, moving toward me and backing me against the patio doors. I had to brace myself to keep from rattling the frames behind me. “I cannot take this distance—this… agony coursing through me. How long must we wait?” She pressed into me and twisted a lock of my hair between her fingers. “Matthaya, please. You say that we should be married, but how far away is that day? When will I legitimately be yours?”
    There was a sparkle in her eyes I hadn’t seen before, and though I pretended to be unaffected by it, the subtle change made my thoughts run wild. My mindset was in such a delicate balance, teetering between rationality and impulsiveness —threatening the sanctity of our friendship. And her dress… how it accentuated the sumptuous curves of her body, leaving so little to my imagination.
    Her nails traced the collar of my shirt down to my throat and then to the leather threading along the center of my tunic. One of her ankles trailed up and hooked behind my leg, where she pressed her foot seductively against my calf. The slit in her dress made the fabric pour over her thigh, revealing porcelain skin. Thoughtlessly, I lowered my hand to caress the firm, warm flesh of her naked leg.
    “I am sixteen years old now and my father is trying to sell me into marriage as quickly as he can.” Her delicate fingers worked apart the overlapping ties of leather as she spoke. “I will not let another man have me. I refuse to let a stranger who can simply buy my father’s favor conquer me.”
    The heat of her words crushed against me. The urgency in her voice and the overpowering needs of our bodies bewitched me, draining me of all reason. The little nymph’s inherit ability to torture me had never faltered before, and tonight was no exception. This confrontation was potent and dangerous. A fire sparked within me and she kindled it further with a sensual stroke of her palm down my inner thigh. It was as if she was mocking my inability to hide the desires of my body—daring me to confront them.
    Her touch enchanted me, and she somehow knew my body much more intimately than I knew hers—a fact proven by the way she manipulated the powerful sensations coursing through my veins.
    A cunning girl and a cleverly plotted ambush.
    No. A brilliant, irresistible… woman .
    She wanted to feel my lips against her neck… along her