Chapter Thirty-Three

It was Friday, and Ian sat in Tori’s court, as she’d known he would. Near squirming with excitement, she planned to spring a surprise attack later this morning. Unwilling to meekly surrender, she needed to know how far he was prepared to go to win her back.

Her plan to both capture and repay him in one sinful stroke awaited, ready to be launched.

Sitting high above the court, she modeled respectability in her dour black judge’s robes, but underneath she wore an entirely different type of costume. She smiled, privately contemplating the payback that at this moment lay waiting in her pocket. The all-important text, already typed, needed only one push of a button to send.

Daring and dangerous, she was determined to see this through. Her flower-fueled epiphany had opened her mind to the possibilities of Ian and her together, as both friends and lovers. But it had also made her realize she must fully embrace her desires. She needed to live her sexuality fully, including the hidden part of her that had waited years to emerge.

Today, she would be the courageous and free-spirited woman who would finally bring Ian King to his knees.

She watched him perform in her court, wrapping up one last procedure as he transitioned to another section of the Royal Courts. While he behaved with perfect decorum, his eyes betrayed him at times, a pleading look flashing across his face before he quelled it. She gave him no quarter and no indication that her feelings had softened, even adding a degree of severity to her tone when she spoke to him.

While the hearing dragged for everyone else, she enjoyed every minute of anticipation. Finally, only thirty minutes remained before she would adjourn the case for the rest of the day.

It was time.

The slightest grin curved her lips, and she unobtrusively reached into her pocket to pull out her mobile. Glancing down once, she pushed send.