"You smell like a human. I can smell your heart. It’s like a rich meal, set out just for me. And I should know by now: Rich meals laid out as if by magic, in the wood, unlooked-for — those are seductions. And even though I know you are an Ivan and you exist to make me betray my husband, I still want to kiss you. To feel the life in you seize on the life in me. Raw and fresh and new. And you—you have not even seen my face, but I can feel the shock of your desire in my shoulder blades. The shape of me, the size of me—already you will not leave this tent without me.”
“Yes,” breathed Ivan.
“Yet you insist on your innocence.”
“I only found you by accident. I followed a trail of bodies.”
“Then maybe I am seducing you, too.”
“It’s a grisly kind of bride gift,” Ivan said, and did not laugh.