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Wonderful. Father was handing out mating advice. Kol gave me one last worried look over his shoulder then was gone.
The doors closed behind them with an ominous click. I could hear the turbulent whoosh of blood pulsating in my ears, something I hadn’t experienced since my early teens. It wasn’t panic, exactly, but it felt pretty damn close.
“I think your father just gave me his blessing,” Casimir mused.
“Noticed that, did you?”
“Should I be concerned?” His eyes brightened teasingly. He’d managed to alter his persona so fast I wasn’t sure I was speaking to the same demon.
“He understands how it feels.” I didn’t elaborate.
“So he left his only daughter alone with a Shadow, knowing how hard the urge to mate would be riding us?”
“I can handle it.”
“Can you?” Casimir murmured as he prowled closer.
As much as I wanted to step back, I held my ground. When I caught his scent I groaned. He smelled earthy and real, with an undercurrent of excitement seeping from his pores. My nipples hardened in response, the fae half of my body readying to meet her mate.
The witch half? She was drooling for a taste of the approaching demon, looking forward to savoring the flavor of his skin, possibly taking a bite of his pectoral. Both halves were problematic. This was not the time to explore my desires.
He didn’t halt until we were toe to toe and he was towering over me. “You’re tiny,” he remarked.
I nearly laughed. I wasn’t tiny, not by fae standards. But Casimir was a Shadow demon, a race whose females were usually around six-feet tall. I was a little over five-foot-seven so I could see why he’d see it that way. Still, I found the comment insulting.
My chin lifted challengingly, daring him to do or say something more about my stature. The corner of that sinful mouth lifted. His feral eyes glowed. Casimir’s earlier fury had bled away completely, replaced by what looked like hunger.
He was jaw-dropping. All that size and intensity and rugged appearance amplified my craving for the unmistakably alpha male. Jumping him right now was a bad idea.
I didn’t fully comprehend this level of attraction. I’d dulled our connection, yet I still wanted to tear off his clothes and wrap myself around his body, skin to skin. I wanted to discover all of him, to know his secrets, and to feel safe enough to share mine.
That I was thinking such things was a testament to the profound sway of the soul’s desire to join with another. It was both terrifying and intoxicating.
Slowly, he leaned down, his nose close to the column of my throat, a hair's breadth away from touching. I didn’t move an inch. He inhaled deeply and his body shuddered. When he drew back, his eyes were half-lidded.
If he didn’t touch me soon I’d have to take things into my own hands. I’d start with his shirt first. I’d rip it right in half. Then I’d—
Casimir’s deep rumbling purr brought me back from my fantasy. He sounded like he could be part shifter.
“There’ll be enough time for that later, Little Bird. Unfortunately we’re under a time limit at the moment.”
“How do you know what I’m thinking? We aren’t linked in that way.” Or, I was relatively sure we weren’t.
“I know the look of desire when I see it, Raveena.”
The use of my given name was a cold bucket of water to the face. “Don’t call me that.”
“Why not?”
“Because my name is Raven.”
He looked like he was going to argue. He didn’t, and some of the chill slipped away.
“Very well. Raven, then. I sense there’s more to it than a simple preference, but we can discuss it another time.”
“How magnanimous of you.”
Ignoring my sarcasm, Casimir righted my chair, pushing it closer to the table. He gestured to the seat, which I reluctantly took. Then he carefully scooted it forward.
