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Mara grinned. "Absolutely."
Augustus placed his palm on her cheek. "I think loving you would be worth the risk, however long it can last."
"What have I told you about reading my mind?" she whispered, right before he kissed her.
Every one of Mara's remaining defenses melted under the heat of his lips. Augustus stroked down her side before using the belt loop of her jeans to drag her up against him.
She was enclosed in his heat, his smell of spice and magic and man flooding her senses. She ran a hand under his shirt and over the muscles underneath.
"How's that miracle? Any problems?" he asked, pressing a line of kisses down her throat.
"Huh? Um, not that I know of?" Mara replied, far too breathily.
"That's not a very scientific reply. You would've made a terrible sorcerer," Augustus murmured against her skin. "You will tell me if it starts to shift again, won't you? I don't want you running out in a panic."
Mara brushed her fingers through his hair. "I'm not going anywhere, Augustus. Not tonight."
"What a coincidence. I wasn't going to let you go anywhere either."
Augustus kissed her again and slowly eased onto his back, taking her with him so she was half lying on him. He smiled up at her, looking like sin with his dark curls splayed out and eyes shining with secrets.
"I have one very serious question I need to ask you," Mara said, her fingers stroking his cheek. "The door upstairs with the golden sigils. What's behind it? Bodies of dead wives? A sex dungeon? Another dimension? I have to know."
"You want to see?" Augustus asked, trying not to laugh. Mara nodded, and he helped her up. "Really, Mara, of all the times to ask."
"I can't help it. The curiosity is killing me. I need to know if I'm going to fall for the same trap your other wives did," she teased.
"I love your confidence in my abilities to get more than one woman to marry me. I'm not exactly a catch, Mara," Augustus said, leading her upstairs.
Mara checked out his ass in front of her. "I don't know. From this angle, you look pretty great."
"Flirt with me at your peril, little saint." Augustus pressed the golden sigils, infusing them with magic, and the door swung open. "Welcome to England."
"No way," Mara stepped inside a massive library and swayed with vertigo as the portal magic hit her. Augustus's hand caught her by the elbow to steady her. "This is amazing."
"I think so. I can't stay here long because the magic in Melbourne pulls me back. I like being close to the rest of my books, so I risk it," Augustus explained.
"Can I explore another day?" Mara asked, looking hungrily at the hundreds of books around her.
"Another day? Why not now?" he asked with a confused expression.
Mara looked back at him with a wholly different kind of hunger. "I have other business to attend to."
"Oh? And what business would that be?"
Mara pulled off her maroon knit sweater, so she stood in front of him in jeans and a plain black bra. "You're a very clever sorcerer. I'm sure you can figure it out."
The words were barely out of her mouth when Augustus suddenly had her pinned up against the library door.
"What did I just say about flirting with me?" he demanded, his tall body caging her in. He ran his stubbled cheek down her throat. "You always smell so fucking good. Like sacred things and sin."
His mouth found hers, his kiss more urgent and demanding than it had been downstairs. Mara ran her hands over his chest, her fingers catching on the buttons of his shirt in their attempts to get to the warm skin underneath.
Augustus's fingers stroked over her exposed rib cage. Mara made a soft, helpless sound as he hooked his finger under the center of her bra.
"May I?" he asked.
Mara didn't trust herself to speak, so she nodded. Augustus gave her a wicked smile and tugged at the clip freeing her breasts. It wasn't like a man had never seen her naked before, but Mara's whole body flushed at the look he was giving her.
