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“How?”
“Renee.”
He pressed the screen to connect with his assistant and turned to pace across the room. Renee picked up on the first ring and with a concise efficiency he explained exactly what he wanted. Cutting the connection, he slid the phone back into his pocket and strolled back to stand in front of Peri.
“It shouldn’t take Renee long to locate the information we need.”
“The ever efficient secretary,” she mocked with a strange smile.
Valen stepped closer. He liked the hint of annoyance he could detect in her voice.
“You wouldn’t be jealous, would you?” he asked.
She blinked, as if she hadn’t realized she’d spoken the words out loud. Then she shook her head in a decisive gesture.
“No, I’m sorry. That sounded petty. I admire a woman who excels in whatever profession she chooses.” There was no doubting the sincerity in her words. “Besides, to be jealous, I would have to covet something she has. I have no desire to be one of your servants.”
Valen cupped her face in his hands, peering into the depths of her eyes. “What do you desire?”
The sweet scent of lilies swirled through the air as her lips parted in a blatant invitation. Her expression, however, settled into stubborn lines.
“An end to the miasma,” she muttered.
“And?”
“And to return to the Witch’s Brew to get on with my life.”
His thumb stroked the plush curve of her lower lip. “Nothing more.”
She swept her long lashes over her eyes, as if attempting to hide the hunger that smoldered in the blue depths.
“Who doesn’t want more?”
He made a sound of impatience. There had been a time when he’d assumed his charm was irresistible. Peri had effectively destroyed that assumption. Along with a portion of his arrogance. Thankfully, he had plenty to spare.
“Is it so difficult to admit you desire me?” he demanded.
“It’s…” She paused, licking her lips. “Complicated.”
Passion blazed through him. Her skin was so soft. Like silk beneath his fingertips. He wanted her naked. He wanted her wrapped around his body with her luscious scent clouding his mind.
“Why?” The word came out as a harsh rasp.
There was a long pause. Long enough that Valen feared she wasn’t going to answer his question, before Peri slowly lifted her lashes to reveal the unease that shimmered in her eyes.
“I’m not sure what you want from me.”
She wanted his reassurance. She needed to know that he wouldn’t demand more than she was willing to give. Logically, Valen understood. But logic was no match for the pounding need that had his arms whipping around her body to haul her tight against his chest. He wasn’t trying to overwhelm her, but he wanted her to understand that he wouldn’t be one of those males she could keep at a polite distance.
“Everything,” he warned, pressing a kiss against her forehead. “I want everything. This.” He smoothed his hands down her back, cupping her ass even as his lips stroked over her cheek. The taste of her was pure magic.Shewas pure magic. He was well and truly bewitched. “And this.” He claimed her lips in a kiss that was blatantly possessive. He didn’t want to dominateher. Hell, he wasn’t sure he could even if he tried. But he did want her to know that there was nothing casual or transitory in his need to have her in his life. He savored her soft sound of pleasure as her lips moved beneath his, returning his kiss with a need she couldn’t hide. It was only when she’d melted against him that he turned his head to scrape his aching fangs along the sweep of her neck. “And especially this,” he growled.
Her hands rested against his chest, not to push him away, but to keep herself upright. Valen could feel the thick scars that marred her palms from the explosion of magic that had revealed her ancient blood when she was sixteen.
“You want to consume me,” she accused.
He lifted his head to study her wary expression with a brooding gaze. “Every glorious inch of you,” he admitted without apology.
She trembled as his attention shifted to the vein that pulsed along the side of her neck. She wasn’t afraid. Her scent revealed her sharp anticipation.
