He slams his empty glass to the bar and pins me with a scorching stare. “I burn for you, Kari. I can’t pretend anymore. I ditched my brother tonight. He’s furious, and I don’t care. You’re a fever I can’t shake.”

  The kind Tynan described? Unlikely. That’s just my wishful thinking. If Ronan suspects I’m his mate, why wouldn’t he simply say so? Or try to kiss me? I can’t think of a single reason, which tells me he’s just feeling good, old-fashioned lust.

  But the gravity in his eyes feels like more.

  “Where is Raiden?”

  “Elsewhere.”

  My stupid heart lifts with hope. I tamp it down. “Translation: he’s finding you someone to shag.”

  “I told him to go alone. I don’t want anyone else.”

  Tonight maybe. Tomorrow, when he’s had his fill, he’ll be gone for good. I shouldn’t take the risk.

  “That’s a pretty whopper.”

  Ronan leans in, his eyes like lasers, fierce and direct. “That’s the sodding truth. I know nothing about the women I spend the night with. But you… I know you drink only one sort of chardonnay, and you must have lemon with your water. I know you hate anyone to see you cry and that you’re too stubborn for your own good. I know you can argue with most anyone and win. I know the only romance you allow yourself is in books. And I know you’re afraid of me.” He seizes my hands again and holds tight. “You’re sweet and kind. You’re funny. You listen, you care, and you help everyone around you. You’re too incredible to be alone.”

  His words threaten to bulldoze the wall around my heart. “Ronan… Don’t do this. Please.”

  He lifts my hand to his lips and presses them to my palm, making me shiver. “I only want to hold you.”

  It takes everything inside me not to close my eyes and let him. He’s barely touching me, yet tingles spark under my skin. Fire tears through the rest of my body before settling into an ache that throbs relentlessly between my legs. All I want to do is strip naked, lie back, and beg him to sate this nonstop need.

  “Tomorrow, another woman will take my place.” And that will rip out my heart. “After Edward, I can’t.”

  “No one can ever replace you. You make me feel things no woman ever has. I don’t know how to explain it…”

  He sounds so agonized, I’m torn. Yes, he might be telling me what I want to hear. He probably is. But…what if his mating instinct is kicking in? What if there’s even a remote chance I’m the woman for him?

  I need to think.

  “Closing time,” I yell across the pub.

  Ronan’s eyes never leave me as the wizards at the back rack their balls and stow the cues, settle their tab, then leave. Our taut silence stretches on as the pub’s other patrons also pay, then disappear into the chilly night.

  Then we’re alone.

  “That means you too,” I whisper.

  Ronan clenches his jaw. “Why are you so determined to say no?”

  “I’ve made my reasons clear.”

  “As clear as I’ve made the fact you’re not merely another woman to me.”

  “That’s talk, and it’s cheap.”

  He scans the now empty pub, then flicks a wrist toward the door. I hear the distinctive click of the lock. Of course I know he comes from magic, but I’ve never seen him perform any.

  Then suddenly, he’s on my side of the bar. One second he loitered beside a stool. The next? He dissipated and reformed directly in front of me, towering over me. He’s never been this close. His musky amber-in-midnight scent fills my nose. He’s enormous—broad, muscled, and more than a head taller than me—not to mention much stronger…while I’m feeling so, so weak. I should probably worry what magic he might use to persuade me. Instead, I melt.

  Before I do something foolish like throw myself at him, I back away. But he’s not having it.

  Ronan snakes his bulging arm around my middle and captures my waist, urging me tight against him. My heartbeat slams against his hard chest.

  “I want to kiss you.” He tilts my chin up with a finger, coaxing me to meet his gaze. “Let me.”

  While I’m drowning in his eyes, I weigh my options. Loss of friendship versus experiencing a pleasure unlike any I’ve known?

  What if you are his mate? How will he ever know if he never tastes you?

  That rationale is stupid and foolish, and I’m likely fooling myself, but… “All right. Just once.”

  Ronan

  Before I’ve kissed her, I already know once won’t be enough.

  My hands bloody shake as I palm Kari’s nape and tilt her face to mine. Right or wrong, smart or not, I’m not leaving her side until I’ve tasted her sweetness and imprinted myself on her.

  I lean in. Her eyes flutter closed. The revving of my heart roars in my ears as I bend closer. It takes every ounce of my restraint not to devour her whole.

  As our lips touch, she stiffens and gasps. An instant later, she melts into me.

  Her parted lips are all the invitation I need.

  When I plunge inside her mouth, Kari tilts her head and coaxes me deeper. Groaning, I sink into her and drown.

  She’s a shock of sensation to my system. Delicious. Intoxicating. Addicting. Unlike anything I’ve ever had on my tongue. I have no other words to describe her rich flavor, her silky texture, her pure headiness. She goes straight to my cock. One touch and I’m not merely hard, but steely and desperate in a way I’ve never been.

  She wraps her arms around my neck, lurching to her tiptoes and straining to get closer.

  With the next sweep of my tongue, I taste her surrender. The flavor enthralls me, a sweet, complex blend of femininity, need, and something intrinsically her that calls to the wizard in me.

  Is that my mating instinct?

  The lip-lock goes on. I’m lost. Unhinged. Need barrages me. Our kiss feels as perfect as she is. No woman has ever captivated me like this. I swear I’ve been put on this earth to consume her.

  Unable to stop myself, I fist my hands in her hair and capture her mouth again. Kari’s breath catches. The sparks in my blood turn to fire. I inhale her, groaning wildly.

  For two long years, I’ve wondered what she tastes like. I’ve fantasized. I’ve fixated. Now I know, and she will haunt me forever. When I’m not kissing her, I’ll crave her lush mouth. I’ll pant and ache until I can taste her again.

  Desperate, I change the angle of the kiss, driving deeper into her sweet mouth. She inhales raggedly and grips me tighter. I can’t get enough.

  I back her against the bar and notch my burning cock between her legs. Even through our jeans, I feel her wetness. I smell her arousal.

  It’s making me ravenous.

  She cries out a wordless plea. My heart thrashes against my chest in answer.

  I’ve never ached like this. Because, until Kari, no woman has ever felt like mine.

  That must be my mating instinct, right?

  Before I stormed into her pub, I told myself a taste of her would cure my fever. But I was fooling myself. My desire has morphed from a flame to a roaring blowtorch of need. Self-control and common sense burn to ash. No matter how much I kiss her, it will never be enough.

  That has to mean she’s my mate.

  We break apart only long enough for me to stare into her wide, dilated eyes. She’s as gobsmacked as I am. Nearly as frenzied, too. I don’t stop to think about how wonderful or damning that is. I simply seize her lips again, my desire turning savage.

  Sinking deeper than ever, I fist the teasingly thin silk across her back. I want it gone. Now. I need Kari’s pert breasts and hard nipples in my mouth as I yank off her tight jeans. Then I’ll impale her with every inch of my stiff length and revel in the feel of her beneath me, surrounding me, clutching me.

  At the thought, my patience snaps. I can’t fucking wait. Not. Another. Instant.

  I grab the buttons at the front of her blouse, still tasting her sweet mouth, and rip the first two free of their moorings.

  When I reach the third, she wraps her fingers around my wrists, panting. “You said one kiss.”

  Bloody hell, I did. But her mouth is swollen. Her eyes beg me. Her arousal fills my nose. I’m dying to make her mine.

  On the other hand, if I seduce her into a five-minute fuck, I won’t be sated. Neither will she. And I would renege on my word to Kari, who’s already been betrayed by the fiancé she once trusted.

  “Stop me, then. Say no, and I’ll walk away.”

  She doesn’t. Instead, she closes her eyes and tosses her head back with a whimper, exposing her soft neck. Before I can stop myself, I press my lips to her skin and kiss my way down the flesh exposed by the deep vee in her gaping blouse. As I lave the swells of her plump breasts, she clutches me in a white-knuckled grip.

  “Ronan…” she groans. “What are you doing to me?”

  “Begging to give you what we both need. Is that a yes, love?”

  She swallows. “I don’t have the strength to say no anymore.”

  Celebration erupts inside me. She’s mine until dawn. I have hours to lavish her with pleasure and make her crave me as much as I need her. I refuse to waste a minute.

  “Hold on.” I grab her tight and think of home. Since I’m going for the fantasy, I’m going to have Kari in the one place I’ve never taken another woman.

  After the momentary disorienting whoosh behind my navel, I open my eyes to find Kari blinking and swaying on her feet. “Breathe. The nausea will abate.”

  She does as she steadies herself against me—the aftereffects of her first teleportation—and scans the room. “Where are we?”

  “My bedroom.”

  She won’t understand the significance of that, and I don’t dare tell her yet.

  “Amazing,” she breathes. “You…thought me here.”

  “Magic.” I smile at her wonder. “You all right?”

  “Better now that we’re alone. Touch me.” She sounds vulnerable, and she stares at me as if only I can make it better.

  “I can’t stop,” I mutter as I tear through her remaining buttons.

  As I part the thin fabric to expose a lacy bra that’s nearly transparent, my heart thuds out of control. The need to consume her overtakes me. If I have to wait even half an instant to remove her jeans, my restraint won’t survive.

  With a flick of my wrist, I divest her of every stitch. My stare skids across the colorful butterfly tattooed on Kari’s hip. But I’m fixated on the wet, sticky-sweet pussy waiting for me between her thighs.

  Is this wrong? She’s human. I’m not, and Wolvseys don’t mate. Ever. In my head, I cue up a preview of my twin’s disgust, of my father’s castigation, of the Wolvsey ridicule the rest of the all-male clan will heap on me before I’m disowned. Then I focus on Kari—and none of my family’s shit matters. In fact, nothing means more to me than this woman right now. No one will keep me from her.

  With another swipe of my hand, I dissolve my own clothing. “I need you.”

  She looks me up and down, then sucks in a breath. “Hurry.”

  “I’ve waited too long to rush this. I intend to savor you all night,” I vow as I ease her to my bed.

  Kari props herself on her elbows, her long, lean legs parting only enough to tease me. I must have the rest of her. All of her. I’ll insist she surrender every part of herself, then demand more. That’s how much I need her.

  Kneeling, I cradle one of her thighs in each hand, then pull them wide. I inhale her, filling my nose with her addictive scent. Uniquely Kari, sweet, musky, enthralling. And best of all, free from another wizard’s touch. If Tynan or any other magical bloke had bedded her recently, I would smell him on her.

  I press my lips to her thigh and linger, delighting when she trembles at my touch.

  With a growl, I stroke her slick cunt and drink in her keening moans. Those sounds urge me on. I plunge my fingers inside her. I stroke her until she lifts her hips to me in silent pleading, then I submerge the digits in my mouth and suck them clean with a growl, watching her every expression.

  Kari whimpers, and she tastes beyond sweet. I crave more of her. Now. If I had a bloody choice, I’d eat her for breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Snacks. Dessert. Anytime, day or night.

  “Do you want my tongue, love?” I tease, despite my cock straining for her.

  “Yes.”

  “Say please.” I can’t resist taunting her. I’m dying to hear her beg.

  “Please, Ronan. I need… Please.”

  “My pleasure.” I settle my mouth over her wet pussy, laving her silken folds.

  Stiffening, she cries out, fisting my sheets with desperate fingers. Kari’s kiss is intoxicating, but her cunt is downright addictive. Her gasps and moans merely urge me on until I’m forcing her hips back to the bed and consuming her like a rabid animal. I devour her as she tenses and trembles, as her breathing turns rough, as a rosy flush climbs her chest, as she mindlessly begs me until she comes violently, screaming my name.

  Relentlessly, I tongue her through the bucking, back-twisting orgasm. Finally, with a last gasping sigh, she melts into the mattress, then opens her dilated eyes and focuses on me.

  God, she’s fucking beautiful. The sight of her destroys the last threads of my self-control. I must have her now. This instant. The demand is a chant in my head as I lunge for her and, cock in hand, cover her body with my own. “Kari…”

  As I shove against her slick opening, she nods. “Hurry! I feel empty. I’m aching.”

  Her words ignite me. “I’m dying for you, love.”

  Tonight, her raw beauty, her dedication, loyalty, and big heart are all mine for the taking.

  When it comes to other women, once the clothes come off, I don’t speak. I never use endearments. I simply get them off, finish, and put emotional—if not physical—distance between us.

  With Kari, everything is different. With her, I can’t help the words spilling out of my mouth. Literally. I clutch her like I’ll never let her go because I want her to feel like mine. No, I want her to be mine.

  That is absolutely my mating instinct.

  She cries out as I thrust inside her. She’s tight. She envelops my cock slowly, her flesh burning. I hiss. Then I pull back. But she’s still scorching me. The mind-bending friction is beyond bliss. Bloody hell…

  I grind, grit my teeth, and sweat. And when I finally, finally sink to the hilt inside her, more sensations bombard me.

  “Mine,” I growl as she closes around me in a tight vise of pleasure.

  “Ronan!” Kari digs her nails into my back and writhes under me.

  My head spins. My blood churns. Sweat covers me as I thrust again, deeper than before. Hot and snug, she surrounds me and makes me dizzy.

  More. I need more of her. Now.

  Forever.

  I withdraw, then surge inside her again. “I want to give you everything.”

  “Yes…” She wraps her fists in my hair and tilts up, ensuring I slide even deeper.

  I grip her tighter as her lips burn a fiery trail up my neck. She clenches on me, panting. I know women. Kari is already close again—and threatening to take me into nirvana with her. After two long years of craving this woman, I’m not ready for this to be over. I fight to hold on.

  My heart leaps as I surge into her again, grinding against her most sensitive spot. Kari gasps. Her body tenses. Bliss explodes across her face as she tosses her head back, and she squeezes my cock like nothing I’ve ever felt.

  Lightning jolts up my spine as I thrust harder, faster, deeper. Her waning orgasm rises again. She gushes in climax, jolting, wailing, and clawing my back. Her cunt flutters, squeezing me until I can’t breathe or think—just feel the overload of pleasure as I follow her into ecstasy—all while her heart and soul imprints on me forever.

  She’s definitely my mate. What do I do about that?

  Chapter

  Four

  Kari

  I jolt awake to the foreign feel of a hard, hair-roughened body plastered to my back. One hand cups my naked pussy. I don’t even have to move to feel how blissfully sore I am.

  I risk a peek over my shoulder. With his eyes closed and his face relaxed in sleep, Ronan looks almost human—if way more gorgeous than most blokes.

  Truth be told, I wasn’t certain magickind actually slept. They eat, drink, and breathe like the rest of us. But I didn’t know if that’s where the similarities ended. Normally, the fact it isn’t would soothe me, but nothing about Ronan sets me at ease.

  I gave in to him. I surrendered everything to the man. Until him, I never knew sex could be so staggeringly pleasurable—or deeply profound.

  I can’t imagine ever wanting another man.

  As I drag in another breath, his musky, manly scent fills my nose and awakens a need that should be beyond sated.

  Tynan wasn’t joking when he said wizards possess more stamina than the average human. Ronan was relentless. After our first encounter, he awakened me four more times, passion seething in his kiss as he clutched me and drove deep, his gruff whisper praising me even as he swore that I’m a never-ending fever in his blood.

  Obviously, he spewed pretty lies. Despite him kissing and tasting me repeatedly, he never uttered anything that sounded like ritualistic mating words.

  At the realization, I blink back tears. If Ronan suspected for even a moment that I’m his mate, wouldn’t he have said something? Or given me an indication that I’m more than the usual shag?

  Yes, which tells me he always heaps gratification on the women he beds and makes them feel as if they’re the only one. I wasn’t special at all.

  Bloody cheerful thought.

  Without question, our friendship is over. He’ll forget me in a handful of hours, if he hasn’t already. Unfortunately, he’s seared himself into my psyche forever.

  Why the bloody hell did I leap into bed with Ronan so impulsively? My ridiculously flimsy hope that I might be his mate? Brilliant.

  Why am I so bloody good at unrequited love? It’s pathetic, really. At least I’m not fooling myself anymore. Ronan will return to the Witch’s Brew and resume business as usual, bedding a different woman every night, regardless of what I feel. Where does that leave us?