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We stay at the nightclub for another hour, moving from the bar to the dancefloor to an area where we can just stand and mingle.

The entire time the patrons of this place watch me and Des, and there’s so much in their looks. Lust, envy, avarice. The Bargainer does nothing but seed it; I can taste his magic in the air, reckless and wild, beckoning people to make bad decisions.

Eventually they do. They drink more, touch more, and creep ever closer to us. Soon fights are breaking out, at least two couples appear to be participating in someheavypetting, and Des and I have scared off a dozen people interested in poaching on this relationship.

“Do you do this at every party you attend?” I ask.

“Do what?” he asks, appearing innocent.

“Rile people up.”

He smiles. “Are you not having a good time?”

“I literally almost clawed a woman apart five minutes ago.” She’d inserted herself between me and Des, and then proceeded to flirt with my mate—at least until he conveniently side-stepped her to rejoin me.

“Shame I stopped that so soon.”

Ugh. This is what happens when your soulmate is a fairy. True shows of devotion often involve spilling blood.

“But you’re forgetting all the men and women who’ve approachedyou,” he adds.

Men and women who then took one look at the menacing Bargainer and rethought their game plans.

Des sets the beer he now holds on a nearby table. “Why don’t we call it a night?”

The body shots have been drunk, the good times have been had, and everyone else here is now a sloppier mess than either of us. It’s as good a time as any to get going.

The two of us leave the club, heading down a couple blocks until we get to a local cemetery. Once there, Des leads me through a ley line entrance, the air wavering as we step through.

It takes less than a minute to travel from London back to California, and when we step off the ley line, we’re back in Des’s house.

The Bargainer whisks me out of the circular portal room, the door clicking shut at my back, lock after intricate lock engaging.

I glance at Des, who leans against the door for a moment. He’s got the devil in his eyes when he looks at me.

“What?” I say. My blood is beginning to rush through my veins.

“You didn’t think I’d let you take those body shots without repayment now, did you?” Des says.

In a blink he’s in front of me.

Shamefully, his shirt is back on. It brushes against mine as he steps into my space, backing me against a nearby wall.

“How do you want it—on the floor, against the wall, or over the counter?”

Christ. My skin begins to glow as my siren awakens, drawn by sex and magic.

His hand dips into my pants and cups my sex. “Or would you rather I choose for you?”

I gasp, my hands coming to his upper arms, my fingers digging in.

It takes little effort for him to slide my panties aside and dip a finger into my core. “I’m taking that aschoose for me.”

“Des.”

He’s feral and overwhelming and silver-tongued and so very, very fae.

A second finger dips in. I moan at the sensation.