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My head was spinning, my heart racing. I could feel my blood inside of him, merging with his. “Nero,” I gasped. “I need you. Now.” I grabbed his shirt roughly, tugging it over his head.

“I know,” he chuckled.

I dipped my mouth to his neck, teasing his pulsing, throbbing vein with my fangs. His chuckles died in his throat.

“Not so smug now, are you, General?” I said, pulling back to meet his emerald stare.

“Stop being such a tease, Pandora,” he growled, his voice rough with lust.

I ran my hands down his hot, hard chest. “As you wish.”

I lowered my mouth to his chest, kissing it once. Twice. On the third kiss, my fangs broke his skin. His blood, hot and as sweet as Nectar, flooded into my mouth. Hunger and pleasure twisted around each other until they were one. I gripped him tighter, drinking deep, drawing him inside of me.

No one tasted like Nero. No one. He tasted like love and lust and ecstasy—and the happily ever after that I never thought I’d get.

“Enough play.” He surged forward like a dragon launching into flight. One moment he was sitting in my chair, pinned under my thighs; and the next he had me pinned to my desk.

“But I like to play.” I struggled against his iron hold, but I couldn’t focus well enough to free myself. I’d long moved past dizzy, plunging hard and deep into feverish.

“Yes.” Fire burned in his eyes. “I know.” He flicked his wrists, burning the shirt off of me. The fabric dissolved into smoke, rising into nothingness.

Laughter pierced the sweet oblivion of my mind. But it hadn’t come from Nero. My gaze darted to the doorway. Nero’s parents stood there. My cheeks flushed hot, even as my high crashed and the fire inside of me fizzled out.

“Are we interrupting something?” Damiel asked, looking amused.

“Yes,” Nero snapped. He peeled himself off of me, sliding off the desk. “What do you want?” His arms folded over his bare chest.

And, yes, I’ll admit I took a moment to enjoy the view. Even in front of his parents.

Alec came running into my office. “Sorry, boss, they insisted on seeing you…” His voice trailed off, his serious expression lightening when he spotted Nero’s shirt on the floor—and my total lack of one. Thank goodness for sports bras.

“You may go, Alec,” I told him.

He gave me a good eyebrow wiggle—and a big thumbs up—then left the room.

“We tried to call you,” Cadence said to me.

“They were obviously busy,” Damiel told her, grinning.

“Yes.” Nero gave his dad the full-on angel glare. “Now go away.”

“We could,” said Cadence, “but I thought you wanted to come along when we found the hunter we’ve been looking for?”

In an instant, Nero totally switched gears. “Let’s go.”

“Wait,” I said, as his parents moved toward the door. They turned to face me. “I’ll go with you.”

Damiel nodded. “Always glad to have you along, Leda.”

“Just let me call the babysitter first to say I’ll be back late.” I grabbed my phone as Nero grabbed his shirt. “And then find some clothes to wear.”

4

THE HUNTED

Before the age of gods and demons, the Immortals had ruled the known universe for millennia. But they were betrayed by one of their own. After the Immortals’ empire fell, hunters tracked down and killed the survivors, claiming the once-powerful deities’ magical artifacts as their own. Nero and his parents were some of the Immortals’ last remaining descendants. And they’d sworn to eliminate each and every last one of the hunters.

“This guy sure picked a cozy place to hide,” I commented, looking around at the vast, white, lifeless expanse all around us. “He must be really paranoid.” I adjusted the fur-trimmed hood on my fluffy white coat to keep the falling snow from getting in.