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Gathering my hair into a fist, he leans forward, tilting my ear towards him. “You didn’t think the King of the Night would just be gentle, did you?” he says, his voice husky.

His hand moves between my legs.

He pinches my clit, and I let out a moan.

Des nips the shell of my ear. “Mmm, I like that sound.”

“Des …” I lean my forehead against my pillow, panting.

Suddenly he’s pushing himself into me. I can feel my inner walls giving way, making room for him.

And now I let out another moan as he fills me.

Once he’s deep inside me, he doesn’t move.

“Cherub … never could I have imagined it would feel so good …”

It’s been like this, every single time. Like the electric, restless chemistry between the two of us is finally, finally sated.

Then he does move, thrusting in and out of me with gathering force. He holds me against him, my hair still caught up in his fist. I’m trapped in his arms, arching back into him.

Our bodies begin to make wet, slick noises as we sweat. Darkness gathers around us, and my glowing skin is the only illumination in the room.

Des releases my hair all at once, only to tweak my nipples a moment later.

That’s all it takes.

My orgasm shatters through me, going on and on and on. Somewhere in the middle of it, I hear Des shout, and then he’s coming too, his cock driving in and out of me.

The two of us collapse together in a boneless heap.

From heartache to this. Life could not possibly get better.

The next morning,when I begin to wake, I stretch, my body sore in all the right places. Des’s arm tightens around my mid-section.

I’m smiling before I even open my eyes. When I do, I first catch sight of the Bargainer’s white blonde hair. I skim a hand through it, enjoying touching him, exploring him, even when he’s not awake.

His wickedly curving lips are slightly parted. Like this, he looks like an angel. He’d absolutely loathe the compliment, but it’s true. Everything about him is perfect.

When he doesn’t wake and I begin to feel like a creeper for staring at him, I slide out of his bed.

I swing by my bedroom to throw on some clothes, and then I pad over to the kitchen. The stupidest things make me smile, like the way the sunlight shines in through the windows, or the sight of yesterday’s bag of macaroons.

I brew a cup of coffee and make my way to the back of the Bargainer’s house. A grand set of French doors open to a palatial backyard. A garden full of flowering vines and exotic shrubs line it. A gurgling fountain sits right in the middle of the garden, aquatic plants growing from it.

Where the garden ends, land gives way to cliffs. Beyond the cliffs, a blue expanse of ocean spreads out for miles and miles. Today is a clear enough day that I can see the California coast.

I think back to all those days I’d sat on the edge of my property and stared out at Catalina Island. I’d never imagined that across that water Des was right here, possibly staring back …

Forced to stay away from me because I made a foolish bargain seven years ago. And yet he was always just within sight.

It’s all over now.

He’s my soulmate.

I don’t understand how it’s possible. Here on earth, supernaturals know whether or not they have soulmates, much the same way I know I’m a siren. When we’re teenagers, our powers Awaken, including mating bonds.

And nothing of the sort was Awakened in me.