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A bounty found. A discovery made. All because he’d kept going.

Am I cresting a dune even now?

If he was ever going to trust, it would be a direct female, one who could never lie—one who had no problem informing him that he alone had touched the divine this night.

“I’m not asking you for forever, Silt. I’m just telling you that the man I fully give my body to will be mine—forever. It’s very simple: if you can’t give me that, then you’re nothim.”

Him. The idea of some future male claiming her . . . claws must be raking him on the inside. Would she return to wanting the Ideal?

She chuckled at his obvious unease. “Forever, sorcerer.”

“And where does that leave us now?”

“You can only give what you can give. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy each other, up to a point, until my weapon is complete.”

The weapon that was never coming.

She ran her nails down his chest. “While we wait, I’ll give you ample opportunity to sexually spellbind me. Give it your best shot, short of intercourse.”

More bed play with Kosmina. Repeatedly pleasuring her. She offered him almost everything he’d wanted, what he’d schemed to get. “Your terms are acceptable.” He cleared his throat into his fist, working to shake off his guilt, an emotion he had little experience with.

“Be careful that you don’t lose your heart in the process.”

“I’ve pursued women for eons, and my heart remains mine.” He was convinced he had none.

“But, Silt, you’ve never met anyone like me,” she said with a vulnerable smile, demonstrating that directness mixed with sweetness—a unique blend that made his chest tighten and proved her statement.

He would figure all this out later, when sleep wasn’t calling him and when his balls weren’t pleasantly sore from the night’s activities.

She nibbled her bottom lip. “If we do grow closer, you will grieve as this plague worsens.” She sounded more worried about him than herself.

“It won’t worsen. You’ll gorge on my blood the way those demons downstairs gorge on delicacies.” But could he say for certain such a plan would work? He’d be betting with her life. Just like that, thoughts of sleep vanished.

She looked unconvinced as well. “I can sense the plague closing in on me. I might be weeks out from losing control. Maybe mere days.” As Enti had predicted. “If your blood doesn’tforestall it, I’ll become a danger to you. I’ve read about vampires who channel unstoppable strength in a bloodlust. I could hurt you, Silt.”

He gave her an indulgent look. “You can never overpower me.” He lay back down and dragged her to him with the ease of lifting a feather. “I’ll be fine. You worry for nothing, female.”

“Hmm.” In time, relaxation returned between them. “I want to know something about you, something you haven’t told me.” She was likely angling to discover what his tattoos meant.

Which he would never reveal. Had the transactions between them already started?

She surprised him by saying, “Tell me your real name.”

“You assume it’s not Silt?”

“Your parents didn’t name you that.”

True. Millennia ago, in a major battle for territory, he’d caused a tidal wave of silt to choke a crystalline river that had once given life to thousands. He’d dammed it forever.

Not entirely on purpose.

His enemies had called him Silt. He’d let the name stick. Afterward, he’d lived up to his reputation as a befouler. “Why would you want to know this?” He resisted revealing his name but couldn’t say why.

Yet then she gazed up with those eyes of hers. “Please?”

“My name is . . .” He hadn’t uttered it in eons. “My given name is . . . Adham.”

In a dulcet voice, she repeated,“Adham.”