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“I tried!” I shriek back. “He’s past reason now!”

Kallias has to block a series of slashes from that nasty dagger. But Eryx is too fast, and the third lands on the king’s wrist, where his hand is corporeal to hold the blade.

More shadows spill into the mix.

Someone is going to die. Of that, I’m certain. And if it’s my sister’s husband, then any hope of rekindling a relationship with her will be ruined forever.

If it’s Eryx, I will not be able to live through the guilt.

But me? This is all my fault, and my sacrifice is the only one I will tolerate in this moment.

In perhaps the most foolish mistake of my life, I advance. And the next time the two men are thrown apart, I insert myself between them.

Eryx is poised for the next strike. That dagger comes within a hair’s breadth of me, but I don’t close my eyes. I keep mine directly focused on his.

He halts; he doesn’t land another blow.

Instead, he growls at me.

And I growl right back.

He tries to look over my shoulder, to get to Kallias, so I make another reckless move. I step closer, press my body against his, and I wrap my arms around his neck.

I kiss him.

The beast goes utterly still, and I can almost hear his brain working. Thoughts of killing to protect me fly out the window as a new desire overcomes Eryx.

He drops the dagger as he scoops me into his arms. The monster is fully out, and he doesn’t recede. Not as he carries me from the room.

I don’t care one bit.

“Alessandra is on the edge of the estate with my footman,” I call over his shoulder. “I’ll come find you both later.”

Argus and Dyson try to step in front of Eryx, and he bares those canines at them both.

“Don’t,” I say. “I choose this. You would all do well to stay far, far away.”

For I feel just as bestial as Eryx in this moment.

He tries to carry me to the cellar, but I stop him with a yank on one of his horns.

“No,” I say, and I direct him to the duchess suite instead. As he ascends the stairs, he breathes deeply, taking in the scent of me. My arms rove over his chest and face, touching where I can. The bedroom cannot come soon enough.

Eryx slams the door to the duchess suite closed with one foot. He lowers me onto the bed before taking my mouth in a heated kiss. His teeth graze my lips, but they don’t break the skin, and the contact is exhilarating. His clothing is in tatters from where the king slashed at it, so it hardly takes much effort on my part to remove it. Eryx does as he meant to the first time by the lake, shredding my dress under his brute strength.

He stares down at me, taking in the length of my naked body underneath his. He shudders at the sight of it.

And then he claims me.

But more important, I claim him.

WE’RE BOTH PANTING ON THEbed by the time we’re done.

Only then do the changes fade.

The horns and tail disappear. His canines return to normal. Onlyhis amber eyes are left when he props himself up on one elbow and looks at me.

“Did I hurt you?”