Page 108 of Brushed By Moonlight

Like that kiss,my dragon snarled.

It had taken everything I had not to roar, shift, and pummel the guy. Mina looked furious too, and I’d been rooting for her to punch him. Even if it had blown our cover, it would have been worth it.

Grab her,my dragon growled.Get her out of here. To hell with Gordon and his fucking client.

But Mina wanted that painting badly, and I needed to finish my six months with Gordon if I was ever going to move on to a new life. A better life.

A life with Mina,my dragon breathed.

Thin-ice territory, for sure, but that fantasy was getting harder and harder to ignore.

I scanned the room. Baumann’s party was in full swing, with guests filling the vast living room and a terrace big enough to play tennis on. The glass doors in between had been pushed back, creating one huge, indoor/outdoor area.

In terms of party vibes, it was amazing. In terms of security, it was a nightmare.

Which played into our hands, of course — multiple exits, no clear perimeter, the cover of noise and darkness, people coming and going…

The hair on the back of my neck prickled, and I turned at the sound of heels clicking over the marble floor.

“Well, well. If it isn’t Marius,” a woman murmured.

I froze. Celeste? Here? Now? How?

She chuckled. “Aw, how sweet. So happy to see me, you’re tongue-tied.”

I couldn’t tell if she was joking. That was the thing with Celeste. You could never tell anything, and you could never, ever let your guard down.

“Imagine seeing you here,” she clucked cheerfully.

I steeled my shoulders. “Pretend you didn’t.”

She chuckled. “Trying to go incognito?”

I shook my head. “Trying not to draw attention.”

“And yet here I am, drawing all your attention,” she practically purred. “Go on. Try to resist. You know you can’t.”

The thing was, I could. A huge — and welcome — surprise. Not even a monk could resist a succubus when she turned up her charms.

Which Celeste did, ratcheting them all up to the highest level. I could sense her seductive haze creep in around me, along with tendrils of heat that tried to spark something within me — but nothing like the irresistible inferno of our previous encounters. Why?

My dragon snorted.Do you have to ask?

My eyes slid to Mina, and I found myself thanking destiny, for a change. To have brought me Mina — and armor me against Celeste… Maybe destiny’s intentions weren’t all bad.

Celeste followed my eyes and scoffed. “Now, don’t tell me that little mouse has caught your eye.” She leaned in, sniffed, then cackled. “Oh, she’s caught more than your eye, hasn’t she?”

Shit, shit, shit. Not good.

Her eyes narrowed, and she studied Mina more intently. “She’s not that bitch Gordon was so worried about the night Szabo visited your humble abode, is she?”

A long row of red flags popped up in my mind. So many, I barely knew where to begin.

“Szabo? What do you know about Szabo?”

The minute I asked, I regretted it, because my tone gave me away.

Celeste’s eyes sparked with interest. “Well, someone has to keep an eye on you four after all. You, most especially. Just to keep you out of trouble, of course.”