“Surprise!” she said. “I’ve saved you the trouble of having to ask me to move in. You’re welcome.”

His Sugar Plum Fairy reclined in the center of the bed, the covers plumped around her. Excitement glowed in her baby blues. Golden hair tumbled all the way to the mattress.

Like every time before, he was struck by the sudden urge to get to her, take her, his blood flashing white-hot.

He gave himself a pep talk. My will is like iron. I’m strong enough to resist temptation—even Hurricane Keeley temptation.

“Are you sure living together is wise?” He placed the tray on the new nightstand, a wooden piece with the phrase “One-Night Stand” etched into the top, then eased beside her.

“We’ll find a way,” she said.

They had better find it fast. “How are you feeling?”

“One hundred percent.”

“But...?”

She studied his face, inhaled deeply, held it...then stood and sauntered into the bathroom, not bothering to close the door behind her. She fiddled with the knobs in the shower, figured everything out, and soon water was spewing from the spout. She undressed, nearly killing him, and stepped inside, then washed with Torin’s favorite products, the scent of sandalwood softly coating the air.

The glass separating the tub from the rest of the room did not fog, allowing him to watch her nipples harden...her belly quiver. Thinking of him? Wishing his hands were on her? His body pressed behind hers?

Strung as tight as a bow.

In a trance, he made his way into the bathroom and perched on the lid of the toilet. His erection was as hard as a steel pipe but had to be ignored. “But,” he insisted.

“I can guess what you’re going to do next, and I don’t like it.”

“And that is?”

“Something cruel to try to get rid of me.”

“I’m not.”

She continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “I’m more than the most powerful immortal on earth, you know. I’m a person. With feelings and everything! I’m worth more than a barrel of whiskey.”

“You’re worth more than anything,” he said quietly.

“I have a heart and it’s quite capable of being br—Wait. What?” she asked.

The only fantasy he would ever have stepped out of the shower, droplets of water slicking down her delectable form. Don’t stare. He stared, his blood burning hotter and hotter. Oh, to lick every droplet away.

“I don’t want to part with you.” He stood and, ignoring the tug to go to her, to touch and to please, moved into the room, creating distance. “But I can’t keep hurting you. Living in the same room will increase our chances of contact.”

“When we were careful, you didn’t hurt me.”

“What if I’m not careful next time?”

“What if sucks. It’s my life, my decision.”

“The guilt...”

She raised her chin. “Screw the guilt. You can do that for me...can’t you?”

Her uncertainty cut through his heart like a knife. “It’s a miracle you’ve survived my touches in the past. Very few manage such a feat even once, but you’ve done it three times. What will happen the fourth time? The fifth? One day, if things keep speeding down the same track, you’re not going to recover. I would rather die than let that happen, Keys.”

Her lips parted as she struggled to form a reply.

Why not tell her the rest? Just put it all out there? “You are special to me. I care for you. You could have murdered me time and again. You didn’t. You should have feared me. You never have. You should hate me. You can’t seem to manage it. You should avoid me, yet you only ever draw me closer. I want the best for you. But the best isn’t me.”

“Oh, Torin.” Slowly she walked toward him, her motions as fluid as the water still dripping from her. “You are the best.”

He backed away from her. His legs hit the edge of the bed, and he fell onto the mattress, bounced. She just kept coming until she was standing right in front of him. Naked. So gloriously naked.

“You are special to me,” she said. “I’ve told you that. But what you don’t know is that I care for you, too, and I want the best for you. And Torin? I am the best. You’ve seen me fight, yes? And the extent of my power? I could do more, show you more, if not for the brimstone. You would be so impressed.”

Her desperation to make him believe her claims was another knife in the heart.

He wanted to promise to remove the brimstone immediately. But that would have been a lie. Forget the need to have a weapon against her. It no longer had anything to do with that. As wild as her temper could be, someone had to be able to negate her abilities at a moment’s notice. And since he couldn’t tolerate the thought of anyone else putting their hands on her, the burden fell to him.

“I want so badly to belong to you,” she continued. “Not just in word but in deed. I ache for you, all the time.”

“Keys—” Could she hear his desperation?

“No. Princess is still talking. You told me to bond with you, and I did. But, Torin, I have to admit the truth. I did it before you told me. And I’m not sorry! Not anymore. I didn’t mean for it to happen and tried to stop it, but you, my sweet warrior, are irresistible. You don’t have to worry, though. I’m not a parasite. I don’t just take, I give. Have you realized you’re stronger already, and so am I? One day I’ll stop getting sick. Surely. The demon will run out of diseases. I’ll outlast him. Just you wait and see.”