Despite her fury, crackling chemistry passed between them, licking at her skin.
“Immortality is a gift, lass. I would no’ be stealing from you. I’d be giving to you.”
Typical Lorean arrogance! The more she thought about what he’d said, the madder she grew. “Here’s some advice. When you’re out wooing the next woman that you mistake for your mate, don’t tell her that you’re planning to fundamentally alter everything about her. You couldn’t have insulted me more, you muleheaded oaf!”
And his plans didn’t stop with transforming her! He also intended to rut on her until she bore his werewolven progeny.
He was part man, part beast. She could guess which half his offspring would favor. He’d called Lykae children pups. She pictured little wolven creatures. Would they bite? Maybe teething would take on a whole new meaning?
He drew in closer. “When you get like this, it’s everything I can do no’ to take your lips. Turn all this fiery anger into something else entirely.”
Underneath her outrage, temptation simmered. Despite his many faults, she desired the Lykae. Nothing could be more forbidden. She hardened herself against his immortal spellbinding.
“As for the other, I’ve made no mistake about you, Kereny.” Care-nay. “You are my mate. You’re feeling the pull to me, just as I am to you.”
She ducked under his arm and edged toward the water. She wanted away from him. Away from the forbidden.
She could charge through the cascade, dive into the pool, then sprint as fast as her legs could take her—
“You’re thinking about running? From me?”
When she faced him, some kind of dark promise gleamed in his eyes. His gaze raked over her as if he fantasized about catching her. He’d told her that the chase excited wolves like him.
She would never be able to escape him, and fleeing wasn’t her way. How many times had she stood her ground against terrifying threats, confronting the unconfrontable?
But now she faced an enemy unlike any before.
Myself.
Her fingers curled for the reassuring feel of her knife. With all of his talk about turning her, the wolf had distracted Ren from her plans to reclaim it, but now she would refocus. The best way to get away from him is to get closer to him.
Carefully. The attraction between her and Munro was a double-edged sword. “I won’t run from you.”
He cleared his throat. “Good.”
How much power did a mate wield over a Lykae male? When she’d shown him her legs earlier, he’d seemed mesmerized.
She could seduce him, make him mindless, then strike—unless he suspected her of doing just that and kept on guard. A plan evolved. As she used to do with her shell games, she’d keep him focused on the wrong direction, making him think she seduced him for another reason. “Are you an alpha, Munro?”
“Aye, you could say that. The warlocks targeted me because of the strength of my beast.”
“Can you control those newlings?”
He shook his head. “I could spook them, but not govern them. They’re too wild to follow pack dynamics.”
“A pity.” She beckoned him closer with a crooked finger. “Munro . . .”
He jolted straighter. “Aye?” He joined her by the wall of water, looking like a predator about to pounce.
She was too determined to give up now. Doubt is the enemy of determination. “Do I hold sway over you?”
“More sway than the godsdamned moon,” he rasped, the words akin to a vow.
Compelling male! His intensity was like rain on a bloom, seeping into every inch of her, all of her secret places. Focus, Ren! “Is there anything I could do to persuade you to fight the newlings for me?”
“Touch me and see.” He drew her hand close until it rested under his chin.
As she peered up at him, her hand shook. She was a knife thrower; her hands never shook! She had forever pondered how best to hurt immortals. Now she had to figure out how to pleasure one. Her sneaky thumb decided to feel his stubble. “It’s soft,” she murmured, surprised. “With a bite.”
His lips curved into that spellbinder’s smile. “Ah, lass, that’s exactly how I’ll make love to you.”
She drew in a tremulous breath.
“At least the first time.”
ELEVEN
She’s going for the blade.
A glimmer had lit Kereny’s vivid eyes, and her voice had softened. No more general’s tone. Like a struck tuning fork, Munro’s body vibrated from the change in her demeanor.
So his bonnie carnie was attempting to seduce him? Best case: she intended to persuade him to fight the newlings for her. Worst case: she planned to stab Munro again and behead him while he was unconscious.
But he would turn this seduction game right back on her. He had centuries of experience, and he would draw on every year. That’s it, beauty. Come for your little knife.
He considered putting it far out of reach, but he needed her to think she had a chance at reaching it—at least, until he’d given her a taste of their bond. Once she’d comprehended their fated connection, she would become as lost for him as he already was for her.