Alek made it back home just as the blue-gray of predawn gave way to the rose blush of impending morning. He quickly walked Grant around the block, eying the daylight crawling closer and closer.

Once back inside, he pulled the shutters down and locked them. He expelled a breath of relief. That had been close. Not that the daylight would have burned him to a crisp in seconds, but he’d rather not lose any more prana.

Speaking of which…

“Lilichka,” he said, catching her attention as she put away her cereal bowl. “I’d like to show you something.”

A saucy grin quirked up one corner of her mouth, and she wiggled her brows while she sauntered over. “Is it biiiiiiiiiig? Will it shock my delicate female sensibilities and make me gasp and clutch my pearls?”

She slid her arms around his waist, her hands stroking over his ass and up to the front, where she started unbuckling his belt. His pulse kicked up and a bolt of desire shot to his groin, blood rushing unerringly south. Down, boy.

“As much as I appreciate your straightforward willingness to get me naked,” he muttered, plucking her deft hands off his belt, “this is not what I meant.”

Her lips pulled into a pout, and it was the cutest damn thing he’d ever seen. “You promised I could play with your cock.”

Hot damn. That mouth of hers… A new wave of lust flooded his body, her dirty talk making the part she’d mentioned stand at expectant attention.

“Later.” As much as he wanted to get her in his bed again—or on any other available surface, really—and as much as he could tell she needed the outlet, evident in the humming tension in her body and the hints of frustration in her aura, showing her how to preserve her prana would also help balance her mind and body and calm her down like nothing else.

She sighed. “You keep dangling that carrot in front of me, but I never get to taste it.”

He choked on a laugh. “You’ll get the carrot, tsvetochek. After I show you how to extend your life force so you won’t have to take prana quite so soon again.”

That sobered her a bit. Her eyes lost the glint of humor, and she stepped back from him. “Oh? Do tell.”

“In a nutshell, it’s a method of controlling the flow of your breath with the aim of keeping more of your prana inside your body. It’s called pranayama.”

She frowned. “That’s a yoga technique.”

“Yeah, that’s where it originated. We adapted it to our needs.”

He sat cross-legged on the rug in front of the couch and gestured for her to join him. Still looking rather skeptical, Lily lowered herself to sit across from him.

“Okay,” he began, “so you already know we need to absorb someone else’s life force regularly to replenish our own. Here’s why—breath carries prana, so every time we exhale, we lose a bit of it. And this is where breathing techniques come in. By controlling the flow of the breath in and out of the body, you can control the flow of prana as well. With practice, you can get to the point where regular sessions of breath retention and deep, slow breathing will reduce the amount of prana that gets lost with an exhale.”

“But only during a pranayama session, right?”

“Nope. That’s the beauty of it. Do this regularly, and you’ll lower the loss of prana in general. Without this, you’d have to make a kill every other night or so, depending on your activity level. With pranayama, you’ll be able to gradually increase the time between feedings to several days, if not weeks. You’re recalibrating your body, in a way.” He tilted his head. “As long as you still keep up regular pranayama practice, that is.”

She nodded. “Got it.”

“Good. To start, center yourself and focus on your breathing. It helps if you close your eyes.”

“I’ve done a little yoga and meditation before.”

“Perfect. Then you know the basics. Direct your awareness to your breath, feel how it leaves your body, focus on the sensations of it. How it flows through your throat, how it tickles your nose.”

He let her breathe quietly for a few minutes, giving her time to calm down and reach the optimal mindset. Her aura settled a little, some of the tension leaving her body. Her shoulders relaxed. The lines in her face eased.

“Now,” he said, keeping his voice low and soothing so as not to disturb her focus too much, “visualize your life force, see how it glows, carried on your breath.”

She opened one eye to peer at him. “Are you sure you don’t want to start a side business as a New Age guru? You’ve got the lingo down pat.”

“Lily.” He suppressed a grin and put on his best stern face. “Focus.”

“All right, all right.” She closed her eye again.

“Do you have a visual hold on your prana?”

“Well, it is a slippery little bastard. Kinda hard to pin down, really.”

“Lily.”

“Fine. Yes, I see it.”

“Good. I’m going to teach you about bandhas, which are—”

“Bonds, or bands, I know.” There went that one eye again, candescent indigo glittering at him with just a hint of amusement. “I did learn a little Sanskrit.”

“Right. In pranayama practice, bandhas are four main parts of the body used to block the air flow. That’s useful for when you try to prolong the pauses in breathing, which is part of training your body to retain more prana.”

He went on to teach her how to activate each of these blocks, showing her three different techniques for slowing down and arresting the breath. Having practiced Fire Breath with her—a series of quick breathing followed by a deliberate, long pause after an inhale before exhaling with control—he did a couple more training sessions of deep breathing with her.

The sun had long since risen, his demon senses dulled with the advent of day, and with them his ability to read auras. Still, he could tell from Lily’s body language and facial expression that she was now deeply relaxed, had shaken off the acrid tension, no doubt caused by their failure to locate the other pranagraha, and made worse by the time she’d been forced to sit idly at home while he was on watch duty.

Good. He hoped her mind had found some peace as well. He hated seeing her so frustrated—hated that he was partly to blame. Sure, they’d had little to go on in terms of information about their target, but he’d contributed to that by deliberately sabotaging the search.

As it was, he’d led Lily around the city on an interesting, albeit fake, hunt for information, only asking contacts whom he knew wouldn’t be able to offer anything of value. Deep inside, his conscience burned with shame over breaking her trust like this. She was the one person he wanted to be honest with at all times, and yet being honest with her would drive her away.

From what he’d gleaned when he checked her tvaglakshana—although not as closely as he’d have liked, lacking the time to read it thoroughly—Lily was deathly afraid of getting stuck in a committed relationship, and somehow that fear was rooted in her parents’ marriage. What exactly had caused that emotional hindrance, he didn’t know, since the signs he found hadn’t spoken of the deeper reasons. According to his intel on the Murray family, Lily’s father died a couple of years ago, and Alek didn’t have more information on the nature of the marriage between Hazel Murray and her late husband.

Whatever the background there, it was clear he needed to tread extra-carefully with Lily if he wanted to win her consent to mate with him. His current strategy was to spend as much time as possible with her, stealthily win her heart, and make her fall for him. That she’d agreed to have a casual physical relationship with him should make it easier. And he wasn’t above using the full arsenal of his sensual skills to draw her in further, make her crave the pleasure of his touch until her heart came along for the ride, too.

How did that human saying go? All’s fair in love and war.

He studied her serene expression, the peaceful way she sat in lotus pose with her hands resting on her knees. Her chest slowly rose and fell with her deep, calm breaths. She was a natural at meditation and pranayama.

“So,” she said without opening her eyes, her quiet voice reminiscent of the low, soothing tone used by Zen masters, “do I get to play with your cock now?”

* * *

Lily heard the distinct sound of Alek suppressing a snort of laughter, and opened one eye to peek at him, joy bubbling in her chest. Teasing him was so much fun.

“And here I thought you were the epitome of relaxation,” he said, the silver in his eyes glittering.

“Oh, I am.” She unknotted her legs from their wedged position and crawled closer to him. “Doesn’t mean I forgot you still owe me a carrot.”

He glowered at her, the brute. “I don’t think I’m comfortable with that particular vegetable comparison.”

“Well, I’m sure I can come up with a better one…once I get a good look at it.” She let her finger trail down the front of his shirt, over those taut muscles she still planned on giving a thorough sensual exploration, to the waistband of his jeans.

Leaning back, he placed his hands on the floor behind him, balancing his weight on them, and stretched his legs out on either side of her. “You have my attention.”

She shot him a quick smile and refocused on the growing bulge visible underneath his jeans. The simmer of desire she always felt around him expanded into a slow, delicious burn, heat centering in all the quintessentially feminine parts of her body. She unbuckled his belt, and flicked open the button of his jeans.

His erection strained against his boxer briefs, the head of his cock almost inching out past the elastic of his underwear. Oh, the plans she had for this… Inhaling the hints of his musky, masculine scent, she sighed and brushed her fingertip over the blunt top of his shaft.

It jumped in response to her touch, and she smiled, enjoying his reaction to her.

She pulled down the zipper, freeing more of his arousal, and dove in without warning. Her mouth closed around the rock-hard evidence of his need for her, her teeth gently grazing the thin fabric of his boxers that still covered his cock.

“Jesus Christ, Lily!” Alek jerked, his muscles locking.

When she glanced up at him as she pulled down the elastic of his underwear with her teeth, his face was harsh with hunger and passion, tempered with just the right amount of amazement. She loved how she could surprise him, topple his notions of what she’d be like in bed.

Using both hands, she finished pulling his boxer briefs far down enough for his erection to spring free. Thick and long, pumped with blood and crowned with a velvety-looking head, it was a thing of beauty. And it made her mouth water, not to mention dampened her panties even more.

“Lilichka…” His voice held the kind of roughness that made her shiver in delight.

“Yeah?”

“The way you look at me right now, you either go ahead and follow through, or I’ll have you on your back and my cock inside you in two seconds flat.”

His coarse, erotic warning triggered a throb of desire between her legs. “All righty, then.”

She leaned down and licked a long line from the base of his shaft to the flared-out head, followed the brim of it around until she reached the front again, and let her tongue dance over the sensitive vein there. Alek exhaled on the brink of a moan, his eyes heavy-lidded as he watched her. Her skin grew tight and hot at his rapt attention, at the smoldering promise of sensual retribution in his gaze.

The taste of him…hmm. Musky, male, and all Alek. Addictive, so she went back for more, licking and nipping and caressing the length of him with her tongue, her teeth, her lips. His cock twitched under her ministrations, the muscles in his abdomen flexing, his fingers digging into the carpet where he steadied himself.

Arriving at the top again, she opened her mouth and swallowed him whole in one smooth move. He uttered a strangled groan, the sound so erotic it sent even more heat pooling between her thighs.

Gods, she loved seeing him react like this to her touch, knowing she made him crazy with pleasure. It was a heady feeling, turning her on in exquisitely wicked ways, and she moaned against him while she teased him with her tongue.

But it wasn’t just the effect she had on him that made her own body hum with excitement—she enjoyed sucking him for her own benefit, something she’d never experienced with her previous lovers. With them, she’d done it because they’d asked her, never of her own volition, and while it had been okay, she hadn’t particularly gotten off on it.

Now licking Alek, however… Hmm, it was like treating herself to a yummy piece of erotic candy. She relished the taste of him, the feel of velvet stretched taut over steel, the sensation as she slid him in and out of her mouth.

Using one hand to steady him, she let her tongue circle around the head when she came down, and sucked when she moved up again, with a hint of teeth grazing his skin. Judging by the way Alek’s grip on the carpet tightened and his breathing quickened, he enjoyed her teasing.

She’d just started playfully licking the sensitive underside of the tip, when he yanked her off.

She glared at him in outrage. “I’m not finished!”

“I need to be inside you,” he growled back, and before she could so much as squeal, he’d hoisted her up on his shoulder, carrying her toward his bedroom.

Her back met the mattress, the soft impact still abrupt enough to rush air out of her lungs for a moment. Alek used that instant of immobility on her part to divest her of her pants and was in the process of pulling off her top when she caught up with the change of place and pace. No less eager than he to get naked, she helped him get rid of the rest of her clothes.

“You too,” she said, tugging on his shirt.

He complied without hesitation. With a swift move, he took off his shirt, then stripped out of his jeans and underwear and crawled back on the bed. Looming over her like a darkly beautiful vision of sex, he gave her a look that made her quiver in anticipation.

“I’d love to taste you again,” he murmured, his voice on the edge of feral, “but I’m afraid I’m all out of patience for now.”

“So am I.” She wriggled farther underneath him, hooking one leg around his hips, opening herself to him.

Balancing his weight on one arm next to her shoulder, he leaned down and caught her mouth in a searing kiss, while he slid his other hand down to the juncture of her thighs, to the aching spot so ready for him. His fingers found her entrance, played with her folds, teased the throbbing center of her need.

Yes.

A thought at the back of her mind, pushing forward. “Can prana-grendels have STDs?” she asked, her hands on his shoulders.

He paused, his lips twitching. “Pranagrahas. And no.” His fingers moved against her intimate flesh again, sending shivers of pleasure through her that all but erased her thought process. “And I can’t get you pregnant, not until we’re mated.”

Content with his explanation—and ignoring the undertone of longing in his words—she arched against his touch, craving more. “I need to feel you, Alek.”

A tremor went through him when she called him by name. Locking his gaze with hers, the intensity in his eyes threatening to reach parts of her heart she wanted to keep hidden behind a wall, he positioned his cock and entered her.

She gasped at the pleasure-pain of him stretching her in a way that was at once too much and not enough.

He stilled, silver-gold eyes alight with attention. “You okay?”

“Give me a moment,” she whispered, her nails digging into his shoulders.

Eyes still locked with hers, he kissed her with a gentleness that contrasted beautifully with the almost-but-not-quite hurt of his erotic intrusion. His free hand tangled in her hair, cradled the back of her head and caressed her neck, slid down farther to her breast. He circled her nipple, brushed his fingertips oh-so-lightly over the puckered tip, inciting small fireworks in her skin and all the way down to where she began to adjust to his size.

She squeezed him with her inner muscles and rolled her hips against him. Smiling against her lips, he took her cue and began to move. Slowly at first, he rocked into her, picking up speed after a few thrusts as her body welcomed him more and more fully, and she matched his rhythm. The slap of flesh on flesh and heated, quickened breaths filled the room, a primal mix of sounds that turned her on as much as the twining scents of their lust, the feel of Alek possessing her in a way that spoke to the most primitive part of her nature.

His fingers tunneling into her hair again, he grasped the strands, pulled until she bared her throat to him. Her heartbeat a drum in her ears, she gasped as he bent to lick the sensitive skin, his teeth nipping at her in a mere shadow of a demand, and yet the primordial part of her brain exploded with warning.

With a series of swift moves ingrained in her through years of martial arts training, she flipped them both over. Straddling him, she lowered herself, driving his cock deep and gyrating her hips at the same time. Alek groaned, throwing his head back against the pillow, his hands gripping her waist.

The niggling feeling at the back of her mind faded now that she was in control, and she let herself go, gave in to the passion burning inside her, and rode him hard. Her climax hit her like a storm front. Setting all her nerve endings alight, the orgasm blew through her with unadulterated force. Thoughts and feelings a scattered mess, she was still in the grip of the last waves of bliss…when Alek drove his hips up and squeezed her nipples—hard.

Crying out, she surrendered to a peak of pleasure unlike anything she’d ever felt. This climax was pure sensual devastation, merciless in its erotic destruction. Light flooded her vision before darkness swallowed her mind.

* * *

Dark need driving her, she kept on beating the witch pinned underneath her knees. Her fists rained down, knuckles bloody, the scent of iron thick in the air. It only incited her bloodlust further.

The witch struggled, a feeble attempt at stopping the wrath unleashed upon her. “Lily, stop!”

The familiar voice sent a tendril of recognition through her, a spike of fear. This was her enemy, wasn’t it? Her punches faltered, doubt seeping into her heated blood. She let up enough that the witch lowered her arms from her protective position in front of her face.

Lily’s heart shattered.

Sky-blue eyes opened in a face that was little more than mask of blood, and fire-red hair sticking to pale skin. A face she knew, knew so very well.

“Will you kill me, too?” Merle asked.

“Too?” A whisper, a broken sound.

Merle glanced to the side, and she followed her look, jerked when she saw the crumpled body of a male—Baz’s lifeless eyes stared back at her.

She screamed as her world splintered.

Lily woke with a start and the strangled remnants of a scream stuck in her throat. Her pulse raced, her skin covered in a sheen of sweat, her soul stained with a darkness she couldn’t shake.

Breathing so fast that white spots flitted across her vision, she thrashed, her eyes finding nothing familiar to hold onto when she opened them. A darkened room, a bed she didn’t know, lingering images and feelings of a nightmare that seemed all too real.

The scent of autumn nights and wood fires filtered through the chaos in her mind at the same time as her hand landed on a warm body next to her. She ran her fingers over muscles, fine hair tickling her fingertips. A forearm. A wrist.

A hand grasping hers.

“Alek,” she whispered.

“Shhh. Come here, Lilichka.” His voice was drenched in sleep, the timbre a rough caress.

And she went. Without hesitation, she curled into him, buried her face in the curve of his neck, inhaled him until she was drunk on him, her heart relaxing on a sigh. His arms came around her, a protective embrace that felt so safe, so right.

“It’s okay,” he muttered, stroking her back. “You’re okay. I’m here, tsvetochek.”

The stranglehold of fear around her mind loosened. He kept petting her, anchoring her with touch, and she hadn’t known how much she needed that physical connection until he enveloped her in his arms. Her breathing calmed.

Here, locked in his embrace, in the heat of whatever it was they shared, she could almost start to believe his words. That she was okay. That this new darkness inside her wouldn’t devour everything that was good about her. Yes, she could almost believe him.

Almost.