I, Rachel thought, staring up at the gaping jaws of the magical raptor, Am out of my mind. Why did I let him talk me into this?

You know perfectly well why, retorted a disgusted mental voice. You’ve got a thing for him, and you want his approval.

Idiot. She’d be lucky if she didn’t get herself eaten. Never mind that this was an illusion -- it felt real.

It wasn’t merely the gleam of moonlight on Super Chicken’s feathers, or the thing’s ear-shattering roars. It was the heavy reptilian scent of the creature, the reek of blood and meat on its hot breath and clinging to its gory claws. The whole effect made her hindbrain gibber like something out of an old Monty Python movie: Run away! Run, run away!

One thing was for damned sure. She didn’t want to find out what the simulation would feel like if Super Chicken ate her.

A huge clawed foot slashed at her head, and she threw herself aside. Her enchanted plate armor rattled as she hit the pavement rolling. She had to admit, she liked the armor. Unlike her bullet resistant vest, it weighed little more than her tank top and leggings. Which might be because a tank and leggings were what she was really wearing…

A deep male voice roared a battle cry, and Nathan leaped at the dinosaur, swinging an enormous claymore in a glowing arc. The magical blade was four feet long, with another foot of hilt so it could be swung two-handed. It was a good choice; nobody in their right mind would want to get any closer to the giant reptile than they absolutely had to.

As Nathan hacked at its muzzle, the creature jerked its head up. The gemstone over its eyes flared blue, and the blade rebounded off the blue hemisphere of the raptor’s magical shield in a shower of sparks. The dinosaur shrieked and darted its head at Nathan, toothy jaws open wide. He dodged as it snapped, teeth biting empty air. Whirling the blade as if it weighed no more than a chopstick, he darted in, slamming the weapon again and again against the raptor’s shield.

What had Nathan said about using magic in the simulation? “Look, all you have to do is picture what you want to do -- create a fireball or whatever -- and the spell will create an illusion of that attack to let you experience what it would be like. The point is to see how you would use magic if you had it.”

“Okay, what the hell.” She pictured a fireball appearing over her hand in the kind of spell she’d been watching Oriana perform for years.

Woosh! The ball of flaming sparks burst into being, its heat warming her palm. Wow, it worked! She hurled it at the raptor.

The ball of fire splattered against Super Chicken’s shield, raining sparks. And doing absolutely no damage whatsoever.

Crap.

How the hell had the original Magekind team defeated the thing? Rachel conjured another fireball and hurled it after the first. It, too, splashed off the shield.

Damn it. Taking a deep breath, she circled the monster, darting in, then dancing back, flinging blasts at the monster the whole time.

The attack served its purpose. Super Chicken quit chasing Nathan to turn its beady orange glare on her again.

Yeah, that’s a real improvement. Think, damn it, she told herself, summoning another fireball. The original team beat it somehow. What the hell did they do?

“Come on, KFC!” Rachel bounced on her toes in a mocking little dance as she conjured a fireball in either hand. “I’ve got your eleven herbs and spices ready!”

The raptor lunged toward her, swinging tail narrowly missing Nathan’s head. The vampire whirled aside like a bullfighter, his cold blue eyes locked on the creature, looking for an opening. The raptor twisted its long neck around, jaws gaped wide, and darted its huge head at him. With a shout, Nate leaped back a heartbeat before those jaws snapped shut.

Rachel strangled a scream, summoned a fireball, and hurled it at the raptor, missing its fanged muzzle by a fraction of an inch. At least I got closer that time.

Her eyes widened as realization struck.

The two other times she’d thrown a fireball at it, Super Chicken’s shield had blocked her blasts three feet away. This time she’d missed by inches, as if the shield hadn’t been up. Of course not. KFC was trying to bite Nathan. It couldn’t bite through its own shield. That’s it. That’s the key!

Her mind worked furiously as she saw what she had to do. But fuck, if she miscalculated…

Tough. She had to do something. Sooner or later, they’d start slowing down -- and it was all they could do to stay ahead of the monster now. She had to take a chance.

“Here, chicky chicky chicky!” she caroled, and flung a trio of fireballs at him one after another. It hissed in displeasure. “I’ve got a bucket with your name on it!”

The huge creature hesitated, glaring toward her. Nathan swung his sword at it, and it wheeled to snap at him. He backpedaled, whirling his sword in arcs that sent sparks raining off Super Chicken’s shields. “Quit smarting off at the monster and keep your mind on the job!”

Damn it, Nate, work with me! Gritting her teeth with frustration, Rachel darted forward, readying her spell as she ran. She’d only have a fraction of a second…

But she wasn’t used to running in plate armor. The inner edge of her right thigh plate caught against her left, tangling her legs. She fell, tucking and rolling as years of martial arts training came to the rescue.

“Rachel!”

Heart pounding, she flipped onto her back -- to find herself staring up into the raptor’s throat through a forest of teeth as its head shot toward her face. With a shout, she conjured a spear just as she’d planned, then rammed it between those open jaws, into the creature’s soft palate.

It threw its head up with a squeal of agony. Before it could rear away from her, Nathan raced up, leaped onto the raptor’s back, and began chopping furiously into its neck with his claymore. Blood flew. She barely rolled clear as the raptor collapsed to the ground, the vampire hacking at it like a berserk lumberjack.

Before she could conjure a sword of her own, alley and dinosaur disappeared.

* * *

Rachel blinked. She stood nose to nose with Nathan, as she’d been when she put on the circlet. Startled, she stepped back a pace. She would have felt a little shamefaced at the reaction, but he looked as off-balance as she did.

For a moment, they stared at each other, both breathing hard. “Did we actually do any of that? I mean, were we running around the dojo fighting an imaginary lizard? And if so, how did we avoid slamming into walls?”

Nathan hesitated. “I don’t think so. As I understand it, the spell suppresses your voluntary muscles the same way your body doesn’t act out dreams.”

Rachel staggered over to the nearest wall, leaned against it, and slid down to sit on the floor. “Then why do I feel like I went ten rounds with a giant prehistoric chicken?”

Nathan walked over and sank down to sit at her side. “Because it was one hell of a simulation.”

They spent the next few minutes trying to breathe. Finally, he turned his head to look at her. “So, was falling on your face all part of your cunning plan, or are you just clumsy?”

“Some of both.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You do realize if you’d tried that shit in real life, you’d have gotten yourself killed. And maybe me with you.”

“Only if it didn’t work.”

When her heartbeat finally slowed, she asked, “So did I pass?”

Nathan turned his head to give her a smile that sent a bolt of wicked heat through her. “Yeah, you passed. Quick thinking with the spell.”

She studied him, a little suspicious. “Does that mean I get my prize?”

He gave her a slow, dark smile. “Oh, yes.”

Rachel hesitated. She wasn’t sure she was ready to make the transition from fighting for her life -- illusion or not -- to kinky vampire sex. Her gaze dropped to his incredibly erotic mouth, to its firm curves, to the plump lower lip. On the other hand…

“Need a little encouragement?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, I am a Court Seducer…” That bearded smile of his took on a pirate’s wicked tilt. He leaned in and cupped her jaw in one large, calloused hand, black pupils dilating, darkening the arctic blue. Her breath caught as she stared back, and her slowing heartbeat began to speed again. Taking his time as if thoroughly enjoying the anticipation, he lowered his head and took her mouth.

It was a long kiss, his lips warm and silken against hers. His tongue traced the seam of hers, until, with a moan of surrender, she opened to let him slide inside. Wet, delicious, he thrust in and out in a swirling, seductive tease, until desire kindled low in her belly, growing hotter when he growled against her mouth. He angled his head, eyes closed as he tasted her, slow and hot and passionate. His thumb brushed back and forth over her cheekbone in tiny caresses that seemed to promise her body more.

Nathan gave it to her a heartbeat later when his free hand found her breast. His fingers tightened, seeking the peak of her nipple, teasing it until arousal became outright lust. She gasped against his working mouth. God, he really is good at this.

Bracing herself against his chest, Rachel felt hard muscle roll under her palms. She dragged up a leg, threw it over his hips. Rachel sat up, deliberately grinding against the erection she could feel growing behind his zipper. He opened his mouth, inviting her tongue inside. With another soft moan, she thrust in deep. Moaned deeper when she felt the smooth edge of a lengthening fang.

He slid that warm hand into the hair at her nape, cupping her head in long, possessive fingers. She drew back until she could meet his burning gaze. “I think I want to shower. I’m feeling…” Her lips curled into a smile that felt almost as wicked as his. “Sweaty.”

His own teeth flashed as he smiled back, slow and dark. “Can’t have that.” He lifted her off his lap like a kitten, and she scrambled to her feet as he rose, graceful as a panther.

For a moment they stood there looking deep into each other’s eyes. His glittered vividly blue with lust as he took her hand and led her from the dojo.

* * *

By the time they walked into the master bedroom, Nathan’s cock felt hard enough to hit a fastball. His gaze fastened on the long line of her neck as she stepped in front of him, at the pulse throbbing under the skin. His attention slid down her lithe back to the lush curves of her ass in those skin-tight leggings, his fangs aching almost as much as his dick.

His mind flashed back to her fall, when the raptor pounced on her with open jaws. Though he’d known it was a simulation, in that instant it felt utterly real.

It wasn’t the first time Nathan had seen a female partner endangered in combat. Hell, twice in the past four hundred years, Majae had died in battle beside him despite everything he’d done to save them. Yet he’d never felt such icy terror for any of them. Desperation, yes. Fury, yes. Their deaths had left such deep scars, he sometimes still woke from nightmares of guilt and grief. But not such deeply intimate panic, as if Rachel meant far more to him than any Latent ever had. Ever should.

Then there’d been the look on her face as she’d stared up into all those teeth. Fear had contorted her features for a split second, only to vanish as the spear popped into her hand. She’d driven it between the raptor’s open jaws with a fluid surge of power and courage.

Nathan had endured some truly horrific things over four centuries, but he wasn’t sure he could have dared those fanged jaws without flinching. And yet she’d only been a cop for three years.

Damn. Just damn.

Ahead of him, Rachel stopped in the doorway of the bathroom, drawing in a startled breath. Jolted back to the present, Nathan smiled, knowing exactly what she was reacting to.

Like his bedroom, his bathroom was designed for seduction. A huge Jacuzzi bath took up one side of the room, while the other was dominated by an enormous glassed-in shower. Both were more than big enough for two -- or three.

“Want a bath?” he purred, enjoying the thought of Rachel neck-deep in bubbles.

She looked back at him, big brown eyes taking on a sexy twinkle. “Not this time. Baths tend to wash away certain… lubricants.”

“That would be inconvenient.” Because as hard as his cock was, she needed all the lubrication she could get.

She eyed the glass enclosure. “I think a nice pounding shower might be more the ticket.”

“I’m definitely in the mood for some kind of pounding.”

She laughed, the sound throaty. “You’re a bad, bad man.”

“Lady, you have no idea. Yet.” He caught the hem of her black tank top and pulled it off over her head. She made a purring sound of approval as he unsnapped her bra, baring the smooth, curving line of her back.

They undressed each other slowly, hands stroking, leaning close now and then to kiss a shoulder or nibble some sensitive spot. When he slid a hand to the cluster of curls between her long legs, he found her deliciously wet, tight around his thrusting fingers.

Then her cool little hand encircled his hot cock, and he almost swallowed his tongue. She stroked him slowly, her dark eyes locked on his face, a smile curving her seductive lips. Her free hand cupped his balls, squeezing gently even as she milked the length of his cock with the other. Shuddering, he let his head fall back.

With a wicked little laugh, she tugged gently on his shaft, leading him to the shower by his cock. Arousal coiled deep in his belly, heating his balls and drawing them tight.

She released him and turned away with a taunting little twitch of her bare ass, slid the shower door open, and reached inside to turn on the spray. His hands curled into fists of need as she took her time adjusting the temperature to her satisfaction.

Nathan was seriously considering grabbing her when she moved into the enclosure and reached for the bottle of body wash in its wall niche. He followed, his cock leading the way.

Rachel’s eyes dropped to the thick, aching shaft. A grin of pure lascivious anticipation spread over her face as she squeezed body wash into her palm. The air filled with the scent of vanilla, intensifying as she put the bottle down and lathered her hands. As he stared hungrily down at her, he glimpsed a flash of dark brown irises as she watched him through her thick lashes.

The little minx knew exactly what she was doing to him. And she liked it.

But then, so did he.

She reached for him with those soapy hands, stroking them over his pectorals, tracing the rolling ridges of his abdominal muscles and ribs.

Breath caught, he watched her, feeling hypnotized by her sensual absorption. As Court Seducer, he was normally the one who did the seducing. His Latent partners were more likely to lie back and let him do whatever he wanted to.

But she was more ambitious than that. And she wasn’t simply teasing him, either. Fascination filled her lovely gaze as she stroked him, traced each muscle and hollow with her fingertips in ticklish, tempting brushes.

She seemed captivated by his chest hair, which he’d refused to shave despite the demands of Millennial fashion. There was something intensely erotic in the sensation of those gentle fingers touching him, spilling long rolling streamers of foam. Spray from the shower pattered warmly on his shoulders and back as he stood there, submitting to whatever she wanted to do.

Enjoying it all. Needing it all.

And every time she touched him, he grew harder, the ache in his balls building until they felt as heavy as lead.

Rachel fell to her knees on the tile and slid closer to stroke the length of his shaft with her soapy hands, washing him, caressing his full testicles, then rinsing off the soap. And driving him slowly insane. Forcing him to fight the need to reach down, snatch her off the ground, and shove his cock deep.

Leaning forward, Rachel opened her mouth. Nathan stiffened in anticipation. Slowly, so slowly, she took him into her mouth an inch at a time, lips engulfing his cock in a maddening possession.

The sight of her, kneeling there at his feet -- looking submissive when he knew damned well she was anything but… He shuddered, fisting his hands against the need to snatch her off the floor and jam his way into that tight, creamy pussy.

Her lips tightened around his cock, began to suck so hard her cheeks hollowed. The blazing eroticism of the sensation made his head fall back in a low, rough groan of frustrated lust. She sucked harder, drawing deeper, letting him feel the wet, snug grip of her mouth. The pleasure blinded him with its primal intensity.

Unable to help himself, he began to roll his hips, savoring each velvety slide. Every sweet entry and retreat scalded his nerves with a pleasure so intense it was almost pain.

He wondered how much longer he could take it.

* * *

Rachel closed her eyes as she concentrated on the hot weight of him in her mouth. His shaft was so damn long and thick she couldn’t take it all, but the effort to do it anyway was impossibly arousing.

She angled her head, working him another fraction deeper, remembering the way he’d looked swinging that claymore as he tried to behead the raptor. All that incredible muscled strength and speed, that vampire grace. The raw essence of masculinity.

She drew off his shaft until her lips encircled the fat corona of his cock, savoring the heated sensation of his velvet skin in her mouth. Before she could sink deep again, he seized her shoulders. “Let go!”

She obeyed, and he jerked her off her knees and into his arms. Her wet body slapped against his as he pulled her into a biting kiss that let her feel the tips of his fangs. He swirled his tongue between her lips, and she opened wide for him, groaning in yearning.

He’d pulled her off balance, forcing her to stand on tiptoes in his arms. Every ridge and hollow of him branded itself on her senses. So very hot and male. He pulled back, his hands clamping into the flesh of her ass, lifting her right off her feet. Raising her high, he looped an arm around her waist and used his free hand to aim his cock. She hissed in shocked excitement as he impaled her on his thick length.

“Oh God!” she gasped at the stark delight of his cock stuffing its way so very deep. Calloused hands gripped her thighs, and he began to drive. Deep, burrowing thrusts ground the big shaft in and out.

They were eye to eye in this position. His vivid irises were thin rings around black pupils, his fangs bared and fierce. She clung to one brawny shoulder, gripping the back of his neck with her free hand to brace herself as he dug in, fucking her hard, until the air filled with the slap of wet bodies.

Helpless, hypnotized, she stared into his face, dewed with water droplets from the shower, hair lying in glossy curls over his forehead, his black goatee dripping.

Each sawing thrust drove her another inch closer to the climax she could feel maddeningly close. Almost. Almost…

“Rachel, Merlin’s Cup, Rachel…” he hissed between his teeth, his handsome face set. “You drive me insane!”

“Nathan!” she gasped back, eloquence utterly beyond her, aware of nothing but the sensation of that powerful cock shuttling in and out. He worked her body as if she were a rag-doll. The climax built deep in her belly, a hot spring coiling tighter and tighter and tighter… and…

A fountain of fire blazed up her spine, jerking and twisting her body in his hard arms as she howled. Helpless. Utterly overwhelmed.

He roared, head thrown back, fangs glinting white. Coming. Coming…

As she writhed under him, he lowered his head, eyes glittering, and buried those fangs into her throat. She screamed in shocked arousal. He drank her blood while his body emptied itself in her.

And the spell that was Merlin’s Gift awoke deep in her DNA.

It seemed each tiny hair on her body rose, and she smelled ozone, sharp and metallic. A heartbeat later, every one of those hairs burst into flame as a wave of heat seared her skin. Rachel screamed in shock at the sensation -- not pain, but so overwhelming it rattled her brain in her skull like a pea in a tin cup.

Light exploded all around her, sparks flaring among the shower’s falling water. The Gift! The thought lashed her consciousness with a combination of joy and stark terror. It’s the Gift! No, it’s too soon, this is only the second time… But the light grew brighter and brighter…

Until it all went black.

* * *

One minute, Nathan was coming like a fire hose as he drank from Rachel’s slim throat. The next, it felt as if the head of his dick seemed to detonate in a rolling magical explosion that made him see stars. It felt like the first pulses of the Gift.

He pulled his fangs from her throat as sparks showered around him. No, it’s too soon! Unless some other vampire -- I’ll kill the son of a bitch!

Another blazing vibration shook him, burning up his cock, deepening his fear. Not yet, I’m not ready to give her up…

Then the convulsion of magic sputtered and bled away, leaving him shaken. Damn, that was close. As the fireworks faded from his vision, he found himself staring into her huge brown eyes, wide and startled -- before they rolled back in her head. The grip of her long legs around his hips suddenly relaxed, and she went limp so fast he almost dropped her.

“Rachel!” Tightening his hold on her ass with one hand, he snapped the other up to brace her back. She sagged boneless in his arms, out cold. “Fuck!”

His heart pounding, he slid his shaft carefully out of her, then leaned her against his chest as he freed one hand to turn off the water. “Rachel? Rachel, what’s wrong?”

But she made no answer, her head lolling, eyes closed. Concentrating on his vampire senses, Nathan heard the beat of her heart, still strong and steady. Cursing under his breath, he slid the shower door open, shifted his grip to cradle her, and strode into the bedroom.

He laid her carefully down on the bed, ignoring the way they both streamed water on the silk sheets. “Rachel?” Patting her cheek, he tried to rein in his growing panic.

He’d spent too many years in combat to freak out like this. She’d simply fainted. It was probably a little precursor to the Gift, something he’d seen before. Yet still, fear gave his mouth a brassy taste. “Rachel!”

To his relief, her long lashes fluttered, opened. She blinked at him, more than a little dazed. “Nathan?” Her voice cracked on the second syllable. “What was…” Her eyes widened in abrupt panic. “The Gift!” Jolting against him, she tried to sit up.

“Shhh,” he soothed her, stroking her wet hair back from her face. “You haven’t transitioned yet.” He tried out a seductive smile, despite his own lingering alarm. “We get to make love one more time, remember?”

The reminder didn’t seem to soothe her, judging from the way her eyes darted around as if looking for something that wasn’t there. Nathan felt a chill of alarm, reminded of the times he’d seen new Majae staring at magical energies vampires couldn’t perceive.

Some of those witches had gone crazy.

He shut that thought down hard; she didn’t need to read it on his face right now. “Everything’s fine. Latents get these little precursor jolts from the Gift during the second session. Some people even have visions. It’s no big deal.”

She relaxed a little. “Oh.” Looking up at him, Rachel frowned as a drop fell off the end of his nose. “You’re wet.”

“So are you.” He added a deliberately suggestive curve to his smile. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Well, I am. I think we soaked the mattress.”

“So we’ll move to the guest room. Hang tight, I’ll get you a towel.”

* * *

Half an hour later they were dry, and Nathan was watching her sleep.

Rachel had dropped off almost the moment her blow-dried head hit the pillow. Absently, he stroked a chocolate curl. It felt like silk under his fingertips, smelled of vanilla and her unique scent.

A line furrowed the fine skin between her brows, as if she were worrying even in her sleep. That precursor jolt had evidently brought home the risk she was running with the Gift.

Nathan’s brows lifted as he realized his own fears had become a lot less acute. When had that happened?

Oh, yeah. The moment he’d seen her drive that spear down the raptor’s throat. Any woman with that much self-control wasn’t going to lose it even under a full-force blast from the Gift.

Absently, he stroked that gleaming curl again, wondering why he felt so damned sure of that. It wasn’t as if the Latents who’d failed had been a weak-kneed lot. And yet, his instincts insisted Rachel would make it.

That very conviction sent a flash of unease through him. What was it about her that got to him so powerfully? He remembered his irrational terror when that simulated raptor tried to eat her. That hadn’t even been real, and he’d still freaked the hell out.

It wasn’t as if he was a virgin in this game. He’d long since lost track of the exact number of women he’d Gifted over a century as a Court Seducer. He’d even been mildly infatuated with one or two of them, charmed by their grace and intelligence. Which was no surprise; Majae candidates didn’t come in “run-of-the-mill.”

His feelings for Rachel were something different. Something more intense.

Maybe too intense.

Yet he couldn’t believe a woman with so much strength and self-control would go insane from the Gift.

Staring at the ceiling, Nathan felt a smile spread over his face. He had the feeling it probably looked a little goofy.

Rachel’s going to be okay.

When she woke up, he’d tell her they could forgo that final simulation. There was no point in putting either of them through the wringer again. And quite frankly, he had no interest in watching her endure another life-and-death struggle. He might have no choice except to deal with real-life shit storms, but that didn’t mean he had to put up with simulated ones.