“You’ll be my first, Emery,” I said without preamble, expecting to be extremely embarrassed by my lack of experience. Surprisingly, I wasn’t. Not at all. My lack of follow-through in the past had not been because of my mother’s overprotectiveness. I’d had the opportunity a few times; I’d just never taken it. I’d gotten really close, but never jumped the hurdle. It just hadn’t felt right. I’d felt my way through my sensual side in the same way I felt out spells and the power stones, and no one had properly fit.

Until Emery.

He fit perfectly, and it felt like I’d been waiting for him all this time.

He slowed his ministrations as a soft moan escaped his lips. A moment later, his fingers started up again, winding me up and making me gasp for breath.

“And you would choose me?” he asked, emotion soaking his words.

“Yes.”

His kiss expressed his reaction, raw and consuming. His touch spiraled me higher until my whole body tightened and I clung to him helplessly. I blasted apart, shuddering against him.

He slowed then and backed off. Before I could completely get my breath back, he was holding me tightly, crushing me to his chest.

“I can’t let you give me something so precious, Penny. I can’t let you do it. You deserve a man that can offer you the world. One that has both legs under him and pureness and light to match your own. Someone that can take care of you. I’m not any of that. I can barely take care of myself.”

“Is this because of what my mother said, because—”

“No, this has nothing to do with your mother. It has to do with what’s right. I am extremely honored. You have no idea how much I want you, Penny. Beyond thinking. It goes all the way down to my bones. But…” His voice broke. “I’m no good for you. In time you’ll see that, and you’ll thank me for this moment.”

My heart swelled and ached over his mini-speech, but it didn’t break. We fit together, him and I. Call me stubborn, but I wouldn’t be the one who came around in the end; it’d be him. But I had turned violent in the past when someone had tried to rush me, so out of courtesy, I wouldn’t rush him. He wasn’t ready. He had too many hang-ups and self-loathing issues. Fine. I’d waited this long for him; I could wait a little longer.

“Okay,” I said, resting my face in the hollow of his neck. I breathed in his smell, soap, cotton, and his own blend of masculine.

“It’s not that—”

“Shhh.” I leaned back and put a finger to his lips. His eyes held torment and sorrow. “It’s okay. I respect your decision. But there are a great many things two people can do to pass the time that don’t cross any lines.”

He blinked a couple times, and a small smile ghosted across his lips. He shook his head and pulled me closer. “You’re…dangerous, Penny Bristol.”

“Takes one to know one, am I right? Now let’s get this last spell done. I need food and I’m going to order the whole menu. Clyde owes us, the secret-keeping jerk. We could’ve been killed.”

“He did warn us subtly. It’s just too bad I don’t do subtlety that well.”

“You and me both.”

I turned in his arms, keeping my body flush with his, and thought about the spell and the necessary steps and the vibrating power stone in my belt that was begging to help with this. It was getting bored, and I was holding it up.

“The red beryl is a little pushy,” I muttered, dragging it out as Emery held up the sheet of paper in front of us.

“God, you’re weird.”

“Don’t use the Lord’s name in vain, or I’ll tell my mother.”

“Please don’t.” I could hear the smile in his voice and see the sudden lift of magic in the air.

Twenty minutes later, I was sweating and shaking. A complex weave draped in front of Emery and me, intricate and intense. I added to it from one side, and Emery added from the other. We melded them into one in various places, keeping them apart in others. When the shadows crawling across the floor blended into the darkness, we finally forced the spell into two separate capsules, since one would never hold all of that power.

I sagged into Emery. “I hope you are getting paid a lot of money for this.”

“That is on—”

“Ah!” I sprayed out a series of red bursts of magic toward the deep and velvety voice in the corner of the warehouse.

The shape of a man moved forward so fast it blurred, my surprise zaps narrowly missing him.

A sheet of magic dropped down in front of us, a retaining wall of sorts, meant to keep us at bay. Working together, Emery and I counteracted it easily, ripping through it. A well of power rose between us, ready for us to form it.

“Calm yourselves,” the man said, standing in front of the door of the warehouse with his hands up. One hand flicked, and bright light showered down on us.

I jerked back and blinked. Fire licked up my middle at the surprise.

“No, no, no, no.” Emery snatched my hands and held them low. “That’s Darius. Don’t release that survival magic. You need to work on controlling it.”

My heart battered my ribs. Calming, I resumed my sag. “Well, they need to work on announcing their presence, the sneaky buggers.”

“Miss Bristol, I am happy to make your acquaintance.” Darius swaggered toward us, confidence and arrogance plain in his movements. With close-cropped black hair and hazel eyes, he was every bit as much of a heartthrob as the other vampire. And he probably turned every bit as ugly when he got riled up. A perfectly tailored suit outlined his powerful body, but despite his size and strength, he moved with the lithe grace of a dancer.

He was more lethal than Clyde—I could see it in his movements and the intelligent cunning of his eyes.

A shiver rolled through my body, and I desperately shoved down my welling magic, which was eager to strike out at something so obviously dangerous as this vampire.

“Hi,” I said evenly. “How long were you creeping around in that corner?

“Just the last five minutes or so. I didn’t want to break your concentration.” Darius switched his gaze to Emery. “Mr. Westbrook. So good to see you again. I hear you’re in town on business?”

“Yes,” Emery replied.

“Fantastic. I’m glad you could stop in and visit us.” Darius made his way to the table, pausing to glance at the two round rubber casings on the ground that contained the beast of a spell. When he reached the table, he bent to survey the other spells we’d completed. “I see two distinct groups.”

“Penny did the ones on the right. They’ll be just as strong as mine, but more”—Emery scratched his nose—“more effective, I think. She adds something to her spells that speaks more closely to nature. It…fuses her spells with their surroundings, somehow. I haven’t figured out how to duplicate it.”

“Just tune in to the world around you.” I shrugged. “That middle-tiered mage in the guild did it. There’s no reason you can’t.”

“Penny hasn’t been trained in the traditional ways,” Emery told Darius. “It shows. In a good way. Those spells are powerful.”

“I have no doubt.” Darius turned to survey me, his eyes holding the experience of a few lifetimes. “I have heard a lot about you, Miss Bristol. We have…friends in common.”

“Clyde is calling himself my friend after last night? That’s forgiveness for you. I might like him a little better for it.”

Darius clasped his hands behind his back. “Mr. Regent has a grudging respect for you, though I don’t think he’s eager to be in your company.”

“Ah. Yes, that sounds a bit more like it.” I pulled up some concrete and had a seat. I was tired.

“No, I was referring to Reagan Somerset and Callie and Desmond Banks. You and I were in that church together in Louisiana. Sadly, I didn’t get the opportunity to meet you. I was otherwise engaged.”

Emery’s eyes widened and he shifted, looking down at me.

“I have a special relationship with Reagan…and the Bankses,” Darius said, also looking down at me. “It seems you do, too. The Bankses wish to train you, is that correct?”

“Yes. And I was going to agree, but something came up.”

“The guild, yes. You’re a natural. It seems everyone agrees. So. What’s next, Miss Bristol? Mr. Westbrook? How can I help?”

Emery put a hand in his pocket. “Easy. You can help us break into the records room in the guild.”