“Say no,” he went on. “Or shove me away, and I’ll stop.” Then his tone turned darkly promising. “But if you do neither, I absolutely won’t stop.”

His lips brushed against my skin with each word. I shivered and his breath hit me in a sharp exhale as he felt it. His scent changed, deepening into a more luxuriant mix of caramel and cognac. I found myself breathing it in until my chest swelled against his. A lower, rougher sound escaped him and he closed the last space between us. All my nerve endings jumped when his hips pressed against mine. When he gave a slow twist that rubbed me right in my most sensitive spot, I moaned.

He gripped me tighter and his mouth sealed over my neck. I gasped when I felt the silkiness of his tongue, then pushed him back with a surge of panic when I felt the pressure of fangs.

“No!”

He stopped and I felt crushing relief when his head lifted. Every warning bell I had began to ring as the sensual haze I’d been in dissipated. Had I lost my mind? The obvious answer was yes.

Ian stared at me, not moving closer, but not moving farther away. I gathered my shattered control to give him as firm a look as I could manage. “I think we’ve acted out enough of the ‘couples’ part of our roles tonight.”

His lips curled. “Acting? How strange. I feel as though the last few minutes are the first I’ve seen of the real you.”

I refused to look away, but oh, I wanted to. His knowing stare felt as intimate as that slow, deep rub against my loins. He was right—I’d let far too much of my guard down. A little more of the skillful touch of his hands and mouth, and I might have revealed my secret without even intending to.

I wasn’t too arrogant to admit when I’d been beaten, and Ian had blasted through my self-control with laughable ease. For reasons that had nothing to do with sanity or self-preservation, I was ridiculously attracted to him. He now knew that beyond all doubt. I had to make sure he lost interest in seducing me. If I couldn’t trust my self-control, I had to trust his. Ian had few weaknesses, but there was one way I could wound him where he’d never touch me again.

“The real me is the same person who stood by as your best friend’s child was murdered, remember?”

Each word sounded as cold as the council’s order had been when they’d handed it down. The only reason I hadn’t killed the ones who’d voted for her death right then was because I needed their trust so I could help her and others like her later. But Ian didn’t know that. His face hardened with all the rage I’d felt when my protests to the council had fallen on deaf ears. Then his grip tightened until it was painful.

I tried to wrest free for real this time. Incredibly, he matched me for strength. Then he blocked the knee I aimed at his groin by using his legs as a vise around mine.

“Let me go,” I demanded.

“No.”

Now he leaned forward with brute force instead of sensual insistence. He even pressed my head against the wall with his so I couldn’t rear back and head-butt him into unconsciousness. All I could do was bite him, but that would be disastrous since he would absolutely bite me back.

“Not freezing time to stop me?” he asked in a low, furious whisper. “You can’t, can you? This place has too many trueborn witches and warlocks who are immune to that trick. If they saw what you can do, they’d reveal your powers to everyone else. Can’t get to your weapons with your arms pinned down, either, so now you have no choice except to answer what I ask you.”

I’d pushed him too far. He’d said he wouldn’t use the spell to force my secret out of me, but that person was no longer reflected in his gaze. The one I’d taunted with the supposed death of his friend’s child was, and he had no mercy.

“Ian, don’t—” I began.

“I command you by the spell that binds us to tell me if you’re a demon possessing the body you’re in,” he interrupted.

At once, the spell activated. Agony scalded me, growing every second that I didn’t answer. Lava pumping into me wouldn’t hurt this much. My legs gave out and I slumped as, true to my warning, my bones also rotted faster than I could heal. Only Ian’s tight grip kept me from spilling onto the floor.

“No.” Anguish made my voice ragged as the answer was torn from me. “This body is mine and no one else’s.”

The truth of that instantly doused the pain. Even still, it took a few moments to find my strength despite my bones beginning to heal. Thank all the gods above and below the earth that Ian hadn’t guessed the right question to ask.

“How?” he answered in a hard tone. “Your power is far beyond what a normal vampire should have. Only time I saw anything like it is when an ancient demon simultaneously possessed several of my mates.”

A demon strong enough to manage multiple possessions at the same time was impressive, but that wasn’t my secret.

“You have only one command left,” I said, still trying to steady my legs. “And we have a long road ahead. Do you truly want to waste it on this?”

From the way he stared at me, I might have once again pushed him too far. I tensed, ready to do something drastic if the words “I command” started to leave his lips. But instead, he moved away so abruptly that I was glad I was still leaning against the wall. Otherwise, I would have fallen.

“I don’t,” he said, his light tone at odds with the unsettling darkness in his gaze. “Now, let’s make a scene so word of our visit gets back to Dagon.”

Chapter 16

I soon realized why Ian wanted us in black-tie attire. Most of the castle’s rooms catered to either whimsical or erotic forms of entertainment, but there was one room where the fun was all business.

The high-stakes gaming room.

Vampires, witches, mages, and warlocks played magical versions of craps, roulette, blackjack, poker, and more. A few heads lifted when Ian and I entered, but most of the players didn’t look up. I agreed with their unbroken concentration. From the fortune in magic-infused vouchers floating above the tables, it would be foolish to take attention from the game just to check out new people walking in.

Several glamorous-looking men and women passed around trays of drinks and hors d’oeuvres, while others handled the castle’s version of magical gambling chips. We had barely entered the room when a tuxedoed attendant approached us and bowed.

“May I assist you in exchanging your currency for vouchers, Madame and Monsieur? As a reminder, the minimum buy-in for vouchers is two hundred thousand dollars.”

My eyes bulged. I came from a time when entire countries didn’t contain such wealth, but Ian was unfazed.

“We’ll start with this,” Ian said, withdrawing a hefty pouch from his pocket. Then he dumped its contents into the attendant’s white-gloved hand. My eyes widened at the diamonds, rubies, and emeralds that spilled out. Soon, the attendant had to use both his hands to hold all the bounty.

That got more attention directed at us. Ian flashed a wolfish grin at the people giving his pile of jewels hungry looks. “Plenty more where that came from, if any of you have the stones to beat me and win it.”

Men. Everything circled back to their genitals.

“Ian!” The smoky feminine voice jerked my attention to the right. A beautiful bejeweled woman with inky black hair and sienna skin made her way toward Ian. Three men followed after her, their expressions the opposite of her happy one.