Page 35 of Hers to Claim

The question had the feeling of a test, and that irritated Mari more than her uncooperative power. “Because I don’t need it.”

“What if he wasn’t your lover?” Pricilla sounded bored, but a hint of shrewdness settled in her expression. “What if he wasn’t offering what you want so freely?”

Mari blinked a few times, not quite sure what she was asking. “I wouldn’t want to touch his magic if he wasn’t.”

“Wouldn’t you?” Pricilla leaned forward. The other sex witch’s magic stretched toward Mari, inquisitive and tempting. “Why not?”

A dozen answers were poised on her lips from the vague to the achingly specific. But she chose the one that felt the most true. “Because I want him to surrender it to me.”

Pricilla sat back with a smile. “I don’t think we have to worry that you’re like your father, Mari. And that’s why.” She stood and stretched her back. “And now I think it’s time for a break. I’m starving.”

Mari watched her leave the office, still confused about what had happened. Dante took her hand, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. “It’s yours.” He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. “Whenever you want it.”

Her fingers stroked his cheek. “I thought you liked your independence?”

He shrugged carelessly, a hint of a smile curling his lips. “I’m starting to see the appeal of giving it up.” Dante interwove his fingers with hers and led her toward the door.

As they walked to the dining room Mari dared to hope that what Pricilla had said was true, that maybe she didn’t have to be afraid of the thing lurking under her skin. Maybe they couldcoexist. She tightened her fingers around Dante’s and drew him to a halt, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him when he turned toward her. He leaned down to meet her.

“I’m hungry for something other than food,” she said against his mouth.

“Oh yeah?” He glanced both ways down the hallway, then lifted her into his arms. “Where can we get a little privacy for a candy tasting?”

She laughed, and pointed a few doors down. They wereverylate for lunch, but that was okay because Mari had dessert first.

Chapter 11

Mari woke from adream of heat and skin, her magic humming a song of darkness and sin that was unfamiliar, though she knew the melody. For some reason she was alone in bed, which seemed strange. Her room was dark. Really dark. She glanced around, trying to figure out what had awakened her.

The shadows at the far end of the roomslithered. She froze, hoping that whatever it was might not notice she was there if she was very, very quiet.

As if in direct opposition to her thoughts, the shadows crept toward her bed. Something about them was familiar. She wasn’t afraid of them, even though it felt like she probably should be. When the shadows reached her feet, they feathered over her skin, their touch so light she might have been imagining it. They wound around her legs slowly.

Luxuriously.

The touch raised goosebumps on her skin even though it was impossibly warm.

“Dohal,” she said after a moment, as if she’d always known it was him. The murmured response made a shiver tickle down her spine.

The shadows around her calves resolved into clawed hands and continued their relentless glide up, parting her knees.

She wore nothing but a filmy white gown that barely concealed her form. The shadow hands slipped under the hem and continued their exploration with an air of ownership she wasn’t sure she could deny considering how badly she craved his touch.

The hands shoved her gown higher, exposing her sex to him. As the shadows coalesced, his form began to take shape. His horns resolved first, curved upward and toward the front, looking sharp enough to impale her if he chose.

Next came his face, cruel and somehow sad, sloping to his thick neck and broad shoulders. His clawed hands gripped her thighs tighter as his arms solidified.

He loomed over her, huge and terrifying, but she wasn’t afraid.

“You’ve invited me into your dreams,” Dohal purred, long and low. “Don’t you know what wicked things I can do to you here?”

She found her voice, finally, “More than what you can do when I’m awake?”

“So much more.” He spread her thighs further, taking her in with a lustful gaze. “Would you like a taste? I know I would.”

“Tell me what bavi means first.”

His eyes raked up her body, pausing at her tits for a delicious moment before continuing up to meet hers. “Clever little morsel.” His grin bared his impossibly thick fangs. He dropped to lick her thigh slowly, moving up so that she could feel the heat of him approaching her cunt. She balled her hands in the comforter under her so she wouldn’t reach for his horns to pull him closer.

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