His hand slid across her cheek and into her hair where he loosely fisted it, then he leaned close. Her skin tightened in anticipation, need coiled deep in her belly. All she saw was beautiful golden skin, vibrant blue hair, and mesmerizing golden eyes that held her captive, left her waiting breathlessly.

He stopped, mere inches from their lips touching and in a low voice said, “Never.” And then he thrust away from her, leaving her trembling, aroused, and confused as he went to talk to Kearnyn as if nothing had happened.

Her mind still spun when he and Kearnyn stalked back to her. He laid his hand on Kearnyn's shoulder then hers and looked once more down at her feet.

He snorted, something close to a laugh. “So that's what it takes to make you sit still.” And then he touched her and the room around them fell like granules of colored sand in tans, browns, and blues then floated back up and materialized into hard, concrete shapes and objects.

Where they appeared wasn't Telal's office nor was it her room at his place. “Where are we?” Shoppers ambled around with bags of purchases from designer stores, the rancid scents of dozens of perfumes, colognes, and candles mingled together into something that made her want to sneeze.

“The mall. Go shopping. I'll send a car to pick you up in two hours.”

“Aw, but I hate shopping.”

Her words fell on deaf ears as he and Kearnyn disappeared before her eyes.

“Jerk.”

She started walking through the mall, not really seeing anything, because her mind was busy analyzing that moment at the desk. And it had been a moment—that much she knew. He had wanted to kiss her. He really, really had. She checked herself for a second. She had to be sure. Because if she was right then this was excellent progress on her plan to wear him down until he gave in to her.

He could have been faking the look in his eyes, but she'd felt something in that moment, a kind of static charge that swayed between them. That could not be faked. Telal Demuzi did want to kiss her.

For the first time in her life, Lily shopped with zeal and a smile on her face.

CHAPTER 11

Sitting on his knees with his feet tucked behind him, Telal closed his eyes and took deep breaths. In through his nose, out through his nose. He closed his mind off to everything. The specially-made room helped to block out all noise and had a concave cream-colored ceiling and white padded floors. Each little spec from the floors to the ceiling added to the harmony of the room and allowed him to open his mind.

Today, he couldn't get his mind to do what he wanted worth a damn though. Each time he focused his mind on nothing, heard only the fictional sound of waves crashing in his mind, it was shut off, staggered, until all he saw was her.

Kiss me. Her soft words still lingered with him, invading his thoughts like a fly buzzing around his head. He tried to swat it but it continued to elude him. He took a deep breath and tried again. His thoughts centered, focused, then the image of her sliding naked and wet out of the tub slammed into the front of his mind.

Fuck.

Slouching in defeat, he scrubbed a hand over his face. She was beautiful, yes, but he saw beautiful woman all the time and it never interfered with him like this. He knew this might happen if she came here. Even in the short amount of time he'd spent around the succubus, she'd managed to imprint herself in his thoughts so easily.

The last time he'd had a woman was nearly twelve months ago. He hadn't slept with her out of any kind of sexual frustration, but more out of boredom. His life had a habit of feeling tedious, boring. Go to sleep and try to get in a few hours, then get up and go to work and plan, plan, plan. At the time, he'd thought a fling with a beautiful vampire would change things up. Instead, he'd done the deed and left without a goodbye. It'd been cold, passionless. Then he'd had a restless night's sleep only to wake up to the same job, same work. He hadn't attempted anything with a woman since then. It wasn't the answer to his restlessness.

He'd found peace in meditating. Not only that, but his powers seemed to regenerate faster, to grow stronger. Coming from a powerful line of royalty, he had the power to bring back life. But there were conditions, such as the death must be very, very recent. It also drained nearly all of his powers. After he'd saved Alpha Lyonis Keelan he'd been depleted for a week. He'd barely had the strength to port everyone out of the rift and get himself back home before he'd collapsed on the floor—limbs like putty, eyes burning and bloodshot—only to wake up days later in his bed. His guard Kearnyn had seen to him, fed him, just another reason he paid the bastard so much.

In truth, he recognized that the succubus Lily Bellum presented a major problem to him. Several problems, in fact. She interfered with his job whether she was around him or not. She'd caused him nothing but stress in the past by summoning ancient demons, and now she lived under his roof. Naked and wet...

He shook his head to clear the image. The woman had to be daft to chase after him like she did. He was a demon and couldn't be further from compatible with her than if he were an idummi. If she realized it then she just didn't care. Foolish lilit. Yet he couldn't deny that the thought of touching her body, of tasting her lips wasn't completely appealing.

Forcing his eyes closed, he blanked his thoughts from Lily Bellum. He will not touch her; he will not let her interfere with his job. His people depended on him. Taking the succubus was not in the cards.

Hours later and only mildly more relaxed, Telal showered and threw on a fresh button-down satin shirt with black slacks. He went into his office, pleased that at least Kearnyn was already there and ready to go. At least something today would go the way he liked it—normal and easy.

“Rosa Medina signed the contract to enspell the weapons.”

“I figured as much. I want you to oversee the project. I'd do it, but it seems I have a trip to plan now.” And Lily Bellum was actually the least of his problems at the moment. Odd.

Kearnyn paused for a moment then nodded.

Telal didn't miss the unusual beat. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“Not at all,” he answered readily.

“Good, now let's plan this out. The last thing I'd expected was to make a trip into the rift.”

He grabbed a flat paper map of the earth which showed the lines where the rifts were and took a seat at his desk. Not only did he have to decide on the right point of entry which wouldn't get him immediately killed, but he had to plan on seeing his family—if they were alive—for the first time since the war. What would they say or think? He'd abandoned them to live atop the rift, though Tobius 'the bastard' Kulev had lied to him. He could still feel the burn of deceit after all these years.

When he'd agreed to help Tobius close off the rift, it was under strict understanding that only the lower levels would be closed off. He went along with it because his people would be allowed, as they always have, to travel on the earthen-realm freely; and the extra protection offered by the newly formed Atal Warriors would help to keep the idummi and deadly jaheera demons at bay. Or so he thought. Never could he have guessed his decision would lead his people into a hundred-year long war.

He didn't learn until the last minute when the Atal Warriors charged through the rift's barrier, that that wasn't what the Commander had planned at all. He was going to lock all of them under the rift. He could still remember the smirk on the bastard's face as he'd turned to him and said, “Don't worry; you're safe for all the help you've given us.”