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  Her legs started backing her toward the windows on their own. Her nostrils flared like prey being stalked by a predator.

  “I waited until we weren’t under Council orders.” Adam took a step toward her, muscles rippling beneath his jeans. “I waited until the threat was no longer over our heads.” Two more steps. “I waited until I finally gained your trust.” One long step, and her butt pressed against the chilled glass. “Finally, I waited until you accepted me. All of me.” He reached her, his heat washing over her. His eyes glowed a violent hue. “Victoria?”

  She swallowed. Barely. “What?” she whispered.

  “I’m done waiting.”

  She blinked. There was nowhere to go. But she knew, she knew deep down, she couldn’t make this easy on him. “Too bad,” she whispered.

  He smiled.

  Then he flipped her around, lifting her arms and pressing her hands against the glass, high above her head. “Don’t move,” he whispered, his breath a burn against her ear.

  She shivered. The glass cooled her front, while heat poured off the male behind her. He reached around and unzipped her pants, slipping his fingers inside to brush against her panties.

  Her gasp left a round ring of condensation on the window. Her hands started to lower.

  “No. Keep them there,” he ordered. His fingers tapped along the top of her mound, sparking an electric bolt of pleasure to her clit.

  She drew in a sharp breath, pushing her cheek against the glass. He moved her panties to one side, and then heat flared. Fire licked her thighs. Her jeans disintegrated as if they’d never even existed. Two seconds later, and her panties did the same.

  “You can keep the boots on,” he said, scraping his fangs over her bare shoulder.

  She bit back a strangled moan. He slid his fingers, hotter than possible, over her already wet folds. Her knees trembled, and her hands started to lower.

  “No.” He plunged one finger inside her and pushed his groin against her bare butt. “You will obey me. Period.” Another finger joined the first, and he stretched her, forcing pain into her pleasure. “Tell me you understand.”

  She gulped in air and kept her hands up where he’d put them, but she didn’t reply.

  “Not ready yet?” His chuckle made something clench inside her. He stroked her, his fingers playing her, his thumb rubbing against her clit. “All of this wet heat. The energy, the need. It’s for me, isn’t it?” He opened his mouth over the sensitive flesh where her shoulder met her neck and sucked, taking in the bite marks from last time.

  Lightning bolted through her, and she moaned, pushing against his hand.

  “You need to give up control, Victoria.” He pressed hard on her clit, and her knees buckled. One arm bound her waist and held her upright. “And you will.”

  She blinked but couldn’t focus on the amazing view. Only his fingers, his rough, velvety voice, his hard body existed.

  “You wanted all of me. Here I am.” Fire arced from the fingers inside her to her nipples.

  She cried out, the heat of a thousand orgasms building. “That’s not fair,” she moaned.

  He chuckled, scraping his teeth against her jugular. “I never play fair. Learn that now.”

  She opened her legs wider, giving him more access, needing more. The ease with which he played her body was matched by the ease with which he controlled her. His strength was so much more than hers. He could do anything he wanted, and something about that, the truth of her absolute trust in him, freed her in a way she’d never imagined. “I love you, Adam,” she said.

  “There it is.” He bit her neck with regular teeth. Without warning, he grasped her hips and pivoted, shoving her over a long hand-carved dining room table. It was rough wood, ancient-looking, and he kicked the head chair across the room.

  Her cheek rested against the wood, wood that slightly scratched her belly.

  He leaned over her. “It feels rough, but I promise, no splinters.”

  Even now, caught up in the moment, he made sure to keep her safe. She closed her eyes.

  “Hands,” he ordered.

  It took her a second, but she remembered, sliding her arms up and flattening her hands as she had on the glass. The position elongated her body and took away her ability to move quickly. When he grabbed her hips, she couldn’t move at all.

  “Good.” His voice thickened with desire. Then he lifted her just enough that her feet no longer touched the rug on the stone floor.

  Helplessness poured through her, right before a desperate need that made her groan out loud.

  “You’re being so good.” He reached between her legs and petted her.

  She arched and tried to give him better access. Her legs shook, but she couldn’t reach the floor. He had her right where he wanted her. When he removed his fingers, her body shook in a violent refusal. She couldn’t wait any longer.

  Clothes rustled, and he returned to her, heating the back of her thighs with his skin. Slowly, he pushed inside her, this time going steady and not giving her time to accommodate him. The raw pleasure was edged with pain, and she struggled, but he planted a hand on her waist and held her easily in place.

  He overcame her. In every real sense, he overwhelmed her. She was at his mercy, and in this moment, he didn’t have any. At the thought, a mini-explosion rocked through her. Not enough. Not even close to enough. She trembled, needing more but not sure how to get it. She couldn’t move.

  “All you can do is take what I give you,” he whispered at her ear, unerringly reading her mind. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes,” she all but sobbed.

  “Good. I love you, Victoria.” Then he lifted her hips even more, this time off the table, and pulled out to push back inside so hard she saw stars.

  With her hands flat, her face turned, and her hips in the air, he truly did control every aspect of her. So she did as he’d ordered and took everything he had to give.

  Adam Dunne was hers.

  He moved hard and deep inside her, hammering with a fierce cadence. An orgasm rolled over her, and she barely had time to gasp before another one started to build, heating her, sparking out, stopping her breath. Air no longer mattered, only the feeling of him inside her, going so deep, hinting at all the pleasure he could create.

  She jerked, her body poised on the cliff. Then she broke, crying out his name. A second later, as she was still riding the waves, a piercing pain ripped through her good shoulder.

  His fangs.

  Her mouth opened wide, but no sound came out. He bit her to the bone and then some, leaving his mark so she’d never be able to remove it. Tears gathered in her eyes, even as her orgasm increased in force, stealing even her will.

  A scalding burn flared between her shoulder blades, and she stiffened. The marking. He’d marked her.

  She came again, harder than before, her entire body shuddering with the unbelievable release. Finally, she came down and went limp, mumbling something that even sounded like Klingon to her.

  He thrust once more inside her and released her shoulders, licking the wound closed.

  She mumbled, her body done. Just done. Her mind done, too.

  He licked her neck. “I love you.”

  She tried a grin. “I love you, too.”

  “Good. Let’s spend the rest of the night in bed. Or maybe forever.” He still rested against her. “How does forever sound?”

  Her heart pretty much burst wide open. “Perfect.”

  Epilogue

  One month later

  Adam drank a beer in the corner of the opulent gathering room of his aunt Viv’s house. The party was in full swing, with everyone in high spirits and drinking way too much alcohol. The Irish whiskey, the good stuff, had already made an appearance.

  Nessa Lansa popped up next to him, a flush on her face. She looked pretty in a long blue skirt with a tight bodice. “Having fun?” she asked, a whiskey neat in her hand.

  “I am.” Adam looked for his mate, seeing her over by the fireplace
with her sister. She looked stunning with the new brighter purple stripes in her hair, although she’d dressed in a lovely black skirt he couldn’t wait to pull up to give him access. His pants got too tight, and he took a drink of his beer.

  “Good,” Nessa said, scoping the party. “I was hoping you’d give me some insight into Bear McDunphy.”

  Adam coughed. “Bear? Why?”

  Nessa sighed. “Simone is blackmailing me into helping him.” The young woman grinned. “Okay, maybe not blackmailing, but she’s made me feel guilty enough about that former death sentence over her head that I promised I’d help him. Even though I voted no to death, by the way.”

  Adam frowned. “I think that’s extortion, not blackmail.”

  “No, it’s emotional blackmail.” Nessa nodded. “Anyway, my people have a gift of healing. So she’d like me to help heal her brother, and then all is forgiven.”

  Adam studied the councilwoman. Her people had other gifts as well, and he knew it. They were bloodhounds on a case. “Is that the only reason you’re heading to the States?” he asked.

  Her violet-blue eyes widened. “Of course. Well, besides wanting some sort of adventure. I’m too settled here.”

  If anybody could unsettle her, it’d be Bear. Adam drank more of his beer. “The Council is doing well, right?” Everyone was back in place, and now they were conducting business as usual.

  “Thanks to your taking out the main distributor and all of those vials of Apollo in Seattle, yes, we’re good. Though the manufacturer . . .” she murmured.

  “I’d like to go back to Seattle and hunt him down,” Adam said thoughtfully.

  “No,” Daire said, coming up behind him. “You blew up Titans of Fire as well as the Apollo warehouse.”

  “Your mate blew up your Seattle penthouse. Twice,” Adam shot back.

  Daire nodded. “Exactly. There’s too much heat on us in Seattle, and we have to stay off the human radar for a while. We can work the case from here and find the manufacturer. We’re so close. I can feel it.”

  So could Adam.

  Nessa smiled. “I shall be more than happy to investigate on your behalf while in Seattle.”

  “No,” Adam said. “Sorry. Coven Nine council members don’t investigate. In fact, we’ll have to send members of the Guard with you.”

  Nessa chuckled. “I already resigned. My appointment was temporary until things returned to normal. But it was fun, yes?” She gracefully stood and moved toward the buffet table.

  “What do you suppose she’s up to?” Adam asked.

  Daire shrugged, seeing his mate on the other side of the room receiving blueprints from their aunt. “Fuck. That had better not be blueprints to rob a bank.” He strode quickly through the throng of bodies to reach his demoness.

  Adam smiled.

  “I love that sight,” Victoria said, sidling up to him.

  Everything inside him settled and calmed. “Then I shall do it more often, sweet mate.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

  “Good. Because about this whole mating thing . . .”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “Aye?”

  “I want the rest of it.”

  He studied her stunning eyes. “All right. What’s the rest of it?”

  “A wedding. Ring, proposal, on one knee, buddy.” She bounced on her high-heeled boots.

  He stiffened. “But we’re mated. That trumps all of that other stuff.”

  Her eyes sparkled. “No, it doesn’t. I want it all. Bridesmaids. Flowers. Cutting the cake. My mom can’t wait.” She snuggled into his side.

  He sighed. Well, if that made her happy. “All right, Victoria.”

  She leaned up and kissed his chin. “See how easy you were to tame?”

  He laughed out loud and ducked, tossing her over his shoulder. She yelped.

  “No. Why don’t you show me now?” he asked. Ignoring everybody, he made for the door and had her outside and at his bike before she could protest. He set her down, and all that glorious hair fell around her shoulders.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I love you forever.” Aye. His entirely boring and logical life had completely changed. Thank God.

  If you enjoyed WICKED KISS, don’t miss

  Coming next month!

  “Fast-paced romance . . . very compelling. Highly recommended.”

  —Library Journal

  As she hunts for a drug lord killing her fellow witches, all Nessa Lansa’s instincts point to the Grizzly motorcycle club. That might be because their leader, Bear, is the strong, silent shifter type: warm brown eyes and more muscle and man than any woman can ignore. Which makes Nessa’s plan to seduce and betray him all the more dangerous . . .

  Bear doesn’t trust the curvy blue-eyed witch. But Nessa can heal the injuries that sap his strength. And since he can’t stop thinking of her lush body and teasing smile, her plan to mate him to reclaim her own power is highly tempting. Just one problem. Once a desire this wild is loose, no one will ever control it . . .

  And now you can binge read the first three

  Realm Enforcers novels

  with the Realm Enforcers Bundle

  available wherever digital books are sold.

  Turn the page for a preview of the first novel in the groundbreaking new series by Rebecca Zanetti!

  Mercury Striking

  Available now in paperback and e-book from Zebra Books.

  “Nothing is easy or black or white in Zanetti’s grim new reality, but hope is key, and I hope she writes faster!”

  —New York Times bestselling author Larissa Ione

  With nothing but rumors to lead her, Lynn Harmony has trekked across a nightmare landscape to find one man—a mysterious, damaged legend who protects the weak and leads the strong. He’s more than muscle and firepower—and in post-plague L.A., he’s her only hope. As the one woman who could cure the disease, Lynn is the single most volatile—and vulnerable—creature in this new and ruthless world. But face to face with Jax Mercury . . .

  Danger has never looked quite so delicious . . .

  Chapter 1

  Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers we have not yet thought of.—Stephen Hawking

  Despair hungered in the darkness, not lingering, not languishing . . . but waiting to bite. No longer the little brother of rage, despair had taken over the night, ever present, an actor instead of an afterthought.

  Lynn picked her way along the deserted twelve-lane interstate, allowing the weak light from the moon to guide her. An unnatural silence hung heavy over the empty land. Rusted carcasses of cars lined the sides, otherwise, the once vibrant 405 was dead, yet she trod carefully.

  Her months of hiding had taught her stealth. Prey needed stealth, as did the hunter.

  She was both.

  The tennis shoes she’d stolen from an abandoned thrift store protected her feet from the cracked asphalt. A click echoed in the darkness. About time. She’d made it closer to Los Angeles, well, what used to be Los Angeles, than she’d hoped.

  A strobe light hit her full on, rendering sight useless. She closed her eyes. They’d either kill her or not. Either way, no need to go blind. “I want to see Mercury.”

  Silence. Then several more clicks. Guns of some type.

  She forced strength into her voice. “You don’t want to kill me without taking me to Mercury first.” Jax Mercury, to be exact. If he still existed. If not, she was screwed anyway.

  “Why would we do that?” A voice from the darkness, angry and near.

  She opened her eyes, allowing light to narrow her pupils. “I’m Lynn Harmony.”

  Gasps, low and male, echoed around her. They’d closed in silently, just as well trained as she’d heard. As she’d hoped.

  “Bullshit,” a voice hissed from her left.

  She tilted her head toward the voice, then slowly, so slowly they wouldn’t be spooked, she
unbuttoned her shirt. No catcalls, no suggestive responses followed. Shrugging her shoulders, she dropped the cotton to the ground, facing the light.

  She hadn’t worn a bra, but she doubted the echoing exhales of shock were from her size B’s. More likely the shimmering blue outline of her heart caught their attention. Yeah, she was a freak. Typhoid Mary in the body of a woman who’d made a mistake. A big one. But she might be able to save the men surrounding her. “So. Jax Mercury. Now.”

  One man stepped closer. Gang tattoos lined his face, inked tears showing his kills. He might have been thirty, he might have been sixty. Regardless, he was dangerous. Eyeing her chest, he quickly crossed himself. “Holy Mary, Mother of God.”

  “Not even close.” Wearily, she reached down and grabbed her shirt, shrugging it back on. She figured the “take me to your leader” line would get her shot. “Do you want to live or not?”

  He met her gaze, hope and fear twisting his scarred upper lip. “Yes.”

  It was the most sincere sound she’d heard in months. “We’re running out of time.” Time had deserted them long ago, but she needed to get a move on. “Please.” The sound shocked her, the civility of it, a word she’d forgotten how to use. The slightest of hopes warmed that blue organ in her chest, reminding her of who she used to be. Who she’d lost.

  Another figure stepped forward, this one big and silent. Deadly power vibrated in the shift of muscle as light illuminated him from behind, keeping his features shrouded. “I didn’t tell you to put your shirt back on.” No emotion, no hint of humanity echoed in the deep rumble.

  The lack of emotion twittered anxiety through her abdomen. Without missing a beat, she secured each button, keeping the movements slow and sure. “I take it you’re Mercury.” Regardless of name, there was no doubt the guy was in charge.