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He wasn’t waiting for her to change her mind Whether or not he was half-asleep, Derek knew his way around her body He’d already shoved the covers i ar on as he found his way under her skirt She’d pulled on a silky pair of panties, but he sier in the crotch panel, moved it aside, and pushed that thick hardness inside her She was sore froh to be, inexorable in his demand, but tender in his care of her

"I love you," she whispered, realizing how many aspects of their relationship had experienced that special, ical combination

His eyes opened then, the blue color full of euidness that was a pleasure all its own Bringing her down for another kiss, he constricted his other arm around her waist so she was full hilt on hi his hips in and out so all her tissues were stroked and brought to coly fast a her that way, and so she pressed her face into his throat, gasped out her cli his shoulders wildly, toes curled tight where her legs were folded on the outside of his legs

He released a fewout that unbearable yet wonderful sensitivity of her post-climactic tissues The spurt of hot seed created an aftershock like a subtly intense second cli few moments "I saw a Dunkin’ Donuts around the corner, the first day I cao for that crap I was thinking the health-food store a couple blocks down They have falafel sausage patties, kelp juice and tofu scras"

"Harpy" The slap on her buttock le His half-lidded eyes said he registered both reactions His slow, easy grin said that he illing to follow up on it… as soon as she brought doughnuts

She slid off hith of their arers "I’ll be back soon," she whispered

"You better be"

It was the first time in three years she’d felt happy

KEEP HER CLOSE, SORCERER

Derek ca in his ht in still frame He ith the picture front and center The sneer had disappeared fro fro a serious h, looked for anything that didn’t feel right He did a speed-read through everything that had happened since the Great Rite Then he hit soers stabbing his gut

The chaht, when he was there with Ruby, there were soto the Dark energies she’d used to create that h-level discussion during lazy pillow talk, but now he recalled one point vividly

"The Darkness part is like using wine in a recipe," she’d explained "It burns off as part of the process, evaporates It affectsbut Light near Rose, ever"

So why had he felt Darkness in that chamber? It hadn’t been from Ruby No, it wasn’t in the chamber It was beneath it

Why had Asiven up so quickly? Because it had been bait, to get Ruby away fro Goddess" Derek bolted up out of the bed, grabbing for his jeans

Not knowing the whole picture until last night, he hadn’t put it together But now it all made terrible sense Whether they realized it or not, terrorists learned their strategy of sleeper cells fro as a demon Three years would be less than a moment to Asmodeus

He couldn’t ht spells, which often attracted attention, since it meant a lot of dead bodies However, he could drift in spirit wherever he wished, apparently harmless, but a spy was never harmless He watched and learned Asmodeus was a lord of chaos in a variety of ways, but he was also known for taking lust, twisting it into darker realoading her in so as a natural coer that Mikhael had ated, but which had still clouded her radar