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Unless she could strew Then he'd be at hers The self-control he'd celebrated yesterday would be wrested froain

He had responded nigh violently to the scent of her arousal; he could only iine what her streould do to him

Munro had been trying to talk to hiht raps on his door had turned to open-palht to behave the way they do Mayhap it's no' innate I re that sword, thinking about seizing it, then begging for your help instead Chloe would've dived for the sword and bared it along with her teeth She stabbed you today Which means she is no' like the others"

Munro's words had set Will to prowling his rooht he'd glimpsed land But just because Chloe was one way now didn'tmore like her kind

Toadying, ingratiating, seductive

Weak

Downstairs, Will could hear Munro and the lads watching TV, what sounded like a ball ga sports without a care in the world

Then he frowned He could have sworn he'd just heard spectators yelling, "Chloe!"

He bounded down the stairs into the great roo short when he saw his -screen TV She was in a blue jersey, running down the field in front of an audience of thousands "What the hell is this?"

"Seattle Reign clips of Chloe," Munro said "Ronan found them on a site run by some fanboys"

Fanboys?

The website background was a collage of still shots of her in action Her stats were listed on the side of the screen, along with a section for "Chloe Todd Trivia" Nickname: Baby T-Rex Soccer style: Misdirection and sheer ferocity School: Stanford Likes: Eighties music and movies Dislikes: Pushy fanboys

Ferocity? And they'd never seen her with a shiv! He turned toward the liquor cabinet, grabbed a fifth Doona give a shite about her The last thing he'd be doing was checking out her games

But why hadn't she told hione to Stanford? Not that he cared-

Ronan, Ben, and Munro siroaned, as if they'd all been kneed in the ballocks

Despite hiotten steamrolled by a six-foot-tall player

He despised the succubus; he should be enjoying this "If the runtling plays with the big girls, she's going to get hurt"

In a pissy tone, Ronan said, "We're trying to watch here"

When Chloe got to her feet and dusted herself off, the iving up an inch

When the Amazon yanked Chloe's ponytail so hard it looked like her neck had snapped, Will found hilanced over at him

No wonder she'd shorn her hair Yet now it had grown out with her change

He drank his whiskey, but damn if he could take his eyes off the screen The site had clip after clip of her exploiting weak coverage and scoring with clever, unexpected shots

He casually sank down on one of the couches "Playing against humans? Where's the sport in that?" he asked, even while he knew she'd beenas she ran for a penalty kick or spitting blood after being kneed in the mouth

Which -not because she'd been on the cusp of immortality She appeared to have earned her skill

When she had the ball, it was like a part of her; her body was constantly , as if in a dance of misdirection

She would use her arht, only to tuck the ball in to her left, slipping past a flummoxed player He could never predict whether she'd push the ball with her inner left foot or outer right or vice versa Always so different

It was dizzying-jaw-dropping When he could et what she was, she spellbound him

In one gaainst her sweat-daainst the material Had the others noticed that? He recalled how those tight points had tasted-of rain and cherries

He drew deep of his bottle, seeking numbness

One clip showed her taking the ball down the field, sprinting all-out, leaving her guard in the dust-until another player clotheslined her, sending Chloe crashing to her back

Will shot to his feet -PROTECT-

Had any Lykae ever sat back and watched his et beaten like this? His Instinct didn't know the difference between televised history and the present

But Chloe hadn't needed any protection She'd waited until later in the ga her chance The one who'd clotheslined her had been sidelined Ronan cheered "I think I'm in love!"

Will sat back down She was like a mouse with a lion's roar, a arrioress

Munro flashed him an I told you so look

A succubus warrior? There was no such thing Even the ones who'd attacked hi force

Chloe didn't seee other than force But now she would begin changing, transitioning into a good little succubus The ones he'd encountered before her had all been physically flawless, possessing innate talents to lure , and so forth

Chloe had already beco back, he realized that the scars on her ankle and knee had disappeared Her new azes like a flame amid moths

Soon she'd be using her newly acquired arsenal of skills The feone forever

His claws sank into his palms when he realized so In one, she did nothing but wipe her face with her jersey, exposing her flat stomach and the bottoether this site?

-Males covet your unmarked mate-

As if she'd been conjured, he heard her ee from her room She appeared at the top of the stairs, her shoulders squared, eyes narrowed and watchful

Will now recognized that look It was the same one she wore in the seconds before kickoff

As she descended the stairs, his predator's gaze was locked on her Forever she would look this way He allowed hies in her

She'd already sheared off the length of her hair, leaving curling tousles jutting all about her face From the looks of it, she'd used a knife or even another row back in a day

Though her scars had disappeared, her skin remained tanned, and she still had those freckles on her nose Her figure was a touch curvier, but she'd retained her athletic shape Anyone who saw her would know she'd been honed by sports

For Will, she was a fantasy htmare

Munro rose, as if a lady had entered "Do you need anything, Chloe?"

"Just going to make myself some dinner"

Will gave a harsh laugh "Did you no' get the memo, man-eater? What your kind dines on canna be found in a kitchen"

She pointedly ignored his of the fridge, then took out bread, butter, and cheese

In short order, Chloe scorched the butter, burned the sandwich, then plopped the resulting brick onto a plate "Does anyone else want one?" she asked sweetly

She ratiating herself with males, a succubus's mo

Ronan raised his hand "I do" At Will's scowl, he said, "What? I like them burned"

"Okay," she said in a bright tone "Then I won't clean up Everything'll be right here when you need it"