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Nell hadn't moved. Hadn't flinched. Her chin was level, her eyes steady. When it was finished and I was standing fully human in the moonlight, she exhaled once through her nose. That was all.

I made no effort to cover myself. I watched her eyes drop, tracing the lines of my chest, the scars on my shoulders, and finally settling on the heavy weight between my thighs.

"I'm surprised you didn't run screaming." My voice was more growl than anything.

"I've seen some stuff in my days. Now that I know this is possible—the shifting — I'm good."

I took a step toward her. Warm vanilla hit my tongue. Not perfume. Not lotion. The actual bean, split and dark and rich, the way it smelled in my mother's kitchen when she baked, except warmer, layered with something underneath it that was purely Nell. "What are you doing out here?"

“I’m a night owl. I’ve always done my best thinking when the rest of the world is pretending to be good. My grandmother used to say The moon pulls the truth out of people.”

I didn't say anything. I took a step closer. The heat between us was a physical thing, an invisible current that made the air feel thick.

"Are you going to tell me it's not safe for me to be out?"

"You're entirely safe here in this den of wolves, Ms. Odhiambo."

"Call me, Nell. We're partners now, aren't we?"

"Business partners," I corrected.

A ghost of a smile touched her lips. It was a sharp, intelligent thing. "I imagine there's a bit of paperwork before it's official."

I moved closer, the scent of her vanilla spiking as I entered her personal space. "A long, thick stack of it."

I was still naked, my body a map of violence and ancient bloodlines. Nell stood there in a thin slip of cloth that hid nothing. Not a delicious curve. Not a lush mound. Not the sweet heat coming from between the thighs she was even now pressing together.

"You should know that I don't mix business and pleasure, Magnus."

I was crowding her space now. She had to tilt her head back to peer up at me. She would be revising that rule for me. Just this once. And then I would likely have to heed my father's advice and my brother's interference. I couldn't be in the same office as Nell Odhiambo. Not with the sweet tooth I was developing.

"So, I say we get the pleasure part of our relationship out of the way before we sign a contract."

It was all the consent I needed. My hand tangled in the dark mass of her hair as I tilted her head back. Her skin was cool, a sharp contrast to the furnace of my own. When I pressed my mouth to hers, it wasn't a kiss—it was a reclamation.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

NELL

Ihad always viewed sex like I viewed a high-level merger: a series of negotiations where I held the majority of the shares. Most men were predictable. They were clumsy, eager to please, and easily directed with a firm hand or a sharp word. I was used to being the conductor of my own pleasure, steering the situation with surgical precision that kept my heart uninvolved and my autonomy intact.

I had expected Magnus to be the same: a blunt instrument I could manipulate.

I was wrong.

The second his mouth crashed into mine, the boardroom in my brain went dark. This wasn’t a negotiation; it was a hostile takeover of my entire nervous system. Magnus Blackwood didn't kiss; he consumed. He knew exactly the right amount of pressure to apply to my lower lip to make me gasp. The moment I did, he was there. His tongue swept into my mouth with a proprietary heat that made my toes curl into the damp grass.

He angled my head with a hand buried deep in my hair. His grip was firm but not painful, tilting me back until the moon was just a silver blur above us. It was as if he’d spent a lifetime studying the exact mechanics of my surrender.

His other hand was a furnace against the small of my back. He pulled me flush against his naked chest. The contrast was staggering; the cool night air on my skin. The radiating heat of his cock pressed against the thin fabric at my belly. Was that the tip of his cock straining towards my nipple?

No way. No man was that blessed. I wanted to glimpse down and check for myself what the good Lord gave him, but Magnus’s hold on me was absolute. Still something kept nuzzling at the underside of my right breast.

I reached between us to — holy fuck, that was his cock. It was long and thick and definitely trying to get to second base.

He was going to be a lot to take. Given how this man was plunging his tongue into my mouth and guiding me exactly where he wanted me with his hands, I was anticipating a fun ride.

I tightened my grip on his manhood, preparing to shift us into a higher gear. He was smooth under my palm. Smooth and hot and thick enough that my fingers didn't quite complete the circuit. I gave an experimental stroke in first gear, just feeling out the engine.