“Aside from an assassin, I am also a secrets master. Often I acquire them through my own brand of interrogation. Face it, female, your ass is mine.”

“If you’re so certain, promise you’ll let me go if you lose.” Then she could return to find Thad. To start her new job of watching over him.

“What will you give me when I win, other than all your secrets?”

To protect the one she loved, she would withstand this guy. If she failed, then would anything else really matter? “Whatever you want.”

The dark fey was obviously liking that prospect. The magenta of his irises began to bleed out over the whites of his eyes. “That’s a far-reaching offer. You have no idea what acts I’d commit upon your body. . . .”

His words should’ve intimidated Josephine; she leaned in closer with interest. “What’s to stop you from doing them now?”

“I’ve never forced a female in my life. I’ve never needed to. I wouldn’t start with you.”

She raised her chin. “Do you take the bet or not?”

“Oh, I’ll take it.”

“How can I be sure you won’t back out?”

“We’ll vow to the Lore, of course.” As every immortal in the realms did.

“Yeah, of course,” she hastily said.

Her flashes of ignorance about the most basic things puzzled him. Perhaps she aligned with the Forbearers, an army of male vampires created from mortals. They were a soldiering mass of cluelessness about the Lore. Though she wasn’t a turned human, she might’ve been raised among them.

She flicked a hand at him. “You go first.”

“Very well. I vow to the Lore to release you from my imprisonment should you withhold your secrets.” His defeat was a ridiculous notion, but he played along.

“Right. I vow to the Lore to let you do whatever you want to me if you get my secrets.”

Whatever I want. His cock pulsed with anticipation. What would he begin with? How could he decide? The starved man presented with a bounty . . .

“Oh, and one other thing.”

“Hmm?” His eyes leisurely devoured her.

“We can’t have sex.”

He snapped his gaze to hers. “Repeat yourself.”

“I can’t do it tonight.”

Not to be inside her? He was about to shut this down, but curiosity got the better of him. “Why not?”

“I’ll only have sex in an exclusive relationship. You’re as inclusive as a guy can be. And I don’t want you to knock me up.”

“A vampire female is only fertile if she’s been eating food for some time. Have you been?”

She glanced away. No denial? Hadn’t she invited him for coffee? She lived in the mortal world, could have been eating to blend with humans.

He swallowed. Her body might be ready for seed. Inner shake. “In any event, I have a demon seal. I can’t ejaculate inside you unless you’re my mate. Which is impossible.”

He knew his crossbreed species had been forsaken by fate. But if a creature like him miraculously had a mate, and if Josephine was miraculously that one female, nothing could be more disastrous than claiming her.

His semen had been awaiting release for seven thousand years, its potency—and poison—strengthening with age, just as the rest of his body had. One of two things would happen if he released it.

She’d withstand his most concentrated poison and become pregnant.

Or his semen would prove so deadly, she’d perish with him still inside her.

But Josephine wasn’t his. So this conjecture was moot.

She faced him again. “Define mate.”

“Define one of the most universal concepts in the Lore?”

“Define a demon mate. Might be different from a vampire’s.” She had a point.

“It’s the sole female, out of any time or any world, a demon male is most compatible with. Destiny would pair her with him, then bond them eternally. But again, I’m only half demon.”

“Eternally.” Her eyes glimmered, as if she liked the sound of that. “So you figure out a woman is yours because you can come in her?”

“A demon would have some indication before the actual claiming. He would’ve reacted fiercely to a specific female. He would know there’s a good chance of burning away his seal. Still, most demons do try out many, many different females. It’s a process known as attempting.”

“Ah, so you’ve been out attempting nymphs.”

“No, I don’t believe dark fey get mates. We’re anomalies, outside the reach of fate.”

That challenging aspect was back in her expression. “Still, I want to be one hundred percent extra careful.”

His fists clenched as the demon in him flared. “Extra careful?” Because carrying his offspring would be such a catastrophe? Did she think she was too good for him?

“Is sex all you’ve got in your playbook?” she asked. “There are lots of other things we can do to each other.”

The rich promise of lots of other things placated his demon. “Then we’re in agreement.”

She grinned. “Awesome.”

Awesome?

She dashed to the bed, leaping atop it to sprawl on her back. “Let’s get to the Q and A.”

TWENTY

Jo turned on her side, head propped in her hand as she watched Rune unbuttoning his fly.

She could barely wait to see him naked.