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serious about establishing a relationship between one another and the coven. Perhaps there was hope.
    Lex’s home was a maze of halls and rooms and, as I wandered through them, I quickly became lost. Irritated, I stopped and tried to get my bearings. Turning on my heel, I headed back the way I came. When I rounded a corner, I hit a boulder. A warm boulder that smelled like vanilla and spice. Son of a bitch.
    All the air left my lungs and I stumbled over my feet. Strong hands closed over my arms, keeping me from falling flat on my ass. While my dignity was shredded, at least my tailbone was saved.
    “Careful.” Finn was standing too close, his thumbs caressing my biceps.
    “Sorry.” I knew my voice was insincere, but I was shaken. Throughout the meeting, every time I looked up, Finn had been watching me. He had done the same last night when Belinda and I returned to the party.
    Though he always watched me, this was different. Before, I felt appreciated….wanted. This felt more like a threat, as though he were waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
    “You’ve been avoiding me.” Finn’s voice was mild when he spoke, but there was an underlying tension to his words and in his muscles.
    I shrugged. “You haven’t given me much choice.”
    His eyes brightened, beginning to glow, and his grip on my arms tightened. “Why are you so stubborn? You want me, I can feel it, so why are you resisting?”
    I tried to pull away, but Finn only followed me. “You know why,” I whispered. I gasped when my back hit the wall. This infernal vampire was constantly backing me against an immoveable object.
    “That argument won’t carry any weight for much longer and you know it. Any day now, the coven will have a truce with the vampires and wolves. Old hostilities will no longer stand in the way.”
    I smirked, ignoring the press of his body against mine as he crowded closer. “You think it’s that simple? The elders of the coven are not so easily swayed. Just because there is a truce between us, doesn’t mean that all the tensions between the supernatural communities will be resolved.”
    Finn moved even closer, his torso plastered against my chest. He lifted a hand, his fingers gliding along my cheekbone. His thumb brushed my lower lip, tugging it down and pressing into my mouth and between my teeth. I could taste his skin, salt and spice. It took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to suck his thumb deeper into my mouth. While reason told me it was a horrible idea to extend a blatantly sexual invitation, my hormones were all on board with it.
    “I think you are reaching for any excuse to keep your distance.”
    When the man was right, he was right. “I don’t need excuses, Finn. I don’t want to be close to you.” It almost hurt to let that lie fall from my lips.
    The fire in Finn’s eyes flashed, almost painfully bright. “Your mouth says one thing, Kerry, but your body says something else.” He lowered his head, his stubbled jaw brushing my neck. I shuddered, though I tried to keep still. His lips tickled my neck slightly as he spoke again. “I can still taste you, you know, and hear your moans when you come.”
    I felt as though every cell in my body stilled right before it exploded. “What did you just say?” A hot wave of anger washed over my skin. I put my hands to his shoulders and shoved. “I can’t believe you snuck into my dreams and…and….” I couldn’t even bring myself to say it. A little voice whispered in the back of my mind that I had no right to be angry because, on some level, I had known it wasn’t just a dream.
    Finn was completely unmoved after my push. “I didn’t sneak. You invited me.”
    Though I was more angry with myself than Finn, my frustration got the best of me and I let it flow to my hands and out my fingers. I felt the bolt of heat and electric spark leave me, shooting through his body. He stiffened.
    “Oh Goddess, Finn, I’m sorry.” No matter how it happened,