Then Josiah’s tongue plunged into her mouth. His tongue.

Inside her mouth.

A muffled, wordless hnnnf came out of her. Her body caught up with what had happened, and she started to struggle. For a moment his arms remained around her, as unbreakable as iron bands.

Then he let her go. Panting, she fell back and glared at him. He glared back, his amber gaze lambent. She couldn’t tell if he was close to laughter, anger, or arousal—or if it was a combination of all three.

She needed to slap him. Lightning sparked at the edge of her vision.

His eyebrows rose. He pivoted to point at the beer bottle in the middle of the parking lot.

She swiveled to stare where he pointed, and there it was. Power rose up inside, and as she focused her attention on the bottle, the Power shot out of her like a lightning bolt.

Fifteen feet away, the bottle wobbled and fell over.

The bottle fell over.

She whispered, “I did that?”

“You did that,” Josiah said. Fierce satisfaction filled his voice.

She remembered what had just happened and rounded on him. “What the hell!”

He gave her an insolent, unrepentant look. “Now do that five hundred times. Don’t overthink it, don’t doubt yourself, and don’t split your energy by worrying about things.” He stuck his face into hers and snapped out, “Don’t make me kiss you again unless you really mean it. You reach that part of yourself and pull it out on your own. Make it happen.”

Don’t make me kiss you again unless…

He hadn’t meant the kiss. She had tied herself up in knots and felt like she had crossed an ethical line when she hadn’t—and he hadn’t even meant it.

She scrubbed her mouth with the back of one hand. “You manipulative son of a bitch!”

He pointed at the fallen beer bottle. Turning, she glared at it.

There it was, inside her, just as Josiah said it would be. She knew how to find it now. Her magic flared, bright and deadly like a supernova. She focused it on the target.

This time when the bolt left her, the bottle shattered.

“There you go,” Josiah said. He gave her a nod. “You’re welcome.”

She was so furious she didn’t know what to do. She spat out, “Try to manhandle me like that again, and you’ll regret it.”

His eyes glittered. “I tolerated the first threat you made. Be careful. I won’t be tolerant very much longer.”

The tiger was no longer amused. She forced herself to take in a deep, shaking breath. “You’re such an asshole.”