My mouth stopped moving against his, and my breathing fell into simmering stillness.

I was dancing with the devil, a master manipulator. He was so adept at reading people, reaping their weaknesses, and furtively using them to his own advantage that I wouldn’t know what he was taking from me until it was gone.

Like the compass.

And my undivided focus on recovering it.

He leaned back and narrowed his eyes, marking the hard anger in mine.

I thought I could deceive him at his own game, but here I was, falling under his spell again, letting myself get swept away by the mysterious alchemy that bound us together. I wanted this man to the point of madness. His body. His love. I craved him with a recklessness that would cost me everything.

Oh, how I wished I could indulge in a night of bedplay, just once more, then toss him away after. He deserved no better. But my heart wasn’t strong enough for copulation. Not with Priest.

I looked away and focused all thought on the goal. Without warning or so much as a glance in his direction, I made a swipe for the compass in his breeches.

He caught my hand and made a scolding sound. “Once I have you as my wife, in every way, you’ll have the compass.”

Of course, I knew it wouldn’t be easy.

“No.” With a hard push against his chest, I broke his hold and staggered backward.

The muscles in his jaw flexed, tensing with frustration. Then a determined gleam rose in his eyes, flickering like silver stars in the dangerous dark of night.

He would never force himself on me. He wouldn’t have to. The look on his face glowed with chilling self-assurance. Because he knew.

He knew how easily he could seduce me, knew exactly how I liked to be touched, and the moment I slipped, he knew how to do things to my body that would splinter my mind and make me forget my own name.

“Don’t touch me.” I retreated until my backside bumped the desk. Meanwhile, my insides heated and tightened, silently screaming for him to finish what he started.

An ordinary predator would’ve prowled after me, rubbed up against my space, and unleashed an arsenal of seductive weapons to shatter my resolve. But Priest wasn’t ordinary.

He hooked a thumb in his waistband and reclined against the wall at his back, lounging like a great cat as he managed, quite successfully, to touch every part of me without touching me at all.

I shivered. “What are you doing?”