He’s close enough now to lean down and murmur in my ear. “How’s that for a trick?” he asks, voice deep and sensual again. I swallow, my mouth dry and my lips parting as I shiver.

Feigning indifference that I absolutely do not feel, I shrug. “It’s okay.” Then I will the light to unwrap from my wrists and wrap around his own, pinning him in the same position. That pulsing between my thighs intensifies as I reverse the power dynamic. “Nothing I couldn’t do myself,” I whisper in his ear.

His pupils dilate and his jaw ticks, clearly enjoying this as much as I do. He dissolves the light pinning his arms above his head, never taking those now nearly black eyes from mine. He slowly leans in close, and the most intense and maddening smell wafts over me. Citrus, jasmine, and lemongrass. I close my eyes and inhale, and when I open them again, his body crowds mine, the large frame all I can see or sense from within the mist. The Prince of Light leans down and whispers in my ear, his hot breath tickling my neck. “Well, then, witchling, I will endeavor to show you a trick you can’t perform on yourself.”

I try to hide my shiver at his innuendo, but he senses it. He leans in even closer to me, and our breath mingles. I can’t keep my gaze from his lips. They’re full and pink from the chilly northern air. It would be so easy to close the distance between us, to give in and let us get whatever this is out of our systems. We’re completely alone out here, isolated from anyone or anything who might hear or see us. I relax into his body, letting his heat wrap around me. He inhales deeply, like he too is trying to breathe in my scent. His hand wraps around my waist and tugs me close, burning my skin, and I let out an involuntary gasp of air. He growls low in his throat as he leans into me, like he’s about to kiss me, and I want to let him. My mouth parts, my body heats—

And that is the catalyst I need to pull away.