He hesitated, and then settled back. After a moment, he reached out and touched her cheek. "Wow. Beautiful, intelligent, strong, and a powerful witch. You've got it all, baby."

She blinked, her smile fading. "You think I'm beautiful?" "You're kidding right? I think you're gorgeous." Her cheeks heated. "It's been a long time since anyone told me I was pretty."

"What wrong with those demons?" She smiled. "They're demons."

"Oh, yeah." His head dipped toward hers and the heat of him chased the chill from her bones a bit. "This is such a bad idea," he murmured. His gaze centered on her mouth.

CHAPTER TEN

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"IT'S THE WORST IDEA EVER," SHE AGREED. HER breath had a little hitch in it and her heart sped its pace. Her hands found his upper arms and clenched there, feeling the bunch and flex of his muscles. Strength. Power leashed for the moment.

He repositioned himself over her, pressing her down against the mattress. His gaze still searched her face, lust flickering in the depths of his dark blue eyes—lust for her. At the moment Claire felt like the most beautiful, most desired woman on the face of the planet—both of them.

"I shouldn't kiss you," he murmured.

"There's that stupid word again."

He grinned for a fleeting moment. Adam's head dipped and his mouth came nearer hers. "If it were up to me I'd tell you you were beautiful every day." The words came out a whisper and Claire sensed they were sincere. His lips brushed hers, just barely, sending a wave of pleasurable shock through her.

Claire wanted.

Oh, how she wanted with every molecule of her being. She wanted him to pull away the blankets between them, undress her slowly, and make love to her. She wanted to know what his bare chest was like under her fingers and tongue. How would his thighs feel pushing her legs wide open? How would his cock feel tunneling deep inside her? She could barely remember the experience.

Oh, now she remembered. Ty. She jerked and stiffened.

Luckily, there were blankets and clothes between them. Luckily, she had all those years of practice locking away her sexuality.

Before he had a chance to do anything more than barely brush her lips, she pushed him back, but with effort. "Wait. Rue would kill you, and I don't mean that figuratively."

Adam leaned in again. "Rue doesn't have jurisdiction here." He jerked. "Or… are you and Rue…"

"No!" She shook her head. "He would never consider me in that way. I mean, he thought of me as a woman, but I was more like his protected ward or magick experiment than anything else. He never saw me sexually and I never thought of him that way either."

He grinned again. "Then I'm not seeing the problem."

"But—"

His mouth caught hers, slid over it. Ah, Houses.