Renner’s expression grew grim. “Would it be smarter to run?”

Ethan shook his head. “I’ll ask, but I doubt the women will be willing. They’ve worked hard to build a life here. They’re not going to give it up without a fight.”

Ethan left Renner as he gathered the men to tell them what they’d learned. He headed back to the kitchen but found the women in the parlor, peeking behind the curtains at the men outside.

“So you heard?” he asked as he entered the room.

Radha dropped the curtain. Her pale face was nearly translucent. As was Aoife’s.

Bryn walked to his side and laid her hand on his arm. “Are we being selfish, asking you to stand and fight?”

Ethan cupped his free hand over hers. “If we run, we’ll be hunted for all our days.”

“Do you think we stand a chance?”

Her eyes glistened with tears, and he felt a pang in his chest. He’d do anything to keep her safe, even give his life. But her fate had been sealed with the resounding echo the night before. They had no choice except enter the battle. “I don’t know. It depends on the council members. They’ll sanction a battle, but they can set the rules. We have to hope they’ll allow champions to fight.”

“Our champion would be you?” Her voice wavered.

He cupped her cheek. “I have the most to gain or lose. And Merrick will demand it.”

“But he’s a hellhound. How can you win?”

“Baby, I’m a troll. Have a little faith.” He gave her a crooked smile. “But I could use some magic.”

“Merrick will have Liliana at his side. She’ll have funneled every bit of energy she can to aid him.”

“And I have five witches with so much more at stake than just personal gain. Don’t you think your Goddess will have our backs?”

Bryn’s smile began slowly and then stretched across her face. She sniffed and tilted her head, a silent plea for a caress, which he gave her. He slid his hand along her cheek and threaded his fingers in her hair. He bent and kissed her soft mouth.

“Sex magic works well too,” Darcy said, her tone wry.

When he shot her a glance, it was to see her eyes alight with mischief. So maybe Darcy wasn’t completely anti-troll.

She shrugged. “We can do some spellwork, prepare the herbs and the crystals. When night falls, we’ll gather at the oak.”

An open plain. A place for the Others to move freely. Protecting a structure like a house was confining for demons. Ethan nodded. “Why don’t you let the men know? They’ll prepare the field.” He glanced down at Bryn.

Her gaze slid sideways. “You’ll have to finish preparing the steaks on your own,” she said to her sisters.

“I think we can manage,” Radha said. “Go do what you need to do. We’ll batten down the glassware if the house shakes.”

Bryn’s blush was a deep pink. “She’s exaggerating.”

He snorted. “Is she?”

Laughter followed them as they left the room hands clasped. At the stairway, Ethan swept her up into his strong arms.

“You should be saving your strength.”

Ethan ignored her. She was as light as a feather. He didn’t break his stride. His breathing remained even. At her door, he shouldered it open, then walked to the bed and dumped her on top of the mattress, where she bounced, giggling.

Not bothering to remove clothing because he was already too eager, he roughly shoved up her skirt, gratified she’d foregone underwear. Likely to conserve her panties since he didn’t have patience with lacy bits that only got in his way.

Her hands were busy too, opening his belt, unbuttoning his pants. When she reached inside to free his cock, he shook his head, trying to clear it of the blinding heat that stole his self-control. “Easy there,” he ground out when she tightened her grip on his shaft.

But she was pulling now, hard. Opening her legs and bringing him closer, placing his head right at her entrance. Moist heat, lots of it, greeted him. But he was hard and thick, and she really should wait until he’d played with her pussy, prepared her with his fingers, gently stretched her and made her so aroused there’d be no pain.

When she lifted her hips and forced him inside, he was lost. Just the cap was surrounded by her slick sex, but her eyes, sleepy lids falling to darken her stormy blue to navy, drew him. He thrust inward, gritting his teeth at the snug fit. “You should have let me do this right.”

“You are, I promise. So right.”

Not able to withdraw, he ripped apart her shirt and clamped a hand on a naked breast. As he thrust, he played with her nipple, twisting, tugging. Her body tensed beneath him, and he felt the clench of her muscles all around him every time he gave her a tweak. Liquid heat seeped around him, easing his harsh entry.

He took her mouth, grunting when she bit his tongue. He pumped faster, plunging harder inside her and leaned to the other side to tease her other breast. He pulled the tip and let it snap back again and again, and then pinched it hard, only satisfied when she growled and groaned and her nails striped his back.

Her hips were curving, tilting to let him thrust deeper. She bucked and writhed, each movement increasing the friction as the wildness rode them both.

And then the moment shattered in an explosion of heat and light as their mutual pleasure eclipsed. She spilled moonlight into his body that hardened his muscles, bulking them outward. He pummeled her sweet channel, jagged shards of electric delight delivered inward and sparked from his hand at her breast.

The strength of their sharing made them both cry out. In the distance, he heard the slamming of the bed frame against the wall and floor, the shudder of the house, the tinkle of the overhead chandelier, but he couldn’t stop. The moment stretched and darkness fell around them.

When he came back to himself, he jerked, his eyelids slamming open. Fear gripped him. He’d lost himself. Had he harmed her?

But she was wound around him, arms and legs holding tightly to his frame. Her mouth showered his face with kisses.

“Yes, yes, yes,” she sobbed, drawing him deeper and deeper. They were one, blended in light and electricity, the air sizzling around them, sparking, humming.

He rolled and brought her over him. Waited as she dragged deep breaths into starved lungs. He stroked her back, her buttocks, nuzzled her cheeks.

“Bryn.”

Everything inside him, every thought coalesced in that one word. She was everything. His heart, his mate, his love. Together, they were more powerful. He felt it with a bone-deep certainty. As he drew away, pushing back her hair and framing her lovely face, he knew he’d never forget this moment. Until he drew his last breath, she was imprinted in his mind.

“Do you think they noticed?” she asked, a sleepy smile turning up the corners of her mouth like a kitten’s.

“Sweetheart, I think the heavens heard.”

In the last fullness of the blue moon, they gathered in the field around the large oak. Torches burned, struck into the dirt. The women were nude, having gathered their nerve to shed their modesty with so many males in the clearing.

They’d drawn down the moon and stood with gleaming skin. They were evenly spaced around the oak, each guarded by three men who stood outside the torch-lit circle, facing outward. The witches had gifted each man with a final dance to empower them if they were called to battle.

A pearlescent glimmer now lit the men’s naked skin. Something the army gathering at the edges of the clearing couldn’t miss.

Ethan glanced back at Bryn. Her expression was serene. Trusting. In his strength, in their bond and the approval of her Goddess. After they’d made love that afternoon, Bryn had said she’d felt approval, a whisper in her ear the moment before they’d climaxed.

A blessing from above, he believed. Love had poured from them both, filled them both. They’d shared in each other’s power. When Bryn had glided a fingertip along his cheek, he’d felt a spark. A troll spark.