She breathed unsteadily; her eyes glinted on the verge of tears. He cursed and this time pushed her out of the doorway and moved around her. He hit the first step when she spoke.

“Wait, wait. That’s it?” Stiffening, he turned slowly to her. He looked at her as if this would be the last time he did so.

“No. You, Nanu. You’re the other reason.”

She called out after him to wait, to explain what he meant, but he ignored her pleas and didn’t turn back around.

Chloe tossed the covers off her fire-drenched body. Sweat beaded her forehead and neck, soaking the pillow beneath her head. What was wrong with her?

She turned and rolled around on the bed no longer finding any comfort in the soft

cushion. Where had her damn angel feathers gone?

Her arms latched onto her stomach and she moaned deeply. Sharp, gut-wrenching stabs beat inside her like knives trying to break out of her skin. Her breaths wheezed in and out and suddenly the pain was gone as if it’d actually broken out of her body.

Panting, Chloe arched her back off the bed as a blinding energy pulsed inside her. Pants turned into a long, drawn-out moan as liquid heat pooled between her legs, as her breasts pulled tight and heavy.

She was drugged or had food poisoning. Something was wrong. She moaned as her

stomach jerked and another wave of wet release pulsed through her core. What kind of food poisoning did this? No, no, impossible. It wasn’t time yet. She had another day.

Shakily she came to her feet, wobbling so hard she grabbed onto the corner of the

bedpost to keep from falling. The wood was hard beneath her hands, solid and thick. She pushed her chest into it, reveling in the hard strength of it, then she rubbed her lips across the wood.

“Oh my God!” Jerking away from the all-too-sexy post, she wobbled over to the dresser to pull her clothes back on. Oh, God! Each step swished her sex’s lips back and forth, bringing forth a surging need deep within her. She only got as far as pulling on a baggy t-shirt, before she flung open the door. Help, she needed help. Of course Draven wasn’t there. He was probably still training, a whole day later.

Anger infused with her arousal and she had to steady herself against the doorframe. Is this the new moon? Impossible, Henry said it wasn’t for another day. She hadn’t figured out what she was going to do about it yet. She was supposed to do that today. Maybe she shouldn’t have procrastinated.

With one hand braced against the wall, she walked slowly down the hall. It took her forever to reach the top of the stairs and by then her breaths came quick again and her core was all too ready for this whole growing into sexual maturity thing.

She looked wildly down the stairs. Where the hell was everyone? Not a creature was

stirring, not even a cold vampire commander that she really wanted to thaw out right now.

She started down the stairs; it took much longer than it should have. One step at a time, she walked like an old lady with a cane down the stairs. When she finally reached the bottom step, she was trembling on the verge of an orgasm. She sucked in air and thought of things to cool herself off. Baseball came to mind, but then she pictured all those baseball players’ tight butts and fit bodies and quickly canceled that train of thought.

With nothing to lose, she darted barefoot across the floor and flung open the study door.

Four sets of eyes trained on her, then peered over the single baggy shirt she wore. There was no time for embarrassment. She started towards them but couldn’t make it. The trip down the hallway, the stairs, and the short sprint here was all too much. Obviously she was a superhero, because how she managed that with the rampant heat threatening to erupt inside her at any second was simply amazing.

She locked her knees to keep from falling to the ground. She had a feeling she knew what her body would do once she hit the ground. Spread her legs wide and offer herself to any—and all—the warriors watching her. The only thought that kept her (barely) from doing just that was the fact she wasn’t wearing panties.

“Please,” she said, her voice a wretched moan. Tyrian looked over her with little interest.

“Are you ill?” Cold words had never sounded so sexy. She shivered and another gush of heat dampened her core.

She couldn’t stifle the moan that came out. “No,” she said unevenly. The energy it took to get here taxed her, so she fell into a chair. Spreading her legs open and closed, open and closed as she wrung her clammy hands in her t-shirt. “You lied, Henry.” She meant it to sound angry but she just sounded husky, sexy.

He blinked in surprise, and everyone’s gaze turned to him. He threw up his hands and backed away. “Hey, I bumped into her last night and she asked me when the next new moon was. It’s tomorrow. That’s all I said.” Chloe wanted to tell him she was sorry, that it wasn’t his fault. Okay, it really was. But whatever. She couldn’t make herself talk. It was as if she was dying from the inside out but not in waves of pain, in waves of hot arousal.

Her gaze fell to Tyrian who looked completely unaffected. He stood tall with his

shoulders back, his dark hair pulled back in a severe tail at the back of his neck showing off that widow’s peak on his forehead.

“How did you bump into her?” Tyrian asked coolly. It might have been just her horny imagination, but she really hoped that was masculine curiosity if not jealousy that made him ask.

Henry glared at her and she knew what his problem was. He was debating on protecting her because he found her snooping in Tyrian’s office last night. Like she cared about something like that right now!

She seemed to have extra saliva in her mouth so she swallowed then said, “It’s okay. Tell him.” Her breath caught suddenly and her back arched off the chair, pushing her heavy breasts towards the men. Anyone, take me! Or so her body was saying. Squeeze my breasts, please! She clamped her mouth shut and settled her own hands on her breasts. She always was a do-it-yourself kind of woman.

A soft sigh. Sweet, blissful relief.

“Stop that.” Her eyes popped open, met Tyrian’s cold gaze with her own hot one. She could melt him. She just knew it. If not, then it’d be one interesting adventure to try.

“I’ll stop if you come touch me.” She wouldn’t have thought it possible but his spine stiffened even straighter. His brow furrowed the slightest bit and then he turned completely away from her.

“Has she talked to any of you about being her partner during her new moon?”

All of them shook their head. “I offered to be there for her,” the one named Draven said.

He came towards her and each long step was like a finger circling her clit. “Would you like to use me, Chloe?” he asked gently, eyes concerned. He looked not like that grinning man she’d talked to the day before but like a man who’d do this out of duty. She’d pegged him for a kiss and tell type guy but maybe she was wrong. Or he was a good liar.

“No. I want him,” she said and pointed to Tyrian. Someone cleared his throat and another rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. Chloe glared. Or tried her best to. She had a feeling the look was coming off more as a low-lidded bedroom gaze.

As she reveled in the weight of her breasts in her hands, she watched as Tyrian said something too softly for her to hear. Then the men started pouring out of the study.

“Wait.”

But they didn’t. Her icy commander left with Henry and some other man she recognized from the hostel in London, but Draven stayed behind. He didn’t look too happy either. A frown marred his mouth as he looked from her to the door. As if resigning himself to something, he strolled towards her and dropped to both knees before her.