“Please, princess . . .”

Big, bad, not-quite-sane Isdernus begging her? She smiled and granted his wish.

When her hand closed around him, they both gasped. His shoulders came off the bed, and his eyes flared like an inferno—hot and unstoppable. Incredible. Tingles skipped down her arm. Gripping him was like holding power in her hand. Her hand didn’t quite wrap around all his girth, so she wrapped her other around him as well.

An earthy curse slipped from his lips. “I dreamed of this. God, so often. The minute I met you, I could only think of having you with me, naked, touching me, letting me touch you . . .”

She rubbed her thumb over the damp head of his cock. He sucked in a breath. Reducing Ice to nothing but gasps and moans filled her with both power and peace. She was where she belonged. No other wizard had ever felt so right. But still, she wanted more.

Throwing her hair over one shoulder, she bent to him. Ice tensed, and when her tongue laved his erection then took him deeper in her mouth, he dissolved into sheet-fisting groans. He tasted harsh and hot and so exquisitely salty and male.

She savored him, the slow learning of his body and pleasures. In the past, sex had been anything from a mere energy exchange to a fun, flirty way to pass time. But being with Ice … a treasure, a moment of worship, a quickly burgeoning addiction.

“Yes,” he murmured, then raised a hand to her hair. Fingers filtering through the strands, anchoring against her scalp, he arched his hips, sinking his stiff flesh deeper into her mouth.

Amazingly, he grew harder, longer, his motions more insistent and urgent. Sabelle reveled in the fact that she could bring such a fierce warrior and wizard so much bliss.

Moments passed that lapsed into long minutes. His fever rose, and he grasped her hair in both hands, guiding her to deeper, faster strokes. Then suddenly he stilled and gritted his teeth.

“No more.” Gently, he lifted her head away from him, then raised her face to his. “Thank you for the incredible pleasure, princess, but I want to share the sensations with you, feel you all around me. I need that now.”

Before she could reply, he rolled her beneath him, lodged himself in the cradle of her thighs, and plunged deep. She was wet, of course. Simply being in the same room with Ice excited her, and her body was all too eager to receive every hard inch. But he surged into her fast and deep, and she gasped as his cock scraped every one of her nerve endings as he buried himself to the hilt.

“You drive me to madness.” He gripped her hips, then gasped when he sank in deeper. “Give me your pleasure.”

It was impossible to merge his body with hers and not feel as if she was drowning in ecstasy. He unleashed a firestorm of furious need, thrusting in slow, deep strokes that quickly had her gasping and tightening around him. Ice’s lips brushed across hers, then he melded their mouths together.

The double assault on her defenses overwhelmed her in moments. Ice surrounded her, and she didn’t just feel his kiss or his passion, but his very soul as he poured it into her with measured, relentless strokes that quickly pushed her over the edge, into a realm where sensation ruled and he was king. With a cry, her heart followed.

Still, Ice wasn’t satisfied. The release of her power into him invigorated and energized him. He picked up the pace, shuttling into her with increasing demand. By rights, after a release as powerful as the one she’d just experienced, she should be somewhere between sated and numb, but Ice would not be denied.

He palmed her breast, his thumb brushing the sensitive peak as he continued to delve her mouth and body with a determination that stunned her. Shockingly, the heat and pressure between her legs built again, this time darker and more demanding than before. Up, up, up her need clawed. Sabelle feared Ice must still carry the wounds of his mistreatment at Mathias’s hands, but she couldn’t stop herself from digging her fingers into his shoulders, wrapping her legs around his waist and meeting him stroke for stroke until she dissolved into a million pieces.

Moments later, Ice remade her as he ground out a harsh male cry and emptied every bit of himself—breath, heart, seed—deep into her.

In the moment, she wondered if life as his mate would be like this. If so, she wanted it badly.

The Binding words hovered on the tip of her tongue as they each recovered their breathing. She wanted to speak them—so much. But Bram . . .

Ice raised up on his elbows and peered down into her face with eyes so green and tender, her heart melted all over again. “Princess, something ails your mind already?”

She forced a smile. How simple it would be to tell him that she intended to become his mate. But Sabelle didn’t deceive herself. Getting her brother’s blessing would take more than a few moments and require her best logic. And she wanted Bram’s approval. Giving up her family and all she’d known for a wizard she’d never spoken to until a few days past, a man clearly haunted by secrets … it hardly made sense. She wished she had a wizard’s mating instinct. They had the luxury of taking a single taste and knowing the right female for them. Witches had nothing but their hearts. Still, something tugged at her, telling her that, without Ice, she’d live a half-life.

“I don’t know what to do,” she confessed. “About this. About us.”

Ice sucked in a deep breath. “Sabelle, you know what I want. My wishes have not changed. But if you will not Bind to me, please say so.”

“I can’t make myself Renounce you. I’ve tried, for my brother’s sake.” Tears broke her voice and regret welled deep inside her, a burn in her chest she wished she could ignore. “But my heart . . .”

“Wants more than a loveless political marriage.” He cupped her face. “You deserve more, princess. Become my mate. Everything else, we will work out together.”

Sabelle hesitated. Ice made the matter sound so simple when she knew it was anything but. “I cannot do that to my brother. I owe him my well-being and happiness, my respect and allegiance. He removed me from the clutches of a selfish mother. When I was but six, she was already seeking to sell my future to the highest bidder, promising the most powerful wizard that I would mate with them or their sons upon my transition.”

He blanched, turned white. His face closed up. “You were a child! Bram rescued you?”

“Yes. Before he came for me, I had never met or heard of him. I knew what my mother plotted, and it terrified me. Wizards who were five hundred or more, many of whom had acquired their power by nefarious means, all openly vying for the chance to mate with Merlin’s granddaughter. They knew nothing of me, the real me inside. Just my bloodline.”

Ice swallowed, looked away. “You owe him a great debt, yes, but the rest of your life?”

“Today, my brother may be well.” Sabelle glanced out the window to see pale edges of gray creeping into the lace-draped window. A fist-tight tension gripped her stomach. Soon, she’d know if the dark healer had healed Bram. “Then I’m hoping to speak to him.”

With a sigh, Ice rolled away. “It will do no good.”

Sabelle frowned, reminded again that she knew nothing about the enmity between her brother and Ice. “Why? Why do you hate each other so much?”

Rising from the bed, Ice padded to the bathroom. She heard water splashing, something that sounded suspiciously like a fist pounding the wall, before Ice reappeared, a white towel wrapped around his waist.

Suddenly, Sabelle felt naked, exposed. She grabbed the bedsheet and covered herself.

“He will never let you mate with a Deprived, especially me. I’ve been foolish to hope, but—”

“How do you know? If I tell him that you make me happy, certainly he’ll listen. I’ve never seen my brother treat anyone differently because of their birth.”

“Then you have not seen the true Bram.”

Her brother, prejudiced against the Deprived?

With that ugly accusation, Ice returned to the bathroom, this time closing the door. She scowled and bounded from the bed, dashed across the room, determined to unravel this issue. But when she lifted the latch to the door, she found it locked. Yes, she could have entered with a bit of magic, but Ice had silently spoken. She would not invade his privacy for her own satisfaction. Besides, dawn was upon them, and she needed to tend to her brother—and hope the night and Shock’s mysterious dark healer had revived Bram for good.

By the time Sabelle dressed and brought some semblance of order to her hair, Ice stepped from the bathroom, freshly showered. He prowled around the room and grabbed his shredded camo trousers from the floor with a curse.

Wizards were notoriously poor with domestic magic; cooking, mending, and cleaning spells were often beyond them. Looked like Ice was no exception, given the regretful way he eyed the garment. Despite the tension between them, she hated the frustration on his face.

Quickly retrieving her wand, Sabelle waved it in the direction of his trousers. In moments, they looked completely new, tears mended, bloodstains gone.

His gaze bounced up to her, gratitude shining there. “Thank you. You’re quite good at that.”

She shrugged and shoved her feet into trainers. “Loads of practice. I need to see if Bram is awake. Ice … No matter what happens, whether you escaped after Shock’s visit to your cell or because of the Doomsday Diary’s magic, I’m glad you’re here and safe.”

Before she said anything more, she turned away. Ice put a soft hand on her shoulder, the touch a question, a request. It was nearly her undoing. After this morning, she’d hoped … But she wondered if fate, culture, and family would always stand between them.

“You wrote in the Doomsday Diary for my safe return?”

She nodded, knowing the next question he would ask and that she could only give him the truth. “It was my heart’s deepest desire. I wanted you here with me. I still do.”

Ice closed his eyes, shook his head. “So fucking futile.”

“Why? Why are you so certain my brother will refuse?”

Ice sighed. “There’s no point in dredging up the past when it will not change the future. I’d rather say nothing. I don’t want you to think ill of the brother who clearly did so much for you. The fact he extended me no such courtesy is of no concern to you.”

With that, Ice shouldered his way past her, shirtless, his back nearly healed. He looked back and reached out for her hand. Sabelle tucked her palm inside his, and he squeezed. “Go see your brother. I’ll be beside you, in case you need me.”

Releasing her hand, he left the room. Sabelle followed, dread and uncertainty brewing in her gut. Her brother’s health, her relationship with Ice, the threat to magickind—all of it so consuming and hammering her at once. Still, she must bear it. Endure. A Rion could do no less. She had the spine; time to use it.

She hurried down the hall, turning toward the closed door to Bram’s quarters, then pushed the door open. Ice followed.

Inside, Bram lay still, eyes closed. The black cloud was gone.

Duke sat in the wing chair in the corner. Lucan perched on the edge of the bed near Bram. Both looked up when she and Ice entered.

Lucan peered at her, then at Ice. His blue eyes narrowed, and Sabelle knew that one glance at Ice’s magical signature, coupled with the fact they both must be glowing with energy, all but shouted the truth.

“You fucking bastard, you dare to touch her?” Lucan leapt to his feet.

Ice met him in the middle of the room. “At least I wasn’t a dangerous madman, mourning another witch while I did. I would never hurt or use her.”

Sabelle tried to wedge between them, certain that if she didn’t they would start trading blows or hexes.

“Is this how you plan to get revenge against Bram, crush him by taking his only sister?” Lucan accused. “Tit for tat?”

She gasped. Ice had a sister, and Bram had somehow taken her?

“I think that is a very good question.”

“Bram!”

Relief lifted a thousand pounds off her psyche when she found her brother sitting up in bed, his glare squarely on Ice. She ran to Bram, throwing her arms around the sibling who had always represented safety and comfort. He held her by the shoulders and stared over her shoulder at Ice with a malevolence that stunned her. He looked ready to kill.

“Answer Lucan,” Bram demanded of Ice. “This, I want to hear.”

Ice cast her a pained glance, then turned back to Lucan with a growl. “I Called to Sabelle because my instinct told me she is mine, not because I sought any sort of revenge. I treasure her, while you merely saw her as a source of energy. Take your righteous anger and shove it up your arse.”

“I would rather shove something down your throat, like my fist.” Veins popped out in Lucan’s neck, and he looked ready to attack at any moment.

“You’re welcome to try.” Ice raised a black brow, not backing down an inch.

“Stop it! All of you! This is not the time to worry about my romantic life. We have more pressing concerns.”