“Enough.” The lights in his irises brightened as he cupped her jaw and traced his thumbs over her cheeks. “I’m going to kiss you goodbye, wife. The barest tasting.”

What! Her heartbeat stuttered against her ribs, her blood flashing white-hot in an instant. Tingles tantalized her now aching body. After everything he’d done, he expected a make-out session in front of other people?

“Why?” Really? I ask him why? I don’t tell him to get bent?

Indifference tap-danced across her mind, sharp claws slicing through gray matter. She cringed, even whimpered.

“Focus on me, not the fiend,” Puck said, perhaps recognizing the signs of the demon’s interference.

She obeyed, peering up at him, this man who’d become her husband, who’d been at times unnecessarily cruel and at others surprisingly kind. How could she even consider kissing him? She didn’t know him, not really, and definitely didn’t trust him.

Despite those moments of kindness, he was a liar. He had ice for a heart. Or maybe that was why she should kiss him. He wouldn’t get overly excited. He might not even get turned on. Which was what she wanted, kind of. But kind of...not.

“You will remember me—think of me—while I’m gone,” he said, and he wasn’t asking a question but issuing a command. Protest. Now. Before you start to panic, and the demon reacts worse.

But...the part of her who wanted him turned on also wanted him to think of her while he was gone. Wanted him know what he’d lost the moment he’d used her.

Oh, really? What did he lose? Tell me.

Shut up.

Spiteful Gillian won. She rose to her tiptoes, saying, “Kiss me, then. I dare you.”

He met her halfway and slanted his lips over hers. Erotic flicks of his tongue coaxed more tingles to the surface and fanned the flames of desire. Hot, so wonderfully hot. The aches magnified as he thrust with more force, his divine taste and ever-increasing frenzied pace dragging a moan of surrender from deep inside her. A sound he utterly devoured, as if he’d never been so starved—or enjoyed a tastier meal.

His skill, expert. His ruthlessness, on full display.

Puck didn’t bother to learn her, or explore her nuances; he took, gave and demanded... everything, his tongue dominating hers with a promise of untold riches. She was helpless to resist.

About Gena Showalter: Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the spellbinding Lords of the Underworld and Angels of the Dark series, two young adult series--Everlife and the White Rabbit Chronicles--and the highly addictive Original Heartbreakers series. In addition to being a National Reader's Choice and two time RITA nominee, her romance novels have appeared in Cosmopolitan (Red Hot Read) and Seventeen magazine, she's appeared on Nightline and been mentioned in Orange is the New Black--if you ask her about it, she'll talk for hours…hours! Her books have been translated in multiple languages. She’s hard at work on her next novel, a tale featuring an alpha male with a dark side and the strong woman who brings him to his knees. You can learn more about Gena, her menagerie of rescue dogs, and all her upcoming books at genashowalter.com or Facebook.com/genashowalterfans