Though he wasn’t nearly done with her, he lifted his head. As she watched, he licked his mouth, taking in the rest of her essence. Nothing was left behind. Each little bit was a reward.

She straightened. Expression bright with contentment, she reached out and rubbed her palm over his aching shaft.

He almost spilled. He definitely moaned. “Harder.”

“No. I’m going to leave you with this,” she whispered raggedly, “and you’re not going to do anything about it. That’s your punishment for sending me away.”

Punishment. Pain.

But the best kind...

He would not be injured. She would not be injured. Guilt would never enter the equation.

It was...perfect.

He nodded slowly, eager to play her game. “I will not touch it.”

She placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Maybe I’ll see you later.”

“Count on it.” She stood, stepped around him, and clothed herself before leaving the room without another word.

* * *

ELIN STOOD BEHIND the out-of-bounds line and tried not to tremble. The Fang Bangers waited on the other side of the court, ready for the gun to fire and signal the start of the game. The team was made up of six women, with two substitutes on the sidelines. Each was a vampire.

“Hey, hemogoblins,” Savy called. “How does it feel to know you’ll be leaving the gym in pieces?”

Every member of the Fang Bangers hissed at her. One even growled, “Go ahead and start singing, fat lady songbird. This game is already over.”

Between the two teams were six huge boulders Elin would never be able to lift. Thane was right. She hadn’t improved.

Why am I even here?

Answer: because the girls asked her, and she couldn’t say no.

The “rules” raced through her mind.

The first rule of dodge boulder: there were no rules. Kidding! If a boulder was thrown at her, and she caught it, the thrower was benched, but there was no such thing as an illegal shot. Someone could nail her in the head or the groin, and she would be out. Literally. Causing someone to experience a physical death for five seconds or more added ten points to her team’s score—immortals would revive. There were no breaks (other than bones) and no time-outs. No penalty flags. The game would last until an entire team was out.

Basically, it was dodgeball on a steady diet of steroids and growth hormone.

This is gonna hurt, so bad.

Boom!

In the opening rush, every player converged in the center of the basketball court to claim a boulder. Except Elin. Have to play to my strengths. Aka survival. Dodging thousand-pound missiles equaled survival. She hung back and waited.

Her heart drummed in a wild rhythm, and sweat trickled down her spine. Loud cheers scraped at her ears. The surrounding stands were filled to capacity with immortals of every race, a sea of faces grinning with relish. Everyone was foaming at the mouth, eager to witness the first splat.

For a moment, Elin thought she felt Thane’s gaze upon her. Only he could heat her skin with a look, and melt her bones, and make her tremble. But there was no way he’d come here to watch her play. Not after she’d taken her pleasure and left him without his own, hard and desperate. She’d just thought...hoped... Well, it didn’t matter now. He was probably ticked. The sensation of being visually caressed must have sprung from their new connection. A connection she hadn’t wanted! Already she was too aware of him. She needed distance, not a chain that bound them.

Concentrate.

Good idea, and none too soon. One of the boulders acted as a heat-seeking missile, heading straight for her. Elin danced out of its path at the last second, barely avoiding a meet-and-greet with her internal organs.

Bellorie ran past her, a huge silver rock clutched to her chest. “Plan Hurt Some Biatches, Bonka Donk! It’s a go!”

That was right. Plan A: Stay close to Bellorie, but not so close Elin would be hidden. Taunt and tease the other players, drawing their wrath, and thereby making them forget the Harpy was nearby.

As Elin closed in at Bellorie’s left, Chanel tossed a boulder at one of the vamps, knocking the girl in the jaw. Impact threw her down, and she was unable to catch the stone before it hit the ground. Blood poured from her now-misshapen mouth.

Sickness churned in Elin’s stomach, but she somehow managed to breathe past it. She hadn’t lied to Thane. The girls had been working with her to help her overcome her fear. But by “working with her” she meant they’d talked about it nonstop, all while taking turns cutting their hands, and shoving the pooling crimson in her face. Immersion therapy, they’d called it.

As she’d watched their wounds weave back together, she’d realized blood wasn’t always accompanied by pain and death. Blood could be...life.

I can do this. Elin spread her arms to make herself seem like a wider target and called, “Hey, vampyra. You’re so ugly, the doctor slapped your mom the day you were born.” Okay, so that wasn’t the best trash talk, but it did the trick.

“My mom is gorgeous!” The vampire flashed very long, very sharp fangs before hurtling a rock at her. As Elin ducked, Bellorie tossed her own rock, nailing the girl in the shoulder. Out!

Grinning, Bellorie gave Elin a high five.

Okay, this was getting fun.

After they took out another player in the same manner—only four to go!—the Fang Bangers caught on and decided to take Elin out for good. One boulder after another launched her way. Blimey! There was no way to dodge them all. Then Octavia was there, catching one. Chanel was there, catching another. Bellorie and Savy were too far away. The last stone was closing in quick...

She had a choice. Dodge, and keep the game going. Or catch, and end it, ensuring victory.

She opened her arms, and—

Crack. Elin’s body skidding backward as her sternum and ribs howled. She lost her breath. Oh, the pain! Catching had been a mistake. A huge mistake.

When she stilled, she tried to focus. Stars swam through her vision.

The crowd was eerily quiet.

Then a celebration bomb detonated, and cheers erupted.

“You did it!” Bellorie screamed.

Meaning...they’d won, she realized. They’d really won! Adrenaline kicked in, dulling the pain.

The girls pulled the boulder from her kung-fu grip and jerked her to her feet. She winced as they hugged and kissed her and lifted her above their heads.

A sense of triumph flooded her. Triumph and relief. She’d helped her friends. And they really were. They were her friends. She wasn’t an outcast. Wasn’t considered a lowly slave. She was an equal, and she was liked.