The couple on the right began to claw at each other’s clothing.

The man and woman on his left were nearly f**king right in front of him.

Sam stilled. Damn that was sure one whole lot of sexual energy. An unnatural degree, even for the Other.

Seline.

He looked up, up again . . . and stared harder at the woman who’d just entered the cage lined with steel bars.

She was alone in the cage. The other dancers had vanished. She wasn’t dancing. Her long, blond hair hung loosely around her shoulders. Her arms were up, and she seemed to be pulling energy right from the crowd.

Because she was.

He grabbed the ladder that led to that cage. The music kept pumping behind him, and now he could feel the sensual power in the air. Not normal. Far from it.

Her. Something was different about Seline tonight. He’d never felt this particular rush of power around her. His body was suddenly on edge. His heart raced too fast in his chest.

He leapt into the cage. She didn’t whirl to face him. Didn’t do anything but stand there with her arms up. This close, he could see that her hips were swaying softly in a sensuous flow that made him ache.

He stepped toward her.

“Leave, Sam.” She spoke in a way he’d never heard before. Pure sex. Temptation. Sin.

She might have just ordered him to leave, but his body was determined to stay.

“Seline.” Her name came out raw and hungry.

The music flared louder.

Slowly, so slowly, she turned to face him. She looked . . . different. Eyes smoky. Lips plumper, redder, skin so translucent that it glowed. He looked at her and wanted.

But that part—well, the want wasn’t exactly new for him.

“I’m not playing tonight,” she whispered, but he could easily hear her over the crowd. “Tonight I’m taking all the power that I want, and if you come any closer, I will drain you dry.”

This wasn’t the Seline he knew. “You don’t drain people, remember?”

But she smiled, and an evil grin should never have been so sexy. “Why don’t you find the shifter who gave me a ride and see what he has to say?”

Sam blinked. “I already found what was left of him.” And he hadn’t expected that.

“He wanted to cut me open.” Her chin lifted. “Coyotes always think blood and sex mix.”

Fury spiked his power and sent the cage rocking on the narrow chain that held it secured to the ceiling. “So you cut the bastard open in return?”

She blinked, and some of the glow seemed to dim from her skin. “Cut him? I-I didn’t cut him!”

“I found him with his throat torn open.”

Shock rippled across her face, and she stumbled back.

She hadn’t known. That definitely put a spin on things—and made it look like Keenan had been right.

“I didn’t . . .” She shook her head. “I just . . . I kissed him.”

A snarl broke from Sam’s lips, and in an instant, he was before her. He grabbed her arms and pulled her onto her toes. “Did you f**k him?”

“Didn’t have to . . . didn’t want to. I can drain with a kiss.” Then she leaned up and kissed him.

Lust roared through his blood. His head swam with a burst of euphoria. Want, need, pleasure . . . the rush of sensations filled his body, and he kissed her harder, deeper.

She pushed against him, her ni**les tight, her body soft. And still she kept kissing him. Hot, openmouthed, drugging kisses.

I can drain with a kiss.

He couldn’t hear the music anymore. Couldn’t hear the thunder of the crowd. She was the only thing he knew. The only thing he wanted.

Her tongue slid against his.

He wanted her naked. He wanted to drive into her and make her forget anyone that had come before—any man who’d had her before.

There will be no other.

He caught her hips and lifted her up against him. Her legs wrapped around his waist as she rubbed against his erect cock. Not enough. Not even f**king close.

The floor swayed beneath them. Not the floor . . . cage.

Seline’s lips lifted slowly from his. Sam’s eyes opened. Her mouth was wet from his. The darkness of her eyes reflected the same lust that he felt but . . .

Sam saw confusion in her gaze.

She shook her head and said, “You . . . should be weak.”

He was so hot that Sam felt close to exploding. His c**k was so full that he ached. Want. Need. “You’re not taking, sweetheart.” Didn’t she realize what she was doing? “You’re pumping me up.” With lust, with power.