Amanda Bouchet

I want him everywhere. I burn for him in places he hasn't even touched.

He__ barely finished himself inside me when my release hits. My thighs tense. The breath stalls in my lungs, and then I kick back my head and let out the loudest, throatiest, and most breathless moan in the history of all history, going boneless in a blissful rush. __ods, I missed you,_ Griffin rasps, holding me as I throb around him.The high-impact tremors fade into sweet, lingering aftershocks. I look up at him with heavy-lidded eyes. My lips part, but no words come out. Even the drag of frosty air over my kiss-swollen lips is almost too sensual to bear.Griffin quirks a dark eyebrow, looking smug. __hat was easy._ I grin, falling in love with him all over again. __hen do it again.

I don__ know why it__ not universally acknowledged that looking back is a terrible idea. It only makes going forward that much harder.

I roll my eyes. "Oh, the woe of being adored."Beta Sinta grins. "It's a hard life.

Don__ you get it Cat? You__e the key. I knew it the day I laid eyes on you.

I dread this power he has over me. It makes me want to tell him all my secrets and see if he still wants me.

The ice inside me melts. Suddenly, I'm burning up and terrified, scared I'll be too weak to resist.Scratch that - I'm petrified I've already given in.

It__ just you always_ __un,_ I finish for him_ I gaze up at him. Soft light plays over his striking features _ the hard planes of his cheekbones, his strong jaw, the slight hook in his nose. ____l still run, Griffin. The difference now is that I__l run to you._ He looks at me for a long time, his gray eyes inscrutable. __ou__ better._ I arch an eyebrow. __r you__l spank me?

We were friends before._ Sort of. We never tried to kill each other.

I turn back to Griffin. His expression is stony and unreadable, although if I had to take a wild guess, I__ say it was tending toward ominous.

You__e the shield, and I__ the sword.

Unless they're utterly heartless, people put a certain value on human life. It keeps us from killing each other off for no reason. But for leaders like you and me, a moral high ground is too absolute. There are choices to be made.

Happiness is a strange, frightening, fragile feeling when you're not used to it.

It wasn__ supposed to be this way. Griffin asked me to take a chance. On him. On trust. On love. I did, and look where it got me. That my misery is my own damn fault doesn__ escape me. It just makes it worse.

Have I cheated death again? Hades must be allergic to me.

The door opens, and I turn my head, my heart thudding at the sight of Griffin. Tall, broad, muscular but sleek, he stalks into the room like a predator, his gait balanced and sure, his glittering, gray eyes focused entirely on me. Inky hair, a hawkish nose, that stubborn jaw, and thick, black stubble make him look hard and intimidating. With his sword strapped on and his dark brows lowered, he__ a warlord on the prowl. I shiver. I couldn__ want him more.

His gaze hits mine with the force of a battering ram. He looks_ appalled. __-I won__ do this. I can___ be with you.

I want you. I need you. For as many hours as possible, I don't want to think about anything but you.