Jennifer L. Armentrout

“What does he smell like?” “Smell like?” I scrunched up my face. “You know, he looks like he’d smell good.”

“Every Halloween I missed being a kid, getting to dress up and eat tons of candy. The only thing I got to do now was…eat tones of Candy. Not half bad”

“Are you having a good time with…Ash?” “Are you having a good time with Happy Hands?” I bit down on my lip. “Such a constant smartass.”

“Doesn’t he own a shirt?” I asked, grabbing a spade. “Unfortunately, I don’t think so. Not even in the winter. He’s always running around half-dressed.” She groaned. “Its disturbing that I have to see so much of his…skin. Yuck.” Yuck for her. And hot damn for me.”

“In that moment, she reminded me of a fairy princess. Or maybe a cracked-out Tinker Bell”

“Daemon followed me home after school. Literally. He tailed me in his new Infiniti SUV. My old Camry, with its leaky exhaust and loud muffler, was no match for the speed he wanted to go. I’d brake-checked him several times. He’d blown his horn. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”

“Oh, dear God and baby Jesus in the manger, my eyes!” Dee shrieked. “My eyes!”

“Honestly, as much as I love my brother, I’m not sure how I feel about him hanging out in your bedroom.” He reached out with a muscular arm and used his fingers to brush a few strands of hair off my cheek, tucking them behind my ear. I shivered, and he smiled. “I feel like I need to mark my territory.” “Shut up.” “Oh, I love it when you get all bossy-pants. It’s sexy.”

“The whole telling part seemed a moot point now, but how could he explain what happened? Hey, honey, I’m an alien and apparently I just doused you with some radioactive loving! Wanna catch a movie? Yeah, not cool.”

“I was a total fail next to Ash, but Daemon said something about me wearing his clothes that sent blood rushing to every part of my body and I didn't care if I looked like a hunchback next to her.”

“Dawson shifted, dropping his head into his hand. "Do you ever stop talking?""When I'm sleeping," Blake replied."And when you're dead," Daemon threw back. "You'll stop talking when you're dead."Blake's lips thinned. "Point taken.”

“You grew up too fast, baby."Didn't always feel that way, especially this morning when I couldn't find my other flip-flop and I'd been, like, two seconds from kicking a fit.”

“A slow, wry smile teased Daemon’s lips. "Simmer down, Kitten, before I have to get you a ball of yarn to play with."Annoyance flared deep inside me. "Don’t start with me, jerk-face.”

“I spun and jogged around the SUV. Climbing in I readjusted the seat from Godzilla setting to Normal so my feet could reach the pedals.”

“There was a pause, then his lips stretched into a smile. "You're right."Hell froze over. Pigs were flying. "Come again?""You're right. I should have checked in at some point. I'm sorry."The world was flat. I didn't know what to say. According to Daemon, he was right about 99 percent of the time. Wow.”

“He settled over me, not touching, not quite. The electricity between us snapped and pulled. A wild feeling pulsed through me. I lifted my hands, sinking them into his hair, pulling him closer. I swept my lips over his, and his body trembled. His fiery eyes drifted shut as my thumb moved on his bottom lip. My hands were on the move, slipping over the thick cords in his neck and back, around his chest and down. Lower, over the hard planes of his stomach. He sucked in a sharp breath.”

“For once, I agree with Blake." Daemon met my shocked stare. "We can't, Kitten. Not now."I wasn't okay with this, but I couldn't run down the hall, letting people free. We didn't plan for that and we only had a set amount of time. It sucked-sucked worse than people who pirated books, sucked more than a year for the next book in a beloved series, and sucked more than a brutal cliffhanger ending.”

“You're amazing.""I know it didn't take you this long to realize that.""No. I've always known it." I watched him root around for another strawberry. "Maybe not in the beginning..."He peeked up. "My awesomeness is all about the stealth.”

“His eyes searched mine. "Thank you." "For What?" I loved the feel of his arms around me and how I fit against him, hard against soft. He trailed his fingers over my arm, and I was amazed by how he could make me shiver. "For everything," he said.”

“You haven't been smiling much. I missed it, so I decided to reward you for doing it." "Reward me?" I laughed. "God, only you would think kissing someone is a reward." "You know it is. My lips change lives, baby.”

“If wishes were fishes, we'd all throw nets.”

“Kitten..." "Don't Kitten me." I scowled, on a roll now. "You left around five or so and didn't get back till when? Past two in the morning? What were you guys doing? And get that stupid smile off your face. This isn't funny." Daemon tried to get rid of the smile but failed. "I love when your claws come out.”

“Daemon was sprawled on his back, one arm stretched across the space beside him and the other rested across his bare stomach. Sheets were twisted around his narrow hips. His face was almost angelic in sleep, chiselled lines softened and lips relaxed. Thick lashes fanned the top of his cheeks. He looked so much younger at rest but, in a weird way, he was even more out of my league. His kind of masculine beauty was otherworldly and intimidating. Something that existed in between the pages of the books I read. Sometimes I had a hard time convincing myself he was real.”

“Each time I felt the worst kind of fear. What if it didn't work? What if I failed Beth? I'd..." He moved his neck, as if working out a kink. He'd never be the same. Tears climbed up my throat again. I wanted to cry for him, for Beth, but most of all for all, for the people they once were but never would be again.”

“Daemon was standing in the doorway of my bedroom. Hair messy from sleep, flannel pajama bottoms rumpled. No shirt. Three feet plus of snow outside, and he was still half naked.”

“Daemon spoke in his language. The lyrical quality of his words made no sense to me.“What did you say?” I asked.“There’s really no translation for it,” he said, “but the closest human words would be, you are beautiful to me.”

“Slowly he looked at me, and then he bent down, planting his lips on mine. The kiss was unexpected—deep and forceful. Stunned I just stood there as he pulled back, nipping at my bottom lip. "Tasty, Kitten." Then he spun, planted his right hand on Blake’s shoulder, knocking him back into a locker. “See you around,” he said, smirking.”

“Then his lips found mine and the room fell away. The whole world disappeared for those precious moments.”

“And I never felt this way with anyone else. Like I’m falling every time I’m around you, like I can’t catch my breath, and I feel alive—not just standing around and letting my life walk past me. There’s been nothing like that with anyone else.”

“The last thing he felt was Bethany being pulled from his limp arms. A finality of black crashed over him in waves he couldn’t surface from, welcoming him into the nothingness that dug in deep, refusing to ever let him go.”

“„It’s okay. It’s over.” He slipped back into his human form, pulling her against his chest, resting his cheek against hers. Their pounding hearts beat in unison. „I’ll never let anything happen to you. I promise. You’re safe with me.” Bethany’s fingers dug into his shirt as she shivered. „I know. I love you.”

“If "fine" were sporting a serial-killer glare, then she'd hate to see what "not fine" was.”

“He wasa jerk. Moody. But there had been brief moments that I’d spent with him—like a nanosecond—when I thought I might have seen the real Daemon. Atleast a better Daemon. And that part made me curious. And the other side, the jerky one, yeah, that part didn’t make me curious.It sort of excited me.”

“„Did you just…clean a dish?” Dee backed away slowly, blinking. She glanced at Daemon. “The world is going to end. And I’m still a vir—” “No!” both the brothers yelled in unison. Daemon looked like he was actually going to vomit. “Jesus, don’t ever finish that statement. Actually, don’t ever change that. Thank you.”

“Hey,” I reached out and tapped the hand that rested next to my left leg. “you are--”The hand that I tapped reached up and clasped mine. I froze as he threaded his finders through mine. “I’m what?”Beautiful. Kind. Patient. Perfect. I said none of those things. Instead, I stared at his fingers, wondering if he knew he was holding my hand. “You’re always so….”His thumb moved over the top of my hand. The balm made his fingers cool and smooth. “What?”I looked up, and I was immediately snared. His stare, his soft touch along my hand was doing very strange things. I felt hot and dizzy, like I’d been out in the sun all day. All I could think about was how his hand felt on mine. Then, what his hand would feel like on other parts. I shouldn’t be thinking that at all.Aiden was a pure.”

“I didn't eat all of it.""Oh, so it ate itself?" Dee shrieked so loudly I thought I heard the rafters in the ceiling shake. "Did the spoon ate it? Oh wait, I know. The carton ate it.""Actually, I think the freezer ate it.”

“Finish that sentence and i will stab you in the eye with the spork Bethany's about to pull out of her bag for her apple sauce. And she'd be very upset if i got her sprk all messed up. she's rather fond of the thing." - Dawson”

“Daemon: I checked out your blog.Katy: Stalking me again, I see. Do I need to get a restraining order?Daemon: In your dreams, Kitten. Oh wait, I'm already starring in those, aren't I?Katy: Nightmares, Daemon. Nightmares.”

“Arum: But where will your arrogance be when we absorb your powers?Daemon: In the same place as my foot. You know, as in up your ass.”

“Out of all the paranormal books I'd read and reviewed, no one glowed like this. Some glittered in the light. Others had wings. No one was a freaking giant sun.”

“Guy: Ash is going to kick your ass, Daemon.Daemon: Nah, she likes my ass too much for that.”

“Jeez, how old are you?” I total y knew how old he was, but I wanted to pick. Aiden cracked his neck. “I turn twenty-one in October.” “Huh.” I shook the bottle. “So have you always been so…mature?” His brows furrowed. “Mature?” “Yeah, you sound like a dad.” I deepened my voice and tried to look stern. “‘Don’t look at me that way’ or else.” Aiden blinked slowly. “I don’t sound like that and I didn’t say ‘or else.’” “But if you had, what would the ‘or else’ be?” I hid my grin with the bottle.”

“It was him—Aiden St. Delphi. I’d never forget his name or face. The first time I’d caught a glimpse of him standing in front of the training arena, a ridiculous crush had sprung alive. I’d been fourteen and he seventeen. The fact he was a pure-blood hadn’t mattered whenever I’d spotted him around campus.”

“My mind went blank. But he's not like Grey from what I hear. But oh God, one part set my vag on fire.”

“I hurried upstairs and powered up my laptop. I checked on the review I'd posted last night. No comments. People sucked. But I did gain five new followers. People rocked.”

“Once I got home, though, and saw several packages on my front porch, all the crap from the day disappeared. A few had smiley faces on them. Squealing, I grabbed the boxes. Books were inside-- new release books I'd preordered weeks ago.”

“My eyelids flickered open again and focused on Daemon. He had his eyes closed as he leaned his head against the wall but I knew he was listening to everything. Dee talked about taking me home if my mom couldn’t leave. I was struck again by the twins. Daemon and Dee didn’t belong here, but I did. I could blend easily with the whitewashed walls and pale green curtains. I was as plain as the linoleum, but these two seemed to light the room with their flawless beauty and demanding presence.Ah, the medication was kicking in. I was poetic. And high. Bliss.”

“You’re such an ass. Has…anyone ever told you that?”He flashed a genuinely amused smile. “Oh, Kitten, every single day of my blessed life.”

“Because this absolutely insane - the craziest thing I'd ever done. Worse than giving a one-star review, scarier than asking for an interview with an author I'd give my firstborn to eat lunch with, more stupid than kissing Daemon.”

“I was always able to lose myself in reading. Books were a necessary escape I always gladly jumped into headfirst.”