“She sat on the stoop alone, gazing up at an infinite sky as it held her and pushed her away all at once.”

“Just as I lay back, she sat up. I sat up, and she flopped back down. Awkward. That was my every move when it came to her. Now we were both lying down, staring up at the blue sky.”

“because it was then, as he held her in his unwavering gaze, that she knew she was in love with him as well.”

“...I sat there in the boat under her stars and her moon gated on all sides by the mountains watching the last bits of her breath float up and away.”

“She pushed the gardener away and called for them. In her sleep she had seen love. It was poisoning. It was possessing. Devouring. Or it was seven pairs of boots climbing up the stairs to find her.”

“He climbed into bed himself and kissed his way up her legs. Instincts she didn’t even know she possessed made her clench her thighs together. Without any hesitation, he pushed them apart, exposing her to his gaze.“The doors of the temple, darling, never close to the devout acolyte.”