“... coffee should be drunk in equal parts with sugar.”

“I'm simply acting according to my current circumstance." Logan blew a smoke ring, scenting the air with tobacco and cloves. "I thought prisoners were always granted a cigarette before their execution. And since you all keep threatening to kill me, I believe I should always have this small luxury afforded to me as long as my life is a risk. Don't you?”

“What are you doing?” I tried to pull away, but his hand slipped from my hair to cup the nape of my neck.When he whispered, his warm breath brushed over my lips. “Just let me kiss you, Calla. You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to. No one has to know.”My lips parted as I drew a sudden, startled breath and in that instant his mouth was on mine, soft as velvet. I closed my eyes against the rush of a hundred wings that suddenly beat in my chest and soared through my body.His scent was all around me. Leather, sandalwood, bonfires in autumn. He pulled back, but only for the sake of moving his lips to trail over my neck.My blood was on fire and I was shaking. Is this really happening?I couldn’t stop thinking about Shay in the clearing. About asking him to kiss me. The electric touch of his lips on mine.But this is where I belong. I tried to push the memories back.Ren stroked my knee, his fingers wandering up my thigh, sliding beneath the hem of my dress.I grabbed his wrist. “Wait.”He didn’t free his arm from my grasp but continued kissing my collar bone.“Let’s skip the waiting part,” he murmured into my skin.”

“This is where you belong, Calla.” He pulled me closer, tilting my chin up. “Be with me. Tell me it’s what you want.”I couldn’t tear my eyes from his. “What I want?”“Yes. Anything, everything you need, I’ll give you. Always. I promise. Just tell me one thing.”“What?”“That you want this, us.” His voice dropped so low I could barely hear him. “That someday you’ll love me.”My hands began to tremble where they rested around his neck. “Ren, you know we’re going to be together. We’ve both known that for a long time.”He gave me a hard look. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”“Why are you asking me this?” I tried to pull back, but he held me against him.The glimmer of a smile appeared on his lips. “Why not?”My temper flared. “Are you trying to say that you love me?”I meant it as a challenge rather than a serious question, but his eyes seemed to catch fire.“What do you think?” He touched his lips to mine, softly at first, gradually building pressure, parting them.”

“The way you move is incredible.” Ren drew me back to press against him. His fingers slid down to the curve of my hips, rocking our bodies in rhythm with the heavy bass. The sensation of being molded against the hard narrow line of his hips threatened to overwhelm me. We were hidden in the mass of people, right? The Keepers couldn’t see?I tried to steady my breath as Ren kept us locked together in the excruciatingly slow pulse of the music. I closed my eyes and leaned back into his body; his fingers kneaded my hips, caressed my stomach. God, it felt good.My lips parted and the misty veil slipped between them, playing along my tongue. The taste of flower buds about to burst into bloom filled my mouth. Suddenly I wanted nothing more than to melt into Ren. The surge of desire terrified me. I had no idea if the compulsion to draw him more tightly around my body emerged from my own heart or from the succubi’s spellcraft. This couldn’t happen!I started to panic when he bent his head, pressing his lips against my neck. My eyes fluttered and I struggled to focus despite the suffocating heat that pressed down all around me. His sharpened canines traced my skin, scratching but not breaking the surface. My body quaked and I pivoted in his arms, pushing against his chest, making space between us.“I’m a fighter, not a lover,” I gasped.“You can’t be both?” His smile made my knees buckle.”

“All I am is less than I was. And I can't ever be more”

“One of you, two of them. Love's a bitch.”