“He pushes my lips open with his and we sink into each other. It’s crazy and wonderful every part of me is melty with desire. It’s all just breath and body between us.”

“Don’t you see? It’s like we’ve known each other all these years. Without even seeing each other. It’s like there’s been this . . . this ghost relationship between us. You laying out my plectrums on the floor, me buying black-and-white cookies every time I knew you would be coming over. You didn’t know that was me, but it was.”

“My continuing passion is to part a curtain, that invisible veil of indifference that falls between us and that blinds us to each other's presence, each other's wonder, each other's human plight.”

“He lifts my hand from the root and presses it to his bare chest, over his heart. My breath stops. I wonder if he can feel the pulse racing in my wrist, because it’s beating just as quickly as his heartbeat.“Do you know the Ai’oan word for heart?” he asks.I shake my head.“It’s py’a.” We’re so close, his whisper is right in my ear, and his breath warms the side of my neck. “You are my heart, Pia”I lick my lips. When did they get so dry?His other hand cradles the back of my head, tipping my face upward. “A body can't live without a heart. And I can’t live without you.”

“What’s three?” I asked, hoping to move away from this uncomfortable topic.The smile pulled at his lips again.“Three.” One of his hands cupped my face and the other slid around my back. He pulled my body against his and my heart began to pound. I took advantage of my free hand and pushed at his chest.“I don’t think so, Lily,” he said. “If you want to get rid of me, you’ll need to do better than that.”I drew a sharp breath and tried to wiggle away, but he held me firmly in place, watching me struggle. He grinned as he lifted me up onto the sink.“What are you doing?” I started to panic. “Someone could come in!”“If they see us, they’ll just turn around and get out of here,” he murmured, lips touching my ear. “No one crosses me.”His hips pressed against my knees, opening them, pushing my skirt up my legs. I gripped his shirt, clinging to him so I wouldn’t fall into the sink. His hand pushed into my lower back. I gasped as his body fitted against mine.Heat flooded my chest, my pelvis. I thought I would drown in it.“We can’t—” His lips stopped my words. The kiss just made me dizzier. I dug my fingers into his shoulders.“You said you didn’t want to be left alone.” His tongue flicked over my cheekbone. “This is me pestering you.”“Aren’t you breaking the rules?” I could barely get the words out. “What about the union?”“I’d rather have you on my own terms.” His hand slipped between my thighs.All strength fled my limbs. “I can’t breathe.”“That means you like it.” He kissed me again.”

“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.”