“A thick sapphire halo encased his startling pale blue iris. When I got closer, I noticed a starburst of aqua around his pupil. It wasn’t the beauty of his odd eyes, exactly, that made my knees nearly buckle. I didn’t know what it was, but I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My heart danced wildly to his tune.”

“What is it about you?” he asked me.I gulped. “What do you mean?” I whispered, closing my eyes and swallowing again, my breaths becoming labored.He lifted his hand and dragged the backs of his fingers across my jaw so lightly I barely felt them, but they made me feel dizzy all the same. “How can you be this extraordinary, January MacLouchlainn?” He leaned closer, a look of pure frustration and anger lit his eyes and pressed his lips. “And why couldn’t I have met you before I realised I didn’t want anyone… ever?”

“I thrashed against him, but I couldn’t free my arms. Ipounded my knee into his groin. His eyes bulged and heroared in pain, releasing me. It was good to know that whenswords failed, simple girl tactics always worked—even onmonsters.”

“He’d moved toward me again. His hands released mine and moved to my waist, and I noticed I wasn’t the only one breathing heavily. He pulled me to him, bringing our bodies together. The world was all heat and electricity, thick with tension that was only one spark away from exploding around us. I was balancing on another precipice, which wasn’t easy to do in heels. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and this time I was the one who drew him closer.”

“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.”

“I turned away from his grip, ashamed that I couldn’t tell him the truth. I was the one that wasn’t good enough. I would be the one to ruin everything; to ruin him. He would hate me one day, and I couldn’t see the look in his eye when he came to that conclusion.”