“Aiden had slipped under my skin, wrapped himself around my heart and embedded himself into my bones.”

“My heart yearned for Aiden like he was the very air I needed to breathe, but at the same time I understood - really understood - that, even if Aiden had loved me in return, we could never be together.”

“She's Awakening,' Aiden said, voice tight.'But the blood...' I heard Marcus move closer. 'Why is she bleeding?'I eased onto my side. 'I'm being tattooed by a giant, mother fu-' Another strangled scream cut of my words as a different type of pain settled in, moving under my skin. It was like lighting racing through my veins, frying every nerve ending.'This is... wow,' Deacon said, and I pried my eyes open. There was a whole audience by the door.'Get them out of here!' I screamed, jackknifing on the floor. 'Gods, this sucks!''Whoa,' I heard Deacon murmur. 'This is like watching a chick give birth or something.''Oh my gods, I'm going to kill him.' I could feel the beads of blood breaking out under my jeans. 'I'm going to punch him-''Everyone leave,' Aiden ground out. 'This isn't a godsdamn show.''And I think he's like the father,' Luke said.Aiden rose to his feet. 'Get. Out.”

“Something in what Deacon said caused Aiden to string together an atrocity of f-bombs. My brows flew up. Aiden rarely cussed or lost his cool, but boy, he was a grenade whose pin had just been pulled.”

“Letting my heart instead of my hormones decide when to do it made what Aiden and I'd done special. And when we passed each other throughout the day, the looks we stole suddenly meant more. Everything meant more, because we both were risking it all and neither of us regretted that.”

“A certain bone-deep understanding occurred and my hand tightened around the smaller one I held. It weren't stars we were staring at. The sky was falling.”

“His lips parted. "Couldn’t fool you for that long, I guess."I squeezed my eyes shut, but a tear wiggled its way free, gliding down my cheek."Don’t cry." He caught the tear with his finger as he pressed his forehead against mine. "Please. I hate when you cry because of me.""I'm sorry. I don’t want to be all weepy." I wiped at my cheeks, feeling foolish. "It’s just that...I never did know."Aiden clasped the sides of my face, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead. "I wanted a piece of you with me always. No matter what."I shuddered. "But I don’t...I don’t have anything of you.""Yes, you do." Aiden brushed his lips over my damp cheek. A soft smile filled his voice. "You’ll have a piece of my heart — all of it, really. Forever. Even if your heart belongs to someone else.”