“Bethany." His quiet voice intruded.Her heart turned over heavily. "This is real right?"His face contorted as if he were in pain. "Yes, it's real."Crazy people probably did things like this all the time. Asked their imaginary alien friends if they were real, and of course, they'd say yes.”

“Well, it was probably the fever. You were burning up.” My eyes snapped back to his. “You touched me?”“Yes, I touched you…and you weren’t wearing a lot of clothes.” The smug stretch of his lips spread. “And you were soaked …in a white T-shirt. Nice look. Very nice.” Heat crept over my cheeks. “The lake…it wasn’t a dream?” Daemon shook his head.“Oh my God, so I did go swimming in the lake?” He pushed off the desk and took one step forward, which put him in the same breathing space as me… if he actually needed to breathe. “You did. Not something I expected to see on Monday night, but I'm not complaining. I saw a lot.”“Shut up,” I hissed.“Don’t be embarrassed.” He reached out, tugging on the sleeve of my cardigan. I smacked his hand away. “It’s not like I haven’t seen the upper part before, and I didn’t get a real good look down—“I came off the desk swinging. My knuckles only brushed his face before he caught my hand. Wowzer, he was fast. Daemon pulled me up against his chest and lowered his head, eyes snapping with restrained anger. “Don’t hit, kitten. It’s not nice.”

“I'd face down a horde of spiders for you, baby." I grinned at the sound of his laugh again. "For real.""Thats true love there. Some serious stuff," he teased."It is.”

“The smile was still on his face, but his words were like the arctic winds. “You don’t talk to her. At all.” There was no stopping He-Man when he came out to play.”

“Wait. Is this book about aliens?”She snatched it back from me. “Yes.”“Really?”“But they’re hot aliens.” She tapped on the guy’s face with one thin finger. “And he can be my ET any day.”

“I dropped down on the cushion beside Lea and picked up the book she'd been reading. Turning the book over, my brows flew up as I got an eyeful of the hottie on the cover. "Wait. Is this book about aliens?"She snatched it back from me. "Yes.""Really?""But they're hot aliens." She tapped on the guy's face with one thin finger. "And he can be my ET any day.”

“Daemon was sprawled on his back, one arm stretched across the space beside him and the other rested across his bare stomach. Sheets were twisted around his narrow hips. His face was almost angelic in sleep, chiselled lines softened and lips relaxed. Thick lashes fanned the top of his cheeks. He looked so much younger at rest but, in a weird way, he was even more out of my league. His kind of masculine beauty was otherworldly and intimidating. Something that existed in between the pages of the books I read. Sometimes I had a hard time convincing myself he was real.”