“Infuriated, I scrambled over him, even more furious when I saw the humored glint in his eyes. "God you tick me off.""Well at least I got you--""Don't even finish that statement!”

“You two should really get a room," Apollo said from out of nowhere."My poor eyes..."I groaned. Even in his true identity, he still had impeccable timing."Gods," Aiden spat. He pulled back, casting Apollo a disgusted look over my head. "Do you get off on sneaking up on us?""You probably don't want to know what I get off on.”

“His eyes were burning a liquid silver and his arm tightened around me. "I would never give up on you, Alex. Never.""Then why are you being such a—""What?" his voice dropped low. "I'm being what?"Infuriating. Stubborn. Thick-skulled. Freaking sexy. "Good gods, can we stop arguing and just, I don't know, make out?”

“You probably even dream about me.” His gaze lowered to my mouth. I felt my lips part. “I bet you even write my name in your notebooks, over and over again, with a little heart drawn around it.”

“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.”

“Maybe they’re getting some bow-chicka-pow-wow.”I looked at him. “Ew.”He flashed his teeth. “She’s definitely not my type.” His gaze dropped to my lips, and parts of me quivered in response to the heat in his gaze. “But now I totally have that on my mind.”I was breathless. “You’re a dog.”“If you pet me, I’ll—““Don’t even finish that sentence,” I said, fighting a grin.”

“Listen to me, Ember. I couldn’t hurt you. I can’t.” Hayden settled his eyes on me. They were softer than I’d ever seen. “I love you— I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you.”