“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.”

“Dawson shifted, dropping his head into his hand. "Do you ever stop talking?""When I'm sleeping," Blake replied."And when you're dead," Daemon threw back. "You'll stop talking when you're dead."Blake's lips thinned. "Point taken.”

“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 don’t know. I mean we haven’t talked about it. He literally left afterwards, and all he’s done since then is poke me with his pen.” “Probably because he wants to poke you with something else,” she said dryly”

“Taking pity on me, Carissa kept her voice low. “You were calling out for Daemon.”I dropped my face in my hands and moaned. “Oh, God.”Lesa giggled. “It was kind of cute.”A minute before the tardy bell rang, I felt an all-too-familiar warmth on my neck and glanced up. Daemon swaggered into class. Textbook-less as usual. He had a notebook, but I don’t think he ever wrote anything in it. I was beginning to suspect our math teacher was an alien, because how else would Daemon get away with not doing a damn thing in class? He passed by without so much as a look.I twisted around in my chair. “I need to talk to you.”He slid into his desk chair. “Okay.”“In private,” I whispered.His expression didn’t change as he leaned back in his chair. “Meet me in the library at lunch. No one really goes in there. You know, with all those books and stuff.”

“I'd still be nice to you if you were ugly." "Okay."A wicked grin slipped over his full lips. He bent his head down and whispered, "I just wouldn't offer you any cookies."I folded my arms and tried to ignore the close proximity of our faces. "I'm starting to think cookies is a code word for something else.""Maybe it is." He tugged on my bag again as he took a confident step back, forcing me down another step. "And just think about it. If cookie was a code word, whatever it symbolizes, it's been in your mouth, sweetheart.”

“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.”