“Kaylee, this means something to me.” His hands trailed down my arms to cup my elbows, and his gaze held mine. “With anyluck, we’re going to have millions of moments over the course of eternity, and I plan to love every one of them. But we’ll neverhave this moment again, and this is very important to me.” The twists of blue in his eyes coiled so tightly the color was almost gone,lost among pale shades of a need so deep it couldn’t possibly be captured in a kiss, or a touch. “I need to know that this is importantto you, too. I need to know that this isn’t like last time. That you’re not doing this just so you can say you’ve done it. Because that’snot good enough for me. That’s not good enough for us.”

“I want to kiss you.” Jace’s whisper pulled me from my thoughts and I glanced up to find his eyes blazing with raw need. “Just because Marc won’t touch you doesn’t mean I shouldn’t. Right? I don’t have that kind of self-control, and honestly, I don’t see the point in it. Are you supposed to be impressed by how long we can go without touching you? ’Cause if that’s the game we’re playing, I think I’d rather lose.”

“I went up on my toes to kiss him, and he groaned. "Do you really think this is appropriate on school grounds?""Nope." I wrapped my arms around his neck. "And I happen to know there isn't an appropriate thought running through your head right now.""Or any other time." Tod pulled me close and held me so tight my ribs almost hut, but I didn't want him to let go. Ever.”

“Okay, go ahead and fill these out,” Jeff said, standing as he glanced over the growing crowd in the club. “When you’re done, we’ll go back to my brother’s office and you can show us what you’ve got.” He grinned. “Normally we’d do that first, but something tells me you know exactly how to keep a man’s attention.”Indeed I did. Get a tight grip on his balls. A man’s attention never wandered far from his crotch, especially when it was in mortal jeopardy.”

“You deserve better than me,” I whispered, and the selfish part of me hoped he wouldn’t hear.He heard.Marc spun me around so fast I would have slipped again if he weren’t holding me up. We were so close drops of water from his chin fell onto my chest, and I had to crane my neck to see him.“You are perfect for me, Faythe, just like you are, because you’re not perfect. You’re headstrong, and impulsive, and outspoken, and I’m possessive, and overprotective, and too easy to piss off. We’re both wrong for a lot of things, but we’re right for each other. Do you understand?”I nodded. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“My pulse whooshed in my ears so fast I could barely hear myself speak. “I only have—”“Two days.” He squeezed my hand. “So what? You can spend them feeling sorry for yourself, or you can let me help make them the best two daysof your life, and my afterlife. So what’s it gonna be?”I stared into his eyes, like I’d never seen him before. And I hadn’t—not like this. But he’d obviously seen me, better than anyone else ever had.“Well?” Tod watched me, his hand still warm in mine.In answer, I leaned forward and kissed him again.”

“His gaze burned into mine, like he could see past my eyes into parts of me no one had ever seen, and I knew I was seeing the same in him. No one else had ever seen him so vulnerable before, like if I pushed him away, he might crumble into pieces that could never be put together again. Yet there was strength, too. He was strong beneath that fragile need, and I knew that I could never fall with him next to me. If I tripped, he would catch me. If I lost my balance, he would find it.”