“Shoving aside fear and self-doubt, I met his eyes, aiming for absolute confidence in both my stance and my voice. “My father taught me to disarm my opponent at all costs—regardless of his choice of weapon,” I said, glancing pointedly at his groin.“Are you threatening me?”“Damn right. Lay one hand on me and you’ll never stand to pee again.”His eyes darkened, and his laugh sounded forced. “You’re very funny, gatita.”“I’m glad you think so. I’ve always considered my sense of humor to be largely under-appreciated, so it’s nice to finally meet a fan.”

“I’m glad you think so. I’ve always considered my sense of humor to be largely underappreciated, so it’s nice to finally meet a fan.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Miguel glanced back at her, fist raised. "You shut up, nina, " he shouted, shaking his fist at Abby. He must have been pretty shaken to take his eyes off an opponent. Or maybe he still didn't consider me a serious threat. How insulting."I'll deal with you when I'm finished with - ugh!" I cut off his threat with a kick to the groin.”

“Why do I always have to be the one who says 'stop'?" I demanded, my voice little more than a moan."You don't. In fact, at this point I'm considering a petition to that word stricken from the English language." His grin was almost lazy, the gleam in his eyes an effortless challenge. "If I did, would you sign?”

“Okay, time to get serious. I let my smile fade slowly and lowered my pitch, as no human woman could have. “I’m not joking this time. If I see it, it’s mine, and you won’t get it back at the end of the school year.” I growled, deep and long, savoring the feel of the vibrations in my throat, as if the sound alone could save me. It wasn’t quite a cat’s growl but it was damn close. And it was his last warning.Miguel dismissed my threat with an easy smile, and my stomach clenched. Oh, yeah, Faythe. You have Puss shaking in his boots, all right.”