Penguin Young Readers Group

It was because I swore I would never say it, and a man is nothing if he can’t keep his promises.

So I write it to the sky—

I love you, a thousand times over. And I will never apologize for it.

actually bought it in honor of you doing so well on your first day as an official guardian. He saw you and Lissa looking at it.”

"Wow." It was all I could say. "I don't think I did that good of a job.”

"I do.”

Grinning, I placed the necklace back in the box and set it on a nearby table. "You did say 'presents,' right? Like more than one?”

He laughed outright, and the sound wrapped around me like a caress. God, I loved the sound of his laugh. "This is from me.”

He handed me a small, plain bag. Puzzled and excited, I opened it up. Lip gloss, the kind I liked. I'd complained to him a number of times how I was running out, but I'd never thought he was paying attention.

"How'd you manage to buy this? I saw you the whole time at the mall.”

"Guardian secrets.”

"What's this for? For my first day?”

"No," he said simply. "Because I thought it would make you happy.”

Without even thinking about it, I leaned forward and hugged him. "Thank you.”

"I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a liar. That's your department. And Rose's.”

"We don't—”

"Exaggerate stories about people's families? Say that you hate me? Pretend to be friends with people you think are stupid? Date a guy you don't like?”

"I like him.”

"Like or like?”

"Oh, there's a difference?”

"Yes. Like is when you date a big, blond moron and laugh at his stupid jokes.”

Then, out of nowhere, he leaned forward and kissed her. It was hot and fast and furious, an outpouring of the rage and passion and longing that Christian always kept locked inside of him. Lissa had never been kissed like that, and I felt her respond to it, respond to him—how he made her feel so much more alive than Aaron or anyone else could.

Christian pulled back from the kiss but still kept his face next to hers.

"That's what you do with someone you like.”

Lissa's heart pounded with both anger and desire. "Well, I don't like or like you. And I think you and Mia are both lying about Andre. Aaron would never make up anything like that.”

"That's because Aaron doesn't say anything that requires words of more than one syllable.”

"It makes you look all depressed. And you're too hot in that dress to look depressed. Come on, there's Eddie.”

Getting up to the staff wing of the dorm wasn't hard, since they wanted to keep me inside tonight. I didn't know where his room was, but it didn't matter. Something was pulling me to him, urging me closer. An instinct pushed me toward one of the doors, and I beat the living daylights out of it.

After a few moments, he opened it, brown eyes widening when he saw me.

"Rose?”

"Let me in. It's Lissa.”

He immediately stepped aside for me. I'd apparently caught him in bed, because the covers were peeled back on one side and only a small tableside lamp shone in the darkness. Plus, he wore only cotton pajama bottoms; his chest— which I'd never seen before, and wow, did it look great—was bare. The ends of his dark hair curled near his chin and appeared damp, like he'd taken a shower not so long ago.

"What's wrong?”

I moved toward him again, needing to touch him and kiss him and do so many other things.

"Are you drunk?" he asked, holding his hand out in a warding gesture.

"Don't I wish." I

"No. If I let myself love you, I won't throw myself in front of her. I'll throw myself in front of you.”

. Others called me crazy for it, but Dimitri had understood. He’d always understood me, and part of what we’d worked on was how to temper that impulsive need to run into danger with reason and calculation. I had a feeling no one else in this world would ever understand me like he did.

it had been Dimitri’s gentleness and thoughtfulness mixed with that deadliness that made him so wonderful

Didn’t understand love? Was she crazy? If she only knew what I’d sacrificed for Dimitri, what I’d done to be where I was now… all for love. She was the one who couldn’t understand. Love wasn’t a fling in a back room at a party. It was something you lived and died for.