Pure

I blinked. “Wow. That’s a little harsh.”

“It’s the truth, Alex. Even if he did profess his undying love for you, you can’t have him.”

I whirled around and hauled myself out of the pool. Standing above him, water ran off the ruined dress. “Just because I can’t be with him doesn’t change the way I feel.”

In an instant, he was out of the water. “If you have this epic love for Aiden, why did you want to kiss me as badly as you did?”

I flushed hot with fury, the kind that only came from Seth making a point I couldn’t argue. “I didn’t kiss you, Seth! That should answer your question right there!”

“You wanted to. Trust me, I know you did.” He smiled that smug smile. “You really wanted to.”

“I don’t know what I want!” I yelled, my hands balling into fists at my sides. “How do you know, Seth? How do you know it’s not the damn co

The anger faded from Seth’s eyes, replaced by surprise. “You think it’s just the co

I laughed harshly. “You say it yourself all the time! Anytime you do something nice for me, you say it’s the co

“Did you ever consider that I was joking?”

“No! Why would I? You said the co

“I know why I want to kiss you, Alex, and is has nothing to do with either of us being Apollyons. And apparently it has nothing to do with your common sense, either.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Oh, shut up. I’m done talking—”

“I know exactly why.” Seth stalked forward, backing me up until I hit the cement wall behind me and he stood inches away. “I can’t believe I’d even have to spell it out for you.”

Shivering in the cool, damp air, I flattened my hands against the wall. “You don’t have to.”

“You’re the most frustrating person I know.”

I rolled my eyes. “And that makes you want to kiss me? You’re twisted.”

His eyes burned like liquid gold. “Do you feel the co

I frowned, searching for the telltale signs the co

Seth grasped the sides of my face and brought my mouth to his. I froze, shocked that he’d actually kiss me after all of that, but he was. Soft, tentative, questioning kisses, as if he was doing this for the very first time, and I soknew that wasn’t the case.

I knew I should stop him, because allowing him to kiss me totally defeated the point of the argument we’d just had, but I found myself closing my eyes instead. His mouth was so warm and sweet, dizzying actually. Then it deepened, stealing my breath and sending my heart racing.

Kissing wasn’t a big deal, so this kiss shouldn’t be any different. But by the gods, I’d never been kissed like this before.

I looped my arms around his neck, tangling my fingers in his hair, and then I was kissing him back. Kissing him with the same wild abandonment he’d dived into, and gods, I liked kissing Seth.

He was really good at it.

Seth nipped at my lower lip as he pulled back just enough that I could breathe. “You can’t tell me you didn’t like that.” He pressed his lips to mine again, soaking up my response. “And don’t you dare tell me you didn’t kiss me.”

I let my hands slid down to his chest. I knew, if I opened my eyes, I’d see the marks. “I… don’t know what that was.”

He chuckled and brushed his lips across mine. “You have a choice, Alex.”

I opened my eyes then. The marks stretching across his face were faint, but I still had the insane desire to run my fingers along them. It took everything in me not to. I met his eyes. “What choice?”

His hands dropped to my shoulders, then made their way to my waist. They fisted the soaked material, holding me still. “You can choose to continue wasting away for something you can never have.”

I swallowed. “Or?”

He smiled. “You can choose not to.”

“Seth, I—”

“Look, I know you aren’t over him,” he said himlike it was some kind of venereal disease, “but I do know you like me. I’m not suggesting anything. Not asking for stupid little labels or promises. No expectations.”

I took a shallow breath. “What are you suggesting?”

“You choose to see what happens.” Seth let go of my dress and stepped back, ru

Choose us? I shivered and wrapped my arms around me. Choose between what? Aiden was completely off limits, and Seth and I—even though we were stuck with one another—couldn’t go a day without wanting to knock each other’s heads off. This didn’t seem like a great choice.

Seth smiled faintly. “Think about it, at least.” He turned around and went back to where he’d left his clothes.

I sagged against the wall and sighed. Seth had done some pretty nice things for me. He’d stayed with me after Caleb’s death, defended me against the Master. But then there was Aiden and all that I felt for him, and the way he’d looked at me tonight.

But choosing Aiden meant choosing nothing.

Choosing Seth meant submitting to a whacked-out fate.

Or did it?

My gaze fell to my hand. The rune on my palm shone an iridescent blue, as if it were pleased by Seth’s suggestions. And his suggestion didn’t sound so bad. No labels. No expectations. No feelings. And that was good, because my heart… my heart was somewhere else. Soon, I’d be heading home to North Carolina, where there would be no Caleb, no halfs who really wanted to be around me, and no more Aiden.

But there would be Seth.

I pushed off the wall. Seth had his back to me, head bent in concentration. What was I doing?I stopped a few feet behind him, my heart jumping in my throat. “Seth?”

He turned sideways, fingers finishing the last of the buttons. “Alex?”

“I… I choose you—or whatever it is that you’re saying.” I flushed. Gods, I sounded stupid. “I mean, I choose the whole seeing what—”

Seth’s mouth cut my words off. His arms swept around me, dropping something warm and dry over my shoulders. I realized it was his suit jacket, but then I was thinking about how warm hefelt. Before I knew it, I was gripping his shirt, arching against him, soaking up his warmth.

Then I felt it waking up like some kind of slumbering giant, sending sparks of electricity over my skin. My palm itched—burned, really. I gasped against his lips. The kiss wasn’t enough. I slid my hands under his shirt, over the hard expanse of his stomach.

He jerked back, breathing heavy. A fleeting, satisfied look shot across his face—gone so quickly I couldn’t be sure what I’d seen. Then he smiled, and I knew I couldn’t have seen that calculated edge to his stare. The transformation that occurred was nothing short of amazing. “You’re not sleeping in that bed—in that terrible little room—tonight.”

CHAPTER 22

I DID SLEEP IN MY BED, IN THAT TERRIBLE ROOM.

And I did so alone.

It’d taken every ounce of my self-control to convince Seth that sharing the same bed wasn’t a good idea, which was difficult, mainly because my body had thought it was an awesome idea. Surprisingly, my brain had won that battle.

I didn’t know why I’d kissed Seth—once, then twice. Hell, I didn’t even know why I agreed to seeing what happens.The smart thing would’ve been to punch Seth and make a run for it.

But I never did the smart thing.

“That wasa beautiful dress.” Laadan wore a slight, curious frown. “I guess there are several ways to ruin silk, and I suppose a midnight swim would be one of the more daring ways to do so.”

Cringing and flushing, I ran my hands down the only pair of dress pants I owned. They were made of some thin, black material and they swallowed my feet, which sucked. Even after I’d destroyed Laadan’s dress, she’d let me borrow some sexy black pumps that made me feel tall and clever.