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300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 4, 2017
So bright. So beautiful. I used to wonder if it would burn to touch you.”
“Now you know. It doesn't.”
“Oh, little virgin. You definitely make me burn. And I'm addicted to being ash.”
He fucks me like I'm the enemy, like he can vanquish me.”
A sense of inevitability overcomes me, the same as watching the moon rise in the sky. There's no way that we can change the tides. All we can do is cling to the mast, the way I'm clinging to Gabriel now. He's my ship, my center. My only hope for surviving the night.”
I'm not made of marble or anything hardy like that. I'm built from crystal flutes and rare silk. From the brushstrokes of my mother's portrait. I'm a shadow of a human being, only a cautionary tale whispered from mother to daughter. A collection of dangerous words. I'm a myth. And as long as I don't speak, I can bury myself.”
Oh, little virgin. I love you with every cold bone in my body. I love you with every dark thought, every violent impulse. I love you enough to leave the walls I've carefully built, the iron bars I refined, the castle I made.”
“Stay.”
Hope flickers across his face, doused by stoicism. “That isn’t how the game is played.”
“I’m done playing.”
“So am I.”
“I love you.” I’m out of breath, the words falling like gasps.
“What did you say?” he demands, taking a step closer.
And something matters more to me than losing. “I love you, Gabriel Miller.”
He takes another step closer, almost compulsively. And stops. “God. Don’t.”
“I really do.”
“It’s suicide. To love a man like me.”
“Then what is it to love a woman like me?” My laugh sounds maniacal even to myself. “Hearing voices. Chasing cars. I’m a little bit insane.”
“You’re a queen, little virgin.”
I throw myself into his arms. Of course he catches me. “Then you’re my king.”
“The societies we build, the secrets we hide. Men and women. The gods themselves.”