Reckless (The Powerless Trilogy, #2)

by Lauren Roberts

But his tone is familiar, feeling like dancing in a dark room and thumb wars under willow trees. The way the words rolled off his tongue felt like a light flick to the tip of my nose, like calloused fingers braiding silver hair. It felt like Kai. Like the man behind the masks who looked at me like I was extraordinary.

but the sound of her laugh is healing, capable of making a man forget his own name, let alone his pain.

“Are poets not just fools with fancy words?” I duck my face until our foreheads meet. “I think I qualify, darling.”

“You want me without a mask?” Her voice is strained. “That is the only way I want you, Kai Azer.”

“Tell me you hate me, and I’ll still count every heartbeat, every freckle, every shiver of your body, if only you say it with a smile.” He backs away, freeing my face from his hands. “I may be a monster, but if you cut me, I’ll bleed. And if you break my heart, Pae, you’ll break me. So, if even a sliver of your soul longs for mine, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to deserve it.”

But I dare to lift my hand. Dare to raise it up to her nose, her body blocking the movement. Dare to flick the tip of it one last time, hoping she hears my words hidden within the action. I love you.