When the Moon Hatched (Moonfall, #1)

by Sarah A. Parker

“Was this a bad idea?” she rasps. “Yes.” Very. She squeezes her eyes shut, and I can almost feel her mind ticking before she spears me through with that glacier gaze. “We’ll stop. I’m sorry. I wanted to give you—” “The perfect goodbye?” She opens her mouth, closes it, a flash of tender embarrassment staining her beautiful cheeks. I don’t want the perfect goodbye. I want to say hello to Raeve—whoever that is. Whoever’s tucked beneath that hardened exterior, I want to know her. Be around her. Love her. “I’ll go,” she whispers. “I’m sor—” I move, hearing her sharp intake as I throw her into a spin in tune with the song’s crescendo. She stills, eyes twin pools of blazing blue wide enough to swallow me whole. “Backing out of a battle, Prisoner Seventy-Three?” I ask, forcing a fake smile. “I didn’t take you as a quitter, but perhaps I was wrong?” She’s silent for a beat before another smile breaks across her face—so big and bold her dimples pucker again. She smooths her features, clears her throat, then lifts her chin. “Perhaps I don’t want to dance with you after all.” “Lies,” I growl, then spin her back into my arms, crushing her body against mine. Perfectly. Too perfectly. “You want to dance with me, Raeve.” You want to love me, too. But you’re in the way of yourself.