Every Last Breath

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Alphas were here, and Thumper had finally come out to play.

“Only the most handsome and smartest and downright most charming demon there is. But I know that’s a mouthful, so you can call me Cayman.”

To just seize life. Because it was fleeting and it was fickle, and no one, not me or anyone I knew, had another day, let alone another second promised to them.

Stop being a coward and let go of the past. Embrace the future, because they are two very different things.

Because there was only one set of eyes I saw when I closed mine at night and when I reopened them in the morning.

“I love you, Roth.” My voice shook with emotion. “I’m in love with you.”

“I covet you like any good demon would.” His other hand tightened at the back of my neck. “And my desire for you increases every waking second in a way that should frighten me, but really just excites me. But most of all, I love you,”

“I, Astaroth, Crown Prince of Hell, am in love with you, Layla Shaw. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow. A hundred decades from now, I will still be in love with you, and it will be as fierce today as it will be a decade later.”

“You are so beautiful, Layla. And if I could pick one thing I could stare at for the rest of eternity, it would be you.”

“Proceed very carefully with what you’re about to say,” Roth advised softly. “That’s my girl you’re about to insult, and I’m not going to be happy about that. At all.”

Roth looked up and winked at me. Winked at me in the middle of a fight. Wow.

Home. Home was with Roth. That was so right I didn’t even need to question it.

“What about you?” I asked. “What do you want to do when this is all over?” “For real?” When I nodded, he lowered his head, dropping a quick kiss on the tip of my nose. “I can’t believe you even have to ask that. I plan to be wherever you are.”

“Because you’re beautiful, Layla, and while I may say that one word to you a lot, I don’t simply toss it around. And I’ve seen many, many beautiful things. People as beautiful as demons are atrocious. You, by far, shine brighter than any of them. It’s more than what is on the outside. It comes from within you. I’ve seen a lot of things and nothing, nothing comes close to you.”

“Thank you,” he said. “What are you thanking me for?” I whispered. Roth kissed my brow. “For everything you have given me.”

“I desire you.” Lowering his head, his lips skated up the side of my neck, to the sensitive spot below my ear. “I want you. I need you.” He nipped the fleshy part of my lobe, causing me to gasp. “And I love you.”

“I’m not scared. I’m terrified,” he repeated, threading his fingers through my hair. “I’m terrified of losing you and that there will be nothing that I can do to stop it.”

This was love, and love could change people, even if that person was really a demon and the Crown Prince of Hell. “I love you,” I told him, and I told him that every day and I would tell him that over and over again. Roth lowered his forehead to mine as he brought our joined hands to his chest, placing them above his heart. “And I love you,” he said. “With every breath I take, I will always love you.”