A Shadow in the Reaping (The Shadow Realm, #1)

by Brynne Weaver

I swallow a sudden sting of tears before they can pool in my eyes. A coy grin pulls at my lips. “Ashen of House Urbigu... do you think I belong to you?” Ashen gives a breath of a laugh. His smile fades. His eyes soften and the flame within dies to embers. He reaches up and lays his hand on the side of my face, letting his fingers trace the line of my cheekbone and the angle of my jaw. His gaze follows every movement of his slow and gentle caress. “No. You belong to you, vampire. But I will cherish any part you're willing to share with me.” I can see past every layer when I look in Ashen's eyes. Past decades of time burned to cinders in his wake. Past the souls stripped from bodies by his blade. I am witness to every moment of loneliness and rage and despair. I see the man within the empty fortress, the soul within the demon. Things that shouldn't be, but they are. “I'll share every part that you're willing to take, and I'll take any part that you're willing to give,” I say, taking a step closer and placing a hand on Ashen's heart, the other across the back of his neck to draw his lips down to mine. His kiss sets fire to my veins, lighting them like fuses. My heart detonates in my chest, an explosion of love and desire.