There Is No Devil (Sinners, #2)

by Sophie Lark

“I want all of you. Every single part of you. I want to know everything about you: all your history, and every thought that comes into your head. Every desire, no matter how dark or how perverse. Every fantasy, no matter how impossible it may seem. And most of all, Mara, I want to occupy your thoughts like you occupy mine. I want you obsessed with me, bound to me, dependent on me. I want you to live for me, not just with me.”

The scent of her skin fills my lungs, rich and alive. The pleasure I feel is so much more than physical. I finally realize what happiness feels like. There’s no malice in it. No greed. It’s not something you seek for yourself. It flows between two people, around and around, back and forth, given and received in the same breath. Her happiness makes me happy. And even if it didn’t, I want it for her anyway. That’s what loving her means—I want her safe, protected, flourishing, whether it benefits me or not.