Happiness is a strange, frightening, fragile feeling when you're not used to it.

Unless they're utterly heartless, people put a certain value on human life. It keeps us from killing each other off for no reason. But for leaders like you and me, a moral high ground is too absolute. There are choices to be made.

You’re the shield, and I’m the sword.

We were friends before.” Sort of. We never tried to kill each other.

I turn back to Griffin. His expression is stony and unreadable, although if I had to take a wild guess, I’d say it was tending toward ominous.

It’s just you always…” “Run,” I finish for him… I gaze up at him. Soft light plays over his striking features – the hard planes of his cheekbones, his strong jaw, the slight hook in his nose. “I’ll still run, Griffin. The difference now is that I’ll run to you.” He looks at me for a long time, his gray eyes inscrutable. “You’d better.” I arch an eyebrow. “Or you’ll spank me?

The ice inside me melts. Suddenly, I'm burning up and terrified, scared I'll be too weak to resist.Scratch that - I'm petrified I've already given in.

I dread this power he has over me. It makes me want to tell him all my secrets and see if he still wants me.

Don’t you get it Cat? You’re the key. I knew it the day I laid eyes on you.

I don’t know why it’s not universally acknowledged that looking back is a terrible idea. It only makes going forward that much harder.

He’s barely finished himself inside me when my release hits. My thighs tense. The breath stalls in my lungs, and then I kick back my head and let out the loudest, throatiest, and most breathless moan in the history of all history, going boneless in a blissful rush. “Gods, I missed you,” Griffin rasps, holding me as I throb around him.The high-impact tremors fade into sweet, lingering aftershocks. I look up at him with heavy-lidded eyes. My lips part, but no words come out. Even the drag of frosty air over my kiss-swollen lips is almost too sensual to bear.Griffin quirks a dark eyebrow, looking smug. “That was easy.” I grin, falling in love with him all over again. “Then do it again.

I roll my eyes. "Oh, the woe of being adored."Beta Sinta grins. "It's a hard life.

I want him everywhere. I burn for him in places he hasn't even touched.

Temporary homecomings are bittersweet. Sometimes it's better not to go back at all than to have to leave again.

Griffin leans closer, his voice dropping to a low, suggestive rumble only I can hear. "There are things I could boast about, but I'd rather show than tell.

Hades, Hera, and Hestia!" Flynn curses, pointing up."What in the Underworld is that?""A She-Dragon." Everyone turns to me, and as much as I love having four handsome men gape at me in stupefaction, right now, I could do without.

His tongue swirls against my skin, and I gasp. His voice rough with passion, he rasps, "You're living fire. I burn.

I want you. I need you. For as many hours as possible, I don't want to think about anything but you.

His gaze hits mine with the force of a battering ram. He looks… appalled. “I-I won’t do this. I can’t… be with you.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Griffin asked me to take a chance. On him. On trust. On love. I did, and look where it got me. That my misery is my own damn fault doesn’t escape me. It just makes it worse.

The door opens, and I turn my head, my heart thudding at the sight of Griffin. Tall, broad, muscular but sleek, he stalks into the room like a predator, his gait balanced and sure, his glittering, gray eyes focused entirely on me. Inky hair, a hawkish nose, that stubborn jaw, and thick, black stubble make him look hard and intimidating. With his sword strapped on and his dark brows lowered, he’s a warlord on the prowl. I shiver. I couldn’t want him more.

Have I cheated death again? Hades must be allergic to me.