She noticed them then—the stars—and she gasped aloud at the sight of them. They filled every inch of the sky, and they glowed in impossible shades of red, orange, green, and blue. There were so many of them—more than what was visible beneath the pollution of a city as large as Angelthene. They lit up the darkness like a beacon. And although Loren lived in a world where anything was possible, what she was seeing in that sky above her felt like magic.
“Darien.” Her voice was a choked whisper. She unbuckled her seatbelt with her free hand and slid to the edge of her seat to get a better look. “Are you seeing this?”
He laughed softly, lifting their twined hands to brush a kiss against the back of hers. “The stars are why I brought you here.” The feeling of his breath against her skin made her tremble all over. He cut the engine. “Being as you’ve never been outside the city before, I thought it was high time you got a look at what you’ve been missing.” He seemed reluctant to let go of her hand for the time it would take him to get out of the vehicle, but he released her and swung open his door.
“Darien,”she hissed. Fear coursed through her, but he’d already walked around the truck and was opening her door. Cool air rushed into the cab. “I don’t know if we should get out of the vehicle.”
“What did I say about fear?” He offered her his hand, and he helped her step down onto the dry earth. It smelled of the rain that pattered softly from the cloudless sky;serein, Loren remembered it was called, when there was rain but no clouds. She’d learned that in class once. “And we won’t technically be stayingoutof the vehicle.” He inclined his head toward the truck bed.
She followed him as he led her to the tailgate. He lowered it and helped her step onto the bed, where she made her way to the side that was closest to the cab. As he went to retrieve a blanket from the backseat, she flattened her skirt under her thighs and sat down.
They talked for a long time as they watched the stars, the blanket thrown across their laps. Loren found herself so entranced by the galaxy wheeling above them that she didn’t spare a thought for the Nameless. Darien sat so close to her that their arms were pressed together, and it wasn’t long before he wrapped that arm around her shoulders. She rested her head against his chest, his steady heartbeat adding to the feeling of calm washing over her.
“This is amazing,” Loren whispered as she marveled again at the colorful stars. “Isn’t it the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?”
“At the risk of sounding corny as hell, I’d say it holds a firm second for me.” There was a smile in his voice that confirmed exactly what Loren thought he meant by making that statement.
“Darien Cassel,” Loren crooned, her tone teasing as she sat up and braced a hand on the truck bed behind her, “are you meaning to tell me thatIhold first place in your mind? Over thegalaxyof all things?”
Darien was fighting a smile. “That is exactly what I mean.”
“Wait.” She gave him a suspicious look, and then playfully scrunched up her nose. “Is this adate?”
“No.” He huffed a laugh. He propped up a knee, bracing an elbow on it. The action brought him out of his lounging position and closer to his true height, so she had to look up at him as he looked down at her, a warm smile on his face. “Definitely not.”
Loren’s throat bobbed as she felt it: the atmosphere that crackled between them from the close proximity. He seemed to notice it too, his eyes darkening with something akin to hunger. It was the same look she’d seen in his eyes that night at the Devil’s Advocate.
When she spoke, her voice came out quiet and airy, for Darien reached up and trailed his knuckles along the edge of her jaw. Again, just as he had that night. And even though she’d felt this once before, the effect he had on her was no less intense. “First Blackbird, and now stargazing…” She drew in a breath that trembled with the rest of her, as that hand continued to brush along the length of her jaw. “I’m beginning to think you’re trying to date me, Darien Cassel.”
That hand cupped her chin softly, the rough pad of his thumb tracing the shape of her lips, over and over again. Her skin tingled as blood rushed to the area, and her head turned weightless. She couldn’t breathe.
“What would you say if I told you that you’re right?” His voice was gruff as he hooked his thumb over her bottom lip, pulling it down slightly. The look in his eyes told her exactly what he was thinking about her mouth. “That I’d intended for tonight to be a date?” Her heart galloped in her chest at that word.
In the shadows, his face was so close to hers that the night could do nothing to mar the look in his eyes, the intensity that only grew the longer they drank each other in. She knew that once she kissed him, she would lose a part of herself, and in losing that part, she would gain another—something unfamiliar and brand new. She felt a rush of helplessness that left her limp.
Because there was something about Darien she simply couldn’t resist, something that called out to a piece of her she hadn’t known existed until he’d entered her life. And if she crossed this line with him, her heart would fully transform into something different. Something wild, unrecognizable, and perhaps untameable.
This fear of the unknown didn’t stop her from wanting him; from desiring so badly to memorize that perfect mouth beneath her own.
She washis, she realized. Perhaps she had been since the moment she met him.
Her heart was beating hard and fast, and she knew Darien heard every pulsation. “I would tell you that I’m happy to be here with you,” she whispered at last. “And there’s no one I would rather share this moment with.” It seemed to be the answer he was waiting for.
He closed the small distance between them, his fingers still grasping her chin, as he pressed his lips firmly against her own.
The kiss was brief but sweet, and he pulled away after only a moment, but stayed close enough to breathe her air. She could smell the rain on his skin, the subtle hint of cologne and tobacco in his clothes. He was gauging her response, as if he didn’t want to push her too far. But already, she missed it. Already, she wanted more.
She was the one who closed the distance between them this time, hooking her wrists around his neck. His arms wound around her waist, and they were as sure and hard as that night he’d held her after dressing her glass wounds, every trace of hesitancy vanishing as he drew her in. This kiss was unguarded, as pent-up desire unleashed itself at last. And Loren…
Loren was unraveling.
It was a thousand times better than she’d dreamed it would be, and she found her fists in his soft hair, pulling him closer and harder against her. That familiar, warm ache spread through her body, heating her core. She was fireworks, a billion stars, molten gold, and the sun itself.
The intensity of the kiss left her dizzy, and she clung to him as though he were an anchor in a storm. His tongue was in her mouth, and she breathed him in, her head spinning as she savoured the taste of him. It was even better than that night at the Advocate—everything she’d dreamed it would be.
A sound that could only mean she wanted more slipped through her lips. He groaned in answer, low in his throat, and he hooked her leg around his waist, lifting her up so that she was straddling him. His hand swept down the length of her spine, pressing into the small of her back, and then lower, past where the open back of her bodysuit met the waistband of her pleated skirt.
And still, she wanted more. More, more, more.
