. She expertly squeezed a tear from the corner of her

ntire focus, was narrowed down to the woman standing by t

ick wall, stepped forward, blocking Blair's path with a silent

contained violence. She pushed herself off the bedpost. Barefoot, she began to walk across

ady and cold. She needed Blair off-balance, shocked

ned white. He was bracing himself for her screams, her accusations, her h

into his face. The dark circles under his eyes, the frantic desperation warring with rage in their depths. It wasn't the fa

with hysteria. "She attacked me! She broke thi

agged rasp, torn from his throat. "If you ever try to harm yourself again," he

had been her terror. A threa

he most desperate, clumsy, and soul-deep

n her eyes, bl

heir relationship, she rose on her toes, wrapped her

rld st

ck by lightning. For a split second, he was co

sk cracked. His eyes widened, and

adulterated shock. The tears on her face froze, her mouth

statue s

d it was no longer gentle or tentative. It was a brutal, desperate claiming. A kiss of punishment and possession and the frantic relief of a man wh

errified. But she wasn't. She met his ferocity with a quiet

oftened. The desperate, punishing kiss gentled into something breathtakingly tender, a kiss that

breathing harsh and uneven. His dark eyes, now inches from hers, were swirling with a storm of

wollen, her cheeks flushed. "Julian," she whispered, her voice

s a death blow t

ll and ugly. "Aria, what's wrong with you?

just angry. It was lethal. The sheer killing intent in his eyes made Blai

ulian's chest. She looked at Blair over his shoulder, her expression

the silent room. "I'm going back to the Carlisle estate. With you." Sh

ent, the sheer audacity of

screamed, losing all semblance of control. She l

isting it behind her back in a single, efficient motion. B

ion a mixture of bewilderment and profound satisfaction. He didn't understand

n lips with his thumb. His voice was a low

small, affectionate gesture seemed to undo him completely. A

e a twisted mask of impotent fury and disbelief, as her en

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