Every Last Breath - Armentrout Jennifer L. (читаем книги онлайн без регистрации .TXT) 📗

Slowing down, I landed in a crouch on the roof of what I thought was a bank. I’d just folded my wings back when a heavy form landed beside me, causing tiny pieces of stone to loosen from the ledge and fall to the ground. Arching a brow, I looked up.

Roth stood with his legs wide and wings spread. His skin was inky like onyx, shiny and hard. Bare-chested, he blended into the night around him. Or he would’ve if he hadn’t flashed his fangs at me—

and if the skull on the buckle of his belt wasn’t bright white.

“Your hair,” he said.

My eyes narrowed while I resisted the urge to reach up and see what he meant. “What about it?”

He grinned as he knelt beside me, quickly slipping back into his human form. “You look like you just rolled out of a Guns N’ Roses video.”

“Thanks for that.”

“Possibly even the ‘Paradise City’ video.”

“Better and better.”

Leaning over, he kissed my temple and then my brow. “Freaking sexy as hell, though. Reminds me of what it looks like after I get my fingers in it and we’re—”

“I get the picture.” I laughed. “Totally know where you’re going with that.”

“What? I was going to say when we’re waking up in the morning.”

I snorted. “Oh, whatever.”

His deep chuckle sent a shiver through me. “You know me too well.”

That was true. Closing the distance between us, I gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Did you see me?”

“Yes.” He closed a hand around my nape, keeping me from pulling away. “I saw you kiss the stars.”

My lips spread in a wide smile. I liked the way that sounded. “Want to see me kiss my own personal star?” Yeah, that was cheesy, but even though I couldn’t see his smile, I could feel it in every cell in my body. His closeness, his happiness and mine, practically had my body humming.

“Always,” he murmured.

Tilting my head, I brushed my lips over his once and then twice. The hand along my neck tightened as I ran the tip of my tongue along the seam of his wonderful mouth. His lips parted, and I took the kiss deeper, and like every time, he tasted like dark, sinful chocolate, and like every single time, one kiss was never enough. There were more as we crouched on the ledge of a roof, sixty-some stories high, and I knew if we didn’t come up for air soon, we would start to get greedy, first with our hands and then other parts of us.

That had also happened last night.

Pulling back, I let out the breath I was holding as I cupped his jaw in my hand while he made the most pitiful sound. I giggled in the minute space between our mouths. “Later,” I promised.

The sound turned to a deeper rumble full of approval. Anticipation swelled, forming a hunger much greater than the one I lived with every day. “Later better come soon,” he growled.

He slid his hand from my neck, down my back. Through the loose, thin tank top, I could feel his heat. “Tomorrow we leave? Canada next?”

I nodded. “Canada it is.”

He said nothing as he rested his hand on my hip, and I was quiet as I stared out at the city down below. I was staring at my future while I crouched next to my eternity, and that was a wonderful, beautiful feeling.

I still hadn’t picked out a college yet or decided on what I wanted to major in, but that was okay. I had time and I didn’t want to rush a second of it.

“Is it later yet?” Roth asked.

Casting him a lingering look, I grinned as I rose fluidly, with a grace I never thought I’d ever be capable of. “Only if you can catch me.”

Roth rose at once, capturing my hand before I could even take off, threading his fingers through mine. “Already did, Layla.”

And so he had, a long time ago, when he strutted into a dark alley and took out a Poser demon.

Truth be told, I really didn’t even want to run.

This was love, and love could change people, even if that person was really a demon and the Crown Prince of Hell.

“I love you,” I told him, and I told him that every day and I would tell him that over and over again.

Roth lowered his forehead to mine as he brought our joined hands to his chest, placing them above his heart. “And I love you,” he said. “With every breath I take, I will always love you.”

* * * * *

Jennifer L. Armentrout

and Harlequin TEEN

are thrilled to introduce

THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER,

the first in a brand-new

contemporary young adult series.

Read on for an exclusive sneak peek!

The Problem with Forever

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

one

THREE SUGARS.

Every single morning, Carl Newport dumped three huge spoonfuls of sugar in his coffee. Well, when he thought no one was looking, he’d add two more. For a man in his early fifties, he was fit and trim, but he had one mean sugar addiction. In his study, the home office full of thick medical journals, there was a drawer in his desk that looked like a candy store had thrown up in it.

Hovering near the sugar bowl, he reached for the spoon again as he glanced over his shoulder. His hand froze.

I grinned from where I sat at the huge island, an empty cereal bowl in front of me.

He sighed as he faced me, leaning back against the granite countertop, and eyed me over the rim of his mug as he took a drink of the coffee. His dark black hair, combed back from his forehead, had started to turn silver at the temples, and with his deep olive skin, I thought it made him look fairly distinguished. He was handsome, and so was his wife Rosa. Well, handsome wasn’t the right word for her. With her dark, exotic features, she was very pretty. Stunning, really, in the way she held and carried herself.

I placed my spoon in the bowl, carefully so it wouldn’t clang against the ceramic. I... I didn’t like to make unnecessary noises. An old habit I’d been unable to break.

Glancing up from my bowl, I found Carl watching me. “Are you ready for today, Mallory?”

My heart skipped unsteadily in response to what felt like an innocent question, but was really the equivalent of a loaded assault rifle. I was ready in all the ways I should be. Like a nerd, I’d printed off my schedule and the map of Lands High, and Rosa had called ahead, obtaining my locker assignment, so I knew exactly where everything was. I’d studied that map. Seriously. As if my life depended on it.

There’d be no need to ask anyone where any of my classes were. Rosa had even made the trip with me yesterday to the high school so I got familiar with the road and how long the drive would take me.

Today was the first time I’d be attending public school. Well, not the first time. There were times before, when I was younger, but I barely remembered them, so I didn’t count them. Then there was the other time, after Carl and Rosa had taken me in, and that first day at middle school had been an epic fail.

That was four years ago.

But now I was ready. I should be ready.

“Mallory?”

I glanced up and gave a curt nod as I pressed my lips together and dropped my hands to my lap. I was totally ready.

Carl lowered his mug, placing it on the counter behind him. “You’re sure you know the way to school?”

Nodding again, I hopped up from the barstool and grabbed my bowl. If I left now, I would be fifteen minutes early. Probably a good idea, I guessed as I placed the bowl and spoon in the stainless steel dishwasher.

“And you have everything you need?” he asked, and as I straightened, he twisted his body toward me. Carl wasn’t a tall man, maybe around five foot eight, but I still only came up to his shoulders.

“Use your words, Mallory. I know you’re nervous and you’ve got a hundred things going on in your head, but you need to use your words. Not shake your head yes or no.”