otherwise. So he'd practically set her up to walk right into this shock. It was
embarrassing. And one more item to tick off on the long list of things that Luce thought
she deserved to know and that Daniel didn't see fit to tell her.
She felt something she thought was rain, a drizzly sensation on her cheeks and her
fingertips. But it was warm instead of cold. It was powdery and light, not wet. She turned
her face toward the sky and was blinded by shimmering violet light. Not wanting to
shield her eyes, she watched even when it grew so bright it hurt. The particles slowly
drifted toward the water just offshore, falling into a pattern and limning the shape she'd
know anywhere.
He seemed to have grown more gorgeous. His bare feet hovered inches off the
water as he approached the shore. His broad white wings seemed to be edged with violet
light and were pulsing nearly imperceptibly in the rough wind. It wasn't fair. The way he
made her feel when she looked at him--awed and ecstatic and a little bit afraid. She could
hardly think of anything else. Every annoyance or nagging frustration vanished. There
was just that undeniable pull toward him.
"You keep turning up," she whispered.
Daniel's voice carried over the water. "I told you I wanted to talk to you."
Luce felt her mouth pucker up. "About Shelby?"
"About the danger you keep putting yourself in." Daniel spoke so plainly. She'd
been expecting her mention of Shelby to elicit some reaction. But Daniel just cocked his
head. He reached the wet edge of the beach, where the water foamed and rolled away,
and floated just above the sand in front of her. "What about Shelby?"
"Are you really going to pretend like you don't know?"
"Hold on." Daniel lowered his feet to the ground, bending his knees in a deep plie
when his bare soles touched the sand. When he straightened, his wings pulled backward,
away from his face, and sent a wave of wind back with them. Luce got her first sense of
104
how heavy they must be.
It took less than two seconds for Daniel to reach her, but when his arms slipped
around her back and pulled her to him, he couldn't have come quickly enough.
"Let's not get off to another bad start," he said.
She closed her eyes and let him lift her off the ground. His mouth found hers and
she tilted her face to the sky, letting the feel of him overwhelm her. There was no
darkness, no more cold, just the lovely sensation of being bathed in his violet glow. Even
the rush of the ocean was canceled out by a soft hum, the energy Daniel carried in his
body.
Her hands were wrapped tight around his neck, then stroked the firm muscles on
his shoulders, brushing the soft, thick perimeter of his wings. They were strong and white
and shimmering, always so much bigger than she remembered. Two great sails extending
from his sides, every inch of them perfect and smooth. She could feel a tension against
her fingers, like touching a tightly stretched canvas. But silkier, and deliciously velvet
soft. They seemed to respond to her touch, even extending forward to rub against her,
pulling her closer, until she was buried in them, nestling deeper and deeper, and still
never getting enough. Daniel shuddered.
"Is this okay?" she whispered, because sometimes he grew nervous when things
between them started to heat up. "Does it hurt you?"
Tonight his eyes looked greedy. "It feels wonderful. Nothing compares."
His fingers glided along her waist, slipping inside her sweater. Usually, the softest
caress from Daniel's hands made her go weak. Tonight his touch was more forceful.
Almost rough. She didn't know what had gotten into him, but she liked it.
His lips traced hers, then drifted higher, following the bridge of her nose, coming
down tenderly on each of her eyelids. When he pulled back, she opened her eyes and
gazed at him.
"You are so beautiful," he whispered.
It was exactly what most girls would have wanted to hear--only, as soon as he
said it, Luce felt ripped out of her body, replaced by someone else's.
Shelby's.
But not just Shelby's, because what were the odds that she had been the only one?
Had other eyes and noses and cheekbones taken Daniel's kisses? Had other bodies
huddled with him on a beach? Other lips tangled, other hearts pounded? Had other
whispered compliments been exchanged?
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Luce felt sick. They could steam up windows with their kisses, but as soon as they
started using their mouths for other things--like talking--everything got so complicated.
She turned her face away. "You lied to me."
Daniel didn't scoff or get angry, as she was expecting him to--almost wanting him
to. He sat down on the sand. He propped his hands on his knees and stared out at the