Alex placed her hands on my chest, and a jolt of electricity shot through me. Uncertainty pinched her features, but she wasn't pushing me away. I took that as a good sign. My hands found her waist without much thought, the material thin enough that I could feel her hot skin. "You know what?" I said. "There are a lot of stupid things to do, but I really want to do the stupidest thing possible."

"What's that?"

I inhaled her, breathed her in. "I want to kiss you."

She stiffened. "That is crazy. I'm not Elena... or any other number of girls."

"I know. Maybe that's why I want to," I admitted. Alex was different. None of the other girls had my skin prickling. It might not even be her, but what lay resting inside her. Either way, I knew it wanted this, because it was what lingered in me wanted.

Alex turned her head toward mine. Another really good sign. "You don't want to kiss me."

"But I do." My lips brushed against her soft cheek.

Her hands slipped away and gripped the edge of the pool. "No, you don't."

I laughed, slipping my fingers up her spine, curving my hand around the base of her neck.

"Are you arguing with me over what I want?"

"You're arguing with me."

"You're ridiculous." I smiled for a moment before recognizing that my touch had come in contact with the bruise the Master had left behind. Anger rushed through me, heightening the tension. "It's such an annoying quality, yet strangely endearing."

"Well... you're annoying, too."

I laughed again, because she was funny. Always arguing, always denying what was right in front of her. "Why are we still talking?"

Resting her cheek against my shoulder, I felt her lashes flutter. "This is your one chance to talk without me telling you to shut up, because we aren't doing... anything else."

"Do you know how amusing I find you?" I shifted closer, running my hand over the curve of her hip, down her thigh. She went to stop me, not quick enough, and I knew Alex could be damn quick when she really wanted to. I hooked her leg around mine and bit back a groan.

"What are... you doing?" she whispered.

"Do you know why I think you're so amusing?"

"Why?"

"Because I know how badly you want me to kiss you." I cupped her chin, tipping her head back with my other hand.

"That's not true."

Such a little liar-her need beat at mine, blurring who each of us were. "You lie. Why? I have no idea." I kissed her cheek and then her throat, her shoulder as my hand on her thigh slipped further down. She jerked, and I grinned. "I can feel what you're feeling. And I know you want me to kiss you."

Her little nails dug into my arm. "It's not..."

"Not what?" I lifted my head, bringing my mouth so very close to hers.

"I..."

"Just let me kiss you."

And I knew she wanted me to-needed me to. It roared through the bond, and I felt the marks bleed through my skin, churning as they slid over me. Alex was fighting it, because that's what she did. And then there was the other issue, a sense of guilt I was picking up from her.

She opened her eyes. "Is this real?"

"Very real." I brushed the soaked strands off her cheek, wondering if I was lying or not and if I should care if I was. "Angel, just let me kiss you."

Her lips parted not even an inch from mine, and my stomach tightened. So close...and then I felt the guilt growing, becoming more powerful than the need. The marks stilled on my skin. She wasn't thinking of me right now-son of a bitch. I dropped her, wincing when she smacked off the pool edge. "You're thinking about Aiden."

She bit her lip, but the truth was in her eyes. "Not in the way you think I am."

Frustration whipped through me, and I knew I needed to leave before I did or said something I'd regret, but I pushed forward, getting right up in her face. "You know, I don't know which is worse. That I was stupid enough to want to kiss you, or the fact that you're still hung up on someone who doesn't even want you."

Her eyes gleamed. "Wow. That's a little harsh."

Total asshole move, but she needed to understand. "It's the truth, Alex. Even if he did profess his undying love for you, you can't have him."

Alex spun away from me and hauled herself out of the pool. Water streamed off her dress, forming little puddles around her feet. "Just because I can't be with him doesn't change the way I feel."

And that did it. Maybe I at one point would've left it alone, but not now. I was out of the water so fast she took an unsteady step back from me. "If you have this epic love for Aiden, why did you want to kiss me as badly as you did?"

Red stained her cheeks with fury, mixing with my own. "I didn't kiss you, Seth! That should answer your question right there!"

"You wanted to. Trust me, I know you did." I smiled. "You really wanted to."

She stared at me a moment, then her hands balled into fists. "I don't know what I want!

How do you know, Seth? How do you know it's not the damn connection between us instead of something real?"

And that was the million daimon baby question. I didn't know, not really, but there was more than just the connection. Like when Caleb was killed, part of the reason why I'd stayed with her was because of the sorrow that was eating away at her, but the other part was because I wanted to be there. So much so that I'd even blocked Aiden from seeing her.

Yes, there was the connection feeding us, but that was the way it was supposed to be, how both of us had been created. There wasn't anything wrong with it. Denying it was unnatural. Explaining that to her wouldn't get me anywhere, though. She didn't understand. Not yet.

"You think it's just the connection? Do you really think that's all I feel for you?"

Her laugh was harsh. "You say it yourself all the time! Anytime you do something nice for me, you say it's the connection forcing you to do so."

"Did you ever consider that I was joking?"

"No! Why would I? You said the connection would grow stronger between us. That's why you want to kiss me! It's not real."

Dammit, sometimes I literally wanted to choke her. "I know why I want to kiss you, Alex, and is has nothing to do with either of us being Apollyons. And apparently it has nothing to do with your common sense, either."

Now she looked like she wanted to choke me. "Oh, shut up. I'm done talking-"

"I know exactly why." I stalked forward, backing her up until she hit the cement wall behind me. "I can't believe I'd even have to spell it out for you."

Flattening her hands against the wall, she shivered. "You don't have to."

"You're the most frustrating person I know."

She rolled her eyes. "And that makes you want to kiss me? You're twisted."

"Do you feel the connection between us right now?" I asked.

Alex frowned. "Not really, but I don't know what it feels-"

I don't even know why I did this. Anger? Frustration? Need? Or maybe just to prove that she did want me even though she loved someone else, which in my mind, proved that love was probably one of the most fickle, stupid things the gods had ever created.

Grasping the sides of her face, I lowered my mouth to hers. She froze against me, but didn't fight back as I deepened the kiss, rushing past the exquisite feel of the first time, delving head first into it. Gods, I could eat her up. She was right. It had a lot to do with connection between us fueling the desire, but I didn't care. There was a lot to that, a purpose to all of this, not that I could remember or think about a damn thing other than how soft her lips were, how I'd bet my life ambrosia tasted like her.

And finally she moved. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she tangled her fingers in my hair, kissing me back like there was no tomorrow. I loved that-loved how when Alex finally decided to do something, she threw all of herself into it-right or wrong.

Coldness lingered at the back of my mind though. Knowledge. This was my chance, the only chance I knew I'd get.

I pulled back, catching her lower lip. The sound she made wasn't even fair. "You can't tell me you didn't like that." I kissed her again, unable to help myself after so long. "And don't you dare tell me you didn't kiss me."

"I... don't know what that was," she said.

I chuckled, moving my mouth against hers. "You have a choice, Alex."

Her eyes flew open then, and she watched the marks on my face almost obsessively. They hummed with approval. "What choice?"

I slid my hands to her waist, holding her still. "You can choose to continue wasting away for something you can never have..."

"Or?"

Huh, not an outright no. I smiled. "You can choose not to."

"Seth, I-"

And here we go. "Look, I know you aren't over him, but I do know you like me. I'm not suggesting anything. Not asking for stupid little labels or promises. No expectations."

She drew in a shallow breath. "What are you suggesting?"

"You choose to see what happens." I let go, stepped back and ran my hands through my hair, needing space. "Between us-you choose us."

Alex wrapped her arms around waist, looking incredibly small. It was a risk, putting it out there like that, but it was far past the time that I did. Like staking my claim, I guessed.

I smiled faintly. "Think about it, at least."

Then I left her, giving her a few moments to think, which in hindsight might not have been such a good idea. Alex had turned making wrong decisions into a hobby. My movements were jerky as I grabbed the discarded shirt and slipped it on over my shoulders. The material rasped against the now sensitive marks, but I was getting used to that sting.

"Seth?"

I turned halfway, finishing the last of the buttons. "Alex?"

A flush crept across her cheeks "I... I choose you-or whatever it is that you're saying."

She paused, her nose wrinkling. "I mean, I choose the whole seeing what-"

My mouth cut her words off, and I swept my arms around her, dropping the jacket over her chilled shoulders, and then I lifted her up against me. Fire swept through both of us, and she moved in my arms, deliciously so. The marks blasted against my skin, swirling to where her hands fisted my shirt, demanding to make contact with her, to brand her skin once again.

Then her hands slid under my shirt. Too fast. I jerked back, breathing heavy. I had her, but still, too fast. My lips spread in a smile that reached every part of me. "You're not sleeping in that bed-in that terrible little room-tonight."

Deity The Third Covenant Novel by Jennifer L. Armentrout Coming in October 2012 from Spencer Hill Press

CHAPTER 1.

RED SILK CLUNG TO MY HIPS, TWISTING INTO A TIGHT BODICE that accentuated my curves. My hair was down, silky around my shoulders like the petals of an exotic flower. The lights in the ballroom caught each ripple in the fabric so that with every step, I looked like I was blooming from fire.

He stopped, lips parting as if the mere sight of me had rendered him incapable of doing anything else. A warm blush stole over my skin. This wouldn't end well-not when we were surrounded by people and he was looking at me like that, but I couldn't make myself leave. I belonged here, with him. That had been the right choice.

The choice I... hadn't made.

Dancers slowed around me, their faces hidden behind dazzling bejeweled masks. The haunting melody the orchestra played slipped under my skin and sunk into my bones as the dancers parted.

Nothing separated us.

I tried to breathe, but he had stolen not just my heart, but the very air I needed.

He stood there, dressed in a black tux cut to fit the hard lines of his body. A lopsided smile, full of mischief and playfulness, curved his lips as he bowed at the waist, extending his arm toward me.

My legs felt weak as I took the first step. The twinkling lights from above lit the way to him, but I would've found him in the dark if necessary. The beat of his heart sounded just like mine.

His smile spread.

That was all the reinforcement I needed. I took off toward him, the dress streaming behind me in a river of crimson silk. He straightened, catching me by the waist as I looped my arms around his neck. I burrowed my face against his chest, soaking in the scent of ocean and burning leaves Everyone was watching, but it didn't matter. We were in our own world, where only what we wanted-what we'd desired for so long-mattered.

He chuckled deeply as he spun me around. My feet didn't even touch the ballroom floor. "So reckless," he murmured.

I smiled in response, knowing he secretly loved that part of me.

Placing me on my feet, he clasped my hand and placed the other on the small of my back. When he spoke again, his voice was a low, sultry whisper. "You look so beautiful, Alex."

My heart swelled. "I love you, Aiden."

He kissed the top of my head, and then we spun in dizzying circles. Couples slowly joined us, and I caught glimpses of wide smiles and strange eyes behind the masks-eyes completely white, no irises. Unease spread. Those eyes... I knew what they meant. We drifted toward a corner, where I heard soft cries coming from the darkness.

I looked over his shoulder, peering into the shadowy corners of the ballroom. "Aiden...?"