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She lifted her chin "You would kiss er "I would have to change your will"

"I doubt you - " She stopped when he dragged the tip of his finger down her throat Goose bumps skittered down her arms, and she shivered

"Scholar," he whispered

"Gori," she whispered back

The corner of hishis cheek to dimple "The brain and the beast?"

Unfortunately her brain wasn’t working well There had to be a dozen reasons why she needed to stop hile one

His hand slipped around to cup the back of her neck His gaze reen "Do you kno much I want you?"

She shook her head

"You’re so brilliant" He kissed her brow "So brave" He kissed her temple "And beautiful" His lips skiainst his chest to stop him as his mouth hovered less than an inch from her own Good Lord, she wanted him so much

But she had to resist "It’s ihtened around her neck He leaned his head forward till his brow rested on hers After a moment of silence, he whispered, "You can say it’s difficult Hard Challenging Don’t say it’s impossible"

She pushed at his chest "But it is You know it is"

He released her and stepped back, frowning "Why? Why is it impossible?"

She fisted her hand around the stress ball in her pocket "We don’t have a lot in common I’m ascientist, and you’re not I’m - "

"You’re alive, and I’m not," he interrupted

She winced "My father could never accept you"

"What about you?"

"II don’t know" She squeezed the ball "I don’t know you that well, really We only s about me that no one else does Even myself I haven’t been able to look at hteen years, but youyou are my mirror When I see your tears for your mother, I feel the ones I shed for my father And when you suffer, I understand that, too" His eyes glio in battle"

"I’m so sorry," she whispered

"And we do have a lot in cooal-oriented We’ve both lived in the shadows, hiding froet stressed out" He reached in his pocket and removed a ball "It shows up in our hands"

She scoffed "That doesn’t bode well for a stress-free relationship"

He smiled "I like your sense of hu about you"

Her chest tightened She liked everything about hih one to s "It’s still impossible Completely, irreparably - "

"Don’t say it!" He stared at her for a moazebo

She was so tempted to run to him, put her arms around him, and comfort him Don’t do it Youand looked out at the stars Moonlight fell on his face, and she eased to the side so she could see his handso in the et up early to watch the sunrise Now, I can never see the sun It’s impossible"

"Would the sun harm you?" she asked

"It would killthe stars "When Dad’s cancer spread to his liver, they told me there was no hope It was impossible"

Her heart ached for him, but when she opened her

"When I lay dying in the parking lot, and ive me a transfusion, he said it was too late It was i her eyes She couldn’t bear the thought of hi And he’d lost so much - the sun, his father, hison the vine close by "When I woke up Undead, I asked if I could ever be ain, and they said it was impossible"

A tear rolled down her cheek

He plucked the rose "It is possible now Roured out a way, but I don’t have any samples of my mortal blood Mywhen I was attacked" He pinched a thorn off the rose stem and tossed it outside into the flowerbed "So for me, it’s impossible You can see why I dislike that word"

He turned and held the rose out to her "Why can’t you be possible?"

Her heart cracked How could she hurt hi in love with him?

She drew in a shaky breath and wiped her cheek She took a step toward him Then another one

His eyes widened

She realized she was giving him hope, the first hope he’d had in years She ran to hiht her in his ar her feet off the plank floor and swinging her around Thekisses over her face

A seed of joy burst in her heart and swept over her "Gori" She clutched at his shoulders He was so strong, so solid, and so wonderfully focused on her

His nose nuzzled against hers, and his breath puffed gently against her lips "Abby"

She lifted her gaze toand red

"I have no control over it," he whispered "You will always knohen I long for you"

Her hands delved into his soft hair and she cradled his head "I thought you were planning to kiss me?"

A corner of his mouth curled up "I don’t need to ask pered my mind"

"I always knew you were brilliant" He touched his lips to hers gently, then pulled back a fraction, waiting

She closed her eyes, savoring the tension that hummed in the air between them, a dam about to break And it did

It shattered into aher with passion

She rode along on the flood, clinging to hiht His lips were sweet and relentless He tasted her, nibbled and coaxed till he took full possession, invading her with his tongue