“Probably.” My heart had slowed, but it was still pounding, and that had nothing to do with the skateboard gang. There was only an inch or so separating us. I drew in a shallow breath. “Then again, humans probably do more damage than most demons.”

“True.” His chin dipped.

I took another breath, a bigger one, and my chest brushed his. An elicit shiver danced over my skin. Had he moved closer? It was probably time to put some distance between us. I didn’t say that, though. I also didn’t move away. My hands remained where they’d landed, and I could feel each breath he took, long and slow, and not all that steady.

“Thank you.” My voice sounded strange to my own ears. Thicker. Richer.

“For what?”

I let my head fall back against the wall as I searched his expression in the shadows. “For dinner. I didn’t thank you. So, thank you.”

“You having a good time was thanks enough.”

My heart gave a happy little skip. “You always say the right things.”

“I say what I’m thinking. I don’t know if it’s right or wrong.” Zayne had moved closer as he spoke. His thighs touched mine. His hips met my stomach, and I knew he was picking up on what I was feeling. Warmth blasted my cheeks, but a different type of heat infused my skin as a low rumble radiated from deep within Zayne’s chest. There wasn’t even a centimeter between our bodies, and I felt that sound in every part of my being. My fingers dug into his shirt as whatever air I managed to get into my lungs slowly leaked out.

“Trin,” he said, my name a raspy low growl of warning.

Of wanting.

I slid my fingers down his chest, stopping on his taut stomach. Why not? That was the question cycling through my thoughts. Why couldn’t I stretch up and take what I wanted, what I suspected he wanted, too? In a physical sense, I knew he did. There was no denying that we were attracted to one another. That didn’t mean Roth was right. That he looked at me differently or that...that I loved him. It just meant that I wanted him.

No one had explained why a relationship was forbidden between a Trueborn and their Protector. Maybe the rule had made sense when there were more Trueborns, but now there was only me, and I couldn’t fathom why it would be a big deal.

I’d finally found someone that I liked—a lot—someone I was interested in beyond the whole physical attraction, and I couldn’t have him.

Life was unfair and the heart was cruel, wasn’t it?