Jen (jenslostinthepages) ♥Star-Crossed Book Blog♥ > Books: bad-boys-i-love‎ (107)

"If you're trying to book-shame me," she said, "it won't work. I read what I like. Doesn't matter what you or anyone else has to say about it."
"No shame," I said. "If I was gonna waste my time reading, I'd probably reach for the R-rated book porn too."
Her jaw dropped.

"So, are you going to keep staring or teach me something?"
Maisie blinked then looked down, a flush of embarrassment rising to her cheeks.
"Right," she said, "sorry, I just didn't know you could do that."
"Do what?" I asked.
"Smile."

I raised a brow. "How do I look at her?"
"Like you just saw something you desperately want but can't have."
I swallowed.

Dex scoffed. "Better lower those expectations, Hawthorne."
"Never."
"Why not?"
"Because I believe in you, O'Brien," I said.
"You do?" he said.
"Yeah— but I also believe in ghosts, faeries, and shape shifters, so you shouldn't feel too special."
He chuckled at that then gestured to the bar.

"There's a lot of things I want," he said then reached up to brush a strand of hair behind my ear. "What about you, Hawthorne? Anything you want right this second?"
I hesitated then shook my head.
"Liar," he said quietly.

Once the door closed, I looked back and found Rose smiling.
"I think that went well," she said. "Definitely our most eventful book club meeting so far."
"I second that," June said. "So much drama."
"And tension," Rose added. "This air was practically vibrating."
My brow furrowed. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Nothing," they said in unison.
Finn shook his head, staring after his brother.

As I kissed her all I could think was, this. This was it. This was what makes life worth living.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book, provided by the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

As crews go, we’re a goddamn disaster. A princess, a priestess, a bodyguard, a prisoner, a con artist, a goofball, and me, self-appointed asshole in charge of them all.

If anyone had told me a month ago that I’d be sitting at a bar on Glacea while the only person I’ve ever kissed casually stabs a stranger, I would have laughed them out of the palace. But here we are.

He smirks. “Princess Kalinda, the martyr . Not sure the look suits you. Besides, I’ve always been a sucker for a damsel in distress.”
“No, you haven’t!” I tell him, and the desperation is growing inside me. Because time is running out.
“Okay, you’re right, I haven’t.” He blasts some more laser fire in their direction, then looks at me, his expression serious for once.

No way. Bad boys are one thing. Homicidal assholes are another.
But then he turns and our eyes meet as he watches me watching him.
Shit. Could I be more obvious?
He raises a brow as if inviting me to engage.

I feel the stirring of my own rebellion deep inside. The part of me that has lived my life for other people knows I should shove it down and lock it up tight. But the other part… the other part of me wants to take it out for a spin and see where it goes.

“Nothing about you could ever be boring, Rain,” she whispers back. Then she sweeps my hair over my shoulder and leans forward to press her mouth against the nape of my neck.

“What is this?” she asks, and now she’s looking around as well.
“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. “I have no fucking idea. But I’m starting to think we should’ve been more scared of the sentient ship we’ve stolen and what she’s capable of.”

Terror rolls through me at the thought of what we’re about to do— and what will happen if we get caught. But some things are worth fighting for. And so are some people.

My breaths sawed in and out of lungs that felt like they were filled with cement.
I threw my head back and roared.

My breaths sawed in and out of lungs that felt like they were filled with cement.
I threw my head back and roared.

“Tell me then,” she eyed me. At least she was curious.
I smiled. But my hands were shaking with the effort it took not to touch her. “Well, witchling, the first thing you should know is that our love? It is the stuff of legends.”

“You likely shouldn’t join this battle. You have younglings to protect.”
He grinned at me, his sharp teeth flashing in the light. “I’ve named you and Danica as godparents.”
I stared at him, speechless. His grin widened. “Yeah. She had the same reaction. Guess you better keep me alive.”

I was Alice, and I’d fallen down the wrong damn rabbit hole.

I was Alice, and I’d fallen down the wrong damn rabbit hole.

Lucifer had known exactly where to strike. I was the chink in Samael’s armor. His blind spot. The weakness Lucifer had been searching for.

Whatever it took. I’d do whatever it took to make sure he lived.

“I have lost everyone who ever mattered to me,” he hissed. “I won’t lose you too.”

I slowly brushed one finger along the edge of the closest feather as he silently watched me.
“You’re beautiful,” I admitted.
He nodded. “I know.”
I burst out laughing, and he took the opportunity to climb onto the bed with me and capture my mouth with his. His wings blocked out the light, and it was as if the world had disappeared, and we were the only two people who existed.

I'd let him in, I realized. Somewhere along the way, I'd let him crawl beneath my rib cage, and he was buried there, where my fucking heart should be.
I was going to be sick.

What he’d said was something I’d already learned the hard way, but his words…
They felt like a warning.
An omen of things to come.

Kieran shook his head as he turned his stare to the moon. “A Maiden with a wolven-bone dagger and, at the very least, no fear when it comes to using it?” One side of his lips tipped up. “Why do I have a feeling we may have underestimated her?”
I let out a short, low laugh. “Because I think we did.”

“I know you want to do something irresponsible and reckless, but you can’t kill him,” he said. There was no greeting. No need to ask questions. He knew why I was here.
“I’m not going to kill him,” I replied. “I’m only going to murder him.”
Kieran sidestepped, blocking me. “That’s the same thing.”
“No, it’s not. Killing someone implies it could’ve been an accident. What I’m about to do will be completely intentional.”

Their blood was on my hands.
And as fucked-up as it sounded, I could live with that. I had to. But what was hard to swallow? That I’d caused her pain.

I wanted to be a good man who would walk away from what he knew he wasn’t worthy or deserving of. The kind Kieran believed I was. The type I had been raised to be. But I wasn’t a good man.
I was just hers.

His lies had hurt the most.

His lies had hurt the most.

“Why would you do this?” she asked.
The question burrowed deep into my chest. I clenched my teeth. “Figure it out.”

He’d asked if I remembered how he’d made me feel.
Some days, it was the only thing I could think about.
“Please,” I said quietly.

“This is never going to work. You and I. We’re doomed. You know that.”
He sighed, and I closed my eyes, basking in the feel of his breath against my neck.
“I know.” He slowly drew back. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t wish for you with every fucking breath for the rest of my life.”

He smiled, as if he’d expected nothing less.
I smiled back. One day, I would make him pay for everything I suspected he had done to Lorian.

The war had barely begun. And we were already losing.

I just wanted her to be mine.

I could do this.
After all, against all odds, I was still alive. I just had to keep reminding myself of that.

“I don’t want anything you’re offering. Remember that time you left me to freeze to death?”
He sighed. “Are you always this dramatic?”
One of his men snorted, and I trembled with the need to punch Lorian in the mouth.

Don’t do it. Don’t you dare do it.
My gaze dropped to his toned ass, and I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry.
“See something you like?” Lorian purred.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.”
He chuckled, turning to the bath, and I slammed my eyes shut. It wasn’t fair that he was so annoying and yet so fucking perfect.

Nerves fluttered in my stomach.
We don’t have time for your insecurity and self-doubt.
How Lorian would laugh if he knew just how much I was relying on those words.
In another life.
My chest tightened, and I shoved the memory out of my mind.

Beneath the terror, my fury burned bright. So bright, I didn’t have to reach for my power. No, instead, the threads seemed to reach for me, my skin heating.

“I thought we’d moved past threats of torture,” I muttered.
He took a single step closer, and my skin tingled at the look he gave me. Dark, hopelessly amused, dripping with lust.

"...Promise me you’ll free them. And one day, you’ll come back and burn this fucking place to the ground.”
There was only one thing I could say. “I promise.”

“How do I know you won’t just kill everyone?”
“Oh, Prisca,” he purred. “I would never kill you.”

“I know what we’re about to do. It doesn’t change the fact that I want to strip that dress off you and see what I find beneath it.”
“You’ll find knives,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.
His smile was dark— almost feral. “Wicked women are my weakness.”
I couldn’t help but grin up at him.

I don’t know what I did, but it had to be something, because when you find that everyone hates you, it’s not them. It’s you. - Ryen

I don’t know what I did, but it had to be something, because when you find that everyone hates you, it’s not them. It’s you. - Ryen

Fuck. I put the pen to the paper and scrawl what my goddamn heart can only whisper.
I miss you every day, I write . You’re my favorite place.
And then I drop the pen and tear the paper out of my notebook. - Misha

What am I going to do with this girl? Just when I think I have her figured out, she pulls at me a little more.
Just when I think I can’t stand her, and I can leave, never looking back, I turn right around and want to make sure nothing hurts her. - Misha

She straightens and turns to fix me with a look. “You called me a cunt and cut my hair. You think I’d actually trust you to protect me? Don’t blink too hard, Shit-for-Brains. You might lose your last few brain cells.” - Ryen to Misha

I part my lips, running them over the lip ring and savoring the feel as he groans and digs his fingers into my thighs. I tighten my legs around him, needing to feel him.
“Bitch,” he whispers.
“Loser."

“They don’t get you and me. I know that’s what you’re afraid of. You’re perfect. I’m never in line. You’re beautiful, and I’m bad, right?” - Misha to Ryen

We can live as cowards or die as riders.

We can live as cowards or die as riders.

"I'm used to functioning in pain, asshole. Are you?" I raise the dagger in my right hand just to prove that I can despite the blood that runs down my arm and drips from the tip of my blade, saturating the wrap across my palm. My gaze drops meaningfully to his side. "I know exactly where I sliced into you. If you don't get to a healer soon, you'll bleed out internally."
Rage contorts his features, and he moves to strike.

His eyes flare, and I don't miss the hint of a smirk on that infuriatingly decadent mouth of his. It should be against the Codex to look that good and be so ruthless.

The inches between us feel like kindling, ready to burn at the first suggestion of heat, and I'm a living, breathing flame. This is everything I should run form, and yet denying the primal attraction I feel is completely, utterly impossible.
"We'll both regret it." He shakes his head, but there's more than hunger in his eyes as he stares at my lips.
"Naturally," I whisper. But knowing I'll regret it doesn't stop me from wanting it - wanting him. Regretting is a problem for future Violet.
"Fuck it."

"Are you pushing for a reason?" Tarin asks.
"Can you give me one not to?"
"He cares for you. That's already hard enough for him."
I scoff. "He cares about keeping me alive. There's a difference."
"Not for him there isn't."

"There is no me without you," he says against my skin.

"Going for blood today, are we, Violence?" he whispers. Metal hits the mat again and he kicks it past my head and out of my reach.
He's not taking my daggers to use against me; he's disarming me just to prove he can. My blood boils.
"My name is Violet," I seethe.
"I think my version fits you better."

I arch into him and claim his lips, kissing him like this might be the only time I'll get the chance. This kind of desperation isn't natural; it's a wildfire that's likely to burn us both to the ground if we let it.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book, provided by the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

All of us at Gray Wolf— including Braxton, and certainly me— we are all liars here.

All of us at Gray Wolf— including Braxton, and certainly me— we are all liars here.

“So, which is it?” I snap. “Are you angry or worried?”
Killian loosens his grip. “Can’t I be both?” His voice is thick in a way that has me averting my gaze. “If something were to happen to you—”
“Arthur would never forgive you. I know.” I grind out the words.
“No, Shiv,” Killian says, looking at me in a way I’d rather not see. “It’s me who’d never forgive myself.”

Without hesitation, Killian presses a hand to his heart and, in a solemn voice, says, “I swear to you, Shiv. I swear on the moon to every last word.”

“I love this place,” I blurt out.
“Me too,” she says. And then there’s this moment where we smile at each other, and for one tiny second I swear the entire world stands still.

How do I tell him Everything in my future feels fuzzy except for you?

There are so many ways a relationship can go wrong, it’s amazing we keep trying at all.

Things that Willow and the Night Sky Have in Common:
1. Beautiful
2. Unpredictable
3. Makes you glad to be alive.

“Every minute with you is magic.”

“I believe there are far more possibilities than happily ever after or tragedy. Every story has the potential for infinite endings.”

He gave her a real smile, revealing a pair of dimples that briefly made him look more angel than devil. But she imagined even angels would need to beware of him. She could picture him flashing those deceptive dimples as he tricked an angel into losing its wings just so he could play with the feathers.

“Do you stare at everyone like that, or just me?” Jacks looked up. Vivid blue eyes met hers.
It shouldn’t have made her blood rush the way that it did.

He held on to her as if she were a grudge, his body rigid and tense, as  if he really didn’t want her there, and yet his arms were tight around  her waist as though he had no intention of ever letting her go. 

“Jacks, what did you do?” she whispered. “It’s not what I did, Little  Fox. It’s what you’ve done. And tomorrow night, you get to do even more.”

Evangeline didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry.
She knew what Jacks was. She hadn’t been foolish enough to believe that she was different or special and that he wouldn’t destroy her. But maybe she’d believed it a little.

In a sea of perfection, she strode confidently in her scuffed checkered Vans with her head held high—messy, falling-down bun and all.

I knew I should've been sorry or scared— or both.
But I wasn't.
Justice had been served, and I couldn't regret it.

“Did you need something?” I asked . “Or are you here to annoy me as usual?”
“Funny, isn't it?” he said. “That's the same word I associate with you. An annoyance I just can't seem to get rid of.”

“You know what?” she asked softly. When I didn’t answer, she blazed ahead anyway. “I don’t think you’re as bad as you try to be.”

How do you get close to a girl when there are a million reasons she should stay as far away from you as she possibly can?

Uriel’s words echoed in her head. “What price are you willing to pay for redemption?”
Everything , she’d breathed.

“Once upon a time a demon fell in love with an angel.” His voice was like velvet over her skin, but she could sense the threat within the words.
It took all her strength to swallow down the rush of feeling those words conjured. “Love? Can a demon truly love anything other than himself?”

Azazel leaned down, a gentle kiss spilling from his brutal lips. It stirred against Sera’s lips. A kiss of heat and sin. A promise of sweetness and seduction.
A lie.

You loved him. Once.
You wanted this to happen.
You needed it to happen.

There’d been a moment where he’d looked at her, and she saw the angel she’d loved.
Her treacherous heart wanted to defend him. He was there, he was still there. Or parts of him, anyway.

Samael leaned close. “You smell familiar, little witch.”
I swallowed. If he connected me to the witch who stole from him six months ago, I’d soon be begging for death.

Exactly when did I begin having dirty thoughts about the demon? This was not okay. It must have something to do with being weak and healing from the attack. Witches did not lust after demons.

“You’re a walking armory,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to the tip of my nose. The move was so surprisingly tender that all I could do was stare up at him, momentarily stunned.

"Let me prove it to you."
My brows pinched together. "How are you going to do that?"
"I'm going to kiss you," he said.
Anything I was about to say left me. My brain went totally blank. What were words again?
"If you still think kissing's overrated after that, okay. I'll retire my player card for good." Hayden's eyes went to my lips, and they tingled in response. "That won't happen, though."
I swallowed to clear my throat. "How can you be sure?"
"Because I'm going to do my best to please you."

As he leaned back, Hayden gave me a soft smile. "Don't sound so worried. I'm going to be the perfect fake boyfriend."
I didn't tell him then— but that was exactly what I was worried about.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you," he said, and my heart tried to escape my chest— right up until he added, "Your strange fear of peeps and how you refuse to eat without a napkin really made an impression."
"Ha ha," I said.

I caught myself staring at Hayden's hands as he drove— the same hands that had gripped my waist and tucked my hair behind my ear. My gaze moved to his lips, and I shivered. I could still feel the imprint of them on my skin.

But what if it could've been more? my mind whispered.
Shaking the thought off, I got back to work.

Don���t get attached. It was the first rule of his world.

Something stirred in her, and she feared it wasn’t hate alone.

He smiled. He couldn’t help it. A warped triumph was rising in him, a sensation like that last, expectant turn before winning a game. A dangerous feeling to allow, sitting in a cell and staring down a queen not particularly known for her mildness.

‘As a general piece of advice, don’t expect assassins to care about your wellbeing.’
‘I didn’t—’
‘Sure you didn’t.’

In his arms she felt like everything he ever held dear in his life.

Together.
Always.
And forever.

If I screamed, if I gave in to all the pain and rage, the sound of desperation and anguish would become wrath and fury. The scream choking me, the power building inside me, tasted of death.
And a small part of me wanted to let it out.

“Two hearts. We’re two hearts.” I brushed my lips over her brow, closing my eyes. “One soul. We’ll find each other again. We always will—”

His hand tightened in my loose braid of hair. “He is still yours. You are still his.”
Tears stung my throat, my eyes. “Always,” I whispered hoarsely.

I knew what I would feel if I let my senses stretch. Horror. Horror so potent, I would never be able to wash it away.

My Queen. My soul. My savior. Poppy.

Once upon a time, I had fallen in love with him, and to him, I was nothing more than a momentary distraction.

“Take what you need from me, Cass.” His hot breath tickled my ear. “Take everything and all you need. I’m yours.”

Making the strands a rugged mess, Orion shoved a frustrated hand through his hair. “What do you want me to say?”
I slapped my palm against the table. “I want the truth!” I whisper-shouted . “I want this black hole in my brain to be gone. I want to know what happened to us!”

“Heaven, hell and earth, Cassie. I will move each and every single one for you.”