I touch her cheek to slow the kiss down, holding her mouth on mine so I can feel every place where our lips touch and every place where they pull away. I savor the air we share in the second afterwards and the slip of her nose across mine. I think of something to say, but it is too intimate, so I swallow it. A moment later I decide I don't care. "I wish we were alone," I say as I back out of the cell. She smiles. "I almost always wish that.

That night we push our cots just a little closer together, and look into each other's eyes in the moments before we fall asleep. When he finally drifts off, our fingers are twisted together in the space between the beds.I smile a little, and let myself go.

Aren’t you going to ask me if I’m all right?” I say.“No, I’m pretty sure you’re not all right.”He shakes his head. “I’m going to ask you not to make any decisions until we’ve talkedabout it.

But I know that for every good thing that comes along, there is always a cost.

If she's in pain now she doesn't show it; she just closes her eyes and surrenders, and that is worse than her screaming for help, somehow.

This body had carried me through a hard life. It looked exactly the way it was supposed to.

Instead I take the lead, Tobias silent at my side, and though he does not touch me, he steadies me.

Because even a sliver of distance between us is infuriating.

His eyes search the crowd until they find my face. My heartbeat lives in my throat; lives in my cheeks."I still don't understand," he says softly, "how she knew that it would work.