“He was so much more than she had expected. More than a delicious body and a smile that came out of nowhere to light up the darkness of this hopeless place.”

“What Hans had intended to end at a simple kiss quickly escalated into something neither one of them seemed able to stop.”

“Yes. Kissing. Overrated.””I could change your mind,” Zach said, surprising the hell out of them both. Why would he take something as simple as this banter as a challenge? “I don’t know that I want to, but I feel right sure I could.””How arrogant. How typically male.””I suppose.” He shrugged and reached for the wine bottle. “More?”She nodded, frowning now. “How do you know you could change my mind? It’s been a long time since you… well—””Over two years.” The pain was there, an ache in his chest he imagined he would feel every time he thought of Hannah.And he thought of her every day. Dreamed of her about as often. But lately, maybe only in the past week, he’d begun to realize that his life had not ended with his wife’s.He either had to die or start living again.”

“We are only victims if we allow ourselves to be.”

“It was the impatience of the way he tore my panties from my body, that really turned me on: I was all he could think of, as his lust got the better of him. I glanced back, and saw the underwear torn and discarded, a little strip of thin black material on the floor, and thought, Yes, this is the kind of impatient sex I’m looking for. The way they looked so small, and cruelly forgotten, was a beautiful symbol of how much we both needed to satisfy our lusts.”

“I love being aroused.I relish that delicious feeling of freedom, the delirium of being naked, and my flesh being born again. It’s like I’m being made new.”

“The longer I lived, the longer it would be until I saw him alive again, until I could taste his new lips and run my fingers through his new hair. We could be young and beautiful again . . .”

“My knees were weak but he held me with one hand, guiding me with the motion of his hips. I was completely his to do with what he wanted and he knew it.”

“To feel aroused is to feel alive. Having great sex is like taking in huge lungfuls of fresh air, essential to your body, essential to your health, and essential to your life.”

“If I were being honest with myself, he lit a blaze, not just a blush, but that’s too much reality for me to admit.”

“We were a galaxy exploding into a million pieces, creating a whole new world, as we crashed against each other on the soft surface of his mattress, a cloud in the darkness, our bodies finally falling together like rain.”

“Perhaps I was being picky, but I really didn’t think being able to spell orgasm without being spotted a vowel was asking too much.”

“Watching him, his hands buried in his pockets—to keep from circling her neck she supposed—she couldn’t help but marvel at the curious mix of Southern courtesy and male arrogance, the natural assumption he shouldered of being lawfully in control. “Engaging in a moral battle isn’t always hazardous to one’s health, you know.””Doesn’t look like it’s doing wonders for yours.””Saints be praised, it can actually be rewarding.”Looking over his shoulder, he halted in the middle of the room. “Irish.””I beg your pardon?””You. Irish. The green eyes, the tiny bit of red in your hair. Is Connor your real name?””Yes, why…” she said, stammering. Bloody hell. “Of course.””Liar.”She felt the slow, hot roll of color cross her cheeks. “What could that possibly have to do with anything?””I don’t know, but I have a feeling it means something. It’s the first I’ve heard come out of that sassy mouth of yours that didn’t sound like some damned speech.” He tapped his head, starting to pace again. “What I wonder is, where are you in there?”

“I looked at him like a stranger, someone I’d never seen before, and he looked at me like I’d been lost to him for a thousand years and finally found.”