“I'm still not a god," he said apologetically. Crick stood behind him and pulled his shoulders back against that wide, strong chest. "Better than a god," Crick murmured. "You're the reason to have faith.”

“Okay," Crick said, rolling his eyes. "I give. Which part of my body is more interesting than my ass?"Deacon rewarded his obtuseness with a smack to the head. "Your heart, you fuckin' moron...”

“Oh gods... oh gods... I had hurt him... so many times, I had hurt him. By trying to hurt myself, I had hurt him. By trying to push him away, I had hurt him. Every time I opened my mouth and belittled myself with my "turns of rough poetry", I had sliced his heart as fine as my wrists. I did not know why he loved me as he did. I might never know. But as I stood there and held him, my back nagging at me and my leg screaming in protest, I realized that the least I could do was welcome his love with an open heart. And part of doing that was loving myself enough to want to live.”

“Green heard her voice, murmuring,and Adrian’s, murmuring back. Something inside of him made an actualglass-cracking noise—and before he could convince himself that that it washis imagination, Blissa and three of the other nymphs danced through thehallway and into the living room.“We heard that.” Blissa said, sweetly.“Heard what?” He asked, genuinely surprised.“Heard your heart breaking.” Said Grace.”

“Malcolm chuckled wickedly. "You, my American friend, are like a hidden landmine of sex appeal. I'm going to have to look out for you.""Too late." Owen raised his face to the unfamiliar smells, breezes, sounds of the city, enjoying them even more now that he knew something of it and it had become personal to him. "I've already exploded. You're caught."He tilted his head back and laughed, inviting Malcolm to share the joke, but Malcolm was unusually quiet.....”

“Don’t worry, due’ane,” He murmured lowly....“Who’s Dewey Anne.” I asked him, voice gruff. He was so familiar, this Bracken, but so strange, naked next to me. I could touchhim, I realized with wonder. I could run my hands from his flank to his shoulder, and he would welcome the touch because he was mine.You are.” He whispered, and I met his eyes. “It’s elfish, the feminine nounfor ‘other equal half’. You are my other. My everything.”--Wounded(Bracken and Cory)”

“So,” Asa said conversationally, “want to go home and play butterflies?” Sebastian grimaced. “Do you promise not to pull my wings off?” Asa looked at him sideways. “Do you promise to fly back?”