“I should have known you'd side with them. It's some sort of of male bonding thing to think women aren't capable of running their own lives."He nuzzled the top of her head with his chin. "It's ego and sheer desperation. We have to keep you thinking we're the superior species.""News flash, Jack - no women on the face of earth believes that anymore."He trailed kisses down her cheek. "But men don't know women know that. We still live in our fantasy world, so don't muck it up for us.”

“The bath is ready. You can tell me these rules while we relax in its warmth."Her eyes widened. "We? I don't think so. YOu may be in the habit of bathing with women,but I can assure you, I don't bathe with men.""That eases my mind," he replied dryly, amusement curling in his mind, but the urgency of his need building. "I have never bathed with a woman, Savannah, so the new experience should do us both good.""In your wildest dreams.""There is no need to be shy.We are both of the earth.""Spare me the garbage, Gregori. I'm not going to bathe with you, and that's final.”

“Laughing,Savannah jumped from her precarious perch on the boulder into the safety of Gregori's arms.He caught her,crushing her against his chest, sheer elation, exhilaration, rushing through his veins. To feel again was beyond his comprehension, to feel like this, to have such joy in him, was totally unbelievable. He whispered to her in the ancient language, words of love and commitment that he could not find a way to express in any other language. She was more than she could ever know to him; she was his life,the very air he breathed. You worry about the most ridiculous things, he said gruffly, burying his face for just a moment against her neck,inhaling her scent."Do I?" she asked aloud,her eyes dancing at him. "You're the one always concerned I'm going to do something wild.""You do wild things," he answered complacently. "I never know what you are going to do next. It is a good thing I reside in your mind, ma petite, or I would have to be locked up in the nearest asylum."Her lips brushed his chin, feathered along his jaw, then nibbled enticingly at the edge of his mouth. "I think you should be locked up.You're postively lethal to women.""Not to women,only to you.”

“He glanced at Ken. "Why the hell does a women complete a family?"Ken shrugged and exchanged a small smile with him. "I don't know, but let's keep her. She's mellowed you out, and I didn't think that was possible.""I've always been mellow.”

“As Byron shouldered his way inside behind her, she gave him a friendly smile and stood on her toes to brush his chin with a kiss. Mikhail stiffened, then immediately wrapped a possessive arm around her waist. “Carpathian women do not do that kind of thing,” he reprimanded her.She tilted her chin at him, in no way intimidated. “That’s because Carpathian males have such a territorial mentality—you know, a beat-their-chest, swing-from-the-trees sort of thing.” She turned her head to look at the couple lying on the floor. Her indrawn breath was audible.“Jacques,” she whispered his name, tears in her voice and in her blue eyes. “It really is you.” Eluding Mikhail’s outstretched, detaining hand, she ran to him.Let her, Gregori persuaded softly. Look at him.”

“By the time we have our fifth and sixth you'll be a pro." Kane teased. He nuzzled Sebastien head. " Do you hear that, son ? You're our experiment, so you'll have all sorts of excuses to do very naughty things.”

“Other people's houses are right on top of this one," he said. "I think they could take one step and be in our living room.""You haven't seen the courtyard yet, Gregori. The house opens up to a courtyard in the back, and it's immense and in quite good shape." Savannah began heading up the stairs, ignoring his grousing."I hate to think what you would call bad shape," he muttered as he followed her upstairs."I wonder why everything is so dusty," Savannah said. "I had the real estate people come in and clean and get things ready for our arrival.""Do not touch anything," Gregori hissed softly, and very gently caught her shoulders to put her behind him."What is it?" Instinctively she lowered her voice and looked around, trying to see if there was some danger she had been unable to sense."If people came and made up the bed and prepared the house for your arrival, then they would have removed the dust too.""Maybe they're incredibly incompetent," she suggested hopefully.Gregori glanced at her and found the hard edge of his mouth softening. She was making him want to smile all the time, even in the most serious of situations. "I am certain any company would work overtime trying to make you happy, ma petite. I know I do."She blushed at the memory of how he did so. "So why all the dust?" she asked, deliberately distracting him."I think Julian left us a message. You have remained with humans so long, you see only with your eyes."Savannah rolled her eyes at the reprimand. "And you've lived in the hills so long,you've forgotten how to have fun."The pale eyes slid over her, wrapping her in heat. "I have my own ideas of fun, cherie. I would be willing to show you if you like," he offered wickedly.Her chin lifted, blue eyes challenging. "If you think you're scaring me with your big-bad-wolf routine,you're not," she said.He could hear her heart beat. Smell her scent calling to him. "Perhaps I will think of something to change that," he cautioned her.”