“He had risked his freedom and his pride to buy her this, to acknowledge that part of her that everyone else seemed to want to get rid of.”

“The place between his thighs seemed to him as round and full as a small Virginia smoked ham. He had to get rid of it, before anyone else noticed it.”

“He grunted and stirred, withdrawing from her. She only had a moment to be disappointed and then he flipped her to her back and rose over her, powerful and male. He casually parted her legs with his knees and thrust into her again, hot and hard.She gasped at the swift invasion, the lovely feeling, and then his face was next to hers, his big palms cradling her cheeks.“What I want,” he drawled, “is ye. Nothin’ else.”

“She did not want to be greater than her husband: what she did want was that he should acknowledge her as his equal, with love and with respect.”

“He wanted that again, that feeling of standing with her against all odds and succeeding. He wanted it so bad, he was going to risk destroying everything he and his father had worked for.”

“Intimacy with Wright had seemed necessary; an essential human experience she didn’t think she’d get anywhere else, at least not on her terms. Ryker changed everything.Ryker, she wanted. Hell, a part of her needed him, and the rest of her just craved.”