“I do not know how he even managed to do what he did. He should not have been able to, but he did. He defended my home. Me. Himself. Us.”

“This kiss...I'm gone. Gone. I know in that moment, that I belong to him. It's what he said: I'm his. How it happened, I don't know. I really wish I did.”

“He stood more than a foot taller than I did, his shoulders like a football player’s pads, arms corded thick. He was huge, I realized. Kyle had been lean and toned. Colton was… something else. Obviously powerful. Hard. Primal.”

“He does not just fill my body, my womanhood. He fills me. My heart, my soul. He fills the horrible emptiness that has gaped inside me all my life.”

“When he died, I think she did, too, it just took longer time for her body to realize her heart and mind were already dead.”

“Hunter touches my cheek, kisses my chin. "I will always love you. You saved me, Rania."I shake my head. "No, you have saved me,""We have saved each other then," he says.”

“Moments like this, with Colton? They make it all bearable. He doesn't fix me, doesn't heal me. He just makes life worthwhile. He helps me remember to breathe.”