“Instead I crawled next to him, snuggling close. "Zach, wake up.""Can't. Sleeping."I pressed my mouth to his in a full, deep kiss."Second thought, not sleeping.”

“And then I was asleep. That deep, can-still-taste-her-in-my-mouth sleep, that sleep that is not particularly restful but difficult to wake up from all the same.”

“I sleep with thee, and wake with thee,And yet thou are not there;I fill my arms with thoughts of thee,And press the common air.”

“But I know I'll never sleep again. I can't close my eyes when I'm next to her. It's like sleeping with a spider.”

“Raphael turned me over and looked at me, his face close to mine. "You and I will never be done.You're my mate."He kissed the corner of my mouth. I almost cried."I stopped sleeping since you left," he said "I'll sleep for a couple of hours, wake up, you're not there." I closed my eyes."I need an answer, Andrea," he said."An answer?""Mate. Yes or no.""Do you need to ask?" I whispered. "You're my mate.”

“Thoughts, pictures of him would come to me just a second after waking, shocking me from the forgetfulness of sleep, striking blows that were almost physical. And even in sleep I was not completely free. So often sleep brought dreams of him.”