“We both know there's a ways to go. I'm going to trust you to help me get there."She swallowed, took a deep breath and gave him a ghost of a smile. "But when I do, I'm going to learn to take care of you right back, Captain Winston. So you'd better watch out.”

“See? Small steps. Just take it one thing at a time and you'll be fine. Angel, I'm not going to hurt you. You know that, right? Can you nod for me? Breathe a little?" Tender humor mixed with the concern in his face could undo her. And give her reassurance. She was rather amazed at the combination.”

“Is there anything you do that isn't designed to take you a step closer to the other side?"(...)Do you want that for Gen and Chloe? If you're going to take yourself out, do it with flame. Burn it all away, so there's nothing left but ashes, so we can still imagine everything we valued and loved…"He swung before she anticipated him. His fist went through her sheetrock as if it wasn't there, shattering paint and substance.(…)"You'll promise me. And you'll never betray that promise, or I swear to God it will kill me. Do you understand that? Do you know how much you mean to me? Even if you don't want me, you have to give me this.""I promise, I promise." She reached up, gathered him to her. He came inch by resisting inch until his face was against her neck. Suddenly he gave, dropping to his knees, his arms surrounding her so they were pressed against each other thigh to thigh, heart to heart. He pulled her in so tightly against him she couldn't breathe, but that didn't matter. Suddenly the world was about more than herself, more than about her pain and it was easier to let go of it to hold him in her arms, to give him comfort.”

“I don't need to be babied. I've taken care of myself for a long time.""You need all the babying you can get, angel. And something's bothering you. Are you going to tell me what's going on?""Go to hell." She slammed down the phone.She tightened her chin and her resolve. "I didn't expect to see you so soon.""I was told to go to hell. My connecting flight was delayed so I thought I'd drop in.”

“I'm not afraid of you. I'm not afraid of anything." "Yes, you are, on both counts. You're afraid of everything. In England there are castles with stone walls that go up over a hundred feet, built during a time when it was the strength of your fortress that won battles. Each time I look at you, I marvel at the feat of organic engineering that's allowed you to create such a fortification within a perfect composition of female flesh.”

“I know, sweetheart. I wish I could take away your fear, but the only way I know to do it is to help you face it. I’d face it for you if I could.”

“The strongest drive inside of a submissive, underneath all their emotional wounds, is for the Master to push aside any curtains or walls they may have erected to separate them from their true self, the naked, vulnerable soul. Because that soul wants only one thing. Do you want to know what that is?" <…> "I don't want to know. That's not what the training's about." "Wrong. That's what submissive training is all about. Getting past those shields so she feels truly bound to her Master, a part of him as he's a part of her. The ultimate connection, where thought isn't necessary. They're together in the most elemental and perfect way there is. She stared at him. "Let me go, Tyler. I can't do this." "You can. You will.”