“His resolve was blown as quickly as the rest of him.”
“Screw this. He’d blown his shot at nice-and-easy, which only left quick-and-brutal—my favorite way to play.”
“Damn Alex and his resolve. If I died a virgin, I’d never forgive him.”
“The resolve written in his eyes said no, but I could see exactly where I would have to push, and how hard, to break that resolve. It would be shockingly easy, but I found I did not wish it. ... Some part of him would break, along with his resolve, and I did not see a way to make it whole again. The jagged edge of it would stab at him all his life.”
“Reliving his degradation had struck some spark in him and it was glowing now like a blown-on coal.”
“One thing is certain and the rest is Lies;/The Flower that once has blown forever dies.”