“Helen?’ Lucas asked, his voice faint and breathy.‘Make sound. If alive,’ he barley managed to say.”

“Lucas Delos,” he said, holding out his hand.“Don’t you hate this kid?” Jerry asked Helen candidly as he shook the offered hand.”

“Lucas Delos stood over her, his body tense, his eyes scanning the distance for something that Helen couldn’'t see from her position on the ground.“'Are you injured?'” he asked in a low, unsteady voice, still looking out over her head. There was blood on his lip and his shirt was torn. Helen had a bare moment to say she was fine before she heard the sobbing sisters start to whisper.”

“Helen's modest. She wanted to dress herself," Ariadne said, drizzling honey over a bowl of oatmeal and putting it down in front of Helen."Modest? Sure she is," Hector said sarcastically as he passed Lucas the bacon."That was YOUR SISTER'S nightgown, wasn't it?" Lucas asked without skipping a beat as he served Helen and himself.Hector wisely shut his mouth."Yeah," Ariadne replied for him, not getting it. "So comfortable! What? What are you all laughing at?”

“He stalked up behind her to clench her hips, and she stilled.In a breathy voice, she asked, "You're going to make love to me again, aren't you?"In answer,he lifted her onto the counter, tore off her shift, then pressed her naked body back into the blooms.”

“His voice sounded like molten metal. As if he had something thick at the back of his throat and it was making him sound deeper and richer than he actually was.”