“Even the powerful needed protection sometimes.”

“He tasted each one of them. The raw power and majesty of Wrath. The vast strength of Rhage. The burning, protective loyalty of Phury. The cold savagery of Zsadist. The sharp cunning of Vishous.”

“Sometimes IVs and pills weren’t always the best course of treatment for the injured. Sometimes all you needed was the touch of the one you loved and the sound of their voice and the knowledge that you were home, and that was enough to drag you back fromthe brink.”

“How sweetly he came to her, she thought. Even with his bulk and power, he came to her...sweetly.”

“She frowned. Then blurted, "Do you have other females?"As if anyone could measure up to her? "No! Why do you ask?""We haven't layed together and you are a male with obvious... needs. Even now, your body has changed, hardening, growing big."Crap. He'd tried to hide the erection, he really had. "Marissa-""Surely you need to be eased regularly. Your body is phearsom."That didn't sound good. "What?""Potent and powerful. Worthy of entering a female."Butch closed his eye, thinking Mr. Worthy was really rising to the occasion now.”

“And it was kind of funny to see all these professional fighters unwilling to get within a mile of the female. Then again, if you wanted to survive doing the work they did, accurate risk assessment was something you developed early -- and even Qhuinn, who was the object of the protective instinct the Chosen was rocking, wouldn't have dared touch her.”

“He knew then that there are many ways for a heart to break. Sometimes it’s from the crowding of life, the compression of responsibility and birth right and burden that just squeezed you until you couldn’t breathe anymore. Even though your lungs were working just fine. And sometimes it’s from the casual cruelty of a fate that took you far from where you had thought you would end up. And sometimes it’s age in the face of youth. Or sickness in the face of health. But sometimes it’s just because you’re looking into the eyes of your lover and your gratitude for having them in your life overflows... because you showed them what was on the inside and they didn’t run scared or turn away, they accepted you and loved you and held you in the midst of your passion or your fear... or your combination of both.”