“James started to laugh. His chin hurt where she'd smacked him twice, his foot throbbed where she'd stepped on it, and his entire body felt as if he'd swum through a rosebush, which wasn't as far off the truth as it sounded. Yet still he started to laugh.”

“She just laughed in his face and told him she'd sooner crawl in a bed with his father's leeches before she'd crawl in one with him. She stopped laughing when he put his knife in her.”

“She'd survived Endovier, yet she could still laugh.”

“With a shrug and a blink, the policeman moved past Will, shaking his head and muttering something under his breath about swearing off the gin before he truly started seeing things. Will stepped aside to let the man pass, then raised his voice to a shout: "James Carstairs! Jem! Where are you, you disloyal bastard?”

“But he wasn't crying. Curiously, he felt too depressed to cry. Too hurt. It felt as if she'd taken the part of him that cried.”

“Oh yeah; his chest still hurt from the blow she'd given him earlier, and was now throbbing quite painfully with wanting her. Keeping her lips occupied while being mindful she wasn't very limber, Ian maneuvered Jessie onto his lap and tucked her head into the crook of his arm to get serious about loving her mouth.”