“His eyes opened, and he stared at me. The morning light was streaming through the window,and my hair rolled in waves over either shoulder.“God has smiled upon me. I have the most beautiful wife in all the land.”

“I close my eyes and let the music flow through my body like I was made for dancing to this specific song. When I open them, he is staring at me with an unmistakable yearning burning in his pupils. If there were a bedroom here, I have no doubt he would sling me over his shoulder and have his wicked way with me.”

“I gave my dad a thumbs-up.He stared at me. My mom turned to him in the car, asking him, What? What is it? He kept staring at me. My brown hair was an even bigger shock for him than I'd expected.I smiled and waved at him and mouthed, "Welcome home."He put his hand to his eyes. He knew I was finally cured.”

“Death watched me, amusement once again lifting to his dark eyes. Unlike me with my bedraggled clothes and knotted hair, he looked good in the morning light streaming into my apartment. Okay, actually, he looked exactly the same as when I’d first seen him when I was five years old, but recently I’d come to appreciate the way his black T-shirt pulled tight over the expanse of his shoulders and his faded jeans hugged his ass. Not that I was looking, of course. I mean, he was Death.”

“He looks exotic. Maybe Hawaiian or Cuban. He has light caramel skin, jet black hair and eyes to match. And the smile he turns on me? Holy shit.What is this? The land of misfit models?”

“Like a long wave, like a roll of heavy waters, he went over me, his devastating presence—dragging me open, laying bare the pebbles on the shore of my soul.”