“Running me off, are you? What about all this ‘me Breed, you mate’ crap you’re always spouting?”

“You are my mate, Ria. In my soul. You are my mate.~ Mercury”

“You are a light that will always guide me, a whisper I'll always strain to hear.”

“I hate Breeds,” she muttered. “Do you know that? You and your sharp, damned noses. Just because I want to doesn’t mean I should. Hell, I want cheesecake but I know better. It goes right to my hips. Does that mean I have to eat it anyway?” He stared back at her in disbelief. “You’re comparing me to cheesecake?” Offended male fury and outrage glittered in his eyes. She huffed, “Well, the same principle applies.”

“I am not in the least forbidden. You may sample me all you choose.”

“Ria snorted. “Leo’s pride rarely leaves the plains. What are theysupposed to mate? The zebras?”

“Don't worry about hurting me, Jordan." She brushed back her hair again as she turned from him and headed for the bedroom. "It was too late for that a long time ago."..."I've heard the lecture," she informed him as she glared back at him. "I've heard you tell your men how love is an illusion, and how they need to watch their backs before that illusion bites him on the ass, so many times it sickens me. Unless you have something original to add to it, then I don't want to hear it again, if you don't mind."..."You're fooling yourself." He had to force the words past his lips. "You're letting lust and pleasure betray you. Tehya. It tricks you. When it fades, all you have left is either friendship or enmity. It's the enmity that worries me, the knowledge of all the little ways you can destroy one another with the knowledge you've gained. I don't want us to go that route. I don't want you to hate me."..."Who ruined you before I ever had a chance at your heart?”