“Not caring who heard, I let loose a wail I left I'd been saving up my whole life. It traveled through my body, beginning in my lungs and spreading to the tips of my fingers and toes. I screamed until there was nothing left inside that hadn't been stripped raw.”

“I stood still, unable to move as he gently placed his lips on my forehead. The softness of his kiss left a deeper mark on me than Kandek's brand ever could have.”

“Ben reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me back to him. His lips tickled against my ear as he whispered, "I will do anything to save you, Eloh. Anything. Don't mistake this for something else.”

“There will always be sadness, child, but until you're dead life goes on. Don't waste it lying in bed.”

“I had someone's arms to fall into and I wasn't going to wait one more moment to free him.”

“Ivy held no claim over me," he said softly. "You, on the other hand, you claimed me from the moment I first saw you.”

“I went into the hall and looked out the front window for the twentienth time and told myself to relax for the fiftieth. It could not be healthy, this breathless, silly, heart-pounding state I'd been in since I'd called him back and left a message and he'd called me back and I'd been convinced he could hear my heartbeat through the phone. All so I could run around my room like a hamster on crack, tripping over discarded jeans and trying to figure out where I'd dropped yesterday's bra.”