“Goddammit. Can't I save you just once?”

“I'll kiss you until we can't breathe. I'll strip you naked and taste every inch of you. Then I'll shag you until neither of us can see straight.”

“You came." His gaze held hers. "And I knew that you are not useful to me, Ash. Not anymore. Except as a reason to get up in the morning --" "You don't sleep anymore," she reminded him, smiling. "Except as a reason to keep breathing --" "You don't need air." He narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm still new at this Guardian thing. So just shut up, and let me tell you that I love you.”

“Mine crept up on me instead of hitting me fast, but after a while, it was the same—so that if I didn't have a…a salve, I couldn't function, and I'd start planning my day around just getting it," she said quietly, and had to swallow before she continued. "And you tell yourself that it makes you feel good—but really, you're just getting by. Because you feel like shit with it, but you really feel like shit without it, so you need it to get through the day. And after a while, you‟re desperate to get through the day without it, but know that stopping will feel worse than going—and you don't know if you're clinging to it as much as it‟s clinging to you. But you‟re constantly looking for a way to get rid of it without hurting yourself…but there‟s no way. And eventually you hate it as much as you need it. (..) So I never, ever want to be anybody's salve.”

“She trailed after him, admiring the line of his back. He began climbing the stairs, and she sighed with pleasure. Every bit of him was gorgeous. “Do you mind if I objectify you?”“Please do,” he said over his shoulder. “Particularly my knees, as they are oft-neglected.”“Maybe if you ever got your pants off, they wouldn’t be.”“It hardly matters, sweet; once they’ve come off, the attention isn’t likely to center on my absurdly handsome knees.”

“Aghast, Yasmeen gaped at her before looking to the duke. "It's worse than I thought. Not just the Horde, not just the police- you're keeping company with someone who has principles.”

“My sister once warned me that a man who blushed so easily was probably a Man With Appetites.”