“Max saw the stranger give him the once-over, recognised it for what it was. Women had been making him offers since before he was legal. And he'd learned to turn them down without hurting their feelings ...”

“Max cuffed his brother good-naturedly on the ear as River slid in past him and bent to kiss Sophia on the cheek. “Hello, are you sure you’re with the right brother?”Sophia had never had a younger sibling. But this man with his laughing eyes and bright smile... “Are you making me an offer?”

“He'd been so angry at her -always pushing his buttons, that girl. But then he'd taken her into his arms, and all that anger had blazed into a darker, hotly possessive need that had urged him to bend his head, bite down on the throbbing pulse in her neck, leave a mark.”

“Once, he'd used it in song, but the songs in his heart had gone silent long ago, and he knew that one day so would his voice. A man with nothing inside him eventually had nothing to say.”

“Once, he hadn't been able to touch her without causing himself pain. Now, it only hurt when he didn't touch her.”

“He was trying to make me his bed buddy. I declined. He gave chase."[...]"How, exactly, did you 'decline' his offer?""By slitting his throat."The silence in the garage was broken only by the sound of water drip-dripping somewhere in the distance. Sara just stared. So did Ransom. Then the idiot male started laughing hysterically. He laughed so hard he fell off the bike and onto the scarred concrete of the garage floor. Even that didn't stop him.Elena would've kicked him, except he'd probably use the chance to pull her down with him. "Shut up before I do the same to you."He tried to stop laughing. Failed. "Jesus, Ellie. You are awesome!”

“... because he was going to marry her. “It is customary to ask,” she now said as she turned to watch him button up a black shirt over that chest she’d licked and sucked and kissed not long ago. “Why?” He shrugged. “I’m not giving you a choice.”