“The man she’d glimpsed that morning, and the one who’d cared enough to put his arms around a packmate who was hurting, he was dangerous, someone who spoke to her soul beyond the primitive tug of sex.”

“Mike felt a tug somewhere in his chest he didn’t ever remember feeling, like someone was pulling at a hook. They were going to take care of this lovely woman. Keep her safe, take her away from danger. And then, well—forget about beating the guy up. Mike was going to find the fuckhead who’d hurt her and kill him.”

“What have I done?" I whispered.Jill put her arm around me, but it was Dimitri who spoke."What you had to.”

“Yesterday in the restaurant, she’d seen his sex appeal and roughness. At her house, she’d seen his danger. This morning, at the river, she’d seen his beauty and teasing, and again that danger.Of all of them, the tenderness she saw now was the most compelling. And terrifying.”

“He tugged her over the threshold with his good arm, barely cognizant of her startled squeak before his mouth swooped down to cover hers. She tasted pepperminty, as if she’d been sucking on a candy cane again. He swept his tongue between her lips to taste more of her while her arms locked around his neck.”

“He is a man, I think," he said, "who cares for nothing but a joke. He is a dangerous man."Lambert laughed in the act of lifting some macaroni to his mouth."Dangerous!" he said. "You don't know little Quin, sir!""Every man is dangerous," said the old man, without moving, "Who cares only for one thing. I was once dangerous myself.”