“As much as it hurts to admit it, I knew he was right. I would love him with all my heart, but in the end, it wouldn't be enough. I'd long for everything I couldn't have, and that would kill the love between us. Not right away, but someday.”

“Before the war, a white man named Jonathan Edwards came to Stockbridge to teach my people about sin, but I doubt very much he could see sin in this. You defended yourself against a man who would otherwise have killed you and your friends. Perhaps you feel no regret because your spirit knows you did what was right.”

“It felt odd to have interrupted the life of someone she knew nothing about, to kill someone she had only just met, as though killing needed intimacy, deep knowledge of the other, to make it all right.”

“Electricity poured though him like liquid agony, setting every nerve on fire. His body arched, his muscles going into spams, a cry tearing itself from between clenched teeth. Then Quintana stepped back, leaving Zach shaking, breathless, wanting to puke. Strangely, he found the pain easier to bear now than he had two weeks before. Perhaps it was just that he'd been through this before. Or perhaps it was the fact that his pain was buying time for the woman he loved. Why hadn't he told her? Why hadn't he told Natalie he loved her when he'd had the chance? It would've taken only a few seconds. What the hell had he been afraid of?And all at once it hit him- regret as deep and wide as the ocean.Natalie.If he died today, she would never know what she meant to him. If he died, he would never even get a shot at building a life with her, of knowing what it was like to come home every night and find someone waiting for him. Hell, he wouldn't even know whether he'd gotten her pregnant. Then don't die, McBride.Zach looked into the eyes of the man who was going to kill him.I love you, Natalie. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Forgive me.”

“You deserve to know that I love you, more than I ever intended to, more than I ever thought I could love someone whom I admittedly barely know. It's the dumbest love there is, love that doesn't come back -- to you.”

“I've bled for you. I've killed for you. I've held you in my arms and done my best to make love to you. I'd give my life to protect you. Now I sit beside you, askin' you to trust me.”

“God Sophie... If there were any chance we could be together... If there were any woman I'd want to be the mother of my... Shit, this is so hard.""No, Hunt, it's simple. If right now is all we have, if this is all we get, then I'll grab it with both hands and take all I can.”