“I appreciate your help, but that still does not satisfy my confusion. Who are you?” she asks as she sits forward.“I could be asking you the same thing, Mrs. Peeper,” he says as he laughs.”

“I asked him if he wanted to play music but he refused. He said that the only thing he wanted to hear was the pleasure of my moans.”

“You are no ordinary angel, Helena,” he whispers as he leans in closer. Chills shoot through her spine and the hair on her neck, back, and arms tingle against her skin as her eyes widen.”

“You’re too focused. Too high-strung. Too…” Eros trails off as he continues to look into Levi’s blue eyes. “Too caught up with being in love.”

“How can you care for a rough man like me?' he asked me. 'How can you love a man who can bring you no lands but the farm a soldier's pension can buy? Who can give your children no title of nobility?' Because love does not do sums, I should have told him. Love makes choices, and then gives its all. Had he seen himself as I first saw him though, he could have had no questions.”

“Han stroked her hair, shifting his body under her. “Why? What are you afraid of? Thieves or wizards?”“Both,” she said.“Is it because I‟m not a blueblood?” He asked this matter-of-factly, as if he really wanted to know.“That‟s the least of it,” Raisa said, taking a shuddering breath. “This is just going to lead to heartbreak, and I refuse to have my heart broken again.” She looked up at him. “I thought I could play at love. I thought I had the right, same as — as any courtier or a — a streetlord.”He shook his head. “Rebecca, listen, I—”“But I‟ve found out I‟m not made that way,” she interrupted. “I can‟t play this game if my heart‟s not in it. That‟s me personally. I‟m not judging anyone else.”“I see,” he said. He tightened his arms around her, brushing his fingers along her collarbone, setting her nerves tingling. “What‟s your heart saying now?”She wanted to be honest with him, even though she‟d probably pay for it. “I‟m in trouble,” she whispered.”

“...a proud man who could do more than he is asked to do. It is not good for the spirit.”