“Bit by bit, at 124 and in the Clearing, along with others, she had claimed herself. Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”

“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”

“She'd abandoned the animal she loved as she herself had been abandoned repeatedly in the past by people who had claimed to love her.”

“His mouth took ownership—teasing and tasting—even as his tongue began a slow torturous exploration. It was both a kiss and a claim. It was a promise of heated nights to come.... It was the stamp of his soul burning into hers and she knew from that moment forward that he had her...completely...irrevocably.He had been right all along: she had always belonged to him.”

“Death had to take her little by little, bit by bit, dragging her along to the bitter end of the miserable existence she'd made for herself. They never even knew what she did die of. Some spoke of a chill. But the truth was that she died from poverty, from the filth and the weariness of her wretched life.”

“But I figured every girl on the planet had found herself wishing she had a free pass inside a man’s mind at one point or another. Maybe it was self-preservation that we didn’t have such powers. It might be holy-crap creepy in there.”