“I’ve had a rough six months, okay?” she cried. “Little Blue was my last friend,and frankly the last time his batteries ran out I had a fleeting moment of panicthat he’d been compromised!”

“He pushed up a little, raising his head to look into her eyes. After a moment, weariness settled into his features. "It's too late regardless. I'm yours now."I'm yours. The beautiful opposite of what Peter White had said to her. You're mine now, he'd crowed, as if she were a purchased treat. The difference, it seemed, between a boy and a man. Just as Jude had promised.”

“It wasn't funny.""Oh, mon coeur. It was the funniest thing I've ever heard.""Jude!" she cried, stomping her foot before she realized she'd done it."I'd kiss you now if I wasn't sure that you'd bit me."She would. She'd nip that obnoxious smile right off his face."Now I know why you're so good at it. Kissing. You've had loads of practice.”

“Can we go inside, Eve?"She inhaled quietly at the way his voice wrapped around her name. One deep syllable that had always made her wish she was called something longer and more complicated. Genevieve or Isabella. Something that would take him full seconds to say so she could feel it rumble over her skin.”

“She reached to give him an awkward hug, and when he hugged her back, his hand accidentallytouched her belly. It was surprisingly hard and something shifted beneath the surface.“Oh, shit!” he yelped, jerking back.“What’s wrong?”“It, uh, moved.”“Feels like an alien, doesn’t it? I swear to God, I have nightmares that it’s going to burst out of my stomach like a monster. But I think it’s prettyharmless.”

“He tilted his head in such gracious acknowledgment that she felt churlish. 'I can assure you I've not yet squished a lady. Not even once.”

“Yes," she spat. "I am quite picky. Often I like my seductions to consist of more than 'Hallo there. are to spread your knees for a duke?' Silly miss that I am.”