“You take control, Emma," he whispered. The words tickled her ear, he spoke them so close. Shivers raced down her neck, down her chest and her belly. "Take control of me. Come to me." Her neck arched, wanting his mouth to bite her. "If you do Emma, I may give you what you want. Or I may offer more than you can handle. Risk. That's what you like, isn't it? So play with fire. Play with me.”

“You’re looking for a man who can fix you?”“No! I don’t expect a man to fix me! I’m not an idiot. I just want a man I can hide behind.”Chase’s eyebrows flew high. His mouth twitched up, and Jane felt her mouth twitch, too.“Jane, I’m no Dr. Phil, but I’m pretty sure you’re certifiably fucked-up.”“Shut up!”“It’s true. Man, if I wasn’t already in love with you, I’d be out of here.”

“I say seduce her, seduce her tonight. Break the door down if you have to. Tell her all those things you said to me about her. You will love her more tomorrow than today and how you want to die with her hand in yours–which is an excellent line, by the way, that I fully intend to borrow when the time comes.”

“I want you to play for me,” he told her as he passed the violin back.Her elegant fingers gripped the neck of her Stradivarius as she gently pulled it up and rested it on her left shoulder. She turned her chin, so it sat perfectly in the chin rest at the base of the lower bout.“What would you like me to play?” she asked, closing her eyes.“Something you want me to hear.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Emma snapped from her daze. She sat forward and slid to ground so quickly that Hart was forced to scoot back.He fell to his backside, suddenly struck with the image of how he must look: sprawled on the floor with a cockstand, a pair of pink drawers in his fist. Utterly ridiculous. Corrupt. Depraved. Hart couldn't help but grin.”