“Is this seat taken?" The deep, gravelly voice jolted Noelle from her blood-thirsty thoughts. When she laid eyes on the man it belonged to her breath caught in her throat. She blinked, wondering if ...”

“Swallowing, he peered down at Noelle, floored by the sheer calm reflecting back at him. "You okay, babe?" She rolled her eyes. "Of course. What do you think I am, a pansy-ass damsel who weeps at th...”

“It suddenly occurred to him that for the first time in years, they were about to be alone together for more than five minutes. Just the two of them. On a small jet. Tens of thousands of feet in the...”

“I hate phones," he grumbled into her neck. "Seriously, I wanna go back in time and murder Alexander Graham Bell." He sat up with a groan. "Or was it Edison who invented the phone? I can never remem...”

“She was a drug and he was an addict, hooked on her from the second he'd met her.”

“You said that if..." He trailed off, his expression hesitant and oddly defiant. "You said if I kissed you again without your permission, you'd slit my throat. Is that still the case?" Surprise jolt...”

“Only super-efforts count.”

“I want to be in a relationship where you telling me you love me is just a ceremonious validation of what you already show me.”

“That is what a well-guarded prayer life can reveal about us, that our trust is not in ourselves but in seeking God's strength for what we do. Prayer is not a substitute for action, but prayer under...”

“Im in, especially if theres a bad guy. Do I get to hurt a bad guy?”

“He was silent a moment; then he said, "I want a drink of water." She almost laughed aloud, because it was such a mundane request that could have been made of anyone, but then she saw the tension in...”

“Calmly, deliberately, he moved his hands down to her breasts and molded his fingers over them. Jay inhaled sharply, and he said, "Easy, easy," as he stroked the soft mounds. "Steve, no." But her ey...”

“Sara, we have to go," she whispers, even though my dad isn't there to hear her. She's not crying. She's calm. Matter-of-fact. As if she's asking me whether I want mayo or mustard on my sandwich. Ex...”

“The sky is deep, the sky is dark. The light of the stars is o damn stark/When I look up, I fill with fear, if all we have is what lies here, this lonely world, this troubled place, then cold dead s...”

“It is said that in death, all things become clear.”