“She straightened and crossed her arms. I cant sleep with you, she blurted. As you please.As you please? She stepped back, the rough wood of the bench bumping her upper calf. Shed braced herself for...”

“Ah, cariad, finally I have you to myself, with a bed behind me, and what do I do?”

“Knowing this was the same man from last night now clad again in his hunky knightly armor was a strange aphrodisiac. Yeah, a hot look, no denying.”

“She needed a distraction. Was that your mother? The splashing stopped. Are you going to converse while I bathe? Why not? Feels rather unseemly. She laughed, picturing him sitting there, shocked and...”

“He grinned: hed turned in time to witness her delicate white shoulders dip below the waters surface. Thankfully, she quickly completed her mornings ablutions and made a shooing motion with her hand...”

“You will be the death of me, woman.”

“And if you ever - and I do mean ever - try to leave me, Im goin with you.”

“..he wanted her.And at another time, as another man, he would have her. Without hesitation. As lover. . . as more.”

“Annabelle gave him a chiding smile. If youre implying that Im spoiled, I assure you that I am not.You should be. His warm gaze slid over her pink-tinted face and slender upper body, then sought her...”

“Theirs was a long, complicated story with a monster and a knight. What made their story unique was that these two players were the same person.”

“THE SAFEST PLACE YOU COULD BE IS BESIDE ME. KANAME”

“Toasted almond pancakes. Sweet soft 'okays'. Makin' me laugh more in a few weeks than I have in decades. 'Yes, Daddys' I feel in my dick. The first voicemail you left me, babe. I saved it and I lis...”