For the first time in his life, his body chose. He chose. His choice was her. Anya Rafferty.
I belong to you, devochka moya. Everything I am and will ever be. My heart. My body. I belong to you and I want you to be familiar with what is yours.
The last child is secure. The phrase to remove him from the safety circle is Curious George likes his bike.
There was kindness in her and compassion. Two characteristics he didn’t have. Or at least, not in abundance. He was the perfect killing machine. He didn’t need to feel bad. Once unleashed, set on a course, he followed it until it was done.
Emma, I’ll never be easy. I won’t. I’m not going to pretend your life will be a bed of roses, but I can tell you that no man will ever need you more, or want you more, or love you more than I will.
He wouldn’t give up on her. He was prepared to do anything, fight any battle. No matter if the act was forbidden or not, if he could get her back, he would humble himself, put himself in any kind of jeopardy or fight any battle to save her.
He fought for his country, but mostly he fought for the people in his country so they had freedom to make choices. He just hoped they’d be good ones.
Her heart was so full, she was afraid it might burst. She had never dared to dream she would have a home and a family. She had never conceived of having friends. Life might never be perfect, but she had Nicolae, and he would always understand those terrible moments when the memories crept out from behind the doors in her mind. He would be there to hold her and help her.
He hoped they were wrong, but he had a bad feeling, that nagging one that always told him he was right. He didn’t like knowing, but that radar had saved not only him, but his fellow GhostWalkers on more than one occasion.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her like she was his and had been for years. Like he was a man dying and she was his greatest love. He felt like she was. Shylah Cosmos. His only little peony. His delicate flower. Dependable. Long-lived.
You have to commit to us. Just like you’re part of Torpedo Ink, I have to be part of you. You have to be all in.
Her mouth was a miracle, plain and simple. Heaven. He had never believed in heaven or God until that moment. Until he found it in her.
She had the faint taste of sass and sweet. Lethal and home. The combination was deadly to a man like him.
He’d been lucky enough to find a home with Team Four of the GhostWalkers in the Pararescue Unit. In his life, those men had been the first he’d ever given his allegiance to, and that had been hard-won.
He wanted Shylah to see past his physical appearance to ‘him’. He needed her to care who he was.
Francesca was... extraordinary. A gift. A miracle. She just gave herself to him. He was connected to her through their shadows and he knew how she felt. Frightened, bordering on terror. Still, he mattered to her. She saw him, not the Stefano the rest of the world saw, but the man inside who needed. Who didn’t want to stand alone. She gave herself to that man.
You’re so beautiful, Dax. Your heart. Your soul. I don’t think I could ever find a better man.
Once he had told her he wanted her to stay, she’d been lost in the wonder of that. No one ever wanted her. No one.
She’d made her way into his heart. Snuck in when he wasn’t looking. It was impossible to be with her and not fall deeply, madly in love with her.
You know who I am, what is inside me. If distance separated us, you would still need to feel my hands on you, my mouth on yours, my body in yours, a part of yours.