“Samantha, you’re okay. I promise. The orgasmic cocktail of oxytocin, endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin is just messing with your emotions.” He kissed my shoulder. With a soft chuckle, and added, “I knew you just needed the right man to please you. God, you’re so fucking amazing.”

~Samantha Sheridan, Night Shift

He, a man who took what he wanted, had no way of knowing that he held a woman who had never been taken. He had no idea I was still a virgin, that I’d never done any of this before.

I’d kept it to myself, thinking I would know when the right time would be for my first lover.

And now, somehow, the right time looked a hell of a lot like being pinned against a wall and f***ed by a man who’d stalked me for weeks.

~Lyla Oakley, Eyes on You

“You walked into Xyst, throwing legal daggers at men who know how to throw them back. Trust me, our aim is better, and now we have more targets.”

“I went from a career that was on track, a boyfriend who I thought was total husband material, and a past that was neatly tucked away where it belonged…to this.” I glanced around the room, holding my hands out in a helpless gesture. “Jobless, single, hitching rides with strangers. And a past that’s now the only future I have.” I laughed bitterly. “Sometimes fate’s a little bitch.”

~Noelle Nichols, Christmas Cancellation

As I held her, I made a silent vow. I would be there for her, no matter what. I would help her through this, help her find her strength, her courage. I would be her rock, her safe haven, her home because she deserved it. She deserved to be loved, to be cherished, to be protected. And I would be the one to give her that. No matter what it took, no matter what it cost me, I would be there for her. Always.

~Captain Kol Vinter, Christmas Cancellation

“Fuck.”

“What?” I asked.

“That sound.”

Heat burned across my face.

“I’m sure you’ve made women moan before.”

“Aye.” He pinched my nipple between his fingers. “But I haven’t heard you.”

She was Persephone.

Pure spring caught in the harsh reality of my dark domain.

And I?

I was Hades.

King of an underworld forged not of myth but of concrete and blood.

I knew, in the gut-wrenching way only a man like me could, that what I was about to do was wrong. I knew every fiber of her being would scream against the chains I hadn’t even yet forged—but I couldn’t stop the inevitable.

I would make her mine.

~Nikolai Volkov, Eyes on You

“And when you make love to me, you don’t touch me like something that needs to be repaired. You know exactly what men did to me, and your hands still move over me like every inch of my body is something you want. You don’t make me feel damaged or fragile. You make me feel like a woman you can’t get enough of.”

I was a man, and she felt like every bad decision I’d ever enjoyed making.

It wasn’t merely his pale aquamarine irises, sun-darkened skin, and black hair that held me captive. It was the unspoken threat and raw power within him that stripped me of my own will.

It was as if he could read my thoughts, latch onto my soul, and yank it from my very body.

Whoever he was, he was dangerous and had developed a twisted interest in me—wanted something from me—and that wasn’t good. The anger he exuded told me that much.

~Lyla Oakley, Eyes on You