A weak but steady throb lay beneath Kev's searching fingertips. Win's heartbeat...the pulse that sustained his universe.

Poor people have few choices in life, and most of the time you don't think too much about it. You get the best you can and do without when necessary, and hope to God you won't be wiped out by something you can't control. But there are moments it hurts, where there is something you want in the very marrow of your bones and you know there is no way you can have it.

I was a new person in the same world, which was a lot more difficult than being the same person in a new world.

Dear Lord,” she said in a strangled whisper. “I can bear it for a while...but please don't let it hurt forever.

Ah, Evie,” she heard him say softly, “I must have a heart, after all…because right now it aches like the devil.” “Only your heart?” she asked ingenuously, making him laugh. He lowered her to the bed, his eyes sparkling wickedly. “Also a few other things,” he conceded. “And as my wife, it’s your duty to ease all my aches.

The feeling of relinquishing responsibility to someone else, letting him take control, was a relief beyond words.

Was this some new level of depravity? Had he developed a spinster fetish?