An hour of your life is worth more than a thousand people to me.

Sophia got up, taking one last look at the extraordinary daughter Councilor Nikita Duncan had borne.

You trying to make me crazy?” “Everyone needs a hobby.

Be gentle with him, Mercy. He's got a heart as big as Texas— he'll die for you without blinking. But he doesn't expect anyone to do the same for him.

Dropping her hand, she turned in his arms. Then, rising up on tiptoe, she cupped his face in her palms and drew him down. Her kiss was innocent, vulnerable, a caress so gentle that it made him her slave between one breath and the next.

His kiss held his heart. It broke hers.

She blew out a breath between gritted teeth. “Sometimes I really want to”—a frustrated sound—“bite you!” He froze. “I might let you.” “I won’t do it if you’d enjoy it.