J.R. Ward, Lover Awakened

"Sometimes your whole life could hinge on a fraction of an inch. Or the beat of nanosecond. Or the knock on a door. Kind of made a male believe in the divine. It really did."

"I was dead unit you found me, though I breathed. I was sightless, though I could see. And then you came...and I was awakened."

"From out of nowhere, Phury felt an overwhelming tide of guilt, like someone had popped the lid off allhis deepest concerns and his fears for the future of the race. He had to respond to it, couldn't bear thepressure. Riding the wave, he found himself saying in a rush, "We live and die for our kind. The species is our firstand only concern. We fight every night and count the jars of thelessers we kill. Stealth is the way weprotect the civilians. The less they know about us, the safer they are. That is why we disappeared."

"Phury knelt beside him and stroked his face. "I've only ever had you to live for. If you die I have nothing. I'm utterly lost. And you are needed here." Zsadist tried to reach out, but couldn't lift his arms as Phury stood up. "God, Z, I keep thinking this tragedy of ours is going to be over. But it just keeps going, doesn't it" Zsadist blacked out to the sound of his twin's boots heading from the room."

"Good? No, that didn't go far enough. She'd made him feel… alive. Awakened."

"Look upon me, Mistress. Watch as I wither!"

"The necklace was a good excuse," he murmured."For what"I thought maybe I could go to Charleston and show up at your front door to give this back and maybe… you might let me in. Or something. I was worried that another male would court you, so I've been trying to go as fast as I could. I mean, I figured maybe if I could read, and if I took a little better care of myself, and if I tried to stop being such a mean-ass motherfucker…" He shook his head. "But don't misunderstand. It's not like I expected you to be happy to see me. I was just… you know, hoping… coffee. Tea. Chance to talk. Or some shit. Friends, maybe. Except if you had a male, he wouldn't allow that. So, yeah, that's why I've been hurrying."His yellow eyes lifted to hers. He was wincing, as if he were afraid of what might be showing on her face."Friends" she said."Yeah… I mean, I wouldn't disgrace you by asking for more than that. I know that you regret… Anyway, I just couldn't let you go without… Yeah, so… friends."

"Too late Bella. Now, it's too late. Show me."

"There was no reply. So Z glanced over again - just as a tear slide down Phury's cheek."Ah...fuck," Z muttered."Yeah. Pretty much." Another tear rolled out of Phury's eye. "God...damn. I'm leaking."Okay, brace yourself."Phury scrubbed his face with his palms. "Why"Because... I think I'm going to try to hug you."

"Z: "You know, this was a hell of a lot easier when you were out cold in the back of that truck."Phury: "That was you"Z:"You think it was Santa Claus or some shit?"

"I… What are you saying, Zsadist" she stammered, even though she'd heard every word. He glanced back down at the pencil in his hand and then turned to the table. Flipping the spiral notebook to a new page, he bent way over and labored on top of the paper for quite a while. Then he ripped the sheet free. His hand was shaking as he held it out. "It's messy."Bella took the paper. In a child's uneven block letters there were three words: I LOVE YOUHer lips flattened tight as her eyes stung. The handwriting got wavy and then disappeared. "Maybe you can't read it," he said in a small voice. "I can do it over." She shook her head. "I can read it just fine. It's… beautiful."I don't expect anything back. I mean… I know that you don't… feel that for me anymore. But I wanted you to know. It's important that you knew."