Christine Feehan

If you allowed yourself to hear or feel amusement, you would hear and feel pain.

I had to work so hard to find myself again, Alexandr." There was pain in her voice. "I was so lost without you. You left me raw and wounded and trapped in a dark place with no windows or doors. I didn't know how to live without you. I didn't know how to smile or feel or be. It took almost two years before I really accepted that it was over and I had to find a way to go on. I made myself strong. I'm alive again. I can wake up some mornings and be happy. I can look at the ocean and find peace again. Now you're asking me to risk everything all over again and I'm not certain I could survive if it all came crashing down.

I'm an observer. I read about life. I research life. I find a corner in a room and melt into it. I can become invisible. It's an art, and I am a wonderful practitioner.

She didn't know how to love, to give herself to someone, to out herself in someone else's keeping and take him into hers. She didn't trust anyone with her heart - or the darker places of her soul.

You can't be anything but who you are. I wouldn't love you the same if you stopped being you. How do I change enough to accept that ruthless streak in you.

We could get kinky and see how bats and rats make love, he suggested in a whisper, warm breath against her neck.You are a sick man, Jacques. Very, very sick.

Francesca took a navy blue sheath from a hanger and held it up. "This is darling, Gabriel. Don't you love it? You're right, I think we need to concentrate on much more feminine articles of clothing."He reached around her and fingered the soft material. "Where is the rest of it?" He was very serious, his dark eyes searching her face for signs she was teasing.

Are you ever going to kiss me without swearing first?

I have to figure out why I worked at a job I hated for years. I have to find out why I can__ see what everyone else sees in me. I don__ feel beautiful. When I look in the mirror, I never saw beautiful. For this to happen to someone like me, it__ devastating, Jonas. I don__ want you to think it__ vanity, it isn__. I can__ see me and I need to be able to do that. I need to find out what I__ like and what I want. I have to be comfortable in my own skin before I can be in a relationship the way you want.

Maybe you are already lost and just do not know it.

She yanked her hand away as if he had burned her, rubbing her palm along her thigh. The feeling didn__ go away, and neither did the butterflies he had sent winging in her stomach. __ow do you know you__e not a vampire?_ She needed to distract him, distract both of them. __aybe you forgot. You__e certainly capable of acting like one._ This time he laughed, startling both of them. The sound was husky, low, and foreign to his ears, as if he had forgotten what it was like. His black eyes leapt to her face almost in fear. __ot bad, wild man. First a growl, and now a laugh. We__e making progress._ Her eyes danced at him, reassured him.

When Jackson used that particular tone of voice, men died, pure and simple.

If I really wanted you to love me, I should have presented more of a challenge._ She burrowed deeper into a pillow. __y hair is a mess._ Mikhail sat on the edge of the bed, took the mass of silk in his hands, and gently began to weave the thick strands into a long, loose braid, __f you presented much more of a challenge, little one, my heart would never be able to take it._ He sounded amused.

His hand cupped her face, his thumb caressing the delicate line of her jaw. __isten to me, Raven._ He brushed a kiss on the top of her silky head. __ know I do not deserve you. You think you are somehow less than what I am, but in truth, you are so far above me, I have no right even to reach for you._ When she stirred as if to protest, Mikhail held her tighter. __o, little one, I know this is true. I see you clearly, whereas you do not have access to my thoughts and memories. I cannot give you up. I wish I was a stronger, better man so that I could do so, but I cannot. I can only promise you that I will do everything in my power to make you happy, to provide for you everything I can possibly give you. I ask for time to learn your ways, for room to make mistakes. If you need to hear words of love__ his mouth skimmed down the side of her face to find the corner of her mouth__ then I can say them to you in all honesty. I never believed I would have a woman of my own, a true lifemate. I have never wanted a woman for my own._ His kiss was infinitely tender, a searing, smoky flame tasting of love and longing. __ou are in my heart to stay, Raven. I know better than you the differences between us. I ask only for a chance.

We never can just stop time. Or take moments back. Life doesn't work that way, does it?

Sestrilla, hafelinaJue amourasestrillaAwou jue selavienaEn patre jueTranslation:Beloved one, little catI love you for all timeIn this timeAnd all others

The real question is, can you love the real me? Not the perfect person you want me to be, not that image you had of me, but who I really am.

...but you have to know when you close those doors, you don't leave anything for the other person.