24
" When his hard hand cupped her face, an involuntary shiver raced up her spine, but she made no objection Then his lips were on hers.
It wasn’t what she expected. Instead of hot demand, there was testing, tasting. He shaped her lips with his, tilting his head this way and that, as though searching for the best angle. Her heart pounding, she conceded they were all good. But she wanted more. Without thought, she opened her mouth against his.
She sensed him stiffen, but instead of deepening the kiss, he started to pull back. Abandoning any pretense that she didn’t want this, hadn’t thought about it since the first moment she’d laid eyes on him, she caught his head and really kissed him. "
― Norah Wilson , Every Breath She Takes
37
" Patel, the jerk, had gravely presented his diagnosis—syncope resulting from an exaggerated respiratory response, leading to ventilation exceeding metabolic demands, resulting in hemodynamic and chemical changes.
When Tommy’d looked at him blankly, he’d laughed and said, “Relax, Tommy. You hyperventilated and fainted. At least we’re pretty sure that’s what happened. But we’d like to watch you for a while to rule out cardiogenic causes.”
And now, here he lay, confronting the fact that in layman’s terms, he’d been scared shitless. "
― Norah Wilson , Protecting Paige (Serve and Protect, #3)