" He loved her, he knew that now. 'That' was what that longing, this never-ending want was.
How she believed in him- despite all that had happened, despite all that he was- he did not know, but he was grateful.
He angled his head, taking her sweet lips with his, drinking her succor, her faith in him. She was his light, his hope, guiding the way out of the depths of his Stygian despair.
"Iris," he murmured against her wet lips, "my radiant wife, my love, my life. I promise I will try to live up to your belief in me. I do not think I can do otherwise, for I would repine and die were I to leave you. I would be blind and alone, howling in the darkness. I would go mad without you."
He captured her mouth again, forcing her lips open, sliding his tongue into her, claiming her as his own.
Dark to light. "

― Elizabeth Hoyt , Duke of Desire (Maiden Lane, #12)