Oh no. Don’t smile. You’ll kill me. I stop breathing when you smile.
Clearly the sight of a well-muscled forearm incited a woman to utter depravity. How else to explain the invention of cuffs?
A hint of sensual frustration roughened his voice.“And I will curse the gods along with them, Min. Some wild monsoon raged through me as I looked at you just now. It’s left me rearranged inside, and I don’t have a map.
You’re my home, Susanna. My home, my heart, my dearest love. Wherever you are, that’s where I belong. Always.” – Victor Bramwell, Earl of Rycliff
Her chin lifted. “Very well. Here is my best offer. Half of my nakedness for all of yours.”He pretended to think on it. ” It’s a bargain.
Squabbling over too little is just human nature. But it says a great deal about a person, what they do with abundance.
No, no. Don’t make that face. Every time I propose to you, you make that twisty, unhappy face. It wears on a man’s confidence.
Why must this be so mortifying? Oh, that’s right. Because its my life.
Prithee,” He protested, “if thou wouldst waiteth a goddamned second-
The love of books was an instant connection, and a true boon for a girl who tended toward shyness, because it was a source of endless conversation.
He rubbed his hands up and down, warming her. “Then that’s all you need to know. I have you. If there are beasties in the dark, they have to get through me.
It was only a matter of time. She would love him before the week was out and it would be gloriously terrible, wonderfully hopeless.
It’s never been my desire to conquer you, Amelia. If you leave this room with me, it must be at my side. As my wife, my lover, my partner …” His thumb brushed her lip. “My dearest friend.
The pain of an injury is over in seconds. Everything that comes after is the pain of getting well.” He gave her a heartfelt look, full of apology. “I’d forgotten that you see. Coming back to life … It hurts.
Izzy was utterly convinced. Never mind Arabian horses, African cheetahs. No creature in the world could bolt so quickly as a rake confronted with the word “marriage”. They ought to shout it out at footraces rather than using starting pi
There are all kinds of courage in the world, and most of it takes place far from battlefields.
You’re hurt.”“No. No, I’m fine. It’s not blood. The militiamen were adjusting Sir Lewis’s trebuchet, and there was a mishap. You took a melon for me.” She smiled, even though her lips trembled.
You’re a grown woman, and a clever one. I believe you understand the situation. And I’m going to trust that you know your own mind.
And she was well-enough acquainted with loneliness to understand that the worst part wasn’t having nobody caring for you – it was having nobody to care for.
I’m not going to touch her,” he said “She’s not mine.She never will be.””Indeed.” Bruiser rolled his eyes and dusted off his hat. “Definitely no years of pent-up lusting there. Glad we have that sorted.
Izzy felt as though she’d wandered into the third act of a play. She had no idea what was going on, but it was unbearably dramatic.
It seemed any young woman at odds with her place in life–be she a genteel lady or a serving girl–might find a happier home within the pages of a book.
Of course one kiss changes things. If it’s done right, a kiss changes everything.
These kisses… they were confessions. Tastes of everything she had stored inside her. Everything she could give a man if he was brave enough to accept. Kiss by kiss, she was baring herself to the soul.
You’re an intensely attractive woman. You do know that, don’t you?” To her silence, he replied, “You’d believe me if you could see your
You’re so young, you can’t know the meaning of true regret. It’s never what you’ve done, love, it’s what you’ve left undone.
Cleverness is like rouge – liberal application makes a woman look common and desperate. Wit is knowing how to apply it.
Oh no. Oh God. I couldn’t possibly be so stupid.””Don’t limit yourself. You can be anything you wish.
Forgive me, Your Grace. Are you suggesting a woman is some sort of … piece of fruit to you? One squeeze, and you know if she’s ripe?
No man deserves a woman like that. He mortgages his very soul to win her and spends his life paying off the debt.
He kissed her. Without warning, without permission. Without even deciding to do it, but simply because he couldn’t have done anything else. He needed that breath she was holding. It belonged to him, and he wanted it back.
I don’t care who he is. He needs to disappear.” Ransom turned and called out the window. “For the love of G-d man. I have England’s sweetheart bent over the desk and panting for me. Go away and come back tomorrow.
I’m not going to accept your challenge. There will be no duel.””Why not? Because I’m a woman?””No, because I’ve seen the way you spinsters handle a pistol. You’d shoot me dead where I stood.
We have to get out of here, Bram. Before they take our bollocks and use them for pincushions.
Your breasts are alabaster orbs.’ “What?” Rufus objected. “That’s stupid. I’m not saying that.” “Do you have some better suggestion?” “Why can’t you just say she’s got a fair set of titties?
Because I can only love you entirely. With everything I am, and everything I ever will be. Body, mind, heart, soul.” – Victor Bramwell, Earl of Rycliff.
What to make of this man? He was proper. He was passionate. He had the public demeanor of an iceberg, but he kissed her as if she were his oasis in a vast, arid d
There was a moment of tenderness between them, and for a moment he experienced the most rare, ridiculous emotion- hope.
Perhaps… Perhaps he could make her happy. Not with the Granville money or his social cachet, but just by being the man he was, at his core. Sometimes, when he looked deep into those blue eyes, it felt like anything was possible.
Don’t. Don’t play that game.” His brow pressed to hers. “When I heard you cry out . . . it was like a saber to the gut. I wanted to die.
Mr. Sand, do you think it’s possible to fall in love in the space of a single day?”He smiled. “I wouldn’t know. I only fall in love at night. Never lasts beyond breakfast, though.
Why did men have to ruin everything? The answer was simple, she supposed—because foolish women gave them the chance
Ransom?” She struggled to sit up. “What are you do—?” He laid his tongue to her core. “Oh.” She flopped back against the bed. “Oh.” God, she was sweet. Sweet and pink and musky and Izzy.
A man might engage in flirtation with distinterest, even disdain. But he never teases without affection.
It started to rain. Fat, heavy drops of summer rain – the kind that always struck her as vaguely lewd and debauched. Little potbellied drunkards, those summer raindrops, chortling on their way to earth and crashing open with glee.
Then she sighed. Just the faintest, softest release of breath. The sound swept through his chest like a hurricane, with the force to topple trees.
Kate realized she had a grave problem. She was infatuated. Or mildly insane. Possibly both.
At some point, while you were roaming the globe, making treaties and dividing the spoils of war, I quietly declared my own independence. I am the sovereign nation of Clio now. And there will be no terms of surrender.