J.R. Ward

“No offense-but until I see it, I'm not going to believe it.""And that is why you will fail."Adrian cursed and hit the door. "Great, you've got him channeling Yoda again. Can we get moving before he levitates my fucking bike?”

“You're looking at that chick like you want to roll her up in a taco and put your hot sauce all over her.”

“I don't do farm animals. Can't stand hay in your leathers?Or wool in my teeth.”

“Love, he realized, was like the daggers he made in his forge: When you first got one it was shiny and new and the blade glinted bright in the light. Holding it against your palm, you were full of optimism for what it would be like in the field, and you couldn't wait to try it out. Except those first couple of nights out were usually awkward as you got used to it and it got used to you.Over time, the steel lost its brand-new gleam, and the hilt became stained, and maybe you nicked the shit out of the thing a couple of times. What you got in return, however, saved your life: Once the pair of you were well acquainted, it became such a part of you that it was an extension of your own arm. It protected you and gave you a means to protect your brothers; it provided you with the confidnece and the power to face whatever came out of the night; and wherever you went, it stayed with you, right over your heart, always there when you needed it.You had to keep the blade up, however. And rewrap the hilt from time to time. And double-check the weight.Funny...all of that was well, duh when it came to weapons. Why hadn't it dawned on him that matings were the same?(From the thoughts of Vishous)”

“Dedicated to: You.There will never be another like you.For me...you are the one.Yeah, I don't have enough words for this....”

“I suppose this is for the best," Blay said into his shoulder. "You can't cook.""See? I'm so not Prince Charming.”

“he wanted to prostrate at newton's alter and weep with gratitude for the blessing that made all things fall to the goddamn ground”

“i am... absolutely destroyed at the loss. (--manny)”

“A book unopened alters not the ink on its pages. What is there is there.”

“Sometimes the only thing that got you through hell was that you were in too deep to pull out”

“You're a good Irishman, right?" When Butch nodded, V said, "Irish, Irish… let me think. Yeah…" Vishous's eyes sobered, and in a voice that cracked, he said, "May the road rise to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rains fall soft upon your fields. And… my dearest friend… until we meet again may the Lord hold you in the palm of His hand.”

“Call me," she whispered to him with a confidence that would fade as the days passed. Qhuinn smiled a little. "Take care."At the sound of the two words, Blay relaxed, his big shoulders easing up. In Qhuinn-landia, "Take care" was synonymous with "I'm never going to see, call or fuck you again.”

“You are the sweetest thug I've ever known.”

“They don't fit you?" V asked his roommate. "Not the point. No offense, but these are wicked Village People." Butch held his heavy arms out and turned in a circle, his bare chest catching the light. "I mean, come on.""They're for fighting, not fashion.""So are kilts, but you don't see me rocking the tartan.""And thank God for that. You're too bowlegged to pull that shit off."Butch assumed a bored expression. "You can bite me.”

“As he vomited, he felt, though did not see, V come over. Forcing his head up, Butch groaned, "Help me..."I'm going to, trahyner. Give me your hand." As Butch held his palm up in despair, Vishous whipped off his glove and grabbed on good and hard. V's energy, that beautiful, white light, poured down Butch's arm and ripped through him in a blast, cleansing, renewing.United by their clasped hands, they became again the two halves, the light and the dark. The Destroyer and the Savior. A whole.”

“Thanks for putting me up for it ... trahyner." As V's eyes flared, Butch said, "Yeah, I looked up what the word meant. 'Beloved Friend' fits you perfect as far as I'm concerned."V Flushed. Cleared his throat. "Good Deal, cop. Good... deal.”

“And Cormia will be okay, I mean, she's not kicked out of here, correct?" "She shall be welcomed back herein. She is a fine female. Just not...as well suited to this life as some of us are." In the quiet heartbeats that followed, he had an image of her undressing him for the shower, her guileless, innocent green eyes looking up at him as she fumbled with his belt and his leathers. She only wanted to do what was right. Back when this whole mess had gotten started, even though she'd been terrified, she would have done the right thing by her tradition and taken him in her. Which made her stronger than him, didn't it. She wasn't running. He was the one with the track shoes on. "You tell the others I was not worthy of her." As the Directrix's mouth fell open, he pointed a finger at her. "That's a goddamned order. You tell them...she is too good for me. I want her elevated to a special rank.... I want her fucking enshrined, do you understand me? You do right by her or I'll bust this place into ruins.”

“Cursing herself, she said, "I'm going to man up here. I'm going to so be twenty-one. You're not going to believe how tight in the head I'm going to be. Really. For real.”

“An active mind didn't need distractions in its physical environment. It needed a collection of outstanding books and a good lamp. Maybe some cheese and crackers.”

“Brace yourself , Effie.""Jesus Ch-" A grunt cut off the swearing. Wrath poked his head out of the window and whispered , "You're supposed to be a good Catholic. Isn't that blasphemy ?"Butch's tone was like someone had pissed out a fire on his bed. " You just threw half a car at me with nothing but a quote from Mrs. fucking Doubtfire.”

“Well...he's back in an exam room. Should I get out a quarter?"Everybody groaned. There was only one He out of the legions of male patients they treated, and coin bingo was typically how the staff decided who had to deal with him.”

“Put on your big girl pants and deal.”

“Pull up your big girl panties and just do it.”

“...Bringing the very heavens close enough to touch.It was Zsadist.His eyes closed, his head back, his mouth wide open, he sang.The scarred one, the souless one, had the voice of an angel.”

“You will leave now," she said softly, " or I will drag you out of here by your hair."The man had breath like a day-old tuna sandwich. "I hate dykes. You always think you're tougher than you really----"Xhex grabbed the man's wrist, turned him in a little circle, and cranked him arm up to the middle of his back. Then she clipped her leg around his ankles and shoved him off balance. He landed like a side of beef, the wind getting knocked out of him on a curse, his body plowing into the short-napped carpet. In a quick move, she bent down, buried one hand in his gelled-up hair, and locked the other on the collar of his suit jacket. As she draggep him face-first to the side exit, she was multitasking : creating a scene, commiting both an assault and a battery, and running the risk of a brawl if his buddies in the Hall of Fucktards got involved. But you had to put on a show every once in a while. To keep the peace, you had to get your hands dirty every once in a while.”

“Stop it.Do not feel safe with him. The Stockholm Syndrome is not your friend.”

“I liked you, cop. From the moment I met you. No… not the first moment. I wanted to kill you when I first met you. But then I liked you. A lot.”

“Dedicated to : You.Man, you had me at Hard-ass, you really did. But then there was your Here's looking at you, kid... Mad love to you.”

“Vishous : Oh, shit... you didn't rose-petal the bed, my lord. Tell me you didn't go like that ?Rhage : He petaled the bed ? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! LOLOLOLOLOLO”

“Butch : Two words for you. CYNDI.LAUPERVishous : Clearly, the paste you ate has gone to your head. Did Marissa like all that lace you glued on ? Oh... and I'm talking to your body, not that ridiculous card you made her.Butch : How does that song go ? *sings song about true colors*Vishous : I have no idea what you are talking about.Butch : Oh.Really. So you deny that shit was playing in the weight room yesterday ?Vishous : Please. Like I listen to crap like that ?Butch : So you deny that song was also playing in the Escalade last night ?Vishous : Don't act the fool.Butch : So you deny that song was ALSO coming out of your shower early this morning.”

“Destiny had a 518 area code..who knew." - Ehlena”

“Whether you have sight or not, I see the future in your eyes" - Beth”

“Wellsie frowned. "I'd like you to stay away from him, okay? He's...not right in a lot of ways. Do you know what I mean?"Actually, John wasn't so sure about that. Yeah, the guy was enough to make you think fondly of the boogeyman sometimes, but clearly he wasn't all bad.”

“What is your name?" she murmured.He cocked an eyebrow at her and then went back to staring at his brother. "I'm the evil one, in case you haven't figured it out.""I wanted your name, not your calling.""Being a bastard's more of a compulsion, really. And it's Zsadist. I am Zsadist.”

“You're getting into some kind of shape, cop."Aw, come on, now." Butch grinned. "Don't let that shower we took go to your head."Rhage fired a towel at the male. "Just pointing out your beer gut's gone."It was a Scotch pot. And I don't miss it.”

“You're such a pain in the ass. (Butch) Said the SIG to the Glock. (V)”

“Phury lit a blunt and eyed the sixteen cans of Aqua Net that were lined up on Butch and V's coffee table."What's doing with the hair spray? You boys going drag on us?"Butch held up the lenght of PVC pipe he was punching a hole in."Potato launcher, my man. Big fun.""Excuse me ?""Didn't you ever go to summer camp ?""Basket weaving and woodcarving are for humans. No offense, but we have better things to teach our youngs.”

“Surely it wasn't possible that Vin diPietro was the first assignment."Hello?" DiPietro waved. "You in there?"Nah, Jim thought. Can't be. That would be above and beyond any call of duty.Over the guy's shoulder, the commercial that was on the TV suddenly showed a price of $49.99-no, $29.99, with a little red arrow that ... considering where Vin was standing, poined right at his head. "Sh*t, no" Jim muttered. This was the guy? On the Tv screen, some woman in a pink bathrobe smiled up at the camera and mouthed, Yes, it is!”

“Let's take my truck," Jim said as he hit the gravel. "Less noise."And it has a radio, right?" With tragic concentration Adrian started warming up his voice, sounding like a moose being backstroked by a chesse grater.Jim shook his head at Eddie as the doors opened "How can you stand that racket?"Selective deafness"Teach me,master.”

“And I'm full aware of how much you don't like me at this moment"Can't be a new thing for you" Jim said”

“Course, I always knew you were a royal. Just didn't know it went past the pain-in-the-ass part.”

“Oh, the humanity....It was a wonder Rhage hadn't blinded himself with all that pop culture.”

“Fine, dandy, she thought. Then lose the shirt, peel off those leather pants, and lie down on my tile. We'll take turns being on the bottom.”

“And speaking of on board, she'd moved into John's room properly. In his closet, her leathers and her muscles shirts were hanging next to his, and their shitkickers were lined up together, and all her knives and her guns and her little toys were now locked up in his fire proof cabinet. Their ammo was even stacked together. How frickin' romantic.”

“Oh my God..."Xhex's heart stopped as she looked at him in the mirror. Across his upper back, in a glorious spread of black ink...in a declaration that didn't whisper but shouted...in a billboard-size front with flourishes...Her name in the Old Language.”

“So would you like to try on some clothes?" Beth nodded at what was in her arms. "I don't have many dresses but Fritz can get you some."You know what?" Marissa eyed the blue jeans the queen had on. "I've never worn a pair of pants before."I've got two pairs here if you want to try them out."Well, wasn't this a night for firsts. Sex. Arson. Pants.”

“John lifted his head and looked down at her. His eyes were worried and he was careful as he brushed at her hair. She smiled. "Nah, I'm fine. I'm more than fine." A sly grin bloomed as he mouthed, ain't that the truth. "Hold up there, big man. You think you can make me blush like I'm some girl ? Pulling that sweet talk?" As he nodded, she rolled her eyes. "I'll have you know I'm not the kind of female who goes all dizzy, popping a stiletto off the floor just because some guy kisses her deep." John was all male as he cocked a brow. And damn it if she didn't feel a tingle in her cheeks. " Listen, John Matthew." She took his chin in her hand. "You're not turning me into one of these females who goes gaga over her lover. Not happening. I'm not hard-wired for that." Her voice was stern and she meant every word, except the instant he rolled his hips and that huge arousal pushed into her, she purred. She purred. The sound was utterly foreign and she'd have sucked it back down her throat if she could have. Instead, she just left out another of those decidedly non-tough-guy moans. John bowed his head to her breast and started suckling on her as he somehow manage to keep thrusting in slow, even penetrations. Swept away, her hands found his hair again, spearing through the thick softness. " Oh, John..." And then he stopped dead, lifted his lips from her nipple, and smiled so wide it was a wonder he didn't bust off his front teeth. His expression was one of total and complete gotcha. " You are a bastard, " she said on a laugh. He nodded. And pressed into her with his full lenght again. It was perfect that he was giving her shit and showing her a little of who was boss. Just perfect. Somehow it made her respect him even more, but then, she'd always loved strength in all its forms. Even the teasing kind. "I'm not surrendering , you know." He pursed his lips and shook his head, all oh, no, of course not. And then he started to pull out of her. As she growled low in her throat, she sank her nails into his ass. "Where do you think you're going ?”

“She'd ended up passing out, and sometime later, John must have gotten up to use the loo and left the light on. Probably to make sure she didn't feel lost if she woke up. Because that's the kind of male he was.”

“John?As it was dark he whistled a what.You are such a male of worth, you know that. You really are.”

“And it was funny. The silence of him had a bizarre effect on her. Normally, she was the quiet one in situations, preferring to keep her own council and not share her thoughts on anything. But with John's mute presence, she felt curiously compelled to talk."I'm stuffed," she said, lying back against the pillows. As he cocked a brow and lifted the last Danish, she shook her head."God...no. I couldn't manage another thing."And it was only then that he began to eat."You waited for me ?" she said, frowning. When he ducked her gaze and shrugged, she cursed softly." You didn't have to."Another shrug. As she watched him, she murmured, "You have beautiful table manners." His blush was the color of Valentine's Day and she had to tell her heart to calm the fuck down as it started to beat fast.”