Meljean Brook

“For the first time, his wife was waking up in his arms...And if he'd known how it would feel to have her there, his heart bursting out of his chest and his throat so full and tight that he couldn't have spoken a word if he'd wanted too, Thom would never have been able to pass a single night away form her. He didn't know how he ever would again.”

“When you're surrounded by stupidity, self-preservation isn't a sin.”

“When you come home to me, I will always be here waiting for you.”

“You've made vampire spiders?"Now it was her turn to wonder if her was serious. He should know that was't a possibility."They don't transform, just as animals and insects don't if they drink vampire blood""Can you imagine vampire mosquitoes? Or immortal, blood-sucking ants who make you feel all sexy when they bite”

“I've never understood it. That is always the first thing someone asks: Where are you from. Not 'What do you like?' or 'What do you believe?' or even 'What is your mother like?' which all have more bearing on the person I am. And if I don't tell them where I'm from, they try to guess.... It drives them mad, as if to know me they need to know where I am from.”

“People never believed of others what they couldn't imagine of themselves.”

“Yes. I remember.”His voice had deepened. I remember. Mina did, too, every conversation they’d had over breakfast, and it made her heart ache. Such a strange thing... She suddenly couldn’t laugh anymore.”

“I’ve only imagined seeing you again. That you’d come to my home. That I’d run into you on the street. That I’d look up, and you’d be there, and you’d be well . . . and I’d tell you that I love you.”

“You came." His gaze held hers. "And I knew that you are not useful to me, Ash. Not anymore. Except as a reason to get up in the morning --" "You don't sleep anymore," she reminded him, smiling. "Except as a reason to keep breathing --" "You don't need air." He narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm still new at this Guardian thing. So just shut up, and let me tell you that I love you.”

“Hot, hard and so thick that her fingertips didn't meet when she closed her hand around him.”

“Do you know why you‟ve found me half-naked? Do you know what this is?"I don‟t know, sir. What is this?” “This is karma. This is every negative thing I‟ve done, coming back to take a big bite of my ass.” The tightness in her throat eased. She strove to match the light tone his response invited. “That is unfortunate. Particularly as, in my professional opinion, the consequences of your actions are worse than you imagine.” “Why do you say that, Winters?” “Because you are much more than half-naked, sir. And although I have many talents, protecting you from mystical kar mic forces is not one of them.” He tilted his head, as if weighing that. “So chances are, I‟ll lose my shorts before we‟re done.”

“Money could buy her slippers. Only crazy would get her a man.”

“Breathe, Newberry. If you faint in the Blacksmith’s laboratory, only the stars above know what might be grafted to your body when you wake up.”

“Goddammit. Can't I save you just once?”

“Use me," he said. "For as long as you like.”

“You'll see. I have a collection of fine waistcoats and a handsome face." He stepped back to let her take in the full effect of both and her smile spread to the edge of a laugh.”

“My sister once warned me that a man who blushed so easily was probably a Man With Appetites.”

“Sunset was only thirty minutes gone when some pissant vampire waylaid Deacon on his way to Theriault's. One of those younger shits who wrote poetry to Mother Darkness and thought becoming a vampire would make him sparkle.”

“He expelled a long breath, smiled slightly as if in memory. “I heard them in their room. She said she was a bit tired, and he said that perhaps it was time to see what came next.”

“Perhaps we should see what comes next.”

“Men made life far too difficult when they insisted on neatly categorizing their emotions. When emotions became complicated, they brooded and struggled so mightily in an attempt to simplify them again—when, given time, everything would sort itself out and slide into its place.”

“Mine crept up on me instead of hitting me fast, but after a while, it was the same—so that if I didn't have a…a salve, I couldn't function, and I'd start planning my day around just getting it," she said quietly, and had to swallow before she continued. "And you tell yourself that it makes you feel good—but really, you're just getting by. Because you feel like shit with it, but you really feel like shit without it, so you need it to get through the day. And after a while, you‟re desperate to get through the day without it, but know that stopping will feel worse than going—and you don't know if you're clinging to it as much as it‟s clinging to you. But you‟re constantly looking for a way to get rid of it without hurting yourself…but there‟s no way. And eventually you hate it as much as you need it. (..) So I never, ever want to be anybody's salve.”

“She'd been a silly girl who'd dreamed of love, and a stupid girl who'd declared love a fraud; but she'd never imagined that when she found it,it would be richer, more powerful than dreams, and the impossibility of keeping it more painful than the worst betrayal.”

“Even worse than not being noticed, he decided, was being noticed and found wanting.”

“Do my questions annoy you?”He glanced at her, his surprise evident. “No. I’m far too vain to object; I am my favorite topic.”

“She trailed after him, admiring the line of his back. He began climbing the stairs, and she sighed with pleasure. Every bit of him was gorgeous. “Do you mind if I objectify you?”“Please do,” he said over his shoulder. “Particularly my knees, as they are oft-neglected.”“Maybe if you ever got your pants off, they wouldn’t be.”“It hardly matters, sweet; once they’ve come off, the attention isn’t likely to center on my absurdly handsome knees.”

“She did like him...sometimes. When he was not a complete knacker.”

“I'll kiss you until we can't breathe. I'll strip you naked and taste every inch of you. Then I'll shag you until neither of us can see straight.”

“No armor. No buckles. Only a few layers of cotton and ten feet of parlor separated his mouth from her breasts.”

“The first opportunity he got, Rhys was going to shag her blind.”

“Confounding woman. He wanted to drag her close and kiss her senseless.”

“He focused on the inspector, instead, though she didn't want him watching her. But Rhys liked the way she looked, particularly when her expression suggested that she'd prefer to have a gun aimed at his head rather than sit across from him in a private railcar.”

“I'm beginning to think that you aren't with child. You've simply become fat after reading too many recipes.”

“...she studied his clothes, his top hat. “And you’ve just come from Parliament? How are you finding that?”“It’s much like piracy. You tell your enemies that if they don’t fall in line, you’ll leave them to die.”

“She met the Lusitanian cooks, a husband and wife team whose passionate screams inPortuguese during their fights and lovemaking were legendary among the sailors. - pag. 191”

“He cupped her face in his hands, made her meet his gaze. Solemnly, he said, “I heard you say that when two people love each other, they fight through everything together. Every doubt, every challenge, every pain. Fight with me, Mina. Please. You are the only one for me, for as long as I live. And if you love me, fight with me.”

“Her hand shot to the front of his breeches, making claws of her fingers and trapping his genitals in a tight grip. He froze. As if testing, she hefted thefirm weight she found. Heavy, but so very delicate.She bared her teeth. “And even in the dark, now I’ll know that I’m ripping off the right cods.”His eyes narrowed, and the hot interest she saw in his gaze sent shivers skittering down her spine. That wasn’t just business now. She tightened hergrip.”

“His slow smile didn’t soften his hawkish features. “You’ll come to my bed. And you won’t think it a waste of time.”

“Her parents exchanged an odd glance. Her mother’s lips curved. “Yes, I imagine that he possesses a rather large cannon,” she said, spearing hersausage with a fork.”

“Aghast, Yasmeen gaped at her before looking to the duke. "It's worse than I thought. Not just the Horde, not just the police- you're keeping company with someone who has principles.”