“He kissed each finger, and with each one of them spoken a word. Five kisses, five words. His last.”

“He bent to put his cheek against hers. His breath against her ear made her shudder with each deliberately spoken word. "I have wanted to do this," he said, "every moment of every hour of every day that I have been with you since the day I met you.”

“She opened her mouth to answer, but he was already kissing her. She had kissed him so many times—soft gentle kisses, hard and desperate ones, brief brushes of the lips that said good-bye, and kisses that seemed to go on for hours—and this was no different. The way the memory of someone who had once lived in a house might linger even after they were gone, like a sort of psychicimprint,herbody rememberedJace.Remembered the way he tasted, the slant of his mouth over hers, his scars under her fingers, the shape of his body under her hands.”

“Not enough," he said, letting her hair slip through his fingers. "If I kiss you all day, everyday, for the rest of my life, it won't be enough.”

“Five,' she said. Her lips and cheeks were flushed, but her gaze was steady.'Five?' Gabriel echoed blankly.'My rating,' she said, and smiled at him. 'Your skill and technique may, perhaps, require work, but the native talent is certainly there. What you require is practice.''And you are willing to be my tutor?' 'I should be very insulted if you chose another,' Cecily said, and leaned up to kiss him again.”

“The Queen‘s smile was wide and terrible. “What if I told you she could be freed by a kiss?”“You want Jace to kiss you?” Clary said, bewildered.…“Despite his charms,” the Queen said, “that kiss will not free the girl.”The four looked at each other, startled. “I could kiss Meliron, ” suggested Isabelle.“Nor that. Nor any one of my court.”Meliron moved away from Isabelle, who looked at her companions and threw up her hands. “I‘m not kissing any of you,” she said firmly. “Just so its official.”…Isabelle rolled her eyes. “Oh, for the Angel‘s sake. Look, if there’s no other way of getting out of this, I‘ll kiss Simon. I‘ve done it before, it wasn’t that bad.”“Thanks,” said Simon. “That’s very flattering.”“Alas,” said the Queen of the Seelie Court…“I‘m afraid that wont do either.”“Well, I‘m not kissing the mundane,” said Jace. “I‘d rather stay down here and rot.”“Forever?” said Simon. “Forever‘s an awfully long time.”Jace raised his eyebrows. “I knew it,” he said. “You want to kiss me, don’t you?”Simon threw up his hands in exasperation. “Of course not. But if-”“I guess its true what they say,” observed Jace. “There are no straight men in the trenches.”“That’s atheists, jackass,” said Simon furiously. “There are no atheists in the trenches.”

“Desire is not always lessened by disgust. Nor can it be bestowed, like a favor, to those most deserving of it. And as my words bind my magic, so you can know the truth. If she doesn’t desire his kiss, she won’t be free.”