“There ain't a man in the world cares about a woman's past until he's thinking of her in his future.”

“Huh? Oh you have a hidden agenda, do you?" She laughed. His straight-faced humor always surprised her. "You promised me you didn't.""There is nothing hidden about it," he replied. My objective is obvious. I've decided I'd rather have you describe me as 'sweet' than a 'slagging pain in the tailset.'""Really?""Well..." he looked up from the bag. "Maybe not in public.""I might be able to confine myself to saying it in private, if you gave me a reason." Taya met his eyes, and he blushed.”

“I want Alister's killer. I'm letting you work with me because you want to and because if I didn't, you'd just get in my way.""You're 'letting' me work with you because you're too bad tempered to get information out of anybody on your own," she retorted. "I don't know why the lictors thought you might be useful to them. What do you do, stab prisoners with the sharp edge of your tongue until they beg for mercy?”

“Icarus.""Hmm?""I don't have a hidden agenda. Nor do I intend to use you or mislead you with my charm."Despite herself, she smiled, glancing at him. His face was studiously neutral."The day you act charming, I'll know something is wrong.”

“A clockwork heart can't replace the real thing.”

“When a woman submits to a man, it's the most precious gift she can give. Herself. Unreservedly. The man has to respect and honor that gift above all else. Even if he respects nothing else in the world, he must respect the woman in his care. It's his sworn duty to protect, honor and cherish his submissive. To take care of her and provide a safe haven. Someone who would put his own needs above his woman's is no man.”

“A man has to find a good woman, and when he finds her he has to win her love. then he has to earn her respect. then he has to cherish her trust. and then he has to, like, go on doing that for as long as they live. Until they both die. That's what it's all about. That's the most important thing in the world. That's what a man is, Yaar. A man is truly a man when he wins the love of a good woman, earns her respect, and keeps her trust. Until you do that, you're not a man.”