“I do not pretend, of course, that I have never done it; mere politeness forces one to it; there are women who sulk and grow bellicose unless one at least makes the motions of kissing them. But what I mean is that I have never found the act a tenth part as agreeable as poets, the authors of musical comedy librettos, and (on the contrary side) chaperones and the gendarmerie make it out. The physical sensation, far from being pleasant, is intensely uncomfortable—the suspension of respiration, indeed, quickly resolves itself into a feeling of suffocation—and the posture necessitated by the approximation of lips and lips is unfailingly a constrained and ungraceful one. Theoretically, a man kisses a woman perpendicularly, with their eyes, those "windows of the soul," synchronizing exactly. But actually, on account of the incompressibility of the nasal cartilages, he has to incline either his or her head to an angle of at least 60 degrees, and the result is that his right eye gazes insanely at the space between her eyebrows, while his left eye is fixed upon some vague spot behind her. An instantaneous photograph of such a maneuvre, taken at the moment of incidence, would probably turn the stomach of even the most romantic man, and force him, in sheer self-respect, to renounce kissing as he has renounced leap-frog and walking on stilts.”

“No, I didn't thank them, but I forgot with you. I still see you as V, as my best friend, not some prince, even an exiled one. It still sounds so strange.""I only want to be V when I'm with you. Though I have to say," his eyes met hers as a smile played on his soft, kissable lips. "I'd like to a be a little more than your best friend." Taking her hand, he kissed her palm, a slow, lingering kiss that left her gasping for breath even though his lips were nowhere near hers."What?" The word caught in her throat."Did you dream of me, Noli?" His lips brushed her ear. "I dreamt of you.""I did. They were..." Her toes curled at the memory of her dreams, those kisses. "Pleasant.""Pleasant? I seem to remember them being far more then merely pleasant." His green eyes danced in amusement.”

“I'm a hoyden, my mother works, I enjoy fixing things and playing in the dirt." Her words got faster as if they might fade away into nothing if she didn't get them out quick enough. "You're from a respectable family and now I find out you're a prince, and you know how that always ends in the stories-" His warm lips met hers.(...)He gazed into her eyes with an intensity that made her soul burn."Those are just stories, Noli. This is real." Then he kissed her again.”

“Your holiness!" She raised her voice, forcing herself to sound tearful andsupplicatory. "If we are to die, would you let me kiss him one last time?"She half expected Taka to react to her uncharacteristic behavior, but he didn'tmove, didn't look at her. He was kneeling in the frozen dirt beside her, every inch of him alert, and she was probably the least of his concerns."You want to kiss the man who tried to kill you? You are a very foolish youngwoman," the Shirosama said. "Go ahead."Taka turned to her, his eyes dark and unreadable, waiting. She reached up, put her mouth against his and whispered, "I have a knife that's fallen down the front of my shirt, you son of a bitch. See if you can get it." The feel of his lips against hers was agony. The sickness deep inside her was that she wanted to kiss him anyway, no matter what he'd done.”

“As he drove, Beckett’s eyes found the beautiful, fierce soul next to him. She bit her lip and watched his face like it was a TV.Beckett curled his lip into a sneer. Thank the fuck outta you, he told her silently.Eve’s eyebrow rose in return. You’re welcome.“Baby, I want to take you far from here. I’m going to take you where the water’s as blue as your fucking eyes.” Beckett leaned in for a tender kiss, with one eye on the road. “I’m going to take you there as soon as this is over.”

“I held his hand tighter and still squeezing I leant across and kissed his lips, the lips that apologised for his huff as they lovingly connected with mine, and I strained to keep at least one eye on the road.”