“Anytime,anywhere,ask,and I am yours.”

“You are not my wife yet, to concern yourself in my affairs.""And when I am your wife?"His conscience pricked him, making him snap, "You will learn not to question me."-Royce to Corliss-”

“Is there a reason you are here?" he finally demanded.With complete nonchalance she replied, "Well,I've brought my trunks. I do believe I'm moving in.""The hell you are!""Nice of you to welcome me in your usual boorish manner" was all she said to that.A muscle ticked in his jaw. It made not a jot of difference that he'd just gone to Norford and back this morning to bring her here himself. That had been his idea.Her coming here on her own was her idea,and it make him suspicious."Don't start your manipulations already," he warned her. "Answer my question.""Why am I still here? Shall we start with the obvious reason? Because I really am pregnant and once my pregnancy starts to show,I do not want to be in a position to have people ask me who my husband is and not believe me when I tell them that it's you.""And the not-so-obvious answer?""Because you make me so furious that I spite myself to spite you!”

“In response to his question, she warned, "There will not be any more kissing. You were an excellent teacher. I graduated from your class."He laughed,though he was quick to rejoin, "How disappointing. You were supposed to claim ineptitude and ask for further guidance.”

“No one is going to know about this, or should I be more explicit?""Yes," she replied sharply. "I am brilliantly cunning and stupidly dense at the same time.Do continue treating me like a child.""Your sarcasm is uncalled-for.""I disagree.Actually,I will probably disagree with you henceforth whether I agree with you or not! I can behave like a child if you insist on treating me like one.”

“But your habits undergo no change in this pretense? Or do you think anyone was fooled yesterday by your so-called 'appointment' last night? That is what you told your mother, correct? That you had an appointment?"His eyes came back to hers. "Are we showing signs of jealousy again?""I'm asking a pertinent question," she said stiffly. "If you think this pretense is going to only be one-sided, then it ends now."Incredibly,his humor returned abruptly, his grin quite wide. "Before you start turning green, I suppose I must admit that appointment wasn't a good word for it, since it wasn't a scheduled meeting. I merely went to see my solicitor,and,no, he doesn't wear skirts."She ignored that ridiculous attempt at a joke.”

“His eyes were cold steel, his mouth fixed in a hard line. "I like my face the way it is," he said icily. "You scar it with your nails as you did my chest and I swear I will give you equal scars. Think about that, Sam, before you use your claws again."Tears sprang to her eyes. "You're cruel, Hank. You leave me nothing.""And what did you leave me when you stole my heart?" he asked softly.She stared back at him, searching his eyes, seeing only naked honesty.”