“Stay with me always, my sweet, my love . . . my Claire.”

“You asked me once if I would still love you when your lips were puckered with age and your eyes werefaded. I can assure you that I will still love you when I have only the strength (and the scant teeth) left togum those puckered lips. I shall love you when your bones are sharp enough to pierce my fragile flesh. Ishall love you when the light in my own eyes fades for good and yours is the last sweet face I see.Because I am and ever shall be…”

“To me you are stardust sprinkled across a night sky, forever in my dreams, but out of my reach.”

“My lord! We thought you weretaking an afternoon nap!”“Sorry to disappoint you,” the earl of Sheffield drawled, his voice muffled by the rug. “Someone musthave forgotten to tuck me into my cradle.”

“Of course not! I knew you would protect me. You swore that you were strong enough to protect Vivienne, didn’t you? How can you promise to protect my sister, but not trust yourself to keep me safe?” The music swelled to a crescendo. Although Adrian kept her imprisoned against the muscular length of his body, he gave up all pretense of dancing. “Because I don’t lose my wits every time Vivienne walks into a room. I don’t toss and turn in my bed every night dreaming of making love to her. She doesn’t drive me to distraction with her endless questions, her incessant snooping, her harebrained schemes.” His voice rose. “I can trust myself to protect your sister because I’m not in love with her!”

“I wanted to prove myself worthy of the girl I loved. I wanted to be able to return and lay not only my heart, but the world, at her feet.”

“Don’t U want someone to complete you the way Mini-Me completed Dr. Evil? Someone who shares the same tastes in music food who will finish … my sentences? The last thing I need is someone stealing the punch lines to all my jokes.”