Julia Quinn

This thing between them, this bond__t wasn__ just passion,and it wasn__ wicked.It was love, and it was divine.

I am going to kill you," he hissed.She gulped. "Don't you want to lecture me first?"He stared at her with a heavy dose of stupefaction."I take that back," he said with precisely clippedwords. "First I am going to strangle you, and then I am going to kill you.""Here?" she asked doubtfully, looking around. "Won't my dead body look suspicious in the morning?

Sebastian,_ Katarina said, turning to her nephew. __ou__e grown._ __t happens,_ Sebastian quipped, flashing her his usual lopsided grin.__oodness,_ she said with smile, __ou__l be a danger to the ladies soon.__arry very nearly rolled his eyes. Sebastian had already made conquests of nearly all the girls in the village near Hesslewhite. He must give off some sort of scent, because the females positively fell at his feet.It would have been appalling, except that the girls couldn__ all dance with Sebastian. And Harry was more than happy to be the nearest man standing when the smoke cleared.

Perriwickturned to Penelope as he set the tray down on a table. "If I might be so bold, my lady-""Perriwick!" Blake roared. "If I hear the phrase 'if I might be so bold' one more time, as God is mywitness, I'm going to toss you into the channel!""Oh dear," Penelope said. "Perhaps he does have the fever, after all.Perriwick , what do you think?"The butler reached for Blake's forehead, only to have his hand nearly bitten off. "Touch me and die,"Blake snarled.

To call that writing, madam, is an insult to quills and ink across the world.

Are you all right?_ he asked Olivia. His heart was still racing with terror that she__ been hurt. __ heard a woman scream.___h, that would have been me,_ Sebastian said.Harry looked down on his cousin, face frozen in disbelief. __ou made that noise?___t hurt,_ Sebastian bit off.Harry fought not to laugh. __ou scream like a leettle girl.

No words for the passion. No words for the need.No words for the sheer epiphany of the moment.And so, on an otherwise unremarkable Friday afternoon, in the heart of Mayfair, in a quiet drawing room on Mount Street, Colin Bridgerton kissed Penelope Featherington.And it was glorious.

You stopped,_ she whispered, looking surprised. __his isn__ the place,_ he replied. For a moment her face showed no change of expression. Then, almost as if someone were pulling a shade over her face, horror dawned. It started in her eyes, which grew impossibly round and somehow even more green than usual, then it reached her mouth, her lips parting as a gasp of air rushed in. __ didn__ think,_ she whispered, more to herself than to him. __ know._ He smiled. __ know. I hate it when you think. It always ends badly for me._ __e can__ do this again._ __e certainly can__ do it here._ __o, I mean__ __ou__e spoiling it._ __ut__ __umor me,_ he said, __nd let me believe the afternoon ended without your telling me this will never happen again._ __ut__ He pressed a finger to her lips. __ou__e not humoring me._ __ut__ __on__ I deserve this one little fantasy?_ At last, he broke through. She smiled. __ood,_ he said. __hat__ more like it._ Her lips quivered, then, amazingly, her smile grew. __xcellent,_ he murmured. __ow then, I__ going to leave. And you have only one task while I go. You will stay right here, and you will keep smiling. Because it breaks my heart to see any other expression on your face._ __ou won__ be able to see me,_ she pointed out. He touched her chin. ____l know._ And then, before her expression could change from that enchanting combination of shock and adoration, he left.-Sophie & Benedict

What are you smiling about?_ she asked. He drew back a few inches, cupping her face with both hands. __ow did you know I was smiling?_ __ could feel it on my lips._ He brought a finger to those lips, tracing the outline, then running the edge of his fingernail along the plump skin. __ou make me smile,_ he whispered. __hen you don__ make me want to scream, you make me smile._-Sophie & Benedict

He smiled, and suddenly she knew that his words were true. Everything would be all right. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but soon. Tragedy couldn't coexist in a world with one of Colin's smiles.

Love works in mysterious ways,

You should do that more often,_ he said. __augh, I mean.___ know._ But that sounded sad, and she didn__ want to be sad, so she added, __ don__ often get to torture grown men, though.___eally?_ he murmured. __ would think you do it all the time.__he looked at him.__hen you walk into a room,_ he said softly, __he air changes.

I thought that I needed a church and hundreds of guests and music thatactually sounded like music, but I was wrong.What I needed was a drunken priest, irreverent guests, and a companionwho learned to play piano from a goat.""Then you got exactly what you needed.""I suppose so. But then again, all I really needed was you.

Did you know I dream about your hair? I use to say it was the color of the sun at sunset, but I'm wrong. It's brighter than the sun, just as you are.

Maybe she was a wallflower. There was no shame in that. Especially not if one enjoyed being a wallflower.

Darling," he said distractedly,"about the moon...""Yes?""I don't think it matters whether you want it or not.""What are you talking about?" "The moon. I think it's yours."Victoria yawned, not bothering to open her eyes. "Fine. i'm glad to have it.""But--" Robert shook his head. He was growing fanciful. the moon didn't belong to his wife. It didn't follow her, protect her. It certainly didn't wink at anybody.But he stared out the window the rest of the way home, just in case

I'm home'', he said against her skin, and she realized it was the truth.''I'm home, too''.

You have to live each hour as if it's your last and each day as if you were immortal. - Kate Sheffield