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ace2fc7
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I'm honest enough to say that I dinna care what the right and wrong of hit may be, so long as you are here wi' me, Claire," he said softly. "If it was a sin for you to choose me... then I would go to the Devil himself and bless him for tempting ye to it."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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ae667ee
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Pointing out the emotion in a scene is like laughing at your own jokes.
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sex
writing
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Diana Gabaldon |
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f08c6f4
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He's fair-haired, wi' long yellow locks tied up wi' blue ribbon. And big eyes and long lashes, too, like a lassie's." Hayes leered at his listeners, batting his own stubby lashes in mock flirtation. Encouraged by the laughter, he went on to describe the new Governor's clothes--"fine as a laird's"--his equipage and servant--"one of they Sassenachs as talks like he's burnt his tongue"--and as much as had been overheard of the new man's speech..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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27dc568
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sleep kept its distance, hovering over his bed like a bat, but never lighting. Every time he felt himself sinking into dreams, a vision of the wood at Carryarrick came before his eyes, and he found himself lying once more wide-awake and sweating, his heart thundering in his ears. He had been sixteen then, excited beyond bearing by his first campaign.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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37f5efd
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Would he have the courage to face the dreadful Highland charge? He couldn't bring himself to mention his fears even to Hector. Hector loved him, but Hector was twenty, tall and muscular and fearless, with a lieutenant's commission and dashing stories of battles fought in France. He didn't know, even now, whether it had been an urge to emulate Hector, or merely to impress him, that had led him to do it. In either case, when he saw the Highla..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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9746063
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He had touched a great snake once, a python that a friend of his uncle's had brought from the Indies, and that was what it had been like, Fraser's touch, lithe and smooth and horribly powerful, moving like the muscular coils, never where you expected it to be.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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badc668
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Lord John William Grey, aged sixteen and filled to the brim with regimental notions of gallantry and noble purpose, bruised, shaken, and fighting the pain of his broken arm, had tried to bargain, to save her from her fate.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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8183b5d
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And then, when he had told all he could, Fraser had laughingly revealed that the woman was his wife. They'd all laughed; he could hear the ribald Scottish voices now, hilarious in memory. Grey rolled over, shifting his weight irritably on the unaccustomed mattress.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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5971095
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Everyone had found out, of course, and while excuses were made because of his age and his noncommissioned status, he had been a pariah and an object of scorn. No one would speak to him, save his brother--and Hector. Loyal Hector.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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73bbaf7
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If he kept the man himself at a distance, perhaps he could also keep at bay the memories he stirred. And the feelings.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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a539849
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For while it was the memory of his past rage and humiliation that had kept him awake to begin with, it was the other side of the present situation that had left him still wakeful at dawn. The slowly dawning realization that Fraser was now his prisoner; no longer his tormentor, but a prisoner, like the others, entirely at his mercy.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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b8674b3
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He heard Fraser beg for mercy, imagined himself disdaining, haughty. He thought these things, and the spiked object turned over in his guts, piercing him with self-disgust. Whatever he might once have been to Grey, Fraser now was a beaten foe; a prisoner of war, and the charge of the Crown. He was Grey's charge, in fact; a responsibility, and his welfare the duty of honor.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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30584db
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He might have met Fraser in battle and taken a real and savage pleasure in killing or maiming him. But the inescapable fact was that so long as Fraser was his prisoner, he could not in honor harm the man.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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71cdf43
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For whether foolish or wise, naive or experienced, all the Greys were men of honor.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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016427a
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The body is amazingly plastic. The spirit, even more so. But there are some things you don't come back from.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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012d3a2
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He hadn't seen--or heard from--Grey since that day. Had the man been nursing a grudge all this time and finally decided to put paid to Jamie Fraser's account, once and for all? It was the most likely explanation--and unforgivable things had been said on both sides. Worse, both of them had meant the things they said, and both of them knew it. No excuse of hot blood speaking--though, in all justice, his own blood had boiled, and ...
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Diana Gabaldon |
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bad72ae
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To have ye with me again, to talk wi' you, to know I can say anything, not guard my words or hide my thoughts. God, Sassenach the Lord knows I am as lust-crazed as a lad, and I canna keep my hands from you, or anything else. But I would count that all well lost, had no more than the pleasure of havin' ye by me, and to tell ye all my heart.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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80f49fd
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When I'd lost him the first time, before Culloden, I'd remembered every moment of our last night together. Tiny things would come back to me through the years: the taste of salt on his temple and the curve of his skull as I cupped his head; the soft fine hair at the base of his neck, thick and damp in my fingers... the sudden, magical well of his blood in dawning light when I'd cut his hand and marked him forever as my own. Those things kep..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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f303abd
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What is it, love?" I whispered. "Jamie, I do love you." "I know it," he said quietly. "I do know it, my own. Let me tell ye in your sleep how much I love you. For there's no so much I can be saying to ye while ye wake, but the same poor words, again and again. While ye sleep in my arms, I can say things to ye that would be daft and silly waking, and your dreams will know the truth of them. Go back to sleep, mo duinne."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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58b295a
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When I asked my Da how ye knew which was the right women, he told me when the time came, I'd have no doubt. And I didn't. When I woke in the dark under that fruit tree on the road to Leoch with you sitting on my chest, cursing me for bleeding to death, I said to myself, "Jamie Fraser, for all ye canna see what she looks like, and for all she weighs as much as a good draft horse, this is the woman."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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37462de
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Grey shook his head and, wheezing gently, one hand to his bruised ribs, got awkwardly to his feet and hobbled to the wing chair. "You could ... have helped," he said to Fraser. "Ye managed brawly on your own," Fraser assured him gravely, and to his mortification, Grey found that this word of praise gratified him exceedingly."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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7e6bfe7
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In this instance, the point of showing you the king's funeral was primarily that it provided Lord John with his moment of enlightenment regarding Jamie's motive for remaining at Helwater. Secondarily, it shows a historical turning point that a) anchors the reader in time, b) metaphorically underlines the conclusion of the Grey brothers' quest, c) marks a turning point in Lord John's relationship with Jamie Fraser, and d) opens the door to a..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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1ba4ada
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I meant with my cook at Mount Josiah, in Virginia. His name is Manoke.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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ad8eb62
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It is not merely the relief of necessary urges," he added pointedly, turning his head to meet my eyes. "There is true liking between us." "I'm pleased to hear that," I murmured. "He, er, he's ..." "I have no idea whether his preference is solely for men. I rather doubt it--I was somewhat surprised when he made his desires known in re myself--but I am in no position to complain, whatever his tastes may be."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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ac46fbd
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They had had no opportunity to speak, though--and he could not seem to invent a pretext, let alone think what he might say if he found one. He felt amazingly self-conscious, like a boy unable to say anything to an attractive girl. He'd be blushing, next thing, he thought, disgusted with himself.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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f6d5b54
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Three days before his scheduled departure, he rose in the morning with the conviction that he must speak with Fraser, somehow. Not in the stiff manner of an interview between paroled prisoner and officer of the Crown--simply a few words, as man to man. If he could have that, he could go back to London with an easy heart, knowing that sometime, somewhere, there was the possibility that they might be friends again, even if that time and place..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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899d98d
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He could not help himself; whether it brought him comfort or misery, he felt he had no choice now but to speak of Fraser--and Quarry was the only man in London to whom he could so speak.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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0fec9fc
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Fatigue and distress tended merely to sharpen Grey's fine-cut features,
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Diana Gabaldon |
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f961e3f
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I, um, had had it in mind to take Azeel and Rodrigo with me to South Carolina. But they may be helpful to the present venture, if...er...if Rodrigo is sufficiently recovered." "Has he been ill?" Worry creased the general's already-furrowed brow. "I hear the yellow jack comes to the West Indies at this season, but I hadn't thought Jamaica was badly affected." "No, not ill, exactly. He had the misfortune to run afoul of a houngan--a sort of, ..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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1a7f5d5
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GENERAL STANLEY WAS still blinking in astonishment at Grey's brief description of the events that had culminated in his own appointment as military governor--Grey judiciously suppressing the facts that Azeel had commissioned an Obeah man to drive the previous governor mad and that Rodrigo had gone one step further and arranged to have the late Governor Warren killed and partially devoured--
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Diana Gabaldon |
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1e11262
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But Grey had refused to abandon Rodrigo, and so had Azeel. She had brought him slowly, slowly back to humanity--and then had married him, to the extreme horror of everyone in King's Town. "He's got back most of his speech," Grey explained to the general. "But only Spanish, that being his first language. He only remembers a few scattered words of English. We"--he smiled at Azeel, who ducked her head shyly--"hope that will improve, too, given..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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946b9d4
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I would like you to go with me to Cuba," Grey said, looking from one to the other. "Rodrigo could go where I could not go, and hear and see things I couldn't. But...there might be some small danger, and if you choose not to go, I will give you enough money for passage to the colonies. If you do choose to come with me, I will take you from Cuba to America, and you will either remain in my employment or, if you prefer, I will find you a place..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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4987d4a
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Fair enough," I whispered, and drained the cup, the shreds of tea leaf strong and bitter on my tongue." --
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Diana Gabaldon |
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7d532da
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blindness, and I was
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Diana Gabaldon |
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820b1b7
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I lifted the pistol a little,
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Diana Gabaldon |
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eaf703e
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It was going to be a bloody business, on both sides. He didn't like the thought but didn't shy away from it. It was war, and he was--once again--a soldier.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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8c98de3
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It will be all right," he said, taking her hand. "We will succeed--and we will rescue Senor Stubbs. I promise you."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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7626420
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Muchas gracias, my dear," he told her, and bowed low over her hand. "Azeel, please tell her that we could not even contemplate this venture without her courage and help. The entire British Navy is in her debt."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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f8a5175
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John felt the night as something wild creeping upon him, the force of spring itself rising from the ground into his feet, his legs, bursting through his body 'til the blood throbbed in his fingers, pulsed in his chest. Perhaps it was freedom, the exhilaration of their escape. Perhaps the excitement of a hunt by night, adventure and danger before them. Or the knowledge that he was an outlaw--with pursuit and danger certainly behind him.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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4fa7cdc
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He could hear Jamie's breath, or thought he could--it seemed part of the soft wind that touched his face. He could smell Jamie, smell the musk of his body, the dried sweat and dust in his clothes, and felt suddenly wolflike and feral, longing changed to outright hunger. He wanted. Master me, he thought, breathing deep, or shall I your master be?
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Diana Gabaldon |
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71f99b6
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You asked me if I thought it was worth it. I don't know. But it is my duty, regardless.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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0d4d1c6
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And damn you, too, Claire Randall Fraser, while I'm at it!" he said. "Damn right I begrudge! I grudge every memory of yours that doesna hold me, and every tear ye've shed for another, and every second you've spend in another man's bed! Damn you!" He knocked the brandy class from my hand - accidentally, I think - pulled me to him and kissed me hard. He drew back enough to shake me again. "You're mine, damn ye, Claire Fraser! Mine, and I wiln..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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fa99f5d
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Well, I'll tell ye, Sassenach, "graceful" is possibly not the first word that springs to mind at the thought of you. But I talk to you as I talk to my own soul. And, Sassenach, your face is my heart."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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d35ff58
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Jamie stood quite still, feeling his heart beat, watching. It was one of those strange moments that came to him rarely, but never left. A moment that stamped itself on heart and brain, instantly recallable in every detail, for all of his life.
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Diana Gabaldon |