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d58d375
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You must think me the veriest ninny," she said, "not knowing how to dance." "I think you're very brave, actually, for admitting it." His free hand found hers and slowly lifted it into the air. "Most women of my acquaintance would have feigned an injury or disinterest." She looked up into his eyes even though she knew it would leave her breathless. "I haven't the acting skills to feign disinterest," she admitted. The hand at the small of ..
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Julia Quinn |
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c18bf11
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He took one of her fingers and rubbed it gently against his lips. "I want to see you tomorrow," he said softly. "I want to call on you and see where you live." She said nothing, just held herself steady, trying not to cry. "I want to meet your parents and pet your damned dog," he continued, somewhat unsteadily. "Do you understand what I mean?" Music and conversation still drifted up from below, but the only sound on the terrace was the h..
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Julia Quinn |
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e7aa814
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Violet pulled a face. "Of course I have great ambition that my children marry well and happily, but I am not the sort who'd marry her daughter off to a seventy-year-old man just because he was a duke!" "Did the dowager countess do that?" Benedict couldn't recall any seventy-year-old dukes making recent trips to the altar. "No," Violet admitted, "but she would. Whereas I--" Benedict bit back a smile as his mother pointed to herself with gr..
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Julia Quinn |
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e4b0157
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Hayat bir anda nasil da tepetaklak olabiliyordu.Bir dakika her sey yolunda iken hemen sonra ikinci dakikada...kolayca mahvoluyordu.
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julia-quinn
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Julia Quinn |
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1f33ea0
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No, no necesitaba a alguien perfecto. Solo necesitaba a alguien perfecto para ella.
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Julia Quinn |
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6b58382
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Le han dicho alguna vez que es un poco testaruda? --Constantemente. Es mi unico defecto. Escucho como Phillip se reia. --?El unico? --El unico que vale la pena comentar.
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Julia Quinn |
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9b4e2bb
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Hombres. El dia que aprendieran a aceptar un error, se convertirian en mujeres.
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Julia Quinn |
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ff80aa5
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Solo habia otra unica mujer en el mundo a la que le habia visto solamente la parte inferior de la cara. La sonrisa era igual; el atractivo hoyuelo en el extremo del menton era igual. Todo era igual. Sophie era la mujer del vestido plateado, la mujer del baile de mascaras. De pronto todo cobro sentido. Solo dos veces en su vida habia sentido esa atraccion inexplicable, casi mistica, por una mujer. Le habia parecido extraordinario encontrar a..
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Julia Quinn |
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0732c2f
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You shouldn't think of me as your responsibility," she finally said. He gave her a rather superior glance. "I told you I would find you a new position." "But--" "What could there possibly be to discuss?" "Nothing," she grumbled. "Nothing at all." Clearly, it was no use arguing with him just then. "Good." He leaned back contentedly against his pillows. "I'm glad you see it my way." Sophie stood. "I should be going." "To do what?" She..
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Julia Quinn |
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5c26d19
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Your plan isn't going to work." He was all innocence. "I have a plan?" "Oh, please," she scoffed. "You're going to try to wear me down in hopes that eventually I'll give in." "I would never dream of it." "I'm sure you dream of quite a bit more," she muttered. -Sophie & Benedict"
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Julia Quinn |
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09713e8
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Oh, dear," he blurted out. Sophie gave him an odd look. He didn't blame her. He sounded like a complete idiot. He didn't think he'd uttered the phrase, "Oh, dear," in years. If ever. Hell, he sounded like his mother. "Is something wrong?" Sophie asked. "I just remembered something," he said, rather stupidly, in his opinion. She raised her brows in question. "Something that I'd forgotten," Benedict said. "The things one remembers," s..
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Julia Quinn |
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e04cbba
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His finger floated across her cheek to her temple, and then from there traced her eyebrow, ruffling the soft hairs as it moved to the bridge of her nose. "So pretty," he said softly, "like a storybook fairy. Sometimes I think you couldn't possibly be real." Her only reply was a quickening of breath. "I think I'm going to kiss you," he whispered. "You think?" "I think I to kiss you," he said, looking as if he couldn't quite believe his..
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Julia Quinn |
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1e916ae
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She sighed. It was a sad, weary sound, and it nearly broke his heart. "You're very kind to try to help me," she said, "but I have already explored all of those avenues. Besides, I am not your responsibility." "You could be." She looked at him in surprise. In that moment, Benedict knew that he had to have her. There was a connection between them, a strange, inexplicable bond that he'd felt only one other time in his life, with the myster..
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Julia Quinn |
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6a7e231
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Sophie, Sophie, Sophie," he groaned, his lips moving frantically along her face until they found her mouth again. "I need you." He pressed his hips hotly against hers. "Do you feel how I need you?" "I need you, too," she whispered. And she did. There was a fire burning within her that had been simmering quietly for years. The sight of him had ignited it anew, and his touch was like kerosene, sending her into a conflagration. His fingers w..
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Julia Quinn |
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352cf0f
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You're trying to punish me," she said, "because I refused you." "No," he said slowly, considering her words even as he answered. "No, I'm not. I'd like to punish you, and in my current state of mind I'd even go so far as to say you deserve to be punished, but that's not why I'm doing it." "Then why are you?" "It's for your own good." "That's the most condescending, patronizing--" "I'm sure you're right," he allowed, "but nonetheless, i..
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Julia Quinn |
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723ac4b
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Banishing all caution, she allowed him to lead her out of the ballroom. He walked quickly, even as he wove through the pulsing crowd, and she found herself laughing as she tripped along after him. "Why is it," he said, halting for a moment when they reached the hall outside the ballroom, "that you always seem to be laughing at me?" She laughed again; she couldn't help it. "I'm happy," she said with a helpless shrug. "I'm just so happy to ..
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Julia Quinn |
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1ce35f1
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Very bad," she muttered. Benedict looked up. "Did you say something?" She crossed her arms mutinously. "Just that you're a very bad man." He chuckled. She'd known he would chuckle, and it still irritated her. He pulled the curtain away from the window and looked out. "We're nearly there," he said. He'd said that he was taking her directly to his mother's residence. Sophie remembered the grand house in Grosvenor Square as if she'd been ..
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Julia Quinn |
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dc045f9
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Benedict flipped back the curtains one last time, then let them fall into place. "Ah. Here we are." Sophie waited while he disembarked, then moved to the doorway. She briefly considered ignoring his outstretched hand and jumping down herself, but the carriage was quite high off the ground, and she really didn't wish to make a fool of herself by tripping and landing in the gutter. It would be nice to insult him, but not at the cost of a sp..
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Julia Quinn |
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b5be69f
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You're very quiet," Benedict said softly. "I was just thinking." "About?" "About what I'd miss-- and what I wouldn't miss-- should my life drastically change." His eyes grew intense. "And do you expect it to drastically change?" She shook her head and tried to keep the sadness out of her voice when she answered, "No." His voice grew so quiet it was almost a whisper. "Do you want it to change?" "Yes," she sighed, before she could stop..
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Julia Quinn |
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d29ec1e
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Your upbringing must have been the complete opposite of lonely," she said, "with so many brothers and sisters about." "You know who I am," he stated. She nodded. "I didn't at first." He walked over to the balustrade and leaned one hip against it, crossing his arms. "What gave me away?" "It was your brother, actually. You looked so alike--" "Even with our masks?" "Even with your masks," she said with an indulgent smile. "Lady Whistledo..
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Julia Quinn |
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c7ff274
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Do you here?" Sophie asked dryly. "No," he said, plopping down into the chair next to her, "although my mother is constantly telling me to make myself right at home." She could think of no witty rejoinder, so she merely "hmmphed" and stuck her nose back in her book. He plunked his feet on the small table in front. "And what are we reading today?" "That question," she said, snapping the book shut but leaving her finger in to mark her p..
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Julia Quinn |
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446137e
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What are you up to?" she asked. "Why would you think I'm up to anything?" Her lips pursed before she said, "You wouldn't be you if you weren't up to something." He smiled at that. "I do believe that was a compliment." "It wasn't necessarily intended as such." "But nonetheless," he said mildly, "that's how I choose to take it." -Sophie & Benedict"
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Julia Quinn |
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8b14b1e
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She was here, with him, and she felt like heaven. The soft scent of her hair, the slight taste of salt on her skin-- she was, he thought, born to rest in the shelter of his arms. And he was born to hold her. -Benedict's thoughts about Sophie
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benedicts-thoughts-about-sophie
swoon
sophie
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Julia Quinn |
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ae9977e
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You stopped," she whispered, looking surprised. "This isn't 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. "I didn't think," she whispered, more to herself than to him...
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humor-me
benedict-and-sophie
swoon
smile
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Julia Quinn |
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275ae06
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Ah, Valentine's Day. This Author personally detests the holiday. A girl must take the measure of her worth by the number of cards and bouquets she receives, and a young man is forced to spew poetry as if anyone actually spoke in rhyme. It's a wonder the holiday hasn't been
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Julia Quinn |
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247bfe7
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Where," Eloise asked, one afternoon about a week after what Sophie was now referring to as , "do you suppose Benedict is?" "Ow!" Four Bridgerton faces turned to Sophie. "Are you all right?" Lady Bridgerton asked, her teacup suspended halfway between her saucer and her mouth. Sophie grimaced. "I pricked my finger." Lady Bridgerton's lips curved into a small, secret smile. "Mother has told you," fourteen-year-old Hyacinth said, "at lea..
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Julia Quinn |
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2e8767f
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He knew well the singularly strange sensation of loving one's family to distraction, and yet not feeling quite able to share one's deepest and most intractable fears. It brought on an uncanny sense of isolation, of being remarkably alone in a loud and loving crowd. -Anthony's thoughts
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Julia Quinn |
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20464ce
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Wyndham was a bore, in his humble opinion, but everything he did, every last decision and action - they were for others. It was all for Wyndham - the heritage, not the person. It was impossible not to respect such a man. But this was different. The duke wasn't standing up for his people, he was standing up for one person. It was a far more difficult thing to do.
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Julia Quinn |
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6ad978e
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I love you, Kate," he whispered, his lips brushing the words against her mouth. "I love you so much." She nodded, unable to make a sound. "And right now I wish . . . I wish . . ." And then the strangest thing happened. Laughter bubbled up inside of him. He was overtaken by the pure joy of the moment, and it was all he could do not to pick her up and twirl her grandly through the air. "Anthony?" she asked, sounding equal parts confused an..
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Julia Quinn |
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403917c
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When I thought you'd died--" "Don't say it," she choked out. "You don't have to relive that." "No," he said. "I do. I have to tell you. It was the first time-- even after all these years of expecting my own death-- that I truly knew what it meant to die. Because with you gone . . . there was nothing left for me to live for. I don't know how my mother did it." "She had her children," Kate said. "She couldn't leave you." "I know," he whis..
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Julia Quinn |
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25ce2e4
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Your father's death was an accident," Kate said. "An accident. A terrible, horrible twist of fate that no one could have predicted." Anthony shrugged fatalistically. "I'll probably go the same way." "Oh, for the love of--" Kate managed to bite her tongue a split second before she blasphemed. "Anthony, I could die tomorrow as well. I could have died today when that carriage rolled on top of me." He paled. "Don't ever remind me of that." ..
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Julia Quinn |
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24ba78e
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Then, just when he thought he'd made it through without delay, he heard an aged, female, and very imperious voice call out his name. "Bridgerton! I say, Bridgerton! Stop at once. I'm speaking to you!" He groaned as he turned about. Lady Danbury, the dragon of the . There was simply no way he could ignore her. He had no idea how old she was. Sixty? Seventy? Whatever her age, she was a force of nature, and ignored her. "Lady Danbury," he..
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Julia Quinn |
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de441fe
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It was simple. His world was Kate. If he denied that, he might as well stop breathing right now. "I have to go," he blurted out, standing up so suddenly that his thighs hit the edge of the table, sending walnut shell shards skittering across the tabletop. "I thought you might," Colin murmured. Benedict just smiled and said, "Go." His brothers, Anthony realized, were a bit smarter than they let on. "We'll speak to you in a week or so?" C..
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Julia Quinn |
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b270cc4
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Will you be all right?" he asked softly. "It's still raining." Kate stopped and listened to the rain, which had softened to a gentle patter against the windows. "I think the storm is over." He nodded and peered out into the hall. "It's empty," he said. "I should go." He stepped aside to let her pass. She moved forward, but when she reached the doorway she stopped and turned around. "Lord Bridgerton?" "Anthony," he said. "You should cal..
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Julia Quinn |
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0d41869
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Do we have any plans for this evening?" he whispered in her ear. She nodded; the motion caused her hair to tickle his cheek. "A ball," she said. "At Lady Mottram's." Anthony couldn't resist the soft silkiness of her hair, and he threaded two fingers through it, letting it slide across his hand and wrap around his wrist. "Do you know what I think?" he murmured. He heard her smile as she asked, "What?" "I think I've never cared that much ..
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Julia Quinn |
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5f7f95e
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She's rather desperate to marry the lot of you off, isn't she?" "All I know," Anthony said with a shrug, "is that my mother invited so many eligible women last time that she had to go down to the vicar's and beg his sixteen-year-old son to come up for supper." Kate winced. "I think I met him." "Yes, he's painfully shy, poor fellow. The vicar told me he had hives for a week after ending up seated next to Cressida Cowper at supper." "Well..
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Julia Quinn |
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49af3d3
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I am filthy," she said, looking down at herself. "The lake's right there," he said. "It's so cold." "A bath, then?" She smiled seductively. "You'll join me?" "But of course." He held out his arm and together they began to stroll back toward the house. "Should we have told them we forfeit?" Kate asked. "No." "Colin's going to try to steal the black mallet, you know." He looked at her with interest. "You think he'll attempt to remove..
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Julia Quinn |
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0e30cef
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Kate's mind was obviously not lodged as firmly in the gutter as his, since she chose to sit in the chair opposite him, even though there was plenty of room in his chair, provided they didn't mind squeezing next to each other. Even the chair kitty-corner to his would have been better; at least then he could have yanked her up and hauled her onto his lap. If he tried that maneuver where she was seated across the table, he'd have to drag her t..
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Julia Quinn |
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aaa48bd
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Listen to me," he said, his voice even and intense, "and listen well, because I'm only going to say this once. I desire you. I burn for you. I can't sleep at night for wanting you. Even when I didn't you, I lusted for you. It's the most maddening, beguiling, damnable thing, but there it is. And if I hear one more word of nonsense from your lips, I'm going to have to tie you to the bloody bed and have my way with you a hundred different wa..
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Julia Quinn |
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553afac
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Sometimes . . ." Anthony said in a halting voice, "sometimes there are reasons for our fears that we can't quite explain. Sometimes it's just something we feel in our bones, something we know to be true, but would sound foolish to anyone else." -Anthony to Kate"
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Julia Quinn |
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da6a1d4
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He smiled wryly. "I'm not such a terrible person, you know." She sighed. "I know." Something about her resigned expression made him grin. "But maybe a little terrible?" he teased. She brightened, their return to levity obviously making her much more comfortable with the conversation. "Oh, for certain." "Good. I'd hate to be boring." -Anthony & Kate"
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Julia Quinn |
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f8c18cd
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His eyes growing serious, he added, "This is where it might hurt a little, Kate. But I promise you, the pain will never be repeated." She nodded, but he could feel her body tense up, which he knew would only make it worse. "Shhh," he crooned. "Relax." She nodded, her eyes shut. "I am relaxed." He was glad she couldn't see him smile. "You are most definitely relaxed." Her eyes flew open. "Yes, I am." "I can't believe this," Anthony s..
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Julia Quinn |
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8f3b78f
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May I tell you a secret?" she asked. He nudged farther. "Of course," he murmured. "When I first saw you . . . tonight, I mean . . ." "In all my glory?" he teased, lifting his brows into an arrogant arch. She shot him a rather enchanting scowl. "I didn't think this could possibly work." He moved forward. He was close, so close to embedding himself fully within her. "May I tell a secret?" he returned. "Of course." "Your secret"-- one..
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Julia Quinn |
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bf8f358
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What are you doing?" she whispered against his lips. He gave her a lopsided grin, as one of his fingers slid inside. "Making you feel really, really good?" She moaned, which pleased him. If she'd managed intelligible speech he would have known he wasn't doing his job correctly. -Kate & Anthony"
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Julia Quinn |