1
2
3
5
8
12
20
33
52
83
133
213
340
543
867
1384
2208
3346
3522
4790
4791
4792
4793
4794
5443
5619
6757
7581
8098
8422
8625
8752
8832
8882
8913
8932
8945
8953
8957
8960
8962
8963
8964
8965
▲
▼
| Link | Quote | Stars | Tags | Author |
| 1703959 | They had taken away something very important from him when he'd been made helpless. It should've broken him, being forced into chains. Yet it hadn't. Even in her grief she was amazed. She framed his face with her hands, tilting it up so she could look in his eyes. "You survived. You endured and survived." His lips curved bitterly. "I had no choice." She shook her head. "There's always a choice. You could've given up, let them take your soul.. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 64c09a6 | One's own family and situation are all one knows as a child. Therefore they are, by default, normal. I thought everyone had a papa who sometimes stayed awake all night writing philosophical papers, only to burn them all in a rage in the morning. It was only when I was old enough to notice that other fathers didn't act like my own that I realized the truth. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 33c3cf8 | When he'd worked in the garden, he'd awoken as the birds had heralded the rising sun. But here inside, in a soft bed with a softer, warm woman against his side, he found it harder to brush away the tendrils of sleep. "What?" Lily mumbled as he gently removed her arm from his belly. He'd like to linger longer. To kiss her awake and make love to her again, but it was only a matter of time before the servants descended on the room. Besides, th.. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 03bdf53 | that Lady Herrick has a birthmark in the shape of a butterfly on her left buttock. Oh, and that said birthmark turns an interesting shade of lavender when slapped." Apollo stopped in the hallway outside the breakfast room and simply stared at his companion. "What?" Montgomery looked irritated. "I defy any man to not take the opportunity when presented to slap a lovely arse." | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 2abde61 | You do have to save my brother," she said, "because if you do not I will tell everyone in England that you are the Ghost of St. Giles." | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| e9276af | He'd make sure to impress upon the wench his displeasure with her actions if only she weren't being so completely childish as to ignore him all morning. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| e0a6bbc | She stood still a moment, watching him, and he had no idea at all what she was thinking. Finally she laughed quietly, gesturing with her free hand at the marble figure. "It's a minotaur. I suppose that's appropriate." He looked at the figure, all horns and massive shoulders. "The monster in the maze?" "Yes." She turned in the dark to face him, and all he could see was the limned starlight on her cheek, the glimmer of the reflected moon in h.. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 720491d | What the hell was that?" he hissed at Montgomery. "A question." The duke reached for another piece of toast. "Did you mean to alert him to our investigation on purpose?" Apollo growled. "Yes and no." Montgomery shrugged. "I'm bored. Nothing's happening. Sometimes it's best to send the fox into the chicken house to see if a snake slithers out." | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 0b71859 | His hand stilled on her hair and he said, very carefully and calmly, "There is never any excuse for a man to hit a woman--any woman--let alone one he professes to love." She was quiet a moment, just basking in his gentle strength." | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 200ee22 | And yet he was holding the hand of a little boy and trailing the boy's exasperating mother. Perhaps he was lonely. Or perhaps it was the look in her eyes when he'd emerged from the pond and found her watching him that urged his footsteps on. It had been a long time--a very, very long time--since a woman had last looked at him like that. As if she saw something she liked. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| c053fc6 | What," she barked, "is that?" "We have a guest for supper tonight," Miss Stump replied, and as she glanced back at him he thought he saw a mischievous glint in her eye. "Indio's monster, in fact--though Indio now calls him Caliban." "Caliban?" Maude narrowed her eyes, cocking her head as she examined him critically. "Aye, I can see that, but is he safe in the theater with us is what I'm wanting to know?" Apollo felt a tug on his hand. He lo.. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 334ebe7 | THERE WERE THOSE who compared Bedlam to hell--a writhing purgatory of torture and insanity. But Apollo Greaves, Viscount Kilbourne, knew what Bedlam really was. It was limbo. A place of interminable waiting. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 5b62dd3 | Tall, dark fellow with a bit of a manner? Witty and knows it?" And a devil with the ladies, he thought but did not say aloud to his sister." | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 90a491d | This was not a man to be swayed by gentleness, beauty, or sweet words. He would bend--assuming he was even capable of bending--only for reasons of his own. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 046953e | Then why in God's name did you grab for George's pistol when you knew help was coming?" Apollo asked. "They weren't here yet and he was going to shoot you," she said, placing her palms on his chest. "I couldn't let him." His throat closed and he couldn't reply. All he could do was pull her into his arms and hold her close." | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| d524514 | So it was understandable that Lily didn't at first notice the very large man in her bed when she entered the room assigned to her. When she did, she stopped dead and hissed, "You can't be in here!" The covers were pulled to his waist, but he appeared to be quite naked underneath. "Why not?" Apollo asked, apparently having forgotten all the social niceties that someone must've taught him as a small child. "Because this is your sister's house.. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| e3904bf | I've never violated any woman." "Have you killed?" He paused at that, before reaching into the wardrobe to move aside her spare day gown. "Once or twice. The men deserved it, I assure you." | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| ece7a4d | Lily..." "I thought we were friends." He rose in one movement. "I thought we were more than friends." Her eyes widened and she backed up a step, seemingly without conscious thought, as he advanced on her, until her bottom hit the door. He should be gentler, should approach her with caution. Even now she might be afraid of what had been said about him. But he was weary--so very, very weary--of things being taken from him. He wasn't going to .. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 7f993e1 | Percy, who had been investigating the tall reeds by the edge of the pond, lifted his head at the sound of her voice and appeared to take it as invitation to run to her and attempt to hurl himself against her legs. Miss Greaves gave the dog a stern look before he'd even reached her, and said simply, "Off." Percy collapsed at her feet, his tongue hanging out the side of his jaws, ears back as he gazed up at her adoringly. Maximus shot the dog.. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 8d98bda | She glanced at the man quickly. "Thank you." She meant to say more, but something was caught in her throat. Her eyes stung. "Weep not, proud Diana," Maximus murmured. "The moon will not allow it." "No." She agreed, swiping fiercely at her cheeks. "There's no need for tears yet." -- | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 8241c7d | Have you no care for your reputation?" She stepped toward him until she was so close he fancied he breathed the same air as she and when she tilted her face up to look at him he saw that she wasn't nearly as calm as he'd imagined. "No," she murmured, her voice a siren's song, "none at all." "Then I'll be damned if I will," he muttered and kissed her." | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 8eb84cc | When at last they rose by some unspoken male accord, she noticed with a pang that Indio came only to Caliban's waist. The man towered over the boy, so much taller and broader that his gentleness was all the more moving as a result. They walked to the pond's bank and Indio launched his boat. Caliban restrained Daffodil from jumping in after. This man was not at all like Kitty's husband. Not at | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 88e0d4e | At first she saw only the mess of roots. There wasn't space in there, surely, for a small dog, let alone a man and boy. But as she watched, a huge hand slapped down on the edge. She started for the hole even as Caliban emerged, head and broad shoulders blackened, clutching Indio to his chest like Hephaestus rising from his underworld forge. She'd never seen such a wonderful sight. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 954086a | A big, powerful man chained, made helpless. She'd seen boys poke at a chained bear--a beast they'd run screaming from were it free to do as it would. Little boys--and weak men--fancied themselves brave in the face of such helplessness. It made them giddy with false power. And they were apt to wield that power in terrible and cruel ways. Had such a thing been done to her Caliban? | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| d60ad09 | Pay heed: the artichoke is a shy vegetable. She covers herself in spine-tipped leaves that must be carefully peeled away, and underneath shields her treasure with a barricade o' soft needles. They must be tenderly, but firmly, scraped aside. Ye must be bold, for if yer not, she'll never reveal her soft heart. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 75ca163 | She very much feared that if she stayed with Maximus, this awful taint - this terribly wrong act - would, day by day, year by year, wear at her until she was no more than a ghost of her former self. She saw need when she looked into his eyes, but was there any love as well? Had she discarded Penelope's friendship for a man who didn't, in the end, truly care for her? For she loved him, she realized now, in this brightly lit garden, of all pl.. | duty honor love secret-lovers | Elizabeth Hoyt | |
| 3c1f69d | She knew about young boys--she'd spent the last year taking care of them. They were tough and reckless and yet at the same time so very sweet and vulnerable. Their cheeks were soft and their eyes apologized even as they fought to assert their independence with too smart mouths. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 5675fa2 | He burst from the water. He was facing her now. The muscles bunched on his arms as he slicked his wet, shoulder-length hair back from his face. The mist swirled amber over the surface of the water, adorning his gleaming skin as if he were the tributary god of this ruined garden. Her pity evaporated, burned away by the sudden realization that she had it all wrong. He was... She swallowed. Good Lord. He was magnificent. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| cd78454 | Indio started forward and took the big man's hand as naturally as he'd taken his mother's. "Come on! Maude's making roast chicken and there'll be gravy and dumplings." | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 88b6186 | Maude was still scowling. "What's wrong with him? Can't he talk?" "No, he can't," Indio said simply, saving Apollo from having to do his dumb show. "Oh." Maude blinked, obviously taken aback. "Has he had his tongue cut out?" "Maude!" Miss Stump cried. "What a horrible thought. He has a tongue." Her brows knit as if from sudden doubt and she peered worriedly at Apollo. "Don't you?" He didn't even bother resisting the urge. He stuck out his t.. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 50327a8 | She rose and walked to the small fireplace, where a kettle had been set long before supper. It was gently steaming now. She caught up a rag and reached for the handle, but another, much bigger, hand got there first. Lily gave a tiny jump, watching wide-eyed as Caliban picked up the hot kettle as easily as lifting a twig. At least he'd had enough sense to shield his palm from the heat with a rag. He stood blank-faced until she pulled herself.. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 1acb629 | Lily opened the door. "Maude, would you--" She cut herself off. Maude was nowhere in sight, but Caliban was across the room, holding a page of her play to the light of the fire. His eyes were intent, his brow slightly creased--and he was quite obviously reading the page." | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 6b11dc1 | winter?" She traced a circle on his breastbone, her touch" | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| b4b8e19 | society will judge you rather harshly, my dear." She" | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| aafe261 | The solid lines will be new plantings. The maze will be the centerpiece of the new garden. The pond on one side, the theater on another, so that from the theater one will look across the maze to the pond. There may be viewing places in the theater itself so that visitors may see the maze and those within it. It will be-- The pencil finally broke through the paper at this point. He balled his fist, frustrated, the words bottled up inside him.. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 6edf1f3 | Then I wish I had it in my power to make him live without the sun for the rest of his pitiful life." She stopped and glanced at him. "That's a romantic thing to say." He shook his head. "I'm not a romantic man, Miss Greaves. I don't say things that I don't mean. I find it a waste of time." | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 7c89d7b | Still, he watched intently as she began her descent, ready to grab her arm should she waver. "You're hovering," she said without turning. "Hovering is my job." "That's debatable." "No, actually, it isn't," he said, flatly. "Humph." They'd reached the ground floor now and she turned to walk toward the back of the house. He grimaced as he took the last step overly hard on his bad leg. She didn't turn, but he noticed that she slowed her pace f.. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 274d0d9 | Oh, yes. I suppose not many remember now, but Maximus was so shattered by the deaths of his parents that he went mute for a full fortnight. Why, some of the quacks that came to look at him said his brain was addled by the tragedy. That he'd never speak again. Rubbish, of course. It simply took him time to come to rights again. He was quite sane. Just a sensitive boy." A boy who, when he came to himself again, was no longer a boy but the Duk.. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| a140a9b | It's so tedious," Montgomery sighed, "to have to wait for invitations and, I find, they often don't come when you most want them to. Much easier to simply disregard formal invitations altogether." | uninvited | Elizabeth Hoyt | |
| 9245fbc | She could hear him swallow, and then his face was against hers, his own damp. "I'm so lucky you would have me, my Phoebe, as my wife and my love. You've brought the sun into my lonely, gray life." (Captain James Trevellion)" -- | romance | Elizabeth Hoyt | |
| 1059316 | For a moment she simply stood there in the dark corridor, her heart stopped, the duke roaring huskily behind her like some beast out of one of her childhood nightmares. Despair wrapped chilly fingers around her throat. Then she brought her hand before her face and looked at the ruby ring on her little finger. Delicate. Lovely. Eternal. She breathed again. Dyemore was no beast. No Bluebeard. No fairy-tale nightmare. He was a man- a man in p.. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 35140ac | She watched his chest rise and fall and remembered and reflected. All her life things had been taken from her: Apollo, Thomas's affection, Mama and Papa, her home, her future. No one had ever asked her opinion, garnered her thoughts on what she wanted or needed. Things had been done to her, but she'd never had the chance to do things. Like a doll on a shelf, she'd been moved about, manipulated, flung aside. | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 050436f | She glanced again at Caliban as she said, "You and Daffodil were very brave." "And the best part, Mama," Indio said, tugging her hand to get her attention, "the best part is Caliban spoke. Did you hear him? He shouted my name!" "What?" Lily stared at Indio's filthy little face and then back up at Caliban. She absently noted that he had a bleeding scratch on his cheek. That shout right before the accident--had that been him?" | Elizabeth Hoyt | ||
| 9891b9f | He made no reply to that, so she continued, gently wiping around his nose, over the broad brow, and up the craggy cheekbones. Not a handsome face. Not pretty or comely. But it was a good face, she thought. Certainly masculine. Certainly one she was attracted to. She paused, swallowing at the thought. She did not know this man. She knew of him--knew that he would without hesitation fling himself into a filthy hole to save her son, knew he wa.. | Elizabeth Hoyt |