"Suddenly, she burst out, 'I want to punch her evil, lying face.'Liam caught a flash of hot gold as Dad looked at them, narrow - eyed, in the rearview mirror. Dad said, completely seriously, 'I can make that happen."

"I'm busy, you're busy, everybody's busy. I've got a lot I want to say to you, though. 'All right, Pia told her. 'Hit me with it. 'First, I'm so sorry about what my uncle Urien did to you guys. I hate him, he killed my family, and we're going to cut off his head, and then I have to be Queen, but before that happens let's do lunch, okay?"

"Your music hurts, the way sunshine hurts when you've existed for a long time in darkness."

"She paused and unexpectedly stroked her fingers down the feathers of his neck.He froze. She couldn't know how intimate that seemed, or how sensitive he was to her touch even through the sleek covering of eagle feathers. Pleasure at being petted ran down his spine.He should say something or step away. He did neither. Instead, ever so slightly, he leaned into her touch.It was wrong of him, but his wrong button seemed to be broken, and he didn't care."

"He was the darkest of voices inside her head, the Night - kind King, and when he turned his gift of persuasion onto her, she wanted to take her soul out of her body and hand it to him."

"Love is like a lion. It's fierce and strong. It conquers fear and uncertainties, and it knows how to fight. Love fights to win and keep its mate, to do the right thing, to give to others in service, no matter what the cost."

"So, is that your long scaly reptilian tail, or are you just happy to see me?"

"Mom's smiles were the most beautiful thing in the world, and they almost always made things better. They almost even made an early bedtime okay, but not quite."

"He groaned, 'Goddamn, you're so hot.'I know, ' she whimpered as she moved restlessly under his weight. 'I'm burning up.'At that, he had to lift his head and grin down at her. 'No, baby, ' he said gently, rocking his hips to begin moving in her. 'That wasn't what I meant. I meant, you're so hot.'Her eyebrows quirked, and dimples appeared in her cheeks as she suppressed a grin. 'Yeah, I knew that."

"With her face tilted up to his, the subtle edge of moonlight touched along the edge of one high cheekbone, the tilted edge of one eye, and those beautiful, enticing lips. Obeying an impulse he couldn't put into words, he lowered his head and covered her mouth with his."

"I want you too, so much, she whispered. He murmured in her ear, 'Then take me."

"Lifting his head, he whispered against her wet, throbbing lips, 'Too much? Wasn't that sweet, Consider even. But oh, hell no. She gasped, 'Not enough."

"Tell me what the fuck you want me to do, and I'll do it."

"Aryal whispered, 'If I start slapping people, I might not be able to stop."

"Been there, done that. I'm sure I've got a T - shirt somewhere to prove it."

"He had not become a sentinel by worrying about what he should or shouldn't do. He would live or die as he always had, by making decision he knew to be right...Graydon didn't hide from life. He flew at it with everything he had."

"Her music ran through him with electric energy, more joyous than anything he could remember and more painful than silver."

"She had tried to imagine him as a young Gladiator in the arena. Back then he must have been as dangerous as a lean, half - starved alley cat. Now, the alley cat had long since vanished. What stood in his stead was a scarred and even more deadly lion who carried the weight of having lived for many years in his prime."

"Hell is empty, and all the devils are here. 'Unfortunately, he said as gently as he knew how, 'it would appear so."

"You totally love him. He's your widdle snookums."

"Oh soldier, how did we come to such a place?"

"Do you have to take note of every little thing I do? I mean every tiny, little thing, Dragos?'Yes, ' he said simply. 'When I look at you, even when things are going to hell, somehow everything is all right."

"What was the point of spying if you couldn't keep it a secret?"

"I'll make you eat those words.'You are very welcome to try, ' she whispered. Her attempt at cockiness had turned breathy and yearning. 'Please, try very hard.'A smile lit his hard features. 'Trust me, that will be entirely my pleasure."

"You can have all the right reasons in the world. They don't mean shit, my friend, if what you do causes harm."

"His father read aloud, quietly, his voice steady and gentle, while he pressed a hand to Liam's delicate back, supporting his position....She realized Dragos was reading the quarterly profit percentages from a stockholders' report."

"He cupped her head with both hands. 'You're full of your own kind of magic, and it's much more rare and beautiful than all the other spells around you. They are commonplace. You are unique."

"Dragos never lifted his head from his task. He said in a quiet voice, 'Tell me you're in control, and I will believe you...' Straightening his shoulders, Liam replied steadily, 'I'm in control."

"Pinning her wrists on either side of her head, he growled telepathically, Open your legs. Hunger pulsed. God, she loved it when he got growly and autocratic. Arching in a stretch that rubbed her torso against his, she put her mouth lightly against his and whispered, 'Make me."

"That night he ate so much spaghetti, Mom said he was in danger of turning into a big noodle, which made him laugh so hard, he fell out of his chair."

"Kids these days, ' Dragos said quietly. 'They grow up so fast.' 'Supersonic fast, ' Pia said just as quietly."

"The love has got to be bigger than everything else. The isolation, the separation, the danger. When the love is bigger than all of that ' you just do it. You pay the price in uncertainty and sometimes bereavement, because every moment you're together is worth the cost."

"There are plastic bags with zippers on them. I've seen them in commercials, ' Dragos said to her. He snapped his fingers, trying to remember the name. 'You put food in them.'Ziploc bags?' she asked in a cautious voice.He pointed at her. 'Yes. I want one."

"Great, numbskull. Just bloody great. You've already managed to piss off the Queen. What's next on your agenda, setting fire to Disneyland?"

"Well, dude, said Khalil, 'sometimes you just have to get over shit."

"I can't get enough of you, he said against her neck. 'When I walk away from you I feel like I've cut myself off from breathing."

"She was the real treasure, more precious than sapphires, diamonds and gold.At the core of his ancient, cynical heart, he was an acquisitive creature, after all."

"We have to get you a haircut sometime today. You're starting to look like a sulky rock star.' 'Well, I am a rock star, ' he said, deadpan"

"Blood tricked down Molly's neck from the stinging cut Justine had given her. She thought, dear lords and ladies, all I want in the whole wide world is a bath, a pina colada, and the chance to stake this bitch in the heart."

"There was nothing else in the entire universe, nothing but the two of them together. Her curves, his angles. Her light, his darkness. Her softness, his exquisitely aching hardness. Male. Female."