Do you know," he said, "there are men who would like very much to see me dead. Powerful men. Obscenely wealthy me. Men who can afford to be patient and engage the services of large, ruthless brutes. I've managed to evade them all. But you...God's truth, I think you'll be the very death of me.
Tessa DareClearly the sight of a well-muscled forearm incited a woman to utter depravity. How else to explain the invention of cuffs?
Tessa DareMen never hesitated to declare their presence. They were permitted to live aloud, in reverberating thuds and clunks, while ladies were always schooled to abide in hushed whispers.
Tessa DareBefore I found Minerva, I'd passed nights with more than my share of women." Thorne groaned. Don't. Just don't. "I've passed time with duchesses and farm girls, and it doesn't matter whether their skirts are silk or homespun. Once you get them bare--" Thorne drew up short. "If you start in on rivers of silk and alabaster orbs, I will have to hit you.
Tessa DareFor the love of ammonites, man! That's just stupid. Why on earth would the Society need to protect unmarried women from bone-dry lectures regarding soil composition? Do your members find themselves whipped into some sort of dusty frenzy, from which no delicate lass would be safe?" Mr. Barrington tugged on his coat. "Sometimes the debate does get heated." Colin turned to her. "Min, Can I just hit him?" "I think that's a bad idea." "run him through with something sharp?
Tessa DareI knew right then you were the only one for me." He pulled her hand from his face, kissed her palm, then pressed it flat against his chest. "Beatings, battles, fights. No matter how bleak the circumstance, no matter how my soul despaired ... this heart never once gave up." His voice deepened, went thick with emotion. "I've a theory as to why. Do you want to hear it?" She nodded. "This heart is yours. It's yours," he said. "It always will be.
Tessa DareItโs all right,โ she said. โYouโre through.โ โJesus,โ he finally managed, pushing water off his face. โJesus Christ and John the Baptist. For that matter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.โ Still not enough. He needed to reach back to the Old Testament for this. โObadiah. Nebuchadnezzar. Methuselah and Job.โ โBe calm,โ she said, taking him by the shoulders. โBe calm. And there are women in the Bible, you know.โ โYes. As I recall it, they were trouble, every last one.
Tessa Dare