Harper Hawthorne > Quotes

“so it was just me and the tea kettle, screaming to ourselves at midnight.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“Actually, no. I was standing in for Rorick, another branch captain, as a favor,” I explained. “Why? Any of the freshlings catch your eye?” She snorted, pausing a moment to pick up a quartzy-looking pebble off the side of the road and held it up to the sun. “Ah, no—of course not,” I supplied. “The woman is clearly more interested in rocks.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“You are,” he whispered. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Arken. It devastates me. You know that, don’t you?”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“Platonic,” I reminded him. “What? You can give platonic handjobs. I’ve given plenty of them.” I resisted the urge to ask for details. “In your dreams, Vistarii.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“I’m not sure if you realize this, Arken, but it’s perfectly alright to let yourself be taken care of from time to time.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“That man was a menace to society.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“And yet the mere thought of it sent frissons of pleasure up and down my spine, awakening the most desperate desire of my life, as I realized there was one thing in this world that I wanted more than Arken’s body. I wanted her heart. I would die for it. I would kill for it. I didn’t deserve it—I could live a thousand lifetimes and still never possibly deserve it, but that wasn’t enough to stop me. Though perhaps it should have been.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“This was rapture. It was ruination. It was everything I had ever fucking wanted, but never once dared to dream of experiencing. Made for me. She was fucking made for me.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“I thought about the way she looked at me lately, like I had personally hung every star in the night sky. Like I had crafted the constellations she so adored with my bare hands.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“This wasn’t just lust, it was lunacy—and I was blissfully lost in this mutual madness of ours.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“I kissed him.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“Arken,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm, though my heart was pounding. “Don’t… Come back here, please.” Please don’t run away from me, Arken. Not now. I would beg, if she asked me to. I needed her to stay. I needed her, period.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“Okay, fine. You’re also, admittedly, the nicest thing to look at in here. I will give you that,” I reasoned. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment to my face, or an insult towards my taste in interior design.” “Mm. A little bit of column a, little bit of column b,” I teased. He ran one hand through his hair, rolling his eyes.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“That woman was going to be the death of me.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“It was such a strange contradiction. Though I often felt like a spectator, an outsider looking in on the human experience, I had also studied it. My empathy became an obsession sometimes, an urge to dig deep. A selfish impulse to sink my teeth into what made other people tick, as if it might explain what I was lacking. And I could often taste the emotional wounds of others long before they ever revealed them out loud. Though that was also why I had a tendency to keep to myself. It was overwhelming, feeling so much all the godsdamned time. I could never seem to turn it off. To then inadvertently collect the burdens of others, to experience that weight alongside them whether I liked it or not, to feel their emotions as if they were my own… It was a lot. Very few people that I had encountered in life were worth that headache. People like Laurel, like Kieran… they were exceptions. “Lost in thought over there, Asher?” Laurel teased. “Or just very focused on capturing that mushroom with flawless precision?” “Both,” I laughed, finishing up my sketch of an unfamiliar cluster of fungi. “Definitely both. Gods, I love mushrooms.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“I’ll give you two options, Little Conduit. You’re either going back to the infirmary, or I’m taking you to my townhouse to take a look at that scrape myself. Your choice.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“wanted more than Arken’s body. I wanted her heart. I would die for it. I would kill for it. I didn’t deserve it—I could live a thousand lifetimes and still never possibly deserve it, but that wasn’t enough to stop me. Though perhaps it should have been.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“Tsk. Roshana, Roshana. You know me better than that. If I want fresh blood, I’ll go on the hunt for it myself.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“It’s fine,” I said softly, trying not to peek over at Kieran again. “I sort of like scars.” Fen glanced back at Kieran, giving him a strange look, one that he steadfastly ignored.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“Perhaps I should put you under duress, then,” he mused. “I am ever so curious about what secrets might be locked inside this pretty little banged-up head of yours.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether

“I didn’t know how or when the girl had become so important to me, but at the end of the day, all that mattered was that she was. And though I literally did not have the capacity to avoid flirting with her altogether, I would be more careful in the future. I would be more realistic about my own limits. I had ruined a lot of good shit in my life, but I wasn’t about to ruin this.”
― Harper Hawthorne, Of Blood and Aether