Claire Kent > Quotes

“I guess I keep waiting for someone to choose me, to want me, over all the other women he could have.”
― Claire Kent, Escorted

“Anyone can write good sex scenes. All you need is some basic knowledge of anatomy, the right vocabulary and some choice reading material. Experience has nothing to do with it.”
― Claire Kent, Escorted

“Me big strong man. Me take woman from behind.”
― Claire Kent, Escorted

“Just once I'd like to see you be wrong about something."

"Oh, I've been wrong about plenty of things," Ander murmured, pulling her toward him and draping both arms around her waist. "I just don't like to advertise the fact.”
― Claire Kent, Escorted

“Feeling like a caveman tonight? Or do you still insist you’re immune to such primitive impulses?”
― Claire Kent, Escorted

“It is unquestionably foolish to begin a battle when you don't know the full strength of your adversary.”
― Claire Kent, Escorted

“Here is a piece of advice. Never pay attention to what a man says when he comes. Anything might be blurted out at that moment, and it rarely means anything.”
― Claire Kent, Escorted

“The truth is that, when it comes to sex, selfishness is pretty typical with guys."

"Great. How infinitely comforting."

"I don't mean they're all jerks. I just mean it's more common for them to go about sex focusing on what they want rather than ensuring that you get what you want. Sabrina shook her head and clicked her tongue. "It's a sad fact of the world.”
― Claire Kent, Escorted

“Thank you so much for going out of your way to bring me here.” “Of course. I’ll be here in three hours to take you back to the motor. If you decide you want to stay with your sister”
― Claire Kent, Ashes

“So she laughed instead, squeezing him in her arms and wondering how she’d ever written romance novels without really understanding what love was.”
― Claire Kent, Escorted

“It’s complicated for me too. I know I’m not the man you might want me to be, for a serious relationship. But I want you so much, I don’t care. I want you, Kelly, and I can try to change, if you need me to. All of me is yours.”
― Claire Kent, Sweet the Sin

“Jimmy there doesn’t have a woman. He’d take real good care of you.” I dart a quick glance at Jimmy and fight to keep my face from changing expression. “No, thank you.” “Shouldn’t say no so quickly. Pretty girl like you needs a man.” “I have a man,” I say without thinking. “She’s got a man.” The voice follows on the heels of mine. Lower. Gruffer. Louder. Travis.”
― Claire Kent, Last Light

“People didn’t often change, and the way they most commonly surprised you was by disappointing you.”
― Claire Kent, Nameless

“The next day doesn’t improve Mack’s mood. He’s chopping wood outside when I get up, so I make breakfast—grilled sandwiches with the last of the bread and cheese from my pack and a couple of slices of ham I find in the refrigerator. When he comes back inside, he eats the sandwich in big, hungry bites, and he doesn’t say anything until he’s finished. “I’m going fishing this morning.” I understand he does this to supplement the prepper food stocked up in the cabin and not for recreation. “Okay. That’s a good idea.” He leaves the kitchen to wash up and put on clean clothes, so I go to a supply closet where I saw a small fishing rod that almost certainly belonged to Chloe. It will work fine for me. I put on my boots and jacket and am waiting for Mack on the porch when he comes out with his larger rod. He jerks to a stop when he sees me. “What are you doing?” “I’m coming with you.” “There’s no need. You should rest your knee.” “My knee is fine for a fairly short walk, and I don’t want to spend another day sleeping.”
― Claire Kent, Beacon

“He stood up, standing very close to her, watching her in that way he had that morning, in that way she didn’t understand.

Like he was waiting for something.

She stared back at him, suddenly hit with a wave of attraction that was beyond her comprehension.

The man was dirty, smelly, covered with hair, and totally rude. She shouldn’t be attracted to him. At all. In any way.

But her body responded to his proximity, to the strength she could see in his arms, his shoulders, his chest. To the intelligence, the humanness she saw in his eyes.”
― Claire Kent, Fall

“The world has to be about more than surviving if it’s worth fighting to survive at all.”
― Claire Kent, Protected

“After we clean up, Mack gets interested in a different sort of activity, and I have no objection. So we fuck on the couch with my legs wrapped high around his back until I come twice, and then after he pulls out, I finish him in my mouth. It’s after that. After a good day and a good meal and good sex with a good man who feels like mine. It’s then. I’m hit with a deep wave of grief. Because he’s not mine. Not for real. I might want him now in a way I never have before, but he doesn’t want me anymore. Not for more than the next three weeks. The reality hurts so intensely I have to leave Mack in a sated sprawl on the couch with the excuse that I need to go to the bathroom. There, I sit on the toilet and cry into my hands, fighting to will myself back into composure. Mack can’t know. He can’t know how much this hurts, how bad I feel. He’s got such a soft heart and such a strong sense of responsibility, he might try to give me what I want even now, even if it’s not the best thing for him. And I can’t let him do that. He needs to be perfectly free in a way he’s never been before. Free to decide on the life he wants. And telling him the truth about these new feelings and desires would make him less free. I won’t do it. “Anna?” Mack is knocking on the bathroom door. “You okay in there?” “Yes!” I’m relieved I sound just slightly strained. “Why wouldn’t I be?” “I don’t know. Just picking up vibes. You upset about something?” “No, of course not! Sorry. Just have some… digestion issues. I’ll be out in a minute.”
― Claire Kent, Beacon

“On the first day I met you, I promised your dad that if anything managed to get to you, I’d already be dead.”
― Claire Kent, Princess

“It’s not going to hit for a month or two, but the news will become public later today, and there’s likely to be mass panic. Civil unrest. All kinds of violence. So now’s the best time to hunker down. Here where it’s safe.”
― Claire Kent, Princess

“For the next hour, I sit on the porch step and watch the sky through the surrounding trees get darker and darker. I feel like crying, but I don’t. I used to cry all the time. When my husband, Josh, lashed out at me. When I would make plans for finally getting away from him but then be too scared to do it. When the asteroid hit and the world fell apart. When so many of my former students died in the first few years after Impact. When I was trying desperately to learn how to stand on my own and defend myself. When my life became scrambling frantically to survive. Mack has held me so often while I cried. I can still feel the strength of his big arms and the solidity of his broad chest. The beat of his heart against my ear. Comfort like that from Mack is a thing of the past, and I know it’s for the best. I might still want it for me, but it’s no longer fair to let him give it to me. I don’t expect him to dry my tears anymore.”
― Claire Kent, Beacon

“So I clear the emotion from my throat and continue, “I really do get it, Mack. I know exactly how it feels to make a decision out of self-preservation that seems like the only option to… to survive and have no one else understand why I’m making it. You hold it close to you. You guard it like a treasure and lash out if anyone gets anywhere close. I know how it feels.” “What decision did you make like that?” “Are you kidding?” I’m dying to turn around again, but I still resist. It’s somehow safer to say all this when I can’t see his face. “Mack, do you have any idea how often other people either implied or said straight out that I was heartless and stupid for not marrying you and making you happy and having all your babies?” My voice breaks despite my best effort. I feel a reaction from him behind me. His body jerks, and he wraps his fingers around one of my forearms in a grip that feels weirdly protective. Since he hasn’t replied in words, I go on. “No one ever hated me. But everyone loved you. They loved you. And they resented me because they were sure I was hurting you. For no good reason.” “I didn’t know they were doing that,” he murmurs in a very soft, very thick voice. “I never would have allowed it.” “It wasn’t your fault. I know you never complained about me to anyone. But I’m not sure you could have stopped the talk even if you’d tried. It was inevitable. You’re… you’re Mack. And I was the bitch who kept breaking your heart.” He sucks in a sharp breath, his fingers tightening on my arm. “You don’t get to talk that way about yourself. I’ve never let anyone say that about you, and you’re included. You don’t get to talk about yourself that way. Not around me.”
― Claire Kent, Beacon

“You’re doin’ good, Chloe, doll,” my grandfather says. “Just don’t stop.” Those are his last words. His very last. A crack of sound behind us makes me whimper. I’m about to ask if that was a gunshot, but then Grandpa slumps forward in his seat. He stays like that, unmoving. After a minute, I realize there’s blood gushing out of his neck.”
― Claire Kent, Homestead

“They truly didn’t believe any of the destruction would reach our tiny corner of the world in the Ozarks. Back then”
― Claire Kent, Lost Song

“Julia couldn't stop kissing him, pressing her lips over and over against his. She felt like she wanted to swallow him, like she couldn't bear for him to ever pull away.”
― Claire Kent, Finished

“I turn away from the man I killed without even a sliver of guilt or regret. I used to be a twenty-three-year-old high school English teacher in a small mountain town in western Virginia. But somehow in the past ten years I’ve turned into this.”
― Claire Kent, Beacon

“He nods, evidently accepting my answer as believable and appropriate. “Someone has taken my daughter.” “What?” I’m genuinely surprised and appalled, and I sound that way. He’s got startlingly intelligent blue eyes. They’re focused on me without wavering. “She’s been kidnapped. Her guard was killed. We’re checking for anyone who might have seen something.” “I haven’t seen any little girls. How old is she? What does she look like?” “She’s eight. This high.” He makes a gesture with his hand to indicate her height. “Brown hair and blue eyes. She always carries a doll with a pink dress.” “I’m so sorry she’s missing. I’ll keep my eye out. I really hope you find her.” He gives a brief nod. “I’ll find her. If you see anything, you can tell anyone. Everyone around here knows how to get me a message.” He pauses and then adds as if as an afterthought, “I’m Logan.” He turns and walks away before I can get any sort of response out. As soon as he and his men have left the clearing, Mack returns to me with his big package of provisions. “Did he bother you?” he asks, sounding as bristly as he looks. “No. Not at all. His daughter is missing, and he was asking about her.”
― Claire Kent, Beacon

“It’s like it’s not even Mack anymore. It’s on that thought that my eyes start to burn, and after a few minutes all the tears I’ve been suppressing for the past twenty-four hours start streaming down my face. I cry in mostly silence, still walking at a brisk pace because I can’t afford to lose any time. Cal and Rachel will be waiting for me for a few more hours. They’re going to be crushed when I show up without Mack. I sniff and wipe at my eyes and continue, making sure to keep an eye out for possible danger. I really think I’m being careful, but I’m also crying. So what happens could definitely be my own fault. I’m not really made for this life. I don’t like violence of any kind, and it took me years after Impact to develop any sort of functional self-defense and fighting skills. I’ve learned a lot and hardened myself as best I can, so I’m not completely helpless anymore. But I’m not Rachel. Or Maria. Or one of the supercompetent women in my circle. And when I turn a tight curve in the trail I’m following and am suddenly confronted by three dubious-looking men, I don’t react quickly enough. I should have raised my gun immediately, but I don’t. I’m surprised. My eyes are filled with tears. And my head is momentarily blank.”
― Claire Kent, Beacon

“Are we really having a baby?”
“I believe that’s what you came here to tell me.”
“Weird.”
― Claire Kent, Nameless

“I want to love you,”
― Claire Kent, Sanctuary

“You wouldn’t?” “Of course not. You’re more than enough man for me to handle.” I tighten my arms around him and press my front against his back. “Maybe you want a different sort of man.” “I don’t want a different sort of man, Mack! From the very first day I saw you, there hasn’t been another man who’s provoked even a passing interest for me. You must know that.” “I thought I did. For a while. I thought it was only your bad experiences that kept you from being with me for real.” “That’s exactly what it was.” He’s gotten tense again. I can feel something strong shuddering inside him. His voice is thick as he mutters, “But then you dumped me. So I occasionally wondered if it was me you didn’t want after all.” “That’s not⁠—” “I know what you said, and I tried to believe it. But I still wondered… Then everything went to hell for me, and now I’m broken.” “Mack, you’re not⁠—” “I’m not the man I used to be. So it’s hard not to think that I can’t be the man you want anymore.” It’s a raw, naked conversation to be having astride the ATV as we are. I’m kind of shaky as I hug him from behind again. “Mack, what do you think our conversation this morning was all about? If anything, I want you more now than I used to.”
― Claire Kent, Beacon