Anna Cowan > Quotes

“Kit buried her face in her hands and tried very hard not to laugh. He was so aristocratic he was practically brain-damaged.”
― Anna Cowan, Untamed

“She touched a fingertip to the inner curve of each of Celine’s knees and, exerting almost no pressure, pushed them apart. Celine gladly took instruction. The duke’s hot eyes dropped to her fingers, and she ran them up Celine’s thighs, raising the petticoat with them. The duke was breathing heavily, and high on her cheeks were slashes of pink. She dropped to her knees and looked at what she’d exposed between Celine’s legs. The colour in the duke’s cheeks deepened. She continued to do nothing but look. Celine had understood from early on that her mind was more interesting to the duke than her body, and yet her body enthralled the duke, this one piece of her in particular. It enthralled the duke not because of what it was, uniquely, but because it was hers uniquely.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“interlude”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“There. The smile slipped loose for a moment before it was brought back under control. Kate wanted to suck that whole lip into her mouth. She wanted Celine alone and under her. Writhing, wet, blushes all the way down her body.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“rejoinder”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“When I am married,” Celine said, “I’ll have people who will come and sit with me when I’m sick, who will bring me broth and tell me I’m not dying and tell me how glad they are that I’m still here. Do not imagine desire, or even romantic love, holds any sway over me.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“Everyone will envy your wit, your beauty, your intelligence. But only I will kiss you every evening before you sleep and every morning when you wake. In those dark hours you will call me Kate, and I will call you my darling.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“prevaricate,”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“Full of a hot and helpless rage she looked down at the woman she held, and in her brand-new heart, Celine’s words resounded: Who on this earth will tell me how glad they are that I’m still here?”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“The sound of her own breath made her feel frantic and hot. It was lewd, as though she’d heard a stranger’s uninhibited pleasure on the night air from an open window.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“the duke got her shoulders between Celine’s thighs, bullying them wider. “My pretty little pussy,” the duke said in French, “I am going to eat you.” And did.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“Sardonic.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“She was unhinged from reason, within the grip of a purely sensate, animal part of herself”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“propriety”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“Tell me you’ll be my wife,” she said. “I would like to hear you say it.” Celine’s eyes became very bright. “I will be your wife, Kate.” Pleasure ran like summer warmth over her skin. “Say you’ll marry me.” “I will marry you.” She was close now. She whispered against Celine’s lips. “Say you’ll be mine.” “I am yours,” Celine said.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“What it revealed about the duke’s self-control was staggering. The duke did not indulge in physical expressions of affection with anyone, much less regular, daily sex. And yet every minute of every day, this enormous hunger lived inside her.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“Her lips, all animal, wanted to kiss.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“Would the duke laugh at her again if she confessed that she feared not the act but her own desire for it?”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“The duke’s heavy arousal covered Celine’s tongue, her mouth. Even as she had the duke in her mouth, she wanted it again, and again, and again, an unrelenting physical ache that wouldn’t be satisfied by anything but this.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“dissipation,”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“acquisitive”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“inducement.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“extrapolated”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“Who turned my bedroom into a garden?” It had taken some time for the observation to work its way into her conscious mind as a question. Every flat surface contained a vase, and every vase was bursting with flowers. Riotous, gorgeous, colourful flowers. Where there was no flat surface, standing vases had been placed on the floor. In a stilted voice, the duke said, “I understand flowers are the appropriate gesture when someone is sick. When you woke, I wanted you to know … That is, I wanted you to wake to comfort.” In their abundance, the flowers were neither appropriate nor comfortable, but she had woken to beauty, and she didn’t know what to make of it.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“But that was it. I felt how it changed my body, physically. It will never be undone. It will never diminish. The organ that gives me breath is engineered to love you; the muscle that feels, the matter that thinks…”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“There was a war in Kate Howard between love and fear, and Celine intended to give love a reason to win.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“slaking”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“You have been calling me by my name,” the duke said. “Say it again.” She had been using the duke’s name without quite realising. Suddenly, it was very difficult. “Kate,” she said. The duke’s eyes darkened. Her voice went rough. “Again.” “Kate.” The duke’s eyelids dropped, and her lips parted—an unmistakeably sexual response.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“The duke made a humming sound Celine felt in her stomach and said, “Have you ever slept with a woman?” “No.” “Does the idea frighten you?” She swallowed. “A bit.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke

“Well?” the duke said, flicking an amused glance at her. “Prepare yourself,” she said. “I am about to do the impossible.” “And?” “I am going to charm you silly.” The duke turned back to the road, and a smile spread slowly over her mouth.”
― Anna Cowan, The Duke