Joann Williams > Joann's Quotes

“Spare change. Can't imagine how it got there."
She tipped her head in reproach.
He exhaled, sounding resigned. "It's not what you think."
She turned her hand palm-up between them, letting the coin serve as its own accusation. "I think I know a shilling when I see one."
"Look again."
She looked down at the coin in her gloved palm, where its embossed face stood out in sharp relief against white satin. Light glinted off the surface, revealing the color to be not the expected dull silver, but a coppery hue instead.
Oh.
A sharp pang of surprise caught her heart. He'd been telling the truth. It wasn't a shilling after all.
It was a penny.
A bright, newly minted penny. One he'd been keeping tucked in his breast pocket. Right next to his heart.
She drew a shaky breath. "Gabriel."
His hands went to her shoulders- but it was his low, husky voice that reached out and drew her close. "You know the squalor I was born to. And you know I promised myself I'd never be that barefoot, starving boy again."
She nodded.
"I have every luxury a man could desire. Hundreds of thousands of pounds in my accounts. I worked like hell to build a fortune, and yet..." His thumb met her cheek with a reverent caress. "Now I'd sell my soul for a Penny.”
― Tessa Dare, The Wallflower Wager

“You couldn't possibly."
"I can, and I will."
Heavens. His dark, intense stare nailed her slippers to the gravel path. Her heart pounded in her chest. And then he spoke the gruff, possessive words Penny had started to doubt she'd ever hear.
"I need you, Lady Penelope Campion. I'm not letting you go.”
― Tessa Dare, The Wallflower Wager

“What happened?"
"This happened." He shifted his arms to reveal a bundle of tiny, knobby joints and fluffy patches of black and white.
A newborn goat.
"Oh, my goodness." She knelt behind him, peering over his shoulder. "Surely not Marigold?"
"I told you so," he said irritably.
As if she'd be intimidated by gruff words from a man cradling a newborn goat in his arms. She'd always known he had a capacity for gentleness.
I told you so, too.
She reached to stroke the little goat's fur.
Gabriel's shoulder muscle flinched in annoyance. "My shirt was ruined, I'll have you know. Completely unsalvageable. And then this runtish little thing wouldn't stop shivering."
"Would it help if I told you that I've never found you so wildly attractive as I do in this moment?"
"No.”
― Tessa Dare, The Wallflower Wager

“I'm not your 'poppet' any longer. I own you. And in the future, if you address me at all, it will be as Lady Penelope Duke." A more fitting idea struck her, and a cold smile touched her lips. "Better yet, you may call me the Duchess of Ruin.”
― Tessa Dare, The Wallflower Wager

“What's the latest beast in your collection, I wonder?"
"Me." Metal clanged as Gabriel flipped the helmet's visor. "I'm her latest beast."
The Irving sisters choked on their laughter, then swallowed it hard.
He took a clanking step forward, towering over them. "Let me tell you, Lady Penelope has her hands full. I'm vicious. Untamed. I won't come to heel." He leaned forward, lowering his voice to a growl. "And I bite."
He turned, and- confronted with the wall of hedges- stormed through it like the Ottomans breaching the walls of Tyre. Once he'd cleared a path with his armored body, he extended a gauntlet, inviting Penny to follow.
She put her gloved hand in his shining one.
Rather than leading her through, he pulled her to him, slid his hand to her backside, and lifted her off her feet, keeping her slippers free of the trampled shrubs.
Her beast in shining armor.
As he carried her through the hedge, she waved farewell to the bug-eyed Irving sisters. "It's been lovely seeing you.”
― Tessa Dare, The Wallflower Wager

“Every man has his weakness."
"I know they do." She lifted an eyebrow. "I'm still looking for yours."
Cheeky girl. She had to know she took his breath away.
God, she was lovely in the moonlight. She was lovely in sunlight, for that matter, and in the pouring rain. Gabe suspected that even in total darkness, she would be radiant. Because though her features were exquisite, and her lips the pinkish hue of rose petals, her most beautiful feature by far was her heart.”
― Tessa Dare, The Wallflower Wager

“Just as a point of clarification, in case you do die . . . Which of us would you say was the second, and which the third?”
― Tessa Dare, The Wallflower Wager

“There now. Better?"
He gave a reluctant nod.
"Can you move your arm in all directions?"
He rolled his shoulder to prove it. "Yes."
"What about your grip?"
"My grip is strong."
"Perhaps I should wrap the arm in a sling."
"I don't need a sling."
"Wait here. I'll dash upstairs to fetch some linen and-"
"For the love of God, woman. My shoulder is fine." He took her by the waist and lifted her straight off the floor, until they were eye to eye. "There. Believe me now?"
She nodded, wide-eyed.
"Good."
In his hands, she was delicate, breakable. Her hair was a golden treasure he should never, ever touch. And oh, how he hungered for those soft, pink lips.
The familiar voice echoed in his ears.
Don't touch, boy. She's not for the likes of you.
Put. Her. Down.
But before Gabe could lower those beribboned pink slippers to the floor, she captured his sooty, sweaty face in her hands-
And kissed him on the lips.”
― Tessa Dare, The Wallflower Wager

“You're worth a thousand of any lady there."
"Let's leave, get you into some proper attire, and find ourselves some dinner." She stroked her fingertips over his brow. "I can tell from the pulsing vein in your forehead, you're hungry."
"I'm always hungry."
"My only regret is that we'll miss the fireworks."
"You want fireworks?" He cocked his eyebrow. "I can give you fireworks."
Well, then. Penny could scarcely wait.”
― Tessa Dare, The Wallflower Wager

“A lady must attend her own engagement ball."
Penny sat up straight. "Gabriel Duke. I know you did not just propose to me in the mews, without so much as going down on one knee, while my hair is a bird's nest and we both smell like goat."
"I didn't propose to you." He swung his arms into his coat. Before disappearing, he gave her a slight, mischievous grin and a single syllable that had her heart cartwheeling in her chest.
"Yet.”
― Tessa Dare, The Wallflower Wager

“Over her years of caring for unwanted animals, Lady Penelope Campion had learned a few things.
Dogs barked; rabbits hopped.
Hedgehogs curled up into pincushions.
Cats plopped in the middle of the drawing room carpet and licked themselves in indelicate places.
Confused parrots flew out open windows and settled on ledges just out of reach. And Penny leaned over window sashes in her nightdress to rescue them- even if it meant risking her own neck.
She couldn't change her nature, any more than the lost, lonely, wounded, and abandoned creatures filling her house could change theirs.”
― Tessa Dare, The Wallflower Wager

“Listen to me, you bastard."
"No," Gabriel said.
This simple response left Ash nonplussed. But fuming.
"I'm listening to exactly one person in this room," Gabriel said evenly. "It isn't you. The lady can speak for herself."
Oh. Penny's heart fluttered in her chest.
If by chance, he did mean to seduce her, repeating that sentence fifty times over might do the trick.”
― Tessa Dare, The Wallflower Wager

“Mysteries of attraction could not always be explained through logic. Sometimes the fractures in two separate souls became the very hinges that held them together.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Winter

“I want to fill every part of you, breathe the air from your lungs and leave my handprints on your soul. I want to give you more pleasure than you can bear.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Winter

“If my love can hold you, I'll keep you with me.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Winter

“It’s a mistake, you know. You have no idea of what you’ll be exposed to…the obscenities and lewd comments, the lecherous gazes, the groping and pinching…and that’s just at my house. Imagine what it would be like here.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Winter

“The situation was extraordinary. How someone like Evangeline Jenner could have wrought such a change in St. Vincent, the most worldly of men, was difficult to understand. However, Westcliff had learned that the mysteries of attraction could not always be explained through logic. Sometimes the fractures in two separate souls became the very hinges that held them together.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Winter

“Lately I've become so damned distracted that I can't make a decision about anything. I can't think clearly. I've got knots in my stomach, and constant pains in my chest, and whenever I see you talking to any man, or smiling at anyone, I go insane with jealousy. I can't live this way. I—" He broke off and stared at her incredulously. "Damn it, Evie, what is there for you to smile about?"
"Nothing," she said, hastily tucking the sudden smile back into the corners of her mouth. "It's just… it sounds as if you're trying to say that you love me.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Winter

“Ghost?” St. Vincent shot him an incredulous glance. “Christ. You’re not serious, are you?”

"I’m a Gypsy,” Cam replied matter-of-factly. “Of course I believe in ghosts.”

“Only half Gypsy. Which led me to assume that the rest of you was at least marginally sane and rational.”

“The other half is Irish,” Cam said a touch apologetically.

“Christ,” St. Vincent said again, shaking his head as he strode away.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Winter

“My love is upon you.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Winter

“My prize, my pleasure and pain, my endless desire. I've never known anyone like you.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Winter

“Evie ” came his faint whisper “I’m going to your mother see…she’s got ’em to leave a back door open…so I can steal into ’eaven.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Winter

“If the hero hasn’t turned up, you may have to settle for the villain.” “If the villain’s the one who turns up, he is the hero.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil's Daughter

“I think I’m in love with her. Either that, or I have a stomach disease with a side effect of uncontrollable sweating.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil's Daughter

“Justin tugged at Phoebe’s sleeve. “Mama, if I must have a governess, I want a pretty one.” Another snort from the nursemaid. “They start early, don’t they?” she remarked in an aside. “In my family, they do,” Phoebe replied ruefully.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil's Daughter

“No woman should be afraid to sparkle.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil's Daughter

“West’s mouth slid from hers and followed the line of her throat. Finding the throb of her pulse, he kissed and nuzzled it ardently. “You’re not a possession,” he said raggedly. “You can’t be passed from one man to another like a painting or an antique vase.” Her voice was faint. “That’s not how it is.” “Has he told you he wants you?” “Not the way you mean. He . . . he’s a gentleman . . .” “I want you with my entire body.” West dragged his mouth over hers, shaping her lips before settling in for a rough and ardent kiss. He hitched her up against him until her toes barely touched the floor. “You’re all I think about. You’re all I see. You’re the center of a star, and the force of gravity keeps pulling me closer, and I don’t give a damn that I’m about to be incinerated.” He rested his forehead against hers, panting. “That’s what he should tell you.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil's Daughter

“Merritt, I’m thinking about having an affair with West Ravenel. I know it’s wrong . . . but how wrong?” “Don’t ask me,” Merritt would probably say, her eyes laughing. “As a moral relativist, I’m thoroughly unqualified to judge your decisions.” “A fine help you are,” Phoebe would retort. “I want someone to give me permission.” “No one can do that but you, dear.” “What if it turns out to be a mistake?” “Then I suspect you’ll have had a delightful time making it.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil's Daughter

“I want you too badly, love. I want you the way dry earth soaks up rain. There may have been a time in my life when I could have seen you like this and still had some hope of self-control. Although I doubt it. I've never seen anything as beautiful as you.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil's Daughter

“A man is not entitled to be called a father merely because he once had a well-timed spasm of the loins.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Marrying Winterborne