Nismah > Nismah's Quotes

“You are beautiful and humble and sensitive and the keeper of my heart.
I know it will take some time, growing up with a beast of a guardian as you did, but there will come a day when you no longer criticize yourself, no longer believe less of yourself, and you will come to love yourself just as much as I love you.
Well, almost as much, I imagine.


-Gabriel Devine, Duke of Wolverest-”
― Olivia Parker, At the Bride Hunt Ball

“The captain of this sailing vessel has requested a private audience with you in his quarters. It seems you’ve a treasure map hidden on your person, and I mean to explore every inch of you until it is discovered.”
― Olivia Parker, At the Bride Hunt Ball

“Those aren't from my mother's garden, are they? She'll throttle you."
"No," he said, making a grand show of looking insulted. "I would never."
"Sorry," she said with a cringe.
"They're from your neighbor's garden, actually.”
― Olivia Parker, To Wed a Wicked Earl

“The man is always the last to know when
Cupid has struck him
-Anonymous, Memoirs of a Mistress”
― Sabrina Jeffries, One Night with a Prince

“Love is taking chances when every rational part of you screams, ‘Don’t risk it.’ Because it’s only when your heart has been ripped open that you get a chance to find the one person capable of making it whole.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, A Lady Never Surrenders

“It is better to be blind than to see things from only one point of view.”
― Sabrina Jeffries

“Ah yes," Gabe said, "Pinter is ever the gallant when it comes to the ladies. He wouldn't risk leaving us alone with poor Miss Lake, for the fear one of us might spirit her off to our lair."
"Why?" Miss Lake asked, with a lift of her brow. "Do you three make a habit of spiriting women off?"
"Only on Tuesdays and Fridays," Masters said. "Seeing as how it's Wednesday, your safe."
"Unless you're wearing a blue garter, madam," Gabe quipped. "On Wednesdays, Masters and I have a great fondness for blue garters. Are your gaters blue, Miss Lake?"
"Only on Mondays and Thursdays." She dealt thirteen cards apiece to the two of them, then put the rest aside as the stock, turning the top card faceup. "Sorry gentlemen. I guess you'll have to spirit off some other woman.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, A Hellion in Her Bed

“I swear, Oliver, when did you become such a stick-in-the-mud?”
“I’ve always been a stick-in-the-mud.” Her brother cast her a thin smile. “I just hid it beneath all the debauchery.”
She sniffed. “I wish you’d hide it again. It’s quite annoying.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, How to Woo a Reluctant Lady

“I always say that love is like the meat in a pie,” Freddy put in. “The crust is what people see—the practical things that hold a couple together. But love is the important part—without it you’ve got a meatless pie, and what’s the point of that?”
“Why, Freddy,” Minerva said, “that was almost profound.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, How to Woo a Reluctant Lady

“I love you, Minerva. I love that you believe in me no matter what. I love how you take whatever you see and distill it into your books. I love your clever mind and your generous heart and every inch of your beautiful body. I love you even when you give me heart failure, by risking your life before my very eyes." He smiled tenderly. "I only hope in time I can prove worthy of your love.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, How to Woo a Reluctant Lady

“Mother nature is a fickle and forgetful bitch," she snapped. "She needs a helping hand and I am trying to hurry her along for their sake.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, To Wed a Wild Lord

“Must you say things like that in public, for God's sake?"

"What do you mean?"

He lowered his voice to a hiss. "Remember yesterday at the inn? My 'pistol' is making an appearance, thanks to you."

She glanced down at his trousers, which only made them bulge more obviously. Then she lifted a mischievous gaze to his face. "Whatever will you do, now that you're in this...state?"

"Conjugate Latin," he said tersely. "Think of England. Think of anything but you and me doing--Bloody hell, there it goes again, and we're nearly to Rotten Row." He stopped short and stepped behind a bench with a high back that sat near the river.

She stood next to him, pretty as the proverbial picture, her eyes dropping to his trousers with virginal curiosity.

"Would you stop looking at me there? he growled. "You're not helping."

She laughed. "You're the one who started it by trying to seduce me with words. Serves you right if you have to suffer for it."

-Giles and Minerva”
― Sabrina Jeffries, How to Woo a Reluctant Lady

“I suppose if you were inclined to misbehave, you wouldn't exactly tell me the truth anyway."

"Darling, you have a brother fond of holding a gun on me, a sister who can shoot anything that moves, two other brothers who've repeatedly threatened to thrash me, and a grandmother who buys off constables. Do you really think I'm fool enough to antagonize them by committing adultery?"

It was hard not to smile at that. "An excellent point."

"I think so.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, How to Woo a Reluctant Lady

“He smiled his dimpled smile. "Well, I've found something in my heart, my love, and it's you. You fill it up so completely that I don't need anything else." His gaze turned solemn. "I don't want to be the river anymore. I want to be the earth that the tree roots in. And I believe that I can, if you'll be my tree. Will you?"

It was too much. She began to cry, though she smiled so he'd know that they were happy tears. "That proposal...is vastly superior...to your last one," she choked out between sobs. "I would very much love to be your tree."

-Jarret and Annabel”
― Sabrina Jeffries, A Hellion in Her Bed

“Then she jerked back with a siren's smile that made his confidence falter. "Well." She tapped her chin. "That was a decent kiss, all things being equal." She pressed her hand to her chest. "My heart is, if not quite racing, then heading into a quick walk. But I need a thermometer to determine if and how high my body heated. I shall just go--"

"Don't you dare." He caught her by the arm as she was on the verge of fleeing. "You know bloody well that you responded to that kiss."

With a suspicious glee in her eyes, she tugged her arm from his grip. "I'm not saying I didn't respond-- just that I didn't respond to any overwhelming degree. But it was a good kiss, I suppose. Better than some, not as good as others."

"What the hell do you mean? How many chaps have you kissed in the last nine years, anyway?"

"No more than you've kissed women, I should imagine."

"My God."

"But don't worry-- I don't think the average woman would complain about your kissing. You're perfectly competent."

Competent? Bloody insolent chit. Even knowing she was trying to provoke him didn't ease his wounded pride. "Perhaps we should try again."

-Giles and Minerva”
― Sabrina Jeffries, How to Woo a Reluctant Lady

“You weren't always so...appreciative. When I said that men enjoyed my company, you said you found that hard to believe."

What?" he retorted with a scowl. "I never said any such thing."

"Yes, you did, the day that I asked you to investigate my suitors. I remember it clearly."

"Theres no way in hell I ever..." The conversation came back to him suddenly, and he shook his head. "You're remembering only part, sweeting. You said that men enjoyed your company and considered you easy to talk to. It was the last part I found hard to believe."

"Oh." She eyed him askance. "Why? You never seem to have trouble talking to me. Or rather, lecturing me."

"It's either lecture you or stop up your mouth with kisses," he said dryly. "Talking to you isn't easy, because every time I'm near you I burn to carry you off to some secluded spot and do any number of wicked things to you."

She blinked, then gazed at him with such softness that it made his chest hurt. "Then why don't you?"

-Celia and Jackson”
― Sabrina Jeffries, A Lady Never Surrenders

“You got off on the wrong foot. I merely watched you shove it into your mouth.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, What the Duke Desires

“How do you know it won't be duels at dawn when you tell him you've accepted my proposal of marriage?"
"Don't be ridiculous. He's not that hotheaded. Though I daresay he may try to...er...knock some sense into you. He and Jarret. And possibly Gabe."
"Our bargain is looking better and better all the time," he said drily. "I get to fight the Sharpe men while you stand around pretending to care." He came close enough to whisper, "I will definitely require a few kisses of you if that comes to pass, minx."
-Giles and Minerva”
― Sabrina Jeffries, How to Woo a Reluctant Lady

“Her eyes began to shimmer with tears. “You . . . you love me?”

His heart seemed permanently lodged in his throat. “More than life. God only knows why you love me, because I sure as hell don’t, but I know why I love you. You’re my beacon in the darkness, and my compass on a night sea. When I’m with you, I don’t want to dance with Death. I want to dance with Life. I want to dance with you. And whatever it takes, I mean to spend the rest of my life trying to deserve you.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, To Wed a Wild Lord

“He was thunder and lightning and rain, and she was the earth and flowers that drank up the storm.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, What the Duke Desires

“Has it ever occurred to you that married couples endure watching their spouses grow old and feeble and senile all the time? That it's part of marriage? A hard part, to be sure, but not so hard that one just gives up on the institution altogether.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, What the Duke Desires

“I can promise that even having an imperfect one who loves you is better than having none at all.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, 'Twas the Night after Christmas

“Believing in love isn’t like believing in flying reindeer. It’s like believing in rain. Or summer. Or Christmas. Love is real and steady and absolutely essential to any kind of life. Not believing in it doesn’t make it any less so.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, 'Twas the Night after Christmas

“Oliver’s voice said from the window, “It’s about time you returned.”
Startled, she dropped the pies.
Despite the shadows beneath his eyes, she’d never seen a more welcome sight. Even with his cravat badly tied, his black hair sticking out in all directions, and his expression uncertain, he made her breath catch in her throat.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“You forgot something when you left Halstead Hall,” he said hoarsely.
“What?”
Her heart leapt into her throat as he strode purposefully toward her. “Me.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, The Truth About Lord Stoneville

“Shall we, my lady?"
"You go on," she said coolly. "I need to speak to Mr. Pinter alone."
Glancing from her to Jackson, the duke nodded. "I'll expect a dance from you later, my dear," he said with a smile that rubbed Jackson raw.
"Of course." Her gaze locked with Jackson's. "I'd be delighted."
The minute the duke was gone, however, any "delight" she was feeling apparently vanished. "How dare you interfere! You should be upstairs searching my suitors' rooms or speaking to their servants or something useful instead of-"
"Do you realize what could have happened if I hadn't come along?" he snapped. "This room is private and secluded, with a nice hot stove keeping it cozy. All he would have had to do was lay you down on one of those damned benches that are everywhere and-"
He caught himself. But not quickly enough.
"And what?" she prodded. "I would have let him ravish me like the wanton I am?"
Confound it all. "I wasn't saying that."
"That's what it sounded like. Apparently you have some notion that I have no restraint, no ability to resist the attentions of a man I've known since childhood."
"You have no idea what a man can do to a woman!" Jackson shouted.
She paled. "It was just a kiss."
He strode up to her, driven by a madness he couldn't control. "That's how it begins. A man like him coaxes you into a kiss, then a caress, then..."
"I would never let it go beyond a kiss," she said in outrage. "What sort of woman do you think I am?"
He backed her toward the wall. "The sort who is too trusting to realize what some men are really after. You can't control every situation, my lady. Some men take what they want, and there isn't a damned thing you can do about it."
"I know more about the true nature of men than you think." She stopped short as she came up against the wall. "I can take care of myself."
"Can you?" He thrust his hands against the wall on either side of her, trapping her.
He thought of his mother and the heartbreak she'd endured because some nobleman had taken a fancy to her. A roiling sickness swamped him at the idea of Lady Celia ever suffering such a thing because she was too reckless and naïve to recognize that she was not invincible.
Bending in close, he lowered his voice. "You really believe you can stop any man who wants to hurt you, no matter how strong and determined he is?"
Challenge shone in her eyes. "Absolutely."
It was time someone made her realize he vulnerability. "Prove it," he growled. Then he brought his mouth down on hers.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, A Lady Never Surrenders

“Y-You love me?”
Gazing down at her pert nose and the freckles that made him think of an adorable pixie, he felt his throat constrict. “I want you every hour of the day. I can’t imagine a future without you in it. The idea of returning to my empty house alone is so hellish that I’d rather wander the world at your heels than be without you. Tell me, is that love?”
She cast him a blazing smile. “It sounds like it.”
“Then I love you, my wonderful, sword-wielding, tart-tongued angel. I want you to be my wife. I want you to preside over my table and accompany me to balls and share my bed.” A most uncharacteristic happiness surged through him. “And I want to have children with you, lots of them, filling every room in Halstead Hall.”
A sudden understanding lit her face. His clever love didn’t miss the fact that he was offering her not just himself, but everything else he’d neglected, as well. Everything that he wanted to put to rights. That he needed to put to rights.
“Not filling every room, I hope,” she teased, even as tears shone in her eyes. “There are three hundred, after all.”
“Then I suppose we’ll have to get started right away,” he said, matching her light tone. His heart near to bursting, he reached again for the buttons on the back of her gown. “These things should never be left until the last minute.”
As a laugh of pure joy bubbled out of her, she began to untie his cravat. “I can see you’re going to be quite the lusty husband, aren’t you?”
He stripped her gown from her, then turned her around to undo her stays. “You have no idea,” he murmured, and filled his hands with the breasts he’d freed.
Moaning, she pressed her bottom against him. “I have some idea.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, The Truth About Lord Stoneville

“I want my pistol back," she snapped.
"You'll get it tomorrow. Given your foolish belief that carrying it will protect you in any circumstance, it's better that you don't have it to hide behind. Perhaps then you won't be tempted into private encounters with randy gentlemen."
A hot blush seared her cheeks. "The only randy gentleman I need protection from is you. Next time I have you in my sights, I will shoot you."
"Then you'd better not miss," he drawled. "Because if you ever aim a gun at me again, I'll have you arrested for assaulting an officer of the law."
While she was still gasping, he strode from the orangery. She picked up her reticule and flung it at the door just as it closed. He was a beast! A monster! And he'd even made her forget to ask him if he'd learned anything about her suitors!
Tears started in her eyes. It was so...typical of him to rattle her by saying such an awful thing. She would swear he did it on purpose. He was always riding roughshod over her. Kissing her passionately one minute and threatening to have her arrested the next-the unnatural devil!
She collapsed onto a bench, struggling to hold back her tears. She would not cry over him. She would not! Men were dreadful creatures. And Gran wanted her to marry one of them?”
― Sabrina Jeffries, A Lady Never Surrenders

“No wonder Gran had managed to run a brewery with such success for the past twenty-two years. She was a Machiavelli in skirts.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, The Truth About Lord Stoneville

“I want you any way I can get you. Not because you’re beautiful or clever or kind or adorable, although devil knows you’re all those things. I want you because there’s no one else like you, and I don’t ever want to start a day without seeing you.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Tempt Me at Twilight

“The letter had been crumpled up and tossed onto the grate. It had burned all around the edges, so the names at the top and bottom had gone up in smoke. But there was enough of the bold black scrawl to reveal that it had indeed been a love letter. And as Hannah read the singed and half-destroyed parchment, she was forced to turn away to hide the trembling of her hand.

—should warn you that this letter will not be eloquent. However, it will be sincere, especially in light of the fact that you will never read it. I have felt these words like a weight in my chest, until I find myself amazed that a heart can go on beating under such a burden.

I love you. I love you desperately, violently, tenderly, completely. I want you in ways that I know you would find shocking. My love, you don't belong with a man like me. In the past I've done things you wouldn't approve of, and I've done them ten times over. I have led a life of immoderate sin. As it turns out, I'm just as immoderate in love. Worse, in fact.

I want to kiss every soft place of you, make you blush and faint, pleasure you until you weep, and dry every tear with my lips. If you only knew how I crave the taste of you. I want to take you in my hands and mouth and feast on you. I want to drink wine and honey from you.

I want you under me. On your back.

I'm sorry. You deserve more respect than that. But I can't stop thinking of it. Your arms and legs around me. Your mouth, open for my kisses. I need too much of you. A lifetime of nights spent between your thighs wouldn't be enough.

I want to talk with you forever. I remember every word you've ever said to me.

If only I could visit you as a foreigner goes into a new country, learn the language of you, wander past all borders into every private and secret place, I would stay forever. I would become a citizen of you.

You would say it's too soon to feel this way. You would ask how I could be so certain. But some things can't be measured by time. Ask me an hour from now. Ask me a month from now. A year, ten years, a lifetime. The way I love you will outlast every calendar, clock, and every toll of every bell that will ever be cast. If only you—

And there it stopped.”
― Lisa Kleypas, A Wallflower Christmas