Sophia

“I give in,” she gasped. “What has turned your evening into such a dreadful affair?”
“What or whom?”
“‘ Whom’?” she echoed, tilting her head as she looked at him. “This grows even more interesting.”
“I can think of any number of adjectives to describe all of the ‘whoms’ I have had the pleasure of meeting this evening, but ‘interesting’ is not one of them.”
“Now, now,” she chided, “don’t be rude. I did see you chatting with my brothers, after all.”
He nodded gallantly, tightening his hand slightly at her waist as they swung around in a graceful arc. “My apologies. The Bridgertons are, of course, excluded from my insults.”
“We are all relieved, I’m sure.”
Simon cracked a smile at her deadpan wit. “I live to make Bridgertons happy.”
“Now that is a statement that may come back to haunt you,” she chided. “But in all seriousness, what has you in such a dither? If your evening has gone that far downhill since our interlude with Nigel, you’re in sad straits, indeed.”
“How shall I put this,” he mused, “so that I do not completely offend you?”
“Oh, go right ahead,” she said blithely. “I promise not to be offended.”
Simon grinned wickedly. “A statement that may come back to haunt you.”
She blushed slightly. The color was barely noticeable in the shadowy candlelight, but Simon had been watching her closely.
She didn’t say anything, however, so he added, “Very well, if you must know, I have been introduced to every single unmarried lady in the ballroom.”
A strange snorting sound came from the vicinity of her mouth.
Simon had the sneaking suspicion that she was laughing at him.
“I have also,” he continued, “been introduced to all of their mothers.”
She gurgled. She actually gurgled.
“Bad show,” he scolded. “Laughing at your dance partner.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, her lips tight from trying not to smile.
“No, you’re not.”
“All right,” she admitted, “I’m not. But only because I have had to suffer the same torture for two years. It’s difficult to summon too much pity for a mere evening’s worth.”
― Julia Quinn, The Duke and I

“The world seemed somehow different when one was lying down. Darker, more dangerous ... And in that moment, as he slowly closed the distance between them, he became her entire world.”
― Julia Quinn, The Duke and I

“If I die," he whispered in the dark, "dinna follow me. The bairns will need ye. Stay for them. I can wait.”
― Diana Gabaldon, A Breath of Snow and Ashes

“Simon stopped breathing until her forefinger touched his nipple, and then his hand shot up to cover hers. "I want you," he said.
Her eyes flicked downward, and her lips curved ever so slightly. "I know."
"No," he groaned, pulling her closer. "I want to be in your heart. I want-" His entire body shuddered when their skin touched. "I want to be in your soul.”
― Julia Quinn, The Duke and I