Carmen

“It's true," He whispered.

Suddenly, I was aware of how close we were standing, so close I could touch the square of his jaw or the chiseled planes of his face.

"What's true?"

"You are as beautiful as I remembered. Nefer," he said, and his breath came quickly. "Perhaps you want to simply remain my friend, but when I was gone, all I could think about was you. When I was supposed to be thinking about the rebellion, or how my men would find fresh water in the desert, all I could think of was how you wanted to be hidden away in the Temple of Hathor. Nefer," he said passionately, "you can't be a priestess."

I wanted to close my eyes and step into the shelter of his embrace, but beyond the column the entire court was gathering.

"But if I'm not to be a priestess," I asked him, "where will my place be in Thebes?" I held my breath, waiting for the right answer to come, willing it into his heart. Then he took me in his arms and brushed his lips against mine.

"With me," he said firmly. "As my queen.”
― Michelle Moran, The Heretic Queen

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

“Okay, so what happened to you? For real?"
I was born to indifferent parents and like a lot of children, I fell prey to an abusive male authority figure who taught me that violence is a legitimate means of coping and then last night, one of our fellows drugged me and coerced me into confessing to a boatload of crimes.
"I lost my phone.”
― Caroline Kepnes, For You and Only You

“I have not broken your heart - you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine.”
― Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights