Joy

“But if fairies and monsters were real, so were the women who defeated them.”
― Ava Reid, A Study in Drowning

“Wendell half sat, half crouched in a hollow in the mountainside, one hand over his eyes, showing no interest whatsoever in our impossible surroundings, and I realized what was happening: somehow the poison had curdled the magic inside him, and any use of enchantment pained him.
I knelt at his side and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Yes,” he murmured. “Say that you’ll marry me.”
“God.” So he was well enough to tease me, at least—that was some relief. “Perhaps I will refuse you here and now. Disappointment in love may provide a welcome distraction from the poison.”
“Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”
― Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands

“Would you prefer to wait?”
In answer, he kissed me—much more slowly than the kiss I had given him, and more skillfully too, I’m afraid. Afterwards he didn’t lean back as I expected, but trailed his lips down my neck, sending a shiver skittering through me.
“You can begin by removing your clothes,” I said. “If you would like to. To clarify, this is a suggestion, not a demand.”
“Oh, Em,” he said, laughing softly against my neck. I had my hands in his hair, which was now quite mussed, something that made me absurdly happy.
“I’m sorry,” I said, self-conscious now. “Perhaps I shouldn’t talk.”
“Whyever not?” He drew back, examining me with a perplexed smile. “I like the way you talk. And everything else about you, in fact. Is that not clear by now?”
I felt laughter bubble up inside me, but I hid it behind a mock-serious expression. “I’m not sure.”
His smile changed, and he trailed his hand down the side of my neck. “Let me show you.”
― Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands

“Other women snore, or talk in their sleep. I don't recall ever being woken up by the sound of vigorous pencil scratching."
"You could always ask one of those other women to marry you," I said. "Though it may not be easy to find one who is quite so tolerant of faerie assassins and strange quests as I am.”
― Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands