Holly

“His intense blue gaze held hers, willing her to believe. She pulled in a shaky breath. Each second, he’d said. This second, then another, then another, until she believed all the time. She closed her eyes. She wanted to trust in him, in them. Why did it have to be so darn hard?

Using his hold on her wrist, he drew her closer, leaned down to rest his cheek against hers. “I’m yours,” he murmured near her ear. “You have me. Believe that, baby.”

She nodded and slipped her arms about his neck, holding on hard. “I’m trying.”

“I know.” He rested a hand against her spine, dropped a kiss on the curve of her shoulder. “One second at a time, Angel. We have all the time you need.”
― Linda Winfree

“Are you still running that bar?” Maureen’s voice dropped to a shocked whisper on the last word and Hope rolled her eyes, working the pick through Maureen’s thick hair.

“The Cue Club? Yes, ma’am, I am.” Angel leaned forward with her best devilish wink. “But I’m thinking of changing the name to the Den of Iniquity and getting some exotic dancers. You know, strippers.”

Miss Maureen’s eyes widened, pencil-thin brows nearly reaching the salt and pepper curls falling onto her forehead.”
― Linda Winfree

“I used to eat people, you know.”

If he meant to shock her out of crying, he succeeded. A snort burst out of her. “That’s awful,” she said. Her nose was clogged. “I mean it, that’s awful. It’s not funny. I’m not laughing.”

He sighed. “It was a long time ago. Thousands of years. Once I really was the beast the Elves call me.”

She closed her eyes, took a deep, shuddering breath and rubbed her fingers along the seam of his T-shirt. “What made you stop?”

“I had a conversation with somebody. It was an epiphany.” His voice was rueful.He rocked her. “From that point on I swore I would never eat something that could talk.”

“Hey, that’s kind of your version of turning vegetarian, isn’t it?”
― Thea Harrison, Dragon Bound

“Angel blinked hard and bit her lip, trying to stop the quivering of her chin. “I feel like I’ve waited my whole life for him, waited to get to this point where I could appreciate and value him most.”
― Linda Winfree