Jujubee

“James Juniper is the wild sister, fearless as a fox and curious as a crow; she goes first into the tower. Inside she finds a ruin: snowdrifts of ash and char, the skeleton of the staircase still clinging to the walls, greasy soot blackening every stone. And three women... One of them is pale and fey, with ivory antlers sprouting from matted dark hair and yellowed teeth strung in a necklace around her throat. Her dress is ragged and torn, black as a moonless night. She meets Juniper's eyes and Juniper feels a thrill of recognition. Juniper always loved maiden-stories best. Maidens are supposed to be sweet, soft creatures who braid daisy-crowns and turn themselves into laurel trees rather than suffer the loss of their innocence, but the Maiden is none of those things. She's the fierce one, the feral one, the witch who lives free in the wild woods. She's the siren and the selkie, the virgin and the valkyrie; Artemis and Athena. She's the little girl in the red cloak who doesn't run from the wolf but walks arm in arm with him deeper into the woods. Juniper knows her by the savage green of her eyes, the vicious curve of her smile. An adder drapes over her shoulders like a strip of dark velvet, like the carved-yew snake of Juniper's staff come to life. Juniper's smile could be the Maiden's own, sharp and white, mirrored back across the centuries.”
― Alix E. Harrow, The Once and Future Witches

“Leo had asked gently. “Let’s look at the situation honestly, Win. You have nothing in common with him. You’re a lovely, sensitive, literate woman, and he’s … Merripen. He likes to chop wood for entertainment. And apparently it falls to me to point out the indelicate truth that some couples are well-suited in the bedroom but not anywhere else.” Win had been shocked out of her tears by his bluntness. “Leo Hathaway, are you suggesting—” “Lord Ramsay now, thank you,” he had teased. “Lord Ramsay, are you suggesting that my feelings for Merripen are carnal in nature?” “They’re certainly not intellectual,” Leo had said, and grinned as she punched him in the shoulder.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Seduce Me at Sunrise

“Ian tended to take a death threat as a challenge, a joke, or an aphrodisiac.”
― Jeaniene Frost, Shades of Wicked

“I know, it’s a lotto take in. Never thought you’d be this happy, did you? Or this lucky. Blimey, go ahead and envy yourself. Countless other people will, I assure you.”
A laugh escaped me even as my eyes became so shiny, his image started to blur. “You might be the most conceited man I’ve ever met, and I’ve met millions of them.”
His low, seductive laugh coincided with his hands settling on my hips. “Then I deserve a spanking, don’t I? Here, I’ll start things off.”
- Ian and Veritas”
― Jeaniene Frost, Shades of Wicked