Eastofoz

“Good fiction creates its own reality.”
― Nora Roberts, The Stanislaski Brothers: Mikhail and Alex

“He smiled, setting his forehead to hers. "you are very bad for me. I am trying to turn over a new leaf--I am trying to be more gentlemanly."
"But what if I want you to stay a rake?" she teased, her fingers trailing down his neck and chest, fingering the buttons on his waistcoat. "A libertine, even?" she slipped one fastening from its seat and he grabbed her errant hand, bringing it to his lips for a swift kiss.
"Callie," he said, his voice thick with warning as she set her free hand to the second button on his coat.
"What if I want the rogue, Gabriel?" the question was soft and sweet.
"What are you saying?"
She kissed across the firm square line of his jaw and whispered to him, shyness in her shaking voice, "Take me to bed, Gabriel. Give me a taste of scandal.”
― Sarah MacLean, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

“There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic.”
― Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale

“[Verity]"What was that all about?"
[Duke of Kylemore] "The kiss? You said it yourself. It was to teach you a lesson." He used the cold cutting voice again...
[Verity] That you can touch me whenever you feel like it?" She injected a challenge into her voice. "I already knew that."
[Duke of Kylemore] He smiled slightly. "Yes. But now you know when I touch you, you're not immune. And that thought will eat at you like acid.”
― Anna Campbell