“There was something more than a little satisfying about ripping the heart out of someone the moment before they expected to do the same to you.”

“Still pleasant as a cornered hedgehog, and as well mannered as a badger, I see.”

“Alisons gaze gentled. Tell me, Samantha, have you ever been to Scotland?”

“Yere wet, he groaned. Im underwater. I ken that, bonny. But this dampness has nothing to do with that.”

“Experience should have taught ye by now that denying me what I want only makes me more relentless.”

“The lass was no damsel. Hed prepared himself for a hard sell, one that might require a few extra knee-weakening smiles, perhaps so much as a seduction, but hed never in a million years expected the...”

“Alisons gaze gentled. Tell me, Samantha, have you ever been to Scotland?”

“Yere wet, he groaned. Im underwater. I ken that, bonny. But this dampness has nothing to do with that.”

“Though her muscles went rigid, her tongue sparred with his, as he might have guessed it would. Each lick and swirl, each plunge and retreat became a point counted for or against. Gavin had never en...”

“To see the years touch ye gives me joy", he whispered, "for it means that ye live.”

“I thought the force of my wanting must wake ye, surely. And then ye did come. . ." He stopped, looking at me with eyes gone soft and dark. "Christ, Claire, ye were so beautiful, there on the stair,...”

“There was something more than a little satisfying about ripping the heart out of someone the moment before they expected to do the same to you.”

“And if you ever - and I do mean ever - try to leave me, Im goin with you.”

“..he wanted her.And at another time, as another man, he would have her. Without hesitation. As lover. . . as more.”

“Annabelle gave him a chiding smile. If youre implying that Im spoiled, I assure you that I am not.You should be. His warm gaze slid over her pink-tinted face and slender upper body, then sought her...”