“
I have to get back there." I said to Adrian. "Into that door."
He arched an eyebrow. "What, like sneaking in? How very black ops of you. And oh, you know— dangerous and foolish."
"I know." I said, surprised at how calm I sounded as I admitted that. "But I have to know something, and this may be my only chance."
"Then I'll go with you in case that guy comes back," he said with a sigh. "Never let it be said Adrian Ivashkov doesn't help damsels in distress.
”
”
Richelle Mead (Bloodlines (Bloodlines, #1))
“
The boy registered them but didn’t answer, already turned inward. He was counting backward from a thousand in multiples of four while working multiplication tables of seven until they met.
”
”
William Kely McClung (Black Fire)
“
Be careful in the company of monsters that you don't become one.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Take No Prisoners (Black Ops Inc., #2))
“
Lots of things went into creating a monster, but nothing had prepared her for actually being caught by one.
”
”
William Kely McClung (Black Fire)
“
Ten years old. Seemed perfectly normal, which under the circumstances, according to the doctor who first interviewed him, meant he probably wasn’t. Years later that would be amended. “He has a talent for violence.
”
”
William Kely McClung (Black Fire)
“
She smiled again and the sun came back out. Raced backward up from the sea and lit her face. He told himself to ignore it. It wasn’t that special. Not really. He couldn’t be sure, but if his display of ignorance could make her do it again, it might be worth checking out.
”
”
William Kely McClung (Black Fire)
“
All's fair in love and war--and black ops.
”
”
Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Every Other Day)
“
Why are we sitting way back here?"
"This way we can see the whole room and do some recon."
"Great, here we go with the black op lingo. Were you a Navy SEAL or some special forces officer in a past life?" Sally asked.
"It's a gift. It comes so naturally that you think I've had formal training." Jen winked.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. And, by the way, Hogwarts accepted you and is awaiting your arrival."
"Ha ha, good one," Jen said dryly. "You have my vote – you'll be mayor in no time.
”
”
Quinn Loftis (Just One Drop (The Grey Wolves, #3))
“
Wrangler butts drive me nuts.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Whisper No Lies (Black Ops Inc., #3))
“
Live for something rather than die for nothing.
—George Patton
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Whisper No Lies (Black Ops Inc., #3))
“
Now let's try that again. Ask my wife nice, and maybe I'll let you sleep in the same bed as your teeth tonight.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (With No Remorse (Black Ops Inc., #6))
“
Out in the field, any connection with home just makes you weaker. It reminds you that you were once civilized, soft; and that can get you killed faster than a bullet through the head.
”
”
Henry Mosquera (Sleeper's Run)
“
Okay, I'm guessing you're gonna give us the bad news first because there's no good news?
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Whisper No Lies (Black Ops Inc., #3))
“
Once a man saw heaven in one woman's arms, then nothing else would do. And that scared the shit out of him, the thought that no other woman but Lilly would do. - Travis/Black Jack about Lilly Belle/Night Hawk (Lady Hawk to him)
”
”
Lora Leigh (Black Jack (Elite Ops, #4))
“
He’d never felt this protective of a woman before. Only she brought that out in him. That powerful, odd mixture of independence and vulnerability completely melted him.
The fact that she flew a Black Hawk and could talk shop with the best of them? Hot as hell. And her laugh. God, she had the dirtiest laugh he’d ever heard. Every time he heard it he thought of sex. Hot, sweaty sex, the kind that left a man exhausted and weak and his partner unable to move.
”
”
Kaylea Cross (Deadly Descent (Bagram Special Ops, #1))
“
The man lived like a monk.
And made love like a sinner.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Show No Mercy (Black Ops Inc., #1))
“
I was wondering; there are bi-scuits, and tri-scuits, right? So, is there a plain ‘scuit’? What would that look like?
”
”
Craig Alanson (Black Ops (Expeditionary Force, #4))
“
Confidence is highly erotic.
”
”
K.D. Harp (Blackmail (True Colors #1))
“
He knew he wasn't going anywhere that didn't take him to her.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Take No Prisoners (Black Ops Inc., #2))
“
The real enemy" is the totality of physical and mental constraints by which capital, or class society, or statism, or the society of the spectacle expropriates everyday life, the time of our lives. The real enemy is not an object apart from life. It is the organization of life by powers detached from it and turned against it. The apparatus, not its personnel, is the real enemy. But it is by and through the apparatchiks and everyone else participating in the system that domination and deception are made manifest. The totality is the organization of all against each and each against all. It includes all the policemen, all the social workers, all the office workers, all the nuns, all the op-ed columnists, all the drug kingpins from Medellin to Upjohn, all the syndicalists and all the situationists.
”
”
Bob Black (The Abolition of Work and Other Essays)
“
Because they're probably long gone. Are you hurt?" Gabe asked with enough urgency that she realized he must have felt shiver in delayed reaction to the hole in the door.
"No. No, I'm okay. What a about you? Are you hurt?"
"Only if you count the fact that you damned near ripped off my plumbing groping around for my phone."
She made a sound of exasperation. "Now? You pick now to become a comedian?"
"It's all about timing," he whispered back.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Show No Mercy (Black Ops Inc., #1))
“
She dug around in her bag, found what she was looking for, and brought the little stuffed dog back to bed with her. Childish, yeah. She didn't care. He was soft and cuddly-unlike Jones-and she had a need for soft and cuddly right now. She'd like to meet a woman who could breeze through a shotgun blast and not need something to hold on to. Even if it was just an old stuffed pup.(...)She swallowed hard,then caught her breath when he opened his eyes, turned his head on the pillow toward her. He searched her face in the dark.
"Come here," he whispered.
When she hesitated, he reached for her. "The dog can come, too.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Show No Mercy (Black Ops Inc., #1))
“
Damn," Crystal sputtered, looking up from the dictionary in disbelief. "Oenophlygia: the state of being dunk. It really is a word".
Johnny gloated unabashedly. "Just wouldn't listen, would you? Just couldn't stand that I might be way ahead of the game. Word to the wise," he added with a superior smirk. "Don't mess with a man of my experience in that arena.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Risk No Secrets (Black Ops Inc., #5))
“
Don't wake up," he whispered as he felt her shudder against him once more. "Dream with me, Belle. Sweet Belle, just dream with me."
-from Travis/Black Jack
”
”
Lora Leigh (Black Jack (Elite Ops, #4))
“
That cowboy had heartbreak written all over him and she'd be damned if she knew why every time he blew into town she ended up naked before he ended up gone. Reed always ended up gone.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Whisper No Lies (Black Ops Inc., #3))
“
Which is your bad shoulder?"
His brows knit together. "The left," he said carefully.
She slugged him in the right.
He staggered. Steadied himself. Grinned. "Is that like some weird Wyoming mating ritual thing I should know about?"
"Damn you," she cried, flying into his arms. Finally. "Damn you, damn you, damn you!"
He wrapped his arms around her, held her tight. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was such a coward.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Show No Mercy (Black Ops Inc., #1))
“
He wasn't a romantic. Had never thought himself as sentimental. But he wanted this one last kiss.
"Well", he said, his voice hoarse and grainy, "we'll always have Peru.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (With No Remorse (Black Ops Inc., #6))
“
The enemy, however, is not the historically imagined enemy of brown or black youth, more often depicted as America's problem than as its promise. The enemy is not the nameless, faceless, yet ethnically imagined terrorist that we have been encouraged to fear in the post-9/11 environment. Rather, the greater enemy to American democracy is more likely to be an uninformed and uncritical American public that can be manipulated by soothing political slogans, feelgood photo ops, and an endless round of holiday sales.
”
”
Patricia Hill Collins (On Intellectual Activism)
“
Boastfulness and excessive pride are also the weak, self-destructive points that can reveal a person's lack of credibility and deficient integrity. ~ Angelica Hopes, The F. Trilogy
”
”
Angelica Hopes
“
She'd given it two good years. The problem was, Don had only given it one.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Take No Prisoners (Black Ops Inc., #2))
“
Damn" Johnny muttered watching her go. "It might not be love, but it sure is fun.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Take No Prisoners (Black Ops Inc., #2))
“
I’ve seen you shoot down more guys in a night than a Camper in a Black Ops video game session.
”
”
Nicole Reed (Cake)
“
This is so my favorite time of day to make house calls," Mendoza announced from the backseat of Wyatt's SUV as they cruised the Soyopango gangland territory. "Nothing says sneak attack like waltzing in under the cover of the noon-fucking-sun.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Risk No Secrets (Black Ops Inc., #5))
“
There were more of them out there. More walkers. And I was being asked to step up and be... what? Some kind of Captain Heroism who would lead the boys in the Red, White, and Blue to victory? What was I getting myself into? This wasn't task force duty, this wasn't even SWAT-team level. I'd never even smelled anything this big before and now I was expected to train and lead a black ops team? How frigging insane was this? Why were they asking me? I'm just a cop. Where are the guys who actually do this for a living? How come none of them were here? Where's James Bond and Jack Bauer? Why me, of all people?
”
”
Jonathan Maberry (Patient Zero (Joe Ledger, #1))
“
Hey, Tink," Reed called to his wife. He'd given up on the poker game and was cradling the little pink handle that was Mariah Savage in his arms. "Look how cute she is. I think I want one. S'pose we can stop by Walmart and pick up one just like her.?"
Chrystal glanced up from her cards and gave her husband a look.
"Three o'clock feedings. Smelly diapers. Responsability."
"Oh. Right. I'd have to grow up.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (With No Remorse (Black Ops Inc., #6))
“
Hot damn, Diego Santero looked fine soaking wet. Everything about him radiated potent masculinity, from the slick, dark hair that drew emphasis to the angles of his cheeks and jaw, to the water beading off his forearms and the soaked black shirt and cargo pants that clung to every curve of muscle and flesh below.
”
”
Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
“
Perpetual war allows globalists to continue funding dirty black-ops drug smuggling, corrupt banking practices, political bribes, and assassinations. Perpetual war can be seen as an excuse for spying on Americans, militarizing police agencies, and laws allowing the federal government to declare any American citizen an “enemy combatant” and holding them without warrant or habeas corpus as well as spying with drones. With
”
”
Jim Marrs (Population Control: How Corporate Owners Are Killing Us)
“
Do things to me, Luke. Do things that will make us forget everything going on outside this room.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (With No Remorse (Black Ops Inc., #6))
“
He was worth waiting for, even when I didn’t know he was coming into my life.
”
”
Cristin Harber (Ricochet (Delta #4))
“
First, no plan survives contact with the enemy. Second, the enemy also makes plans.
”
”
Craig Alanson (Black Ops (Expeditionary Force, #4))
“
If you're gonna be a dick, this is what you wear.
”
”
Craig Alanson (Black Ops (Expeditionary Force, #4))
“
Never trust a woman hoarding a half-eaten bag of M&M's.
”
”
K.D. Harp (Blackmail (True Colors #1))
“
He hangs up. "Told her it was a butt dial. She was very understanding."
I blink. "Let me get this straight. You are telling me that the government wants to recruit me for some black ops-type, probably illegal mission and you just said the word butt to the actual president of the United states?"
"I am.
”
”
Andrea Portes (Liberty: The Spy Who (Kind of) Liked Me)
“
I spent a few more minutes puzzling over the timeline before turning my attention to the notebook’s first page, which contained a pencil drawing of an old-school coin-operated arcade game—one I didn’t recognize. Its control panel featured a single joystick and one unlabeled white button, and its cabinet was entirely black, with no side art or other markings anywhere on it, save for the game’s strange title, which was printed in all capital green letters across its jet black marquee: POLYBIUS. Below his drawing of the game, my father had made the following notations: No copyright or manufacturer info anywhere on game cabinet. Reportedly only seen for 1–2 weeks in July 1981 at MGP. Gameplay was similar to Tempest. Vector graphics. Ten levels? Higher levels caused players to have seizures, hallucinations, and nightmares. In some cases, subject committed murder and/or suicide. “Men in Black” would download scores from the game each night. Possible early military prototype created to train gamers for war? Created by same covert op behind Bradley Trainer?
”
”
Ernest Cline (Armada)
“
The door to the situation room door opened, drawing her attention to a tall, lean man with eyes as sharp as razors.
The sound of a metal chair scraping on the tile floor filled the room as Reed shot to his feet, stood at attention, and saluted crisply.
The man stopped, scowled, and heaved a heavy sigh. "All right you clown. At ease. It hasn't been that long since I've been here."
"Just showing my respect, sir," Reed said with a smart-ass grin. "It's not often we're fortunate enough to be in the company of such greatness.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (With No Remorse (Black Ops Inc., #6))
“
Calm down. If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't need this knife to do it.
”
”
Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
“
You make velocity look good.
”
”
Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
“
We could go directly from, say, Atlanta to Duluth, instead of going Atlanta-Dallas-Chicago-Detroit-Duluth. Except, of course, there is no reason for anyone to ever to go to Duluth.
”
”
Craig Alanson (Black Ops (Expeditionary Force, #4))
“
Saying sorry does not get you a free pass to behave like a dick.
”
”
Incy Black (Hard to Protect (Black Ops Heros #3))
“
the SOE was formed to carry out operations seen as being too politically explosive, illegal, or unconscionable to be embraced by the wider British establishment.
”
”
Damien Lewis (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchill's Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops)
“
Fight for all you hold dear. Die as if it counts. Life is not so hard Nor is death.
”
”
Damien Lewis (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchill's Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops)
“
Do not tell me what I think you're going to or I swear to God, I'm going to fly to Brazil and go all black ops on this guy for cheating on you.
”
”
Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
“
I'm not Lois Lane and you are neither Superman nor Clark Kent," she fired back. "It's crazy for you to go anywhere in this condition, and if you had the sense God gave a rock, you'd stay put."
Gabe stopped in his tracks. "Did you just compare me to a rock?"
She snorted. "I have the utmost respect for rocks. They're hard, they're heavy. They make good paperweights.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Show No Mercy (Black Ops Inc., #1))
“
What happened?" Wyatt asked Crystal, and stood back so the two of them could come inside out of the oppressive heat.
"Why are you asking her?" Reed thumped past him. "I'm the one on crutches."
"She'll tell me the truth," Wyatt said. "You'll just give me some bullshit story that will end with 'You should see the other guy'."
"You wound me, bro" [Reed]
"He tore his ACL the day before yesterday trying to do a stunt on a skateboard." [Crystal]
"Mendoza dared him." [Luke Colter]
"No one held a gun to the fool's head" [Mendoza]
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Risk No Secrets (Black Ops Inc., #5))
“
With only those soft, secret night sounds as witness, he moved over her, kissed her deeply, then slid home.
And news sounds filled the dark.
Sharp breaths of stunning urgency.
Long sighs of immeasurable pleasure.
Humming beats of awareness of an unbreakable bond being forged.¸
In the heat of the night, without a single word spoken, she felt everything change between them. Until this moment, they'd only played at love, danced cautiously around the prospect of commitment. But as he sank in and out of her body, immersing them in sensation and a profound stream of consciousness, he sough her gaze in the dark. What she saw in his eyes brought tears to hers as it became achingly, wonderfully clear.
The biggest player of them all wasn't playing anymore.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Whisper No Lies (Black Ops Inc., #3))
“
Oh my god, Bella, what have you done?”
Bella jumped as she turned to face Nathan, seeing his wild eyes, his pale features, his hard, buff body stalking across the front yard, his chest slick with sweat, bits of the grass he had been cutting sticking to his jeans as he strode furiously to where her car met the back of his truck.
“It’s just a little dent, Nathan. I promise . . .” Her heart was in her throat. Not in hear. He would never hurt her. But he sure knew how to pout when he wanted to.
“A little dent.” He gripped her shoulders, moving her aside as he stared down at the crumpled fender as it sank into the bumper of his truck.
It was an accident. It was all his fault. If he hadn’t been wearing those butt-snug jeans and boots with no shirt as he cut the lawn, it would have never happened.
“You hit my truck.” Male pride and offended dignity filled his voice. “That’s my truck, Bella.”
Yes. It was. And he was very proud of the powerful, black four-by-four he babied worse than any woman would a child. She would be jealous if it weren’t for the fact that he couldn’t actually bring it into the house.
”
”
Lora Leigh (Wild Card (Elite Ops, #1))
“
There’s the bullshit you know that you know; the bullshit you don’t know and know you don’t know; and the bullshit you just think you know but really don’t. Making a promise in the middle of an alien black op falls under the last category. So…sorry!
”
”
Rick Yancey (The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave, #1))
“
The teenagers who had signed up to be Lookouts loved hustling in the cold, pretending they were marines on a black op. Most of them had been preparing for postapocalyptic stealth missions since they were old enough to pick up an Xbox controller. “Father
”
”
Joe Hill (The Fireman)
“
Jesus, would you look at him. Hair too long and too blond. Eyes too sexy and too blue. Body too buff, ego in danger of liftoff. Standing there in his tight fitted jeans, painted-on T-shirt, and snakeskin boots, he looked like God’s guilty gift. Trouble was, he knew it.
”
”
Cindy Gerard (Whisper No Lies (Black Ops Inc., #3))
“
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. ‘I have a dream that one day, on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down to gether at the table of brotherhood – I have a dream. ‘That one day even the state of Mississippi – a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of op pression – will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream.’ He had hit a rhythm, and two hundred thousand people felt it sway their souls. It was more than a speech: it was a poem and a canticle and a prayer as deep as the grave. The heartbreaking phrase ‘I have a dream’ came like an amen at the end of each ringing sentence. ‘. . . That my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character – I have a dream today. ‘I have a dream that one day down in Alabama – with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification – one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers – I have a dream today. ‘With this faith we will be able to hew, out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope. ‘With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. ‘With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.’ Looking around, Jasper saw that black and white faces alike were running with tears. Even he felt moved, and he had thought himself immune to this kind of thing. ‘And when this happens; when we allow freedom to ring; when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city; we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands . . .’ Here he slowed down, and the crowd was almost silent. King’s voice trembled with the earthquake force of his passion. ‘. . . and sing, in the words of the old Negro spiritual: ‘Free at last! ‘Free at last! ‘Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
”
”
Ken Follett (Edge of Eternity (The Century Trilogy, #3))
“
Havens reached into his ear and pinched enough of the latex with his fingernails to withdraw the device. He dropped it on the ground and crushed it under his foot. He didn’t care if it was found. It was French-made. Procured for that very purpose.
F*** overwatch. Screw the French.
”
”
J.T. Patten (Safe Havens: Shadow Masters (Sean Havens Black Ops, #1))
“
we're going balls to the wall, guys. Our sneak-and-peak just turned into a hostage rescue.
”
”
Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
“
I'll carry you." But she was already holding on, and though she knew she'd have to soon, she didn't see how she'd ever be able to let go of him.
”
”
Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
“
Faces close, they breathed into each other, their bodies slick with water and sweat.
”
”
Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
“
You won't believe what I'm capable of, Phoenix.
”
”
Melissa Cutler (Hot on the Hunt (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #3))
“
Oh, you do sweet, sweet things to me,” she whispered against his lips.
“Hmm. Sweet wasn’t my first thought.
”
”
Cristin Harber (Ricochet (Delta #4))
“
But this was magic, something meant to be, as if some kisses could change the trajectory of the universe.
”
”
Cristin Harber (Ricochet (Delta #4))
“
We fight the wars. Politicians start them.” Chotek nodded, and sighed heavily. “And diplomats end wars.
”
”
Craig Alanson (Black Ops (Expeditionary Force, #4))
Craig Alanson (Black Ops (Expeditionary Force, #4))
“
The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves,
”
”
Craig Alanson (Black Ops (Expeditionary Force, #4))
“
Larry, Moe, and Curly.
”
”
Craig Alanson (Black Ops (Expeditionary Force, #4))
“
If the installation is under the auspices of the EPA, the CDC, the NSA, the CIA, or some federal black-op outfit
”
”
Dean Koontz (The House at the End of the World)
“
or some federal black-op outfit with no name, that is more problematic.
”
”
Dean Koontz (The House at the End of the World)
“
He leaned over, catching her lowered gaze. “I’m the present, Darlin’.
”
”
Lindsay McKenna (Wind River Wrangler (Wind River Valley, #1))
“
Frowning, Shiloh forced herself to look up at him. Roan deserved her courage, not her cowardice. “You wanted to kiss me.”
“I still do.
”
”
Lindsay McKenna (Wind River Wrangler (Wind River Valley, #1))
“
There is no doubt that the prehistoric veneration of Mother Earth survived intact up to the time of the worship of Demeter and Persephone in Greece, Ops Consiua in Rome, Nerthus in Germanic lands, Zemyna or Zemes in the Baltic area, Mother Moist Earth in Slavic lands, and elsewhere. Her power was too ancient and deep to be altogether destroyed by succeeding patriarchal religions, including Christianity. She was therefore absorbed, and became known in western Europe as various saints: Radegund, Macrine, Walpurga, Milburga, among others. In many other lands, especially eastern Europe, she fused with the Mother of God, Marija.
The Black Madonna is this same Earth Mother, whose blackness represents the color of earth's fertility. The yearly renewal of her fecundity is her fundamental miracle. Ancient mysteries, enacted through prehistoric and historic millennia- in caves, cemeteries, temples, and in the open fields- were for the purpose of expressing gratitude to the source of all life and nourishment, and to ritually participate in the secret of the earth's abundance.
”
”
Marija Gimbutas (The Civilization of the Goddess: The World of Old Europe)
“
Am I in trouble? He chortled, "well, a bunch of not-so-friendly thugs were waiting to ambush you and blow up your apartment. If that doesn't qualify as trouble, I don't know what does.
”
”
Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
“
She touched him everywhere she could reach. The rounded hardness of his biceps and chest, the ripped contours of his back, his thick, damp hair, until touching with his hands wasn't enough.
”
”
Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
“
I snuck through the front door.
Shooing Coop before me, I beelined for the stairs and the safety of my bedroom. I hoped to avoid notice for a few minutes—my clothes were dirty and smoke-tinged, my hair a tangled mess.
But it was not to be. Whitney swung from the kitchen before I could blink.
“Tory!” Smiling brightly, she smoothed her apron with manicured fingers. “I was just about to wonder what you’d gotten up to!”
Whitney winked to assure me she was joking, but the cloying attempt at humor annoyed me anyway. It made me want to actually tell her.
I was out on Loggerhead, fighting with a group of genetic freaks, when a black-ops military attack squad tried to capture me. Oh, and Ben and I made out on his boat. You?
I smothered the suicidal notion.
”
”
Kathy Reichs (Terminal (Virals, #5))
“
Shiloh had never seen a man who was a hunter. But she saw one now. There was an intense feeling around Roan, raw and untamed, as he studied her, his nostrils flaring to catch her scent. He ruthlessly dug into her opening eyes, reading her, trying to understand where she was at within herself and what she wanted from him.
“This is your call,” he said, his voice low and guttural.
”
”
Lindsay McKenna (Wind River Wrangler (Wind River Valley, #1))
“
Tonight, after we're done with the bank, we're going to finish this. Somewhere it's just the two of us. But if I keep kissing you right now, I'm not going to have enough blodd left in my brain to keep you safe at the bank.
”
”
Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
“
Ha! Listen, this guy walks into a bar, with a shopping bag, right? He sits down, puts the bag on the bar. Something in the bag is moving, and the bartender says ‘Hey, buddy, no animals in here’. You with me, Jones?” “Yah.” “The guy is looking real unhappy, totally down in the dumps, he reaches in the bag. He pulls out a brass lantern, then a small piano, a little stool, and finally a little guy in a tuxedo, about a foot tall. The little guy sits on the stool and starts playing the piano. Playing the piano, right?” “Yah. Got, it.” “Bartender says,” Williams’ grasp on a handhold slipped for a heart-stopping moment before the suit gloves restored their sticky grip. He could see the problem was some sort of fluid leaking from the access hatch above had coated the handhold. He moved his hand to the left to avoid the slippery fluid, and continued climbing down. “Bartender says, ‘That’s amazing, where’d you get him?’ Guy points to the lamp. ‘Magic genie granted me a wish, But he don’t hear so well-’ Before the guy can stop him, the bartender grabs the lamp, rubs it and shouts ‘I want a million bucks!’. POOF! The bar is filled with ducks! Ducks everywhere, under the tables, in the street outside, feathers flying all over the place. The bartender says ‘What the hell?’ So the guy says ‘I told you the genie don’t hear so well. You really think I asked for a twelve inch pianist?
”
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Craig Alanson (Black Ops (Expeditionary Force, #4))
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Let’s get one thing clear between us, Shiloh. I would never laugh at you. I might tease the dickens out of you, but I would never, ever make fun of you. That’s not who I am. I don’t believe in humiliating another person. It’s not in my DNA.
”
”
Lindsay McKenna (Wind River Wrangler (Wind River Valley, #1))
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Two guys in an English pub, one says ‘From your accent I guess you are Irish’. Second guy says, ‘Yes, from Dublin’. ‘Me too!’ first guy says. ‘I was raised in Drimnagh, went to St. Mary’s school’. ‘Drimnagh? St. Mary’s?’ Second guy can’t believe it. ‘I graduated from St. Mary’s in 1982’. First guy slaps his forehead. ‘Faith and begorah. I graduated from St. Mary’s in 1982 also!’ Bartender says,” Jones paused for breath, “he says to himself ‘This is going to be a long night. The Murphy twins are drunk again’.
”
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Craig Alanson (Black Ops (Expeditionary Force, #4))
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In 1996 Dorothy Mackey wrote an Op-ed piece, “Violence from comrades a fact of life for military women.” ABC News 20/ 20 did a segment on rape in the military. By November four women came forward at Aberdeen Proving Ground, in Maryland, about a pattern of rape by drill sergeants. In 1997 the military finds three black drill sergeants to scapegoat. They were sent to prison and this left the commanding generals and colonels untouched to retire quietly. The Army appointed a panel to investigate sexual harassment. One of the panelists was the sergeant Major of the Army, Eugene McKinney.
On hearing his nomination, former associates and one officer came forward with charges of sexual coercion and misconduct. In 1998 he was acquitted of all charges after women spoke (of how they were being stigmatized, their careers stopped, and their characters questioned. A Congressional panel studied military investigative practices. In 1998, the Court of Appeals ruled against Dorothy Mackay. She had been outspoken on media and highly visible. There is an old Arabic saying “When the hen crows cut off her head.”“This court finds that Col. Milam and Lt. Col. Elmore were acting in the scope of their duties” in 1991-1992 when Capt. Mackey alleged they harassed, intimidated and assaulted her. A legislative remedy was asked for and she appealed to the Supreme Court. Of course the Supreme Court refused to hear the case in 1999, as it always has under the feres doctrine. Her case was cited to block the suit of one of the Aberdeen survivors as well!
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Diane Chamberlain (Conduct Unbecoming: Rape, Torture, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from Military Commanders)
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How much the pain grew inside him after Ossie died until the only way to deal with it was to throw himself into the fray. And the whole time, Vanessa's body was wrapped around him like she was the only one being strong as a shield while he stripped his life bare.
”
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Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
“
Before she could say anything more, Sabella swung around at the sound of Noah’s Harley purring to life behind the garage.
God. He was dressed in snug jeans and riding chaps. A snug dark T-shirt covered his upper body, conformed to it. And he was riding her way.
“Is there anything sexier than a man in riding chaps riding a Harley?” Kira asked behind her. “It makes a woman simply want to melt.”
And Sabella was melting. She watched as he pulled around the side of the garage then took the gravel road that led to the back of the house. The sound of the Harley purred closer, throbbing, building the excitement inside her.
“I think it’s time for me to leave,” Kira said with a light laugh. “Don’t bother to see me out.”
Sabella didn’t. She listened as the Harley drew into the graveled lot behind the house and moved to the back door. She opened it, stepping out on the back deck as he swung his legs over the cycle and strode toward her.
That long-legged lean walk. It made her mouth water. Made her heart throb in her throat as hunger began to race through her.
“The spa treated you well,” he announced as he paused at the bottom of the steps and stared back at her. “Feel like messing your hair up and going out this evening? We could have dinner in town. Ride around a little bit.”
She hadn’t ridden on a motorcycle since she was a teenager. She glanced at the cycle, then back to Noah.
“I’d need to change clothes.”
His gaze flickered over her short jeans skirt, her T-shirt.
“That would be a damned shame too,” he stated. “I have to say, Ms. Malone, you have some beautiful legs there.”
No one had ever been as charming as Nathan. She remembered when they were dating, how he would just show up, out of the blue, driving that monster pickup of his and grinning like a rogue when he picked her up. He’d been the epitome of a bad boy, and he had been all hers. He was still all hers.
“Bare legs and motorcycles don’t exactly go together,” she pointed out.
He nodded soberly, though his eyes had a wicked glint to them. “This is a fact, beautiful. And pretty legs like that, we wouldn’t want to risk.”
She leaned against the porch post and stared back at him. “I have a pickup, you know.” She propped one hand on her hip and stared back at him.
“Really?” Was that avarice she saw glinting in his eyes, or for just the slightest second, pure, unadulterated joy at the mention of that damned pickup?
He looked around. “I haven’t seen a pickup.”
“It’s in the garage,” she told him carelessly. “A big black monster with bench seats. Four-by-four gas-guzzling alpha-male steel and chrome.”
He grinned. He was so proud of that damned pickup.
“Where did something so little come up with a truck that big?” he teased her then.
She shrugged. “It belonged to my husband. Now, it belongs to me.” That last statement had his gaze sharpening.
“You drive it?”
“All the time,” she lied, tormenting him. “I don’t have to worry about pinging it now that my husband is gone. He didn’t like pings.”
Did he swallow tighter?
“It’s pinged then?”
She snorted. “Not hardly. Do you want to drive the monster or question me about it? Or I could change into jeans and we could ride your cycle. Which is it?”
Which was it? Noah stared back at her, barely able to contain his shock that she had kept the pickup. He knew for a fact there were times the payments on the house and garage had gone unpaid—his “death” benefits hadn’t been nearly enough—almost risking her loss of both during those first months of his “death.” Knowing she had held on to that damned truck filled him with more pleasure than he could express. Knowing she was going to let someone who wasn’t her husband drive it filled him with horror.
The contradictor feelings clashed inside him, and he promised himself he was going to spank her for this.
”
”
Lora Leigh (Wild Card (Elite Ops, #1))
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She wanted his strong, capable hands on her blody and those soft lips locked with hers. She wanted to be held tight and kissed until she could forget-if only for a few precious minutes-that her life as she knew it had evaporated in a cloud of smoke and flame and violence.
”
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Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
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She had a hand on his belt, ready to show him exactly what she had in mind for the night, when he lowered to his knees between her legs, his hands spanning her ribs. Nervousness had vanished from his expression, replaced by eyes that gimmered with tenderness and perhaps even a hint of joy.
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Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
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From my experience, CIA cocaine ops were what Charlie Pride4’s tournaments were really all about. Part of the cash generated was laundered through his bank in Dallas, Texas. Pride was tied into the same Savings and Loan scandals that Neil Bush5 had been caught in. Even Bush Jr.’s baseball “bud” Nolan Ryan6 owned a bank associated with CIA black ops. Additionally, the drug running I was involved with was channeled through Albuquerque’s LA Dodger baseball training camp and profits laundered through local Catholic charities. Charlie Pride’s annual Pro-Am Golf Tournaments covered it all.
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Cathy O'Brien (ACCESS DENIED For Reasons Of National Security: Documented Journey From CIA Mind Control Slave To U.S. Government Whistleblower)
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He liked the sound of her voice, husky and low in a way that got him thinking about pinning her to the rock and setting his mouth to work on the hollow of her throat, proving to her which of them was in control. Then again, feelings didn't get much more out of control that his were at the moment.
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Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
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Farmers in the South, West, and Midwest, however, were still building a major movement to escape from the control of banks and merchants lending them supplies at usurious rates; agricultural cooperatives—cooperative buying of supplies and machinery and marketing of produce—as well as cooperative stores, were the remedy to these conditions of virtual serfdom. While the movement was not dedicated to the formation of worker co-ops, in its own way it was at least as ambitious as the Knights of Labor had been. In the late 1880s and early 1890s it swept through southern and western states like a brushfire, even, in some places, bringing black and white farmers together in a unity of interest. Eventually this Farmers’ Alliance decided it had to enter politics in order to break the power of the banks; it formed a third party, the People’s Party, in 1892. The great depression of 1893 only spurred the movement on, and it won governorships in Kansas and Colorado. But in 1896 its leaders made a terrible strategic blunder in allying themselves with William Jennings Bryan of the Democratic party in his campaign for president. Bryan lost the election, and Populism lost its independent identity. The party fell apart; the Farmers’ Alliance collapsed; the movement died, and many of its cooperative associations disappeared. Thus, once again, the capitalists had managed to stomp out a threat to their rule.171 They were unable to get rid of all agricultural cooperatives, however, even with the help of the Sherman “Anti-Trust” Act of 1890.172 Nor, in fact, did big business desire to combat many of them, for instance the independent co-ops that coordinated buying and selling. Small farmers needed cooperatives in order to survive, whether their co-ops were independent or were affiliated with a movement like the Farmers’ Alliance or the Grange. The independent co-ops, moreover, were not necessarily opposed to the capitalist system, fitting into it quite well by cooperatively buying and selling, marketing, and reducing production costs. By 1921 there were 7374 agricultural co-ops, most of them in regional federations. According to the census of 1919, over 600,000 farmers were engaged in cooperative marketing or purchasing—and these figures did not include the many farmers who obtained insurance, irrigation, telephone, or other business services from cooperatives.173
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Chris Wright (Worker Cooperatives and Revolution: History and Possibilities in the United States)
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No matter who you are, life will present you similar opportunities where you can prove to be uncommon. There are people in all walks of life who relish those moments, and when I see them I recognize them immediately because they are usually that motherfucker who’s all by himself. It’s the suit who’s still at the office at midnight while everyone else is at the bar, or the badass who hits the gym directly after coming off a forty-eight-hour op. She’s the wildland firefighter who instead of hitting her bedroll, sharpens her chainsaw after working a fire for twenty-four hours. That mentality is there for all of us. Man, woman, straight, gay, black, white, or purple fucking polkadot. All of us can be the person who flies all day and night only to arrive home to a filthy house, and instead of blaming family or roommates, cleans it up right then because they refuse to ignore duties undone.
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David Goggins (Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds)
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She felt his fingers caress her scalp, the sensations swift, heated shocks rocking through her body. His breath was punctuated against her cheek and nose. The tension mounted in him until Shiloh felt as if he would snap and break, unleashing that throbbing sexual power she sensed so intensely around him.
”
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Lindsay McKenna (Wind River Wrangler (Wind River Valley, #1))
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They were opposite in so many ways, but it was the kind of difference that was balancing-her softness with his steel, his instinct and her logic. He was teaching her by example to have courage in the face of fear, and she badly wanted to help him give voice to his grief and understand it was all right to feel pain.
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Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
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She dribbled water over his neck and back. The towel didn't quite soak up all of it, and drops raced down his back, trailing the curve of his spine. She loved that curve, framed on either side by ripple after ripple of muscle, and she especially loved the way it dipped in at his waist before flaring onto his perfect, rounded backside.
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Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
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Her gaze slid up the thick muscles of his arm, imagining her hand doing the same, imagining what it would feel like to explore a body of such raw, masculine energy. No doubt about it, he was man built for battle. Yet she could seein his sharp, dark eyes, and in the glimpses of humor and caring he'd let slip, that there was so much more to him than the fight.
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Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
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And if we don't keep moving, we won't make it to a computer in time to stop the submarine sale because we'll have to spend a second night in the jungle, surrounded by friggin' pit vipers. In the rain. And I am sick and tired of the rain. I want to get a roof over our heads and dry clothes for you because I can see right through your damn shirt and it's driving me crazy.
”
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Melissa Cutler (Tempted into Danger (ICE: Black Ops Defenders, #1))
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As Merripen gave the ribbons to a stableman at the mews, Amelia glanced toward the end of the alley.
A pair of street youths crouched near a tiny fire, roasting something on sticks. Amelia did not want to speculate on the nature of the objects being heated. Her attention moved to a group—three men and a woman—illuminated in the uncertain blaze. It appeared two of the men were engaged in fisticuffs. However, they were so inebriated that their contest looked like a performance of dancing bears.
The woman’s gown was made of gaudily colored fabric, the bodice gaping to reveal the plump hills of her breasts. She seemed amused by the spectacle of two men battling over her, while a third attempted to break up the fracas.
“’Ere now, my fine jacks,” the woman called out in a Cockney accent, “I said I’d take ye both on—no need for a cockfight!”
“Stay back,” Merripen murmured.
Pretending not to hear, Amelia drew closer for a better view. It wasn’t the sight of the brawl that was so interesting—even their village, peaceful little Primrose Place, had its share of fistfights. All men, no matter what their situation, occasionally succumbed to their lower natures. What attracted Amelia’s notice was the third man, the would-be peacemaker, as he darted between the drunken fools and attempted to reason with them.
He was every bit as well dressed as the gentlemen on either side … but it was obvious this man was no gentleman. He was black-haired and swarthy and exotic. And he moved with the swift grace of a cat, easily avoiding the swipes and lunges of his opponents.
“My lords,” he was saying in a reasonable tone, sounding relaxed even as he blocked a heavy fist with his forearm. “I’m afraid you’ll both have to stop this now, or I’ll be forced to—” He broke off and dodged to the side just as the man behind him leaped.
The prostitute cackled at the sight. “They got you on the ’op tonight, Rohan,” she exclaimed.
Dodging back into the fray, Rohan attempted to break it up once more. “My lords, surely you must know”—he ducked beneath the swift arc of a fist—“that violence”—he blocked a right hook—“never solves anything.”
“Bugger you!” one of the men said, and butted forward like a deranged goat.
Rohan stepped aside and allowed him to charge straight into the side of the building. The attacker collapsed with a groan and lay gasping on the ground.
His opponent’s reaction was singularly ungrateful. Instead of thanking the dark-haired man for putting a stop to the fight, he growled, “Curse you for interfering, Rohan! I would’ve knocked the stuffing from him!” He charged forth with his fists churning like windmill blades.
Rohan evaded a left cross and deftly flipped him to the ground. He stood over the prone figure, blotting his forehead with his sleeve. “Had enough?” he asked pleasantly. “Yes? Good. Please allow me to help you to your feet, my lord.
”
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Lisa Kleypas (Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways, #1))
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It was discussed and decided that fear would be perpetuated globally in order that focus would stay on the negative rather than allow for soul expression to positively emerge. As people became more fearful and compliant, capacity for free thought and soul expression would diminish. There is a distinct inability to exert soul expression under mind control, and evolution of the human spirit would diminish along with freedom of thought when bombarded with constant negative terrors. Whether Bush and Cheney deliberately planned to raise a collective fear over collective conscious love is doubtful. They did not think, speak, or act in those terms. Instead, they knew that information control gave them power over people, and they were hell-bent to perpetuate it at all costs. Cheney, Bush, and other global elite ushering in the New World Order totally believed in the plan mapped out by artificial intelligence. They were allowing technology to dictate global control. “Life is like a video game,” Bush once told me at the rural multi-million dollar Lampe, Missouri CIA mind control training camp complex designed for Black Ops Special Forces where torture and virtual reality technologies were used. “Since I have access to the technological source of the plans, I dictate the rules of the game.” The rules of the game demanded instantaneous response with no time to consciously think and critically analyze. Constant conscious disruption of thought through television’s burst of light flashes, harmonics, and subconscious subliminals diminished continuity of conscious thought anyway, creating a deficit of attention that could easily be refocused into video game format. DARPA’s artificial intelligence was reliant on secrecy, and a terrifying cover for reality was chosen to divert people from the simple truth. Since people perceive aliens as being physical like them, it was decided that the technological reality could be disguised according to preconceptions. Through generations of genetic encoding dating back to the beginning of man, serpents incite an innate autogenic response system in humans to “freeze” in terror. George Bush was excited at the prospects of diverting people from truth by fear through perpetuating lizard-like serpent alien misconceptions. “People fear what they don’t know anyway. By compounding that fear with autogenic fear response, they won’t want to look into Pandora’s Box.” Through deliberate generation of fear; suppression of facts under the 1947 National Security Act; Bush’s stint as CIA director during Ford’s Administration; the Warren Commission’s whitewash of the Kennedy Assassination; secrecy artificially ensured by mind control particularly concerning DARPA, HAARP, Roswell, Montauk, etc; and with people’s fluidity of conscious thought rapidly diminishing; the secret government embraced the proverbial ‘absolute power that corrupts absolutely.’ According to New World Order plans being discussed at the Grove, plans for reducing the earth’s population was a high priority. Mass genocide of so-called “undesirables” through the proliferation of AIDS4 was high on Bush’s agenda. “We’ll annihilate the niggers at their source, beginning in South and East Africa and Haiti5.” Having heard Bush say those words is by far one of the most torturous things I ever endured. Equally as torturous to my being were the discussions on genetic engineering, human cloning, and depletion of earth’s natural resources for profit. Cheney remarked that no one would be able to think to stop technology’s plan. “I’ll destroy the planet first,” Bush had vowed.
”
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Cathy O'Brien (ACCESS DENIED For Reasons Of National Security: Documented Journey From CIA Mind Control Slave To U.S. Government Whistleblower)