β
I am going to love you now, slow and sweet, but when you come, I'm going to f*** you the way I need to. The way I've been dreaming about since the moment I saw you.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (The Dark Highlander (Highlander, #5))
β
And there you have it...if I knew that I could only have a few nights in that man's arms or nothing, I would take those magic nights and use them to keep me warm for the rest of my life.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (To Tame a Highland Warrior (Highlander, #2))
β
I love you,β he said fiercely. β βTis not true that I kept a part of my heart locked away from you. You own all of it, lass. Youβve always owned it. I didnβt give it to you. You took it from the very start.
β
β
Maya Banks (Never Love a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy, #3))
β
Yesterday was a memory. Tomorrow was a hope. Today was another day to live and do one's best to love
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (Into the Dreaming (Highlander, #8))
β
That's weak! You don't know what caring is... Caring is love. And love fights! Love doesn't look for the path of least resistance. Hell's bells, Roderick, if love was that easy everyone would have it. You're a coward!
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (To Tame a Highland Warrior (Highlander, #2))
β
She's my baby girl, Quinn. I want love for her. Real love. The kind that makes a man crazy inside.
-Gibraltar to Quinn
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (To Tame a Highland Warrior (Highlander, #2))
β
I kept it to remind me that although there is evil, there is sometimes beauty and light. You, Jillian. You were always my light.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (To Tame a Highland Warrior (Highlander, #2))
β
He shrugged. "I was...thinking."
"About what?"
"The fires of purgatory."
She had to sit down. He wasn't making any sense now. "What does that mean?" she asked.
"Patrick told me he would walk through the fires of purgatory if he had to in order to please his wife."
She went over to the bed and sat down on the side. "And?" she prodded when he didn't continue.
He stripped out of his clothing and walked over to her. He pulled her to her feet and stared down to her.
"And I have only just realized I would do the same for you.
β
β
Julie Garwood (The Secret (Highlands' Lairds, #1))
β
I don't want to hurt anyone" Laszlo fiddled with a button on his tux jacket. "Can't we convince the CIA that some of us are peaceful?"
"we'll have to try" Angus folded his arms across his broad chest. "And if they doona believe we're peaceful, then we'll have to kill the bastards."
Roman frowned, somehow their Highlander logic escaped him.
β
β
Kerrelyn Sparks (How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire (Love at Stake, #1))
β
Tis a well-known fact that a man is either skilled in matters of loving or matters of war. βTis obvious that fighting is your skill.
β
β
Maya Banks (In Bed with a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy, #1))
β
I wake up wating you. I fall asleep wanting you. I watch a magnificent sunrise and can think only of sharing it with you. I glimpse a piece of amver and see your eyes. Jillian, I've caught a disease, and the fever abates only when I'm near you.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (To Tame a Highland Warrior (Highlander, #2))
β
Said to Mairin;
"There's little decency to good loving" Maddie said. "If 'tis decent, it isn't much fun"!
β
β
Maya Banks (In Bed with a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy, #1))
β
Chloe-lass:
If I'm not here with you now, I'm beyond this life, for 'tis the only way I'll ever let you go.
...
I hoped I loved you well, sweet, for I know even now that you are my brightest shining star. I knew it the moment I saw you. Ah, lass, you so adore your artifacts. This thief covets but one priceless treasure: You.
Dageus
-In a letter
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (The Dark Highlander (Highlander, #5))
β
Love is as hard to hide as hate.
β
β
Jennifer Hudson Taylor (Highland Blessings (Highlands #1))
β
Because I knew the moment I saw you,β he ground out savagely, her βI hate youβ still ringing in his ears, βthat in another lifeβa life where I didnβt become a dark sorcererβyou were my wife. I cherished you. I adored you. I loved you until the end of time, Jessica MacKeltar. But I doona get to have that life. So Iβll take you any fucking way I can get you. And Iβll not apologize for one moment of it
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (Spell of the Highlander (Highlander, #7))
β
You have splendid breasts, lass," he purred, cupping the plump mounds. "Splendid," he repeated stupidly, and she almost laughed. Men loved breasts any shape or form, they just loved them.
-Drustan to Gwen
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (Kiss of the Highlander (Highlander, #4))
β
My Heart's In The Highlands
Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.
Chorus.-My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.
Farewell to the mountains, high-cover'd with snow,
Farewell to the straths and green vallies below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.
My heart's in the Highlands, &c.
β
β
Robert Burns
β
Yet you told him you loved him?"
"Yes, I did."
Bridgid was clearly impressed. "You're more courageous than I am. The fear of being rejected pains me to even think about, yet you boldly told Brodick how you felt, even though he hadn't spoken his feelings."
"Actually, he told me I loved him.
β
β
Julie Garwood (Ransom (Highlands' Lairds, #2))
β
He had a come-and-get-me-baby-I'm-pure-trouble-and-you're-gonna-love-it kind of attitude.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (The Immortal Highlander (Highlander, #6))
β
Caelen?β
βAye, lass?β
βYou were right.β
βWhat was I right about?β
βKissing. βTis a most wondrous thing.β
She could sense his smile.
β
β
Maya Banks (Never Love a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy, #3))
β
Youβre in love with me? Why have you never said anything?β He demanded.
βNo one wants to tell someone she loves him, and have him not say it back,β her eyes dropped and she said it so softly he had to strain to hear it.
β
β
Laura Hunsaker (Highland Destiny (Magic of the Highlands, #1))
β
He stepped into the morning feeling more alive than he'd felt in months. Hold fast and believe in me, love, he
whispered across the centuries. Because love and belief were serious magic in and of themselves.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (Beyond the Highland Mist (Highlander, #1))
β
Methinks marriage has made my brother soft,β Alaric replied. β βTis a shame when a puny lass has to save his arse.
β
β
Maya Banks (Never Love a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy, #3))
β
My love for her is stronger than my hatred of you.
β
β
Maya Banks (Never Seduce a Scot (The Montgomerys and Armstrongs, #1))
β
You'll never have to beg me for anything, my love. If you ask me for the moon, I'll fetch it for you.
β
β
Maya Banks (Highlander Most Wanted (The Montgomerys and Armstrongs, #2))
β
She smiled radiantly at the shield, pretending it was Dageus. The three simple words just didn't seem like enough. Love was so much larger than words.
"I love you, I love you, I love you. I love you more than chocolate. I love you more than the whole world is big." She paused, thinking, searching for a way to explain what she felt. "I love you more than artifacts. I love you so much it makes my toes curl just thinking about it."
Pushing her hair back from her face, she donned her most sincere expression. "I love you."
"You can have the confounded shield if you love it that much, lass," Dageus said, sounding utterly bewildered. Chloe felt all the blood drain from her face.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (The Dark Highlander (Highlander, #5))
β
Life equaled love plus passion squared. Loving and being passionate about what one did was what made life so precious.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (Kiss of the Highlander (Highlander, #4))
β
With love, lass anything is possible.
β
β
Laura Hunsaker (Highland Destiny (Magic of the Highlands, #1))
β
Papa, do you like my new friend?" Frances Catherine asked when they were halfway across the field.
"I surely do."
"Can I keep her?"
"For the love of...No, you can't keep her. She isn't a puppy. You can be her friend, though," he hastily added before his daughter could argue with him.
"Forever, papa?"
She 'd asked her father that question, but Judith answered her. "Forever," she shyly whispered.
Frances Catherine reached across her father's chest to take hold of Judith's hand. "Forever," she pledged.
β
β
Julie Garwood (The Secret (Highlands' Lairds, #1))
β
I gained everything. Or at least I'll think so," he growled, suddenly impatient, anxious, "when you give me a bloody answer to my bloody question. How many times are you going to make me ask you? Will you marry me, Gabrielle O'Callaghan? Yes or yes? And in case you're still managing to miss the point, the correct answer is 'yes.' And, by the way, anytime you'd like to tell me you love me, I wouldn't mind hearing it.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (The Immortal Highlander (Highlander, #6))
β
Love can grown among the rocks and thorns of life.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning
β
Iβve noticed that women often have a desire to change men, even the ones they love.β
βIβve noticed that, too.β Dougal frowned. βWhich is odd, when you think about it. Because if you didnβt
like the way a man is, why would you attach yourself to him to begin with?
β
β
Karen Hawkins (How to Abduct a Highland Lord (MacLean Curse, #1))
β
She liked a very particular kind of plot: the sort where the pirate kidnaps some virgin damsel, rapes her into loving him, and then dispatches lots of seamen while she polishes his cutlass. Or where the Highland clan leader kidnaps some virginal English Rose, rapes her into loving him, and then kills entire armies Sassenachs while she stuffs his haggis. Or where the Native American warrior kidnaps a virginal white settler, rapes her into loving him, and then kills a bunch of colonists while she whets his tomahawk. I hated to get Freudian on Linda, but her reading patterns suggested some interesting insight into why she is such a bitch.
β
β
Nicole Peeler (Tempest Rising (Jane True, #1))
β
Only after the words were spoken did she realize what she had said. "My sins are all your fault, Brodick, and if I have to go to purgatory, then by God, you're going with me. Ramsey, if you do not stop laughing,I swear I shall toss you over this cliff."
"Do you love him, lass?" Father asked.
"I do not," she answered emphatically.
"It isn't a requirement," Laggan pointed out.
"I should hope not," she cried.
"But it would make your life easier," he countered.
"Gillian, you will tell the truth," Brodick demanded.
He grabbed hold of her hand. She tried to pull back, but he wouldn't let go.
"I have told the truth. I don't love Ramsey, and if he doesn't stop laughing at me, the Sinclairs will soon be looking for a new laird."
"Not Ramsey," Laggan shouted so he could be heard over Ramsey's laughter. "I'm asking you if you love Brodick."
"Did you tell Father I love you? Who else did you tell?
β
β
Julie Garwood (Ransom (Highlands' Lairds, #2))
β
Is there anything love couldn't make us do?
--MARTIAL, C.E. C.40-104
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (Spell of the Highlander (Highlander, #7))
β
Youβre my dream, Alaric McCabe. And I love you. Iβve loved you from the moment your horse dumped you at my cottage. I spent so much time being resentful and lamenting the circumstances of my life, but βtis true that I wouldnβt change a single thing because then I would have never known your love.
β
β
Maya Banks (Seduction of a Highland Lass (McCabe Trilogy, #2))
β
Alright, all right," I said. "What if I tell you a story, instead?" Highlanders loved stories, and Jamie was no exception.
"Oh, aye, " he said, sounding much happier. "What sort of story is it?
β
β
Diana Gabaldon (Drums of Autumn (Outlander, #4))
β
Iain didn't go back to sleep for a long while. He continued to think about all the logical reasons he would never allow himself to be turned into a lovesick weakling like Patrick, and when he finally fell asleep, he had convinced himself that he would distance his heart from his
mind.
He dreamed about her.
β
β
Julie Garwood (The Secret (Highlands' Lairds, #1))
β
Youβll fight, damn it. Youβll not give over this easily. God is not ready for you yet because I am not through with you. Youβre going to wake up and youβre going to give me the words Iβve waited on for so long. Telling me you love me on the battlefield as we both lay dying doesnβt count. Youβll give them to me and mean them or so help me Iβll bury you in unconsecrated ground so that you never rest and youβll be forced to dwell in this keep with me for eternity.
β
β
Maya Banks (Never Love a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy, #3))
β
I think you just want to be in love because you think it's supposed to happen now. But love doesn't happen on schedule. It sneaks up when you least expect it. You can't plug it in into that little day planner of yours. You can't make it happen.
β
β
Melissa Mayhue (Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband (Daughters of the Glen, #1))
β
The man kisses me and I just hop right on him like he's the hottest new ride at Disneyland.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning
β
Finally, he knew the kind of loving that made two one and understood Jane was his world. His ocean, his country, his sun, his rain, his very heart.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (Into the Dreaming (Highlander, #8))
β
You might have started out with a clever plan in mind, but you fell in love with her somewhere along the way, didn't you?"
Iain refused to answer him. Douglas wouldn't let it go. "Do you love Judith?"
Iain let out a sigh. Judith's brother was turning out to be one hell of a nuisance. "Do you honestly believe I would marry a Maclean if I didn't love her?"
Laird Maclean let out a snort of laughter. "Welcome to the family, son.
β
β
Julie Garwood (The Secret (Highlands' Lairds, #1))
β
The smile, the look, tugged at Eleanor's heart. Even in the fleeting glance, she'd seen great love in Ian's eyes, his determination to finish this letter and send it to Beth so she could enjoy decoding it. A way to tell her sweet nothings that no one else could understand. Private thoughts, shared between husband and wife.
β
β
Jennifer Ashley (The Duke's Perfect Wife (MacKenzies & McBrides, #4))
β
When it comes to ye, lass, I doubt even my sanity
β
β
Julia London (Highlander in Love (Lockhart Family, #3))
β
he loved her deeply and irrevocably. His life would be forever changed and if she weren't in his life, well, it would be meaningless".
β
β
Laura Hunsaker (Highland Destiny (Magic of the Highlands, #1))
β
As Jack began to climb the stairs, Fiona looked up at her new home. Five stories of stately mansion
rose above her head. Heavy molding around the large windows and doors bespoke a quality and
craftsmanship that was obvious even in the dim night. βGood God! Itβs massive!β
Jack paused with his foot on the last step. βI do wish youβd keep those comments until we are in bed,
love. I would appreciate them all the more there.
β
β
Karen Hawkins (How to Abduct a Highland Lord (MacLean Curse, #1))
β
His gaze narrowed and she could see his
hands twitching again like heβd love nothing more than to throttle her. She was beginning to think it was an affliction of his. Did he go around wanting to choke the life out of everyone or was she special in that regard?
βIβm afraid βtis an urge that is entirely original to you,β the laird barked.
She clamped her mouth shut and closed
her eyes. Mother Serenity had vowed one day Mairin would regret her propensity to blurt out her least little thought. Today just might be that day.
β
β
Maya Banks (In Bed with a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy, #1))
β
I'd teach them to read and to dream and to look at the stars and wonder. I'd teach them the value of imagination. I'd teach them to play every bit as hard as they worked. And I'd teach them that all the brains in the world can't compensate for love.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (Kiss of the Highlander (Highlander, #4))
β
He found himself playing the love-sick fool vying for a crumb of attention or approval from Genevieve. Anything to make her smile. Make her happy. He'd give her the damn moon if that was what it took.
β
β
Maya Banks (Highlander Most Wanted (The Montgomerys and Armstrongs, #2))
β
Then it stands to reason that love doesn't make a man less than what he already is."
"It makes him vulnerable."
"Perhaps it does," Ramsey agreed.
"And if his mind is constantly consumed with thoughts of her, then he becomes weak. Is that not so?"
Ramsey smiled. "I'll tell you what is so. You love her, Brodick, and that scares the hell out of you."
"I should have broken your nose.
β
β
Julie Garwood (Ransom (Highlands' Lairds, #2))
β
Love hath no pride.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (Kiss of the Highlander (Highlander, #4))
β
My heart felt withered, a neglected fruit that would never again sweeten, now that my love was dead.
β
β
Cheryl R. Cowtan (Girl Desecrated: Vampires, Asylums and Highlanders 1984)
β
Every man has a weakness," he patiently explained. "I'll find theirs, I promise you."
"Every man?"
"Yes," he answered emphatically.
His hand moved to the back of her neck. Twisting her curls around his fist, he jerked her head back. His face loomed over hers, his breath warm and sweet as he stared down into her eyes.
"What is your weakness, Brodick?" she asked.
"You.
β
β
Julie Garwood (Ransom (Highlands' Lairds, #2))
β
He stood up and took a step toward her. "There has been a request for your hand in marriage."
"Is that why you kissed me? So you could take me home and then marry me to a man I don't love? Who is he?" she demanded, emotionally spent now and uncaring that tears were streaming down her face.
He started toward her.
"Don't you dare kiss me again," she ordered. "I can't think when you⦠Just don't," she stammered. "And as for the offer, I decline."
"You can't decline until you know who he is," he reasoned.
"All right. Tell me his name, and then I'll decline. You're going to praise him first though, aren't you?
That's what you always do to try to get me to agree," she ended, and even she could hear the heartbreak in her voice.
"No, I'm not going to praise him. He's riddled with flaws."
She stopped trying to run away. "He is?"
He slowly nodded. "I have it on good authority that he's stupid and arrogant and obstinate, or at least he was until he realized what a fool he has been."
"But that's what I said about⦠you."
"I love you, Bridgid. Will you marry me?
β
β
Julie Garwood (Ransom (Highlands' Lairds, #2))
β
She deserved someone who could see what she had to give and would lover her for it. Who wouldn't turn away from her every time she made a mistake. She wanted to be important to someone. Perhaps, it was unrealistic, but the alternative was far worse. She could live with a broken heart, but not at the expense of her soul.
β
β
Monica McCarty (The Chief (Highland Guard, #1))
β
I realized I would rather have a single night with you, even if it meant I was doomed to be bound to you, aching for you forever than not know such love.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (Kiss of the Highlander (Highlander, #4))
β
I would love her and care for her all of my days,β Bowen said quietly. βThere is no other man who would ever love her more.
β
β
Maya Banks (Highlander Most Wanted (The Montgomerys and Armstrongs, #2))
β
Release Lady Mirabelle and the kitten or Iβll run you through, skewering your belly, pinching out your life.
β
β
Sue-Ellen Welfonder (To Love a Highlander (Scandalous Scots, #1))
β
The baron reminds me of someone, but I can't quite put my finger on who it is," Ramsey remarked.
"I swear my own father never talked to me the way Gillian's uncle just did."
"Your father died before you were old enough to know him."
"It was humiliating, damn it. He sure as certain wasn't what I expected. The way Gillian talked about him, I pictured a mild-mannered gentleman. She thinks he'sβ¦ gentle. Is the woman blind? How in God's name can she love such a crotchety oldβ¦"
Ramsey's head snapped up, and he suddenly burst into laughter, breaking Brodick's train of thought. "It's you."
"What?"
"Morgan⦠he reminds me of you. My God, Gillian married a man just like her uncle. Look at the baron and you'll see yourself in twenty years."
"Are you suggesting I'm going to become a belligerent, foul-tempered old man?"
"Hell, you're already belligerent and foul-tempered. No wonder she fell in love with you," he drawled
β
β
Julie Garwood (Ransom (Highlands' Lairds, #2))
β
Ah, ka-lyrra, I look at you and you make me want to live a man's life with you. To wake with you and sleep with you, argue with you and make love with you, to get a silly human job and take walks in the park and live so tiny beneath such a vast sky.
But I will never stay with another human woman and water her die. Never.
--FROM THE (GREATLY REVISED) BLACK EDITION OF THE O'CALLAGHAN Book of the Sin Siriche Du
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (The Immortal Highlander (Highlander, #6))
β
She took a bad tumble. Those are some nasty bruises she's
carrying," the maid said with a sad shake of the head.
"Aye," Cullen agreed, his eyes traveling over lovely, milky white skin,
interrupted by several black bruises. "She looks like a cow."
Mildrede turned a horrified gaze on him at the comment, but he was
more concerned by the choked sound that came from his bride. He
really hadn't meant it as an insult, but it seemed the women were taking
it so.
"I just meant the coloring," Cullen muttered
β
β
Lynsay Sands (Devil of the Highlands (Devil of the Highlands, #1))
β
What was she trying to do to him? Was this what being in love was supposed to feel like? Was it supposed to make him feel out of control? Was it supposed to rip him apart, pulling him in two opposite directions? Was it supposed to make him want to tear his hair out in frustration? If it was, he didnβt need it.
β
β
Monica McCarty (Highland Warrior (Campbell Trilogy, #1))
β
But he didn't need to seek visual confirmation of what he'd just heard to know she had. And the truth was, he couldn't blame her. He'd not have let her die, either. He'd have moved mountains. He'd have battled God or Devil for his wife's life.
She'd betrayed him.
He smiled faintly.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (Spell of the Highlander (Highlander, #7))
β
In her dreams the Hawk would be waiting for her by the sea's edge; her kilt-clad, magnificent Scottish laird. He would smile and his eyes would crinkle, then turn dark with
smoldering passion.
She would take his hand and lay it gently on her swelling abdomen, and his face would blaze with happiness and
pride. Then he would take her gently, there on the cliff's edge, in tempo with the pounding of the ocean. He would
make fierce and possessive love to her and she would hold on to him as tightly as she could. But before dawn, he would melt right through her fingers. And she would wake up, her cheeks wet with tears and her hands clutching nothing but a bit of quilt or pillow.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (Beyond the Highland Mist (Highlander, #1))
β
I expected you to look... content, happy even, after your alone time with Sammi, not all mopey and depressed. You didn't screw up, did you? Don't all Kings make love perfectly?
β
β
Donna Grant (Fire Rising (Dark Kings, #2))
β
She needed this. For the comfort, for the love, for all the glorious things she did not deserve and yet could not stop herself from wanting.
β
β
Madeline Martin (Deception of a Highlander (Highlander, #1))
β
I love you, Bella. I will love you not until my dying day, but from the heights of heaven or the depths of hell until my soul ceases to be.
β
β
Monica McCarty (The Viper (Highland Guard, #4))
β
Love when lost left pain that could kill a man.
β
β
Julie Johnstone (When A Laird Loves A Lady (Highlander Vows: Entangled Hearts, #1))
β
Wither thou goest, there goest I, two flames sparked from but one ember; both forward and backward doth time fly, wither thou art, remember.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (Kiss of the Highlander (Highlander, #4))
β
The Highland way says it's who you say you love and who you serve, which is of worth. Not some title that is passed down upon you by tradition. That's the English way, and the Lowland way--but who can be born a nobleman? Nobility is earned... 'Tis our choices that make us.
β
β
Susan Fletcher (Corrag)
β
I love you, Bowen Montgomery. I love you so very much, and that will never change, even when we're old and gray. I thank God for you every single day, and that you came and lifted me from the depths of despair. You showed me how it can be with a man who loves me, and you've shined light on the darkest shadows of my memories.
β
β
Maya Banks (Highlander Most Wanted (The Montgomerys and Armstrongs, #2))
β
Iain took hold of both her hands and squeezed to get her attention. Then he took a deep breath. Even with his men watching, he wanted the words to be right, his declaration to be one she would always remember. It was a damned awkward undertaking, trying to think of loving words, and he had absolutely no experience in this area, but he was still determined not to muck it up. The moment needed to be perfect for her. βJudith,β he began. βYes, Iain?β βIβm keeping you.
β
β
Julie Garwood (The Secret (Highlands' Lairds #1))
β
To make matters worse, Linda, it appears, is madly in love with a monster of a Scotsman, who came to dinner last night in his kilt. Those hairy old knees decided us. "The Mountains I can bear," said Loudie. "Natives in the semi-nude at dinner time is another matter. I leave tomorrow.
β
β
Nancy Mitford (Highland Fling)
β
You're a hard man to love, Lachlan MacRuairi, but I do belive I'm up to the challenge."
"We'll probably argue."
"Aye, it seems likely."
"I have a bit of a temper when I get angry."
"I have noticed," she said wryly.
"I can be a mean bastard. I"ll probably say something to hurt you."
She laughed. "Are you trying to scare me off?"
He gave her a rueful smile. " Maybe."
"Well, stop - it isn't going to work. I'm quite aware of your faults."
He frowned. "I didn't say they were faults.
β
β
Monica McCarty (The Viper (Highland Guard, #4))
β
Suddenly so many things she'd overheard her brothers and Quinn saying when Grimm had been in residence made sense, and upon reflection she suspected a part of her had always known.
Her love was a legendary warrior who had grown to despise himself, cut off from his roots. But now that he was home and given the time to explore those roots, he might be able to make peace with himself at long last.
β
β
Karen Marie Moning (To Tame a Highland Warrior (Highlander, #2))
β
She told him ... how her heart had fairly skipped a beat when she'd seen him standing in the middle of the road dressed as a true Highland warrior.
"If I hadna been in love wi' you already, I'd have fallen in love wi' you then."
He grinned, his whiskery face unbearably bonnie even with its cuts and bruises. "So you like the sight of me in a pladdie, aye?"
"Aye--and wi' braids in your hair." She leaned down and kissed him. "But I think red paint looks silly.
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Pamela Clare (Surrender (MacKinnonβs Rangers, #1))
β
How can love be frightening?"
"When it consumes you. When it binds you to all other considerations. When you can no longer distinguish right from wrong, love becomes a terrible burden and it can destroy you as readily as it can save you."
Catherine pondered the words carefully, then sighed. "I don't think I would ever want to be that much in love.
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Marsha Canham (The Pride of Lions (Highlands, #1))
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All eyes flew to the entrance.
A great gray stallion reared up in the doorway, its breath frosting the air with puffs of steam. It was a scene from every fairy-tale romance she'd ever read: the handsome prince bursting into the castle astride a magnificent stallion, ablaze with desire and honor as he'd declared his undying love before all and sundry. Her heart swelled with joy.
Then her brow puckered as she scrutinized her "prince." Well, it was almost like a fairy tale. Except this prince was dressed in nothing but a drenched and muddy tartan with blood on his face and hands and war braids plaited at his temples. Although determination glittered in his gaze, a declaration of undying love didn't appear to be his first priority.
"Jillian!" he roared.
Her knees buckled. His voice brought her violently to life. Everything in the room receded and there was only Grimm, blue eyes blazing, his massive frame filling the doorway. He was majestic, towering, and ruthless. Here was her fierce warrior ready to battle the world to gain her love.
He urged Occam into the crowd, making his way toward the altar.
"Grimm," she whispered.
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Karen Marie Moning (To Tame a Highland Warrior (Highlander, #2))
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She shrugged, looking as baffled by it as he felt. "I don't know. I wonder sometimes if people even know what love is anymore. Some days, when I'm watching my friends change lovers as unperturbedly as they change shoes, I think the world just got filled with too many people, and all our technological advances made things so easy that it cheapened our most basic, essential value somehow," she told him. "It's like spouses are commodities nowadays: disposable, constantly getting tossed back out for trade on the market and everyone's trying to trade up, up--like there is a 'trading up' in love." She rolled her eyes. "No way. That's not for me. I'm having one husband. I'm getting married once. When you know going in that you're staying for life, it makes you think harder about it, go slower, choose really well.
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Karen Marie Moning (Spell of the Highlander (Highlander, #7))
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Although Jillian had known what Grimm was before that moment, she was briefly immobilized by the sight of him. It was one thing to know that the man she loved was a Berserker-it was another thing entirely to behold it. He regarded her with such an inhuman expression that if she hadn't peered deep into his eyes, she might have seen nothing of Grimm at all. But there, deep in the flickering blue flames, she glimpsed such love that it rocked her soul. She smiled up at him through her tears.
A wounded sound of disbelief escaped him.
Jillian gave him the most dazzling smile she could muster and placed her fist to her heart. "And the daughter wed the lion king," she said clearly.
An expression of incredulity crossed the warrior's face. His blue eyes widened and he stared at her in stunned silence.
"I love you, Gavrael McIllioch."
When he smiled, his face blazed with love. He tossed his head back and shouted his joy to the sky.
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Karen Marie Moning (To Tame a Highland Warrior (Highlander, #2))
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Sheβd loved him too much and given too much of herself away in the process. She had given him everything and never demanded anything in return. Why was she surprised that when she finally did, he refused?
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Monica McCarty (The Knight (Highland Guard, #7.5))
β
Life was rich and full.
She couldn't have asked for more.
Well... actually... she amended with a little inner flinch, she could have.
Though most of the time she looked at Adam and just felt awed and humbled that this big, wonderful man had given up so much to love her, sometimes she hated that he didn't have a soul, and sometimes she wanted to hate God.
And she had a dream, a silly dream perhaps, but a dream to which she clung.
They would live to be a hundred, until long after their children and grandchildren were grown, and one day they would go to bed and lie down facing each other, and die like that, at the same moment, in each other's arms.
And this was her dream: that maybe, just maybe, if she loved him hard enough and true enough and deep enough, and if she held on to him tightly enough as they died, she could take him with her wherever it was that souls went.
And there she would do what was in her blood, what she now knew she'd been born for; she would stand before God, a brehon, and she would argue the greatest, the most important case of her life.
And she would win.
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Karen Marie Moning (The Immortal Highlander (Highlander, #6))
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Sharing her love with Blane, sharing her body⦠Seemed like the most glorious thing she could do. The one selfish act she could indulge in. The deciding factor in her life. Beyond all those things, she loved this man, and she wanted to love him in a way that would leave them both with an impression on their hearts.
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Eliza Knight (The Highlander's Conquest (Stolen Bride, #2))
β
Three weeks was apparently time enough to fall in love, but not long enough to fall out of love. Meg had this unfortunate truth drummed into her head each morning when she woke, hoping this would be the day that she forgot about Alex, this would be the day she could get on with her life and put Edinburgh behind her. She grimaced. Three weeks, three years, it didnβt make a difference. She would remember.
Everything.
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Monica McCarty (Highlander Unmasked (MacLeods of Skye Trilogy, #2))
β
In early cultures, it was thought pearls were born when a single raindrop fell from the heavens and became the heart of the oyster. For me, ye have become the pearl, the beat of me heart. The sapphires and emeralds signify me tartan and how I will always surround ye with love, Creigh.
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Vonnie Davis (A Highlander's Obsession (Highlander's Beloved, #1))
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My marriage to Kincaid is a bit more complicated than I thought. There are certain things we donβt agree
on, andββ
βYou wish to change his mind about something,β Gregor finished.
βHow did you know?β
βIβve noticed that women often have a desire to change men, even the ones they love.β
βIβve noticed that, too.β Dougal frowned.
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Karen Hawkins (How to Abduct a Highland Lord (MacLean Curse, #1))
β
In Highland New Guinea, now Popua New Guinea, a British district officer named James Taylor contacted a mountain village, above three thousand feet, whose tribe had never seen any trace of the outside world. It was the 1930s. He described the courage of one villager. One day, on the airstrip hacked from the mountains near his village, this man cut vines and lashed himself to the fuselage of Taylor's airplane shortly before it took off. He explained calmly to his loved ones that, no matter what happened to him, he had to see where it came from.
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Annie Dillard
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I can't find a man I want, and I'm beginning to think the problem is me. Maybe I expect too much. Maybe I'm holding out for something that doesn't even exist." She'd voiced her secret fear. Maybe grand passion was just a dream. With all the kissing she'd done in the past few months, she'd not once been overcome with desire. Her parents certainly hadn't had any great passion between them. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure she'd ever seen grand passion outside of a movie theater or a book.
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Karen Marie Moning
β
Nope,β she managed. βNo other questions.β
Eleven centuries of captivity. Hung on his hated enemyβs study wall. Eleven centuries of not touching. Not eating. Not loving. Had he had anyone to talk
to?
Her face must have betrayed her thoughts, for he startled her by saying softly, β βTis no longer of
consequence, lass, but thank you for the compassion. βTis nigh over. Seventeen more days, Jessica. Thatβs all.β
For some reason his words brought a sudden hot burn of tears to the backs of her eyes. Not only hadnβt eleven centuries turned him into a monster, he was trying to soothe her, to make her feel better about his imprisonment.
βYou weep for me, woman?β
She turned away. βItβs been a long day. Hell, itβs been a long week.β
βJessica.β Her name was a soft command.
She disobeyed it, staring out the window at the rolling hills.
βJessica, look at me.β
Eyes bright with unshed tears, she whipped her head around and glared at him. βI weep for you, okay?β she snapped. βFor eleven centuries stuck in there. Can I start driving again or do you need something else?β
He smiled faintly, raised his hand, and splayed his palm against the inside of the silvery glass. Without an ounce of conscious thought, her hand rose to
meet his, aligning on the cool silver,
palm to palm, finger to finger, thumb to thumb. And though she felt only a cold hardness beneath her palm, the gesture made something go all warm and soft in her heart.
Neither of them spoke or moved for a moment.
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Karen Marie Moning (Spell of the Highlander (Highlander, #7))
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Indeed. And here is a new one for you: I love you, Alexander Cameron. More than common sense or decency should allow. Your strength frightens me and your stubbornness angers me, and I believe you to be a truly dangerous threat to a woman's inbred gentility, but there you have it. And unless you are prepared to give me several honest and convincing reasons why I should do otherwise, I intend to remain here at Achnacarry as your wife, as your lover if you will have me, as the mother of your sons, of which -please God- there will be many.
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Marsha Canham (The Pride of Lions (Highlands, #1))
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Long ago, when faeries and men still wandered the earth as brothers, the MacLeod chief fell in love with a beautiful faery woman. They had no sooner married and borne a child when she was summoned to return to her people. Husband and wife said a tearful goodbye and parted ways at Fairy Bridge, which you can still visit today. Despite the grieving chief, a celebration was held to honor the birth of the newborn boy, the next great chief of the MacLeods. In all the excitement of the celebration, the baby boy was left in his cradle and the blanket slipped off. In the cold Highland night he began to cry. The babyβs cry tore at his mother, even in another dimension, and so she went to him, wrapping him in her shawl. When the nursemaid arrived, she found the young chief in the arms of his mother, and the faery woman gave her a song she insisted must be sung to the little boy each night. The song became known as βThe Dunvegan Cradle Song,β and it has been sung to little chieflings ever since. The shawl, too, she left as a gift: if the clan were ever in dire need, all they would have to do was wave the flag sheβd wrapped around her son, and the faery people would come to their aid. Use the gift wisely, she instructed. The magic of the flag will work three times and no more.
As I stood there in Dunvegan Castle, gazing at the Fairy Flag beneath its layers of protective glass, it was hard to imagine the history behind it. The fabric was dated somewhere between the fourth and seventh centuries. The fibers had been analyzed and were believed to be from Syria or Rhodes. Some thought it was part of the robe of an early Christian saint. Others thought it was a part of the war banner for Harald Hardrada, king of Norway, who gave it to the clan as a gift. But there were still others who believed it had come from the shoulders of a beautiful faery maiden. And that faery blood had flowed through the MacLeod family veins ever since. Those people were the MacLeods themselves.
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Signe Pike (Faery Tale: One Woman's Search for Enchantment in a Modern World)
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Fiona, my love, as much as I adore you, I cannot stand your brothers. Any of them."
"Gregor is much nicer now that he's married. Even you must admit that."
"Only when Venetia is with him. When she's not, he's as annoying as ever."
Fiona's lips quirked into a smile, her green eyes gleaming. "Rather like you, I hear."
"Who has been carrying tales?"
"Everyone." She placed her hand on her husband's cheek and smiled up into his blue eyes. With his dark auburn hair and devastating good looks, "Black Jack" Kincaid had once been the scourge of London's polite society. Now he was her own personal scourge, one she couldn't imagine living without.
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Karen Hawkins (To Catch a Highlander (MacLean Curse, #3))
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According to Keltar legend, each Druid born into the clan was destined for a soul mate, a perfect match in heart and mind, as well as body, coming together with an explosive, incendiary passion that could not be denied. If the Keltar male exchanged the sacred Druid binding vows with his true love, and his mate willingly returned them, they could bind their souls together for all eternity, in this life and forever beyond. The vows linked them inextricably. βTwas said if a Keltar gave the vows and they were not returned, he would be forever incomplete, missing a part of his heart, aching for the love of a woman he could never have, eternally bound to her, through this life and all his future existence, whether in the cycle of rebirth, heaven, hell, or even an eternal Unseelie prison. If aught must be lost . . . the legendary vows began, βtwill be my life for yours. . . .
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Karen Marie Moning (Spell of the Highlander (Highlander, #7))
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Dear Mr. Duke,
As requested, here is an inventory of the animals in my care:
*Bixby, a two-legged terrier.
*Marigold, a nanny goat of unimpeachable character, who is definitely not breeding.
*Angus, a three-year-old Highland steer.
*Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia- laying hens.
*Delilah, a parrot.
*Hubert, an otter.
*Freya, a hedgehog.
*Thirteen kittens of varying colors and dispositions.
Gabe leafed through the report in disbelief. It went on for pages. She'd given not only the names, breeds, and ages of every misbegotten creature, but she'd appended a chart of temperaments, sleeping schedules, preferred bedding, and a list of dietary requirements that would beggar a moderately successful tradesman. Along with the expected hay, alfalfa, corn, and seed, the animals required several pounds of mince weekly, daily pints of fresh cream, and an ungodly number of sardines.
The steer and thee goat, she insisted, must go to the same loving home. Apparently they were tightly bonded, whatever that meant, and refused to eat of parted.
The laying hens did not actually lay with any regularity. Their previous owners had grown frustrated with this paltry production, and thus they had come into Her Ladyship's care.
And the lucky bastard who accepted a ten-year-old hedgehog? Well, he must not only provide a steady supply of mealworms, but remain ever mindful of certain "traumatic experiences in her youth.
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Tessa Dare (The Wallflower Wager (Girl Meets Duke, #3))
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I love you, Catherine. You claimed my heart soon after we met, a beautiful Highland selkie who kept me safe within her cave. No one ever came to my rescue before. I laughed and I teased you, but I'd never been so deeply moved. While I was waiting at The Hague, I promised myself I'd tell you as soon as I saw you again." He wet a taut nipple with his tongue and blew on it gently. "It made me very happy to admit it. You're the only one I've ever truly loved." He turned his attention to the other tip, one hand plumping her as the other tickled its peak. She whimpered and he soothed her with a wet kiss. She moaned, gripping his shoulders as her heels dug in the ground. He lifted his
head and looked straight into her eyes. "I feared I'd lost you when I saw you in that river. You're the only thing that gives my life meaning, Catherine. I love you." His lips brushed the corner of her mouth. "I love you," he breathed against her lips. "I love you!" He enfolded her in his arms and
thrust his tongue deep in her mouth, claiming her in a voluptuous kiss.
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Judith James (Highland Rebel)
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Dougal eyed the breakfast repast. In addition to burnt toast, there was poorly trimmed ham, eggs that looked rubbery enough to bounce off the floor, pathetically dry scones, and small, smoking pieces of something he suspected had once been kippers.
Sophia noted Dougal's disgusted expression, and her heart lifted.
He looked amazingly handsome this morning, dressed in a pale blue riding coat and white shirt, his dark blond hair curling over his collar, his green eyes glinting as he began to fill his plate. Two scones, a scoop of eggs, and a large piece of blackened ham all went onto his plate.
Sophia had eaten earlier in the kitchen with Mary, who had served warm muffins with cream and marmalade, some lovely bacon, and crusty toast, complemented by a pot of hot tea.
Sophia hid a smile as Dougal attempted to cut his ham. Too tough for his blade, it tore into uneven pieces under his knife. He lifted a piece and regarded it on the tines of his fork.
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Karen Hawkins (To Catch a Highlander (MacLean Curse, #3))
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Connor dipped his head and kissed from her neck to her collarbone, and down her arm as he slipped the sark off her shoulder revealing the satiny skin beneath. When he got to her fingers, he nipped her ring finger and Mackenzie gasped as he drew it into his mouth and sucked. He raised his eyes back to hers and trapped her gaze in his own. Connor slid her sark down her body and Mackenzie was helpless to do anything but stare into the dark blue pools of molten desire his eyes had become. It was a heady feeling to know that she was the reason his eyes were so dark; she had never before felt so powerful. He wanted her and this time she knew what to do.
Mackenzie unwrapped his plaid from the chieftain brooch and pushed it off his shoulder. Connor held perfectly still and let it fall to the floor with Mackenzieβs pile of clothes. Next Mackenzie dragged his shirt over his head; it too joined the growing pile of clothing. Mackenzie couldnβt help but marvel at his hard body with all its scars hinting at the power and danger this man carried. She let her fingers trail down from his chest to the patch of hair on his stomach, and lower still. She could feel his muscles clench and his breath stop as she wrapped her fingers around his erection. She quickly found his rhythm and knelt down to press her lips to his lower abs. Trailing her mouth down to where her hand was, she gently licked the tip. She felt a thrill of satisfaction as his hands gripped her shoulders and as her mouth took him in, his fingers tightened. She used both her hand and her mouth to pleasure Connor. He molded a hand to the nape of her neck, holding her in place. She was becoming bolder with her free hand, exploring what made his muscles quiver and his breath hitch, when Connor pulled her roughly up and to him, crushing her lips with his.
He pressed her back against the cold wall and lifted one of her long legs, hitching it around his hip. She was tall enough that he didnβt have to lift her. He slipped inside her and Mackenzie reveled in the groan wrenched from him. This was how she liked Connor; out of control. He pushed into her again and again until they were both panting, and Mackenzie was moaning with every breath. She couldnβt wait any longer.
βOh God Connor, Iβm so close.β
βJust let go, love.β
With her back pressed against the cold wall and the heat from Connorβs body warming her, Mackenzie shuddered with the force of her orgasm and she melted into Connorβs arms as he spent himself in her.
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Laura Hunsaker (Highland Destiny (Magic of the Highlands, #1))
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In the deep, wet tangled, wild jungle where even natives won't go is a mystical, dangerous river. The river's got no name because naming it would make it real, and no one wanted to believe that river be real. They say you get there only inside a dream-but don't you think of it at bedtime, now, 'cause not everyone who goes there be able to leave! That jungle canopy, it so leafy true daylight can never break in the riverbank, it be wet muck thick with creatures that eat you alive if you stay still too long. To miss that fate, you gots to go into the black water. But the water be heavy as hot tar; once you in, it bind you and pull you along, bit by bit, 'til you come to the end of the land, and then over the water goes in a dark, slow cascade, the highest falls in the history of the world ever. There be demons in that cascading water, and snakes, and wraiths that whisper in your ears. They love you, they say. You should give yourself to them, stay with them, become one of them, they say. 'Isn't it good here?' they say. 'No pain, no trouble.' But also no light and no love and no joy and no ground. You tumble and tumble as you fall, and you try and choose, but your mind be topsy-turvy and maybe you can't think so well, and maybe you can't choose right, and maybe you never wake up. "It felt like that," I tell Tootsie, "even after you got me out and Scott moved me to Highland. I couldn't choose. I couldn't shut out the wraiths...But you would say, 'Hang on, sweetie,' and Scottie would say, 'I miss you, Mama,' and Scott would hold me, just hold me and say nothing at all." Tootsie snorts. "Scott was useless the whole while." "Scott was in the river, too.
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Therese Anne Fowler (Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald)
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That was the moment Anna felt something inside her trip and fall, something come clean away from all the snares and traps and tangles of the propriety in which sheβd been steeped all these years. And as he began to move, she pressed into him as he had shown her, looked up at him from beneath her lashes as heβd directed, and said, in a purring voice, βMy, my, sir, how well you move us about the dance floor! One canβt help but wonder if you move as well in other, more intimate circumstances,β she said, and let her lips stretch into a soft smile.
It worked. Grifβs grin faded; he slowed his step a little and blinked down at her for a moment. But that dangerous smile slowly appeared again, starting in his eyes and casually reaching his lips. βIf ye were to pose such a question to me, lass, Iβd say, βAs fast or as slow, as soft or as hard as yeβd want, leannan. Pray tell, how would ye want?ββ
The tingling in her groin was a signal that she was on perilous ground. Anna looked into his green eyes, so dark and so deep that she couldnβt quite determine if this was a game they were playing or something far more dangerous. And her good sense, shaped and controlled from years of living among high society, quietly shut down, allowing the real Anna, the Anna who yearned to be loved, to be held and caressed and adored and know all manner of physical pleasure, to slide deeper into the circle of his arms.
βI donβt rightly know how Iβd want, sir, other than to sayβ¦β Her voice trailed away as she let her gaze roam his face, the perfectly tied neckcloth, the breadth of his shoulders, his thick arms. And then she lifted her gaze to his, saw something smoldering there, and recklessly whispered, ββ¦ that Iβd most definitely want.β
He said nothing. The muscles in his jaw bulged as if he refrained from speaking, and she realized that they had come to a halt. But then his hand spread beneath hers, his palm pressed to her palm, and he laced his fingers between hers, one by one, and with the last one, he closed his hand, gripping hers tightly. βTha sin glΓ¨ mhath,β he whispered hoarsely.
Anna smiled, lifted a curious brow.
βI said, thatβs very good, lass. Very good indeed
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Julia London (Highlander in Disguise (Lockhart Family #2))