Quotes by Loretta Chase

With the world securely in order, Dain was able to devote the leisurely bath time to editing his mental dictionary. He removed his wife from the general category labeled Females and gave her a section of her own. He made a note that she didnt find him revolting, and proposed several explanations: (a) bad eyesight and faulty hearing, (b)a defect in a portion of her otherwise sound intellect, (c) an inherited Trent eccentricity, or (d) an act of God. Since the Almighty had not done him a single act of kindness in at least twenty-five years, Dain thought it was about bloody time, but he thanked his Heavenly Father all the same, and promised to be as good as he was capable of being.

. . I tell you Dain is a splendid catch. I advise you to set your hooks and reel him in.”Jessica took a long swallow of her cognac. “This is not a trout, Genevieve. This is a great, hungry shark.”“Then use a harpoon.

Jessica, you are a pain in the arse, do you know that? If I were not so immensely fond of you, I should throw you out the window.She wrapped her arms about his waist and laid her head against his chest. Not merely fond, but immensely fond. Oh Dain, I do believe I shall swoon.Not now, he said crossly. I havent time to pick you up.

I must be besotted,” he said evenly. “I have the imbecilic idea that you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen. Except for your coiffure,” he added, with a disgusted glance at the coils and plumes and pearls. “That is ghastly.”She scowled. “Your romantic effusions leave me breathless.

I love these pet names, she said, gazing soulfully up into his eyes, Nitwit. Sap skull. Termagant. How they make my heart flutter!

Youll want all your strength for the wedding night. I cannot think why I should need strength, she said, ignoring a host of spine-tingling images rising in her minds eye. All I have to do is lie there. Naked, he said grimly. Truly? She shot him a glance from under her lashes. Well, if I must, I must, for you have the advantage of experience in these matters. Still, I do wish youd told me sooner. I should not have put the modiste to so much trouble about the negligee. The what? It was ghastly expensive, she said, but the silk is as fine as gossamer, and the eyelet work about the neckline is exquisite. Aunt Louisa was horrified. She said only Cyprians wear such things, and it leaves nothing to the imagination. Jessica heard him suck in his breath, felt the muscular thigh tense against hers. But if it were left to Aunt Louisa, she went on,I should be covered from my chin to my toes in thick cotton ruffled with monstrosities with little bows and rosebuds. Which is absurd, when an evening gown reveals far more, not to mention-- What color? he asked. His low voice had roughened. Wine red, she said, With narrow black ribbons threaded through the neckline. Here. She traced a plunging U over her bosom. And theres the loveliest openwork over my...well, here. She drew her finger over the curve of her breast a bare inch above the nipple. And openwork on the right side of the skirt. From here --she pointed to her hip--down to the hem. And I bought--- Jess. Her name was a strangled whisper. --slippers to match, she continued. Black mules with-- Jess. In one furious flurry of motion he threw down the reins and hauled her into his lap.

Weve been wed more than a month. Since it appears you mean to stay, I might as well give you leave to call me by my christian name. It is preferable, at any rate, to clodpole.

If you try to find a replacement, youll be sadly disappointed, I cant be replaced. Im the only man in all the world who possesses the right combination of qualities for you.You can turn your Ballister stare upon me all you like, but you cant petrify me. You can knock me about to your hearts content without worrying about doing any damage. You can perpetrate any sort of outrage your wicked mind conceives and be sure Ill join in, with a will. Youre a troublemaker, Lydia. A Ballister devil. Nothing less than a Mallory hellion would ever suit you.- Vere Mallory -

I want you, she said.I told you so, he said.

That is what I like about you, Mr. Dashwood, she said. You are so decisive. It saves me the bother of thinking for myself.That is what I like about you, Mrs. Dashwood, he said. You are so sarcastic. It saves me the trouble of trying to be tactful and charming.

You are well aware of your effect on women, and Im sure it gratifies you no end to watch them sigh and salivate over your magnificent physique. I do not wish to spoil your fun, Dain, but I do ask you to consider my pride and refrain from embarrassing me in public.Women...sighing and salivating...over his magnificent physique. Maybe the brutal bedding had destroyed a part of her brain.

Dain kept his gaze on his plate and concentrated on swallowing the morsel hed just very nearly choked on. She was possessive... about him.The beautiful, mad creature - or blind and deaf creature, or whatever she was - coolly announced it as one might say, Pass the salt cellar, without the smallest awareness that the earth had just tilted on its axis.

The Challenge is to pry Bertie loose from Dain and his circle of oafish dengenerates,” Jessica said severely. “It would be far more profitable to pry Dain loose for yourself,” said her grandmother. “He is very wealthy, his lineage is excellent, he is young, strong, and healthy, and you feel a powerful attraction.” “He isn’t husband material.” “What I have described is perfect husband material.” said her grandmother. “I don’t want a husband.” “Jessica, no woman does who can regard men objectively. And you have always been magnificently objective.

He pulled away the glove, and at the first glimpse of her fragile, white hand, all thoughts of negotiation fled. I dont see how matters could become worse, he muttered. I am already besotted with a needle-tongued, conceited, provoking ape leader of a lady.Her head jerked up. Besotted? Youre nothing like it. Vengeful is more like it. Spiteful.

I dont know who had the training of you, he continued doggedly, but your morals are shocking. You spent a night in my bed, remember, after a night in a bawdy house. You go about collecting street urchins and letting inebriated vagabonds kiss you, and then you get into brawls in pawnshops. You are probably past all redemption, but Im going to reform you anyhow. If you behave yourself, perhaps Ill let you reform me on occasion, but I make no promises.

I beg your pardon for questioning your judgement, she said. It is nothing to me, after all, if it proves faulty. I am not the one responsible for the Marquess of Athertons heir and sole offspring. I am not the one who will be toppled from my pedestal if the world learns I have not only permitted but encouraged my nephew to associate with the most shocking persons. I am not the one who-I wish you were the one who had heard of the rule Silence is Golden, he said.

He had relieved whores beyond counting of frocks, stays, chemises, garters, and stockings. He had never before in his life unbuttoned a gently bred maidens glove. Hed committed salacious acts beyond number. Hed never before felt so depraved as he did now, as the last pearl came free and he drew the soft kid down, baring her wrist, and his dark fingers grazed the delicate skin hed exposed.

Bathsheba looked at Benedict. You never told me they were matchmaking.He didnt notice! said his father before Benedict could answer. He didnt notice handsome young misses of unexceptionable family. He didnt notice beautiful heiresses. We tried bluestockings. We tried country girls. We tried everything. He didnt notice! But Bathsheba Winngate, the most notorious woman in all of England, he noticed.We notorious women tend to stand out, she said.

She was a dreamer and a schemer & one didnt dream and scheme without hope.

That is a horrid temptation to put before a man who is forbidden to make vigorous movements,” he said. “Is it really?” she said. “No wonder Miles did not approve. He looked daggers at me.” “Maybe his face froze that way,” Rupert said. “He was looking daggers at me a few hours ago. Do you think he suspects?” “I think he knows ,” she said. “I’m glad I don’t have a sister,” he said. “I should have to get over my aversion to killing people.” -Rupert and Daphne