Kathleen E. Woodiwiss Quotes

heartrending memory

Be gone, Pitney, before you undo the best of my plans.

Ruark held the door open for her to pass through. "The first I cannot deny, Shanna, for then I did not know of you. But you are my only love and shall remain for as long as I live." His eyes were serious and seemed to probe her being. "I

Barrage of delectable sensations within her loins. Her whole being awakened to a heightening excitement as his tongue slowly traced around the delicately hued areola, and still she watched as if nothing more than a distant

He grinned. "Madam, I was not willing to gamble with so precious a prize."

-Christopher

Shanna, my love, the bargain is fulfilled. But what, then, of the vows we exchanged?

reasons. Included was the episode in which Shanna had slain the one. He related the plan and execution of the escape, with minor details omitted, and

Tell me you don't feel what I feel when I hold you. Tell me you don't tremble when I touch you," he whispered huskily, "and then try to tell me you don't want me to make love to you.

Don't cry, my sweet," he entreated. "I cannot bear to see you distressed."
"Then go away," she begged. "Go away and leave me alone."
His brows came together in a troubled frown. "For the life of me, my love, I can't do that."
"Why not?" She faced him with the question.
His gaze dropped and he stared at the floor in thoughtful concentration for a long moment. When he looked at her again, his gaze was direct and unflinching.
"Because I have fallen in love with you."
-Christopher & Erienne

Besides the fact that you're a scoundrel at the gaming tables," she responded tartly, "I'm beginning to suspect that you're a womanizing rake."
Christopher grinned leisurely as his perusal swept her.
"I've been a long time at sea. However, I doubt that in your case my reaction would vary had I just left the London Court."
Erienne's eyes flared with poorly suppressed ire. The insufferable egotist! Did he dare think he could find a willing wench at the back door of the mayor's cottage?
"I'm sure that Claudia Talbot would welcome your company, sir. Why don't you ride on over to see her? I hear his lordship traveled off to London this morning."
He laughed softly at her sneering tones. "I'd rather be courting you."
"Why?" she scoffed. "Because you want to thwart my father?"
His smiling eyes captured hers and held them prisoner until she felt a warmth suffuse her cheeks. He answered with slow deliberation. "Because you are the prettiest maid I've ever seen, and I'd like to get to know you better. And of course, we should delve into this matter of your accidents more thoroughly, too."
Twin spots of color grew in her cheeks, but the deepening dusk did much to hide her blush. Lifting her nose primly in the air, Erienne turned aside, tossing him a cool glance askance. "How many women have you told that to, Mr. Seton?"
A crooked smile accompanied his reply. "Several, I suppose, but I've never lied. Each had their place in time, and t

My darling wife," he murmured softly, " 'tis probable that I shall be most heavily set upon within the next few moments. The front door, as solid as it is, cannot be properly defended, and they will come before long to ram it down. 'Twould please me much if you ... " Erienne's head was already shaking before he finished. Strangely she experienced no fright, no fear. She was in her home, and a grim determination lay beneath her composed exterior. "I will stay with you." She tapped the pistol with the tip of her finger and informed him bluntly, "The man who harms you will not live out the day. I will see to that." There was a level sternness in her gaze that made Christopher glad she was his wife and not a foe.
-Christopher & Erienne

You deny our vows. You deny my rights. You abuse my pride and leave me nothing of yourself. You send me from you on some lackey's strength. You betray me at every turn."
Shanna met his glare and hurled a fierce reply. "You took my heart and set your fingers firm around it, then, no doubt delighted at your success, you rent it with unfaithfulness."
"Unfaithfulness is only from a husband. You play the same to me and yet do say I am no spouse."
"You plead you are my husband true and spite the suitors come to woo me."
"Yea!" Ruark raged. "Your suitors flock about your skirts in heated lust, and you yield them more than me."
Shanna paused before him, rage etched upon her face. "You're a churlish cad!"
"They fondle you boldly and you set not their hands away from you."
"A knavish blackguard!"
"You are a married woman!"
"I am a widow!"
"You are my wife!" Ruark shouted to be heard over the rising wind outside.

Shanna - Madam Beauchamp. You have provided the brightest moment in my day." As she stared, his lips moved further in soundless vow. "I love you.

I am trapped in darkness, Erienne. I can only come to you when the night will hide my face, and yet there grows in me a craving to take you in my arms while the sun is high, when I can see you flushed and warm with passion. 'Tis my hell that I must be a beast of the night.
-Lord Saxton

Aye, milord." She snuggled close to him, but his low, wheezing laughter made her draw back again to try to see the eyes that were only a dark shadow behind the silken cloth.
"Something amuses you?"
"Sleep! 'Twill be impossible with you in my arms."
"Shall I go?" she questioned, resting a hand on his chest.
"Never!" He caught her to him in a fierce embrace, burying his face against her throat.
-Erienne & Lord Saxton

I can't leave you alone." He touched his lips to the smoothly rising slope of her shoulder. "The thought of you stumbles the beat of my heart and arouses such a hunger in me that I must seek you out or groan beneath the torture of it. You have chained me to you, Erienne. The beast is your slave."
-Lord Saxton

Oh, my love," Erienne breathed as he pressed his lips to her brow, "I was afraid you would come, and yet I hoped you would."
Light kisses rained upon her cheek and brow as he held her close, savoring the nearness of her while he could. "I would have come sooner had I known where they had taken you. I had not expected this of your father, but he will answer. I promise you that."
Erienne shook her head and replied in the same muted tone. "He is not my real father."
Christopher held her away, looking down at her wonderingly. "What is this?"
"My mother married an Irish rebel and got with child before he was hanged. Avery married her, knowing the facts, but he never told her that it was he who had given the final orders to hang my father."
Christopher gently brushed a tumbled curl from off her cheek. "I knew you were too beautiful to be kin to him."

-Erienne & Christopher

Madam, if some doddering ancient viewed you this moment, 'twould surely send his heart into its final palpitations." The corners of her mouth lifted in a soft smile. "You tease, Stuart. I am just a simple maid." A low chuckle came from the leather helm. "Aye, so simple that when that darling, pampered child, Claudia, first sets eyes on you, she will be seized with such an apoplectic shade of jealousy that all the froggies in the marsh will groan in envy."

-Lord Saxton & Erienne

Madam, I've never met another woman who is as exasperating as you are!

She was his; he was hers. The world could fall apart, and they'd still be one.

Tis a fact I've learned all too well that words cast out in the light of day, like doves, oft come home to roost in the darkest hours.
-Christopher

You make me afraid," she murmured one morning when he came back to sit beside her on the bed. "The thought plagues me that I will see you slain and, like your mother, will have to flee to find a haven for our babe." "By the grace of God, madam, I will prove wiser than my enemy." He lay back across the bed, resting his head in her lap while he reached up a hand to caress softly her smooth, flat belly through the light fabric of her nightgown. "I have a fancy to see our offspring and plant other seeds where this one grows, so you needn't fret that I'll be foolhardy, my love." Erienne ran her fingers through his hair. "I hope the hour quickly approaches when you may give up the mask and guise. I want to tell the world and all the women in it that you're mine." She shrugged lightly. " 'Twould not overburden me to tell my father of our marriage, either." Christopher chuckled. "He'll croak." Erienne giggled and leaned over him. "Aye, that he will. Louder than any wily toad that e'er's been born. He'll stamp and snort and claim injustice, but with your babe growing in me, I doubt that anyone will lend an ear to the question of annulment." Her eyes gleamed with twinkling humor. "Besides, what suitor would look twice at me when I've grown fat with child?" Christopher raised up on an elbow and leered at her. "Madam, if you think your father or any suitor could get past me to try to separate us, then let me assure you that the highwaymen have not yet seen such a wrath that I would displ

I believe you owe me a token, my lady. Or do you wish me to extend credit?"
"What, and have you claim I owe you some further recompense?" she declined with a scornful laugh as she flipped him a wooden chip.
"Definitely not!"
Christopher sighed in exaggerated disappointment. "Too bad. I was looking forward to collecting."
"You always are," she murmured as he leaned forward to pick up the chip.
"You can hardly fault me there." His tone was equally soft as his eyes caressed her warmly. "You sorely test my restraints, my lady."
"Restraints?" She raised a delicate brow in disbelief. "I have seen no evidence of such."
"Madam, if you really knew, you'd think me a scoundrel."
"I already do."

-Christopher & Erienne

He bent and whispered against her ear. "Stay close, Erienne. The towel has come loose. If you step away, it is at your own risk."
Clenching her eyes tightly shut, she buried her face against his shoulder to hide the crimson tides that swept over her and clung to him with a panic born of desperation.
Unable to see his face, she missed the smile that widened his lips.
-Christopher & Erienne

Christopher observed the passage of the coach from his sight and then turned his gaze to the pair of men who approached them. It was Farrell and Captain Daniels, and while the latter was smiling broadly, the former frowned in sharp disapproval at the couple. Christopher thrust out a hand in greeting to his captain, then looked to his wife's brother. "Farrell, I don't think we've been properly introduced." Christopher smiled as he extended his hand. "I am Lord Saxton."
The young man's eyes widened, and he searched the softly smiling visage of his sister as he mechanically accepted the hand. "Lord Saxton? The Lord Saxton?"
"Aye, I am the one who wore the mask and walked with a limp," Christopher confessed. " 'Twas done partly to fool the thieves into believing the man they had murdered was still alive, and then too, I desired to wed your sister and found no other way. I hope you will value the friendship we began when you knew me as the cripple."
Farrell tried to grasp all the facts and put them together in their proper places. "You are really married to my sister, and you are the father of her…" Erienne blushed as she glanced hesitantly toward the sea captain, who seemed to be enjoying the whole exchange. His smile broadened as her husband gave a reply. "You needn't sharpen your skill with firearms to avenge your sister's honor," Christopher replied. The teasing gleam in his eyes shone brighter. " 'Twas quite properly made, I assure you."

-Christop

What were you doing spying on me?" she asked bluntly as she flounced down on a bench to inspect her charred skirts.
The lean, hard muscles of his thighs flexed beneath the tight-fitting breeches as he half sat, half leaned on a high stool nearby.
"I grew bored with viewing the ladies who meander about the markets, and I came to see if the sights were better here at the mayor's cottage."
The corners of his lips twitched with amusement, and his eyes gleamed into hers as he added, "I am happy to report, they are!"
Erienne got to her feet in a huff. "Have you nothing better to do than go about ogling the women?"
"I suppose I could find something else to occupy me," he replied easily, "but I can't think of anything that's nearly as enjoyable, except, of course, being in a lady's company."

-Erienne & Christopher

The warmth that went through her could not be laid entirely to a hot blush. "You, sir, have a very evil imagination!" "Nay, madam," he denied. "Vivid, aye! But nothing about you is evil, and that's all I think about."

-Erienne & Christopher

Honor you? he breathed. Sweetest Erienne, how could I not? You are ever in my thoughts, bending me, plucking at the fibers of my mind. The man inside me trembles whenever you're near, and I groan with agony for the touch of your hand laid upon me in a soft caress.

What price did William pay for your life, for your loyalty sworn by oath? Could I purchase it from him?
-Aislinn

Erienne had avoided the final pat of Lord Talbot and left the flushed and overexcited elder stewing in frustration. She was most happy to welcome the return of her appointed escort and to entrust her virtue to their truce. They met in the maze of guests, and from then on Christopher kept the larger part of the dance floor between them and their host while Talbot stood at the sidelines and, like an anxious stork, craned his neck for a sight of the one who eluded him.
"You're being obvious," Erienne cautioned her partner.
"So is he," Christopher replied, "and if he persists, he'll be lucky if I don't lengthen his stride by a boot in the rear."
"Why are you so determined to harass Lord Talbot?"
"You know my reasons for disliking the man."
"Me?" she asked incredulously.
"What little time I have with you, I am loath to share with him."
"Why, Christopher," the blue-violet eyes flashed with puckish humor, and the barest hint of a smile curved her lips to mock him. "Methinks thou dost protest the man overmuch."
He went mechanically through the steps of the dance while his mind plunged to a depth beyond her insight. When his attention returned to her, he nodded and agreed. "Aye, the man! Him, I do protest. I protest his arrogance, his careless flaunting of his power. I protest the wealth he wallows in while his tenants grub for a meager subsistence. Aye, I protest the man, and I decry the possibility that anything entrusted to my care sh

A rattle of dishes warned of a servant's entry into the hall, but Christopher was incensed, and half turning with a growl, he gestured Paine back.
"Get out of here, man!"
"Christopher!" Erienne gasped and took two halting steps to follow the befuddled servant, but Christopher came around to face her with a glare.
"Stay where you are, madam! I am not finished with you."
"You have no right to give orders here," she protested, her own ire growing. "This is my husband's house!"
"I'll give orders when and where I damn well please, and for once, you will stand and listen until I'm through!"
More than a trifle outraged herself, Erienne hurled back her answer. "You may command the men on your ship to your will, Mister Seton, but you have no such authority here! Good day to you!"
Catching up her skirts, she whirled and stalked toward the tower until she heard the sound of rapid footsteps coming behind her, then a sudden panic seized her that he would make such a scene that she would not be able to face the servants… or her husband. She raced into the entry, stepping over the puddle, and took to the stairs, forcing every bit of strength she could into her limbs. She had barely gained the fourth step when she heard sliding feet, a loud thump, and then a painful grunt followed by an angry curse.
When she whirled, Christopher was just coming to rest in a heap against the wall after sliding across the floor, partway on his back. For a moment

Tis obvious that you're easily…" She paused, searching for a more sarcastic and descriptive word than "encouraged."
"Aroused?" he queried.
Erienne gasped. "Certainly not!"
"Have you changed your mind? You said at a twitch of a skirt…"
"I know what I said!"
"The subject seems to be on your mind quite a bit, my lady."
"I wonder why," she retorted with unmistakable satire. It was impossible to ignore the manly feel of him against her.
"Because you lust after my body?" he asked, feigning innocence.
Erienne caught her breath in outrage. "I am a married woman, sir!"
He heaved a laborious sigh. "Here we go again!"
"Oh, you buffoon! Why don't you leave me alone?"
"Did I ask you to follow me?" he protested.
She groaned aloud in frustration. "I'm sorry I did!"
"Were you bruised?" He snuggled her closer against his body. "You feel all right to me."
"Christopher, if I weren't so afraid of this horse, I'd slap you," she threatened.
"Why? I only inquired of your health."
"Because you make free with your hands! Now, stop that!" She threw away the hand that had settled on her thigh. "Don't you ever get tired of playing the rake?"
"The sport warms and excites me, madam," he said, chuckling in her ear.

-Erienne & Christopher

After all, they were just words, and she had learned long ago that a man's actions displayed his truer nature more than the things he said.

Whatever my lady desires," he breathed, nuzzling the fragrant tresses beside her ear. "My world is where you are, and I follow where you lead."
Erienne giggled as his teeth nibbled at her earlobe. "Nay, sir. I will never lead you, for my hand will be tucked firmly in yours. We are one, in truth, and by your side I will gladly walk or stand if you will have me there."
"If?" There was amazement evident in his tone as he repeated the word. "Have I fought for you all these many months just to place you behind me, where I cannot view your beauty? Nay, my lady, beside me is where I would have you, always close to my heart."
-Christopher & Erienne

She didn't care to be reminded how starved she looked, but she could hardly bemoan the fact. It had lent well to her disguise. Though seventeen, she had masqueraded as a stripling lad beneath the very noses of the Yankees. Captain Latimer had not even been suspicious.

Perhaps I have misjudged you, Christopher," Erienne commented as he whirled her about in a wide sweep of the ballroom.
"How so, my love?" He searched her face for some hint of her meaning.
"You watch over me as closely as Stuart," she stated and grew thoughtful. "Perhaps more so."
"I have not given up hope that you will someday become mine, madam, and I choose to safeguard against those who would take you from me."
"What of Stuart?" She raised a lovely brow as she awaited his answer. It was a long moment before he gave a reply. "In the ways of love, I do not consider Stuart as much a threat as an inconvenience."
"An inconvenience?" she queried.
"I shall have to deal with him in time, and that will be the difficult part. I cannot dismiss the man without rousing your hatred again. 'Tis a most perplexing problem."
"You amaze me, Christopher." Erienne shook her head, somewhat shocked by his casual disregard of her husband. "You truly amaze me."
"The feeling is mutual, my love." His voice came as a soft caress and sent an eddy of sensations spiraling down through the core of her being.

-Erienne & Christopher

Erienne stared up at him, and when she spoke it was almost in awe. "And what of you, Christopher? If I were to yield myself to you, would you, then, honor me?"
"Honor you?" he breathed. "Sweetest Erienne, how could I not? You are ever in my thoughts, bending me, twisting me, plucking at the fibers of my mind. The man inside me trembles whenever you're near, and I groan in agony for the touch of your hand laid upon me in a soft caress. I am beset with my desire for you, and if I thought for one moment that you would not loathe me forever, I would ease my lusts this very night, be you willing or nay. But I'd rather hear my name fall from your lips with words of love than snarled in tones of hate. 'Tis the one thing that keeps you safe from me, Erienne. 'Tis the only thing."

-Erienne & Christopher

So, my dear…"
She faced him with thudding heart, the crystal piece clutched desperately in her hand, but she was hardly aware that she even held it.
"… You say I have let another man into my bed."
Erienne opened her mouth to speak. Her first impulse was to chatter some inanity that could magically take the edge from his callous half statement, half question. No great enlightenment dawned, however, and her dry, parched throat issued no sound of its own. She inspected the stopper closely, turning it slowly in her hand rather than meet the accusing stare.
From behind the mask, Lord Saxton observed his wife closely, well aware that the next moments would form the basis for the rest of his life or leave it an empty husk. After this, there could be no turning back.
"I think, my dear," his words made her start, "that whatever the cost, 'tis time you met the beast of Saxton Hall."
Erienne swallowed hard and clasped the stopper with whitened knuckles, as if to draw some bit of courage from the crystal piece.
As she watched, Lord Saxton doffed his coat, waistcoat, and stock, and she wondered if it was a trick of her imagination that he seemed somewhat lighter of frame. After their removal, he caught the heel of his right boot over the toe of the left and slowly drew the heavy, misshapen encumbrance from his foot. She frowned in open bemusement, unable to detect a flaw. He flexed the leg a moment before slipping off the other boot. His movements

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Were I a man," she struck a fencing pose and swept her hand before her as if it held a razor-sharp rapier, "I'd fix him thus!" She stabbed once, twice, thrice, then whipped the imaginary tip across her victim's throat. Delicately she wiped the phantom blade and restored it to an equally airy scabbard. "Were I a man," she straightened to stare pensively through the window, "I'd assure myself that braggart knew the error of his ways and henceforth would bend to seek his fortune in some other corner of the world." She caught her reflection in the crystal panes and folding her hands, struck a demure pose. "Alas, a brawling lad I am not, but a mere woman." She turned her head from side to side to inspect the carefully arranged raven tresses, then smiled wisely at her image. "Thus my weapons must be my wit and tongue."
-Erienne

Tis said that wisdom comes to those who seek it.
-Christopher

Location. Alaina gave a last pat to the freshly made bed in the newly occupied room and sat down on it, facing Mindy. She smoothed the quilted bedspread beside her as she asked, "Will you sleep here now?" Mindy's nod came without hesitation, but again there were no words, only the fleeting smile,

There is revenge and then there is justice. Sometimes the two are met as one.
-Christopher

I believe, my dear Erienne," he began solicitously, the humor in his voice disguised by a disapproving frown, "that you either have a penchant for self-destruction… or you are somehow testing me… or my ability to protect you. I think this may bear further investigation."

-Christopher

Do you think calling me 'Mr. Seton' is going to stop me from wanting you?" he asked as his eyes caressed her. "You know very little about me… or men… if you think mere words can quench what I feel for you. 'Tis no simple lust that gnaws at me, Erienne, but an ever-raging desire to have you with me every moment, to feel your softness beneath my searching hand, and to claim you as my own. Nay, no stilted title can cool what burns in me."

-Christopher to Erienne

Erienne closed the door and leaned against it as she frowned at Farrell. He had caught his good arm about the balustrade and was trying to steady himself while he tugged feebly at the ties of his cloak.
"Eriennie, give yer li'l Farrell a hand with 'is rebesh ... uh ... rebelush garment. It willn't leave me as I bid it." He grinned apologetically and lifted his crippled arm in helpless appeal.
"Fine time for you to be coming home," she admonished, helping him out of the recalcitrant cloak. "Have you no shame?"
"None!" he declared, attempting a gallant bow. His efforts caused him to lose his precarious balance, and he began to totter backward.
-Farrell & Erienne

I want to be your wife, your lover, your mate for life. I want to feel you inside me, to be one with you, to bear your children, to possess you as you possess me, to touch you as often as I wish, and to feel you quicken in my grasp. I need you ... most desperately.

followed her and,

Facing Erienne, Christopher favored her with a lopsided grin. "I suppose this means I won't be welcomed here again?"
"Get out! And don't ever darken this door again!" she cried, fighting tears of anger and humiliation. Her lips curling with contempt, she gave him a scathing perusal. "Were a twisted, scar-faced, hunchbacked cripple the only other man on earth, I would surely choose him over you!"
Christopher let his gaze glide down her. "As for me, Erienne, were you cast down before me, I would not be wont to cross over you to get to some broad bovine." He smiled in wry humor as his eyes met hers again. " 'Twould be pure foolishness to spite myself for the sake of pride."
"Out!" The word was spat from her lips with vengeance as her arm thrust out in the direction of the door.

-Christopher & Erienne

I can understand why you never kissed me as Lord Saxton. I'd have known you instantly."
" 'Twas what I feared, madam, but you don't know how hard it was to resist the urge."
His kisses played upon her lips, touching as light as a butterfly's wings, then he set her away from him and released a long breath.
"As much as I would rather spend the day with you, madam, I suppose I must don my disguise and venture from these chambers."
"There's always tonight," she whispered.
He grinned down at her. "I won't be bound to darkness again."
"We could always light a candle," she suggested sweetly.
"Better yet," his grin widened, "just come when I beckon."

-Erienne & Christopher