Roarke Quotes

Roarke called up a blueprint of Hillary Clinton High School. "Certain ~ J.D. Robb

Don't ask. We're all but done for in any case, taking that Fiona couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo, and Paddy and Maureen both cheat like tinkers at a fair."

"What are you talking about? Why would anybody hit a cow with a banjo?

He only smiled. "The point is, Fiona couldn't so we'll be done soon enough. ~ J.D. Robb

As she read over Eve's shoulder, Mavis let out a low whistle. "Not the Roarke! The incredibly wealthy, fabulous to look at, sexily mysterious Roarke who owns approximately twenty-eight percent of the world, and its satellites?"
All Eve felt was irritation. "He's the only one I know."
"You know him." Mavis rolled her green shadowed eyes. "Dallas, I've underestimated you unforgivably. Tell me everything. How, when, why? Did you sleep with him? Tell me you slept with him, then give me every tiny detail."
"We've had a secret, passionate affair for the last three years, during which time I bore him a son who's being raised on the far side of the moon by Buddhist monks. ~ J.D. Robb

Water lapped as she sat forward. "Don't play games with me, Roarke."
"Eve, it's my fondest wish to do just that. ~ J.D. Robb

You need a medic, Lieutenant."
"In a minute. Let me ask you something."
"Ask away." Having nothing else, he tore part of his ripped sleeve to dab at the blood on her shoulder.
"Do I come charging into one of your board rooms when you're having trouble with a business deal?"
His eyes flicked to hers. Some of the fierceness died out of them into what was almost a smile. "No, Eve, you don't. I don't know what got into me."
"It's okay. This once. ~ J.D. Robb

He sipped again, more deeply. "Is this an interrogation, Lieutenant?" It was the smile in his voice that rubbed her wrong.
"It can be," she said shortly.
"As you like." He rose, set his glass aside, and began to unbutton his shirt.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting into the swim, so to speak." He tossed the shirt aside, unhooked his trousers.
"If I'm going to be questioned by a naked cop, in my own tub, the least I can do is join her."
"Damn it, Roarke, this is murder." He winced as the hot water all but scalded him.
"You're telling me." He faced her across the sea of froth.
"What is it in me that is so perverse it thrives on ruffling you? And," he continued before she could give him her short, pithy opinion, "what is it about you that pulls at me, even when you're sitting there with an invisible badge pinned to your lovely breast? ~ J.D. Robb

Roarke made some notations on the fax - a ~ J.D. Robb

Roarke had to force himself not to snatch her up as she swept through the hallowed Senate halls. Members of the media were already leaping toward her, but she cut through them as if they weren't there. "I like your style, Lieutenant Dallas," he said when they'd fought their way to the car. "I like it a lot. And by the way, I don't think I'm in love with you anymore. I know I am. ~ J.D. Robb

How do you know that? You couldn't have finished the book."
"I skipped to the end."
"You..." He closed his eyes as he drank more wine. "Some things are unforgiveable."
--Roarke, Dallas, Roarke ~ J.D. Robb

Eve: "She had big plans for me. Kind of a pet, I imagine. Like William. Her little trained dog. And with you dead, she figured I'd inherit all your goodies. You're not going to do that to me are you?"
Roarke: "What, die?"
Eve: "Leave me all this stuff."
Roarke: "Only you would be annoyed by that. ~ J.D. Robb

What are you doing?"
"Washing your hair," he murmured and proceeded to stroke and massage the shampoo into her short, sopping cap of hair. "I'm going to enjoy smelling my soap on you." His lips curved. "You're a fascinating woman, Eve. Here we are, wet, naked, both of us half dead from a very memorable night, and still you watch me with very cool, very suspicious eyes."
"You're a suspicious character, Roarke."
"I think that's a compliment. ~ J.D. Robb

She would be a sparkling accent on his arm. She speaks flawless French and Italian, and has a limitless supply of charm when she wishes to dispense it. And'd she'll use him. She'll take, take more. If it was necessary, or if she simply had the whim, she'd toss him to the wolves to see who'd win."
He finished the whiskey. "You, Lieutenant, are often crude, you are certainly rude, and have very little sense of how to be the wife
in public
of a man in Roarke's position. And you would do anything, no matter what the personal risk, to keep him from harm. She will never love him. You will never do anything but. ~ J.D. Robb

When I ducked out, she was talking to Ana Whitney and some Roarke exec about knitting. The three of them were into it like it was their religion. ~ J.D. Robb

Eve: "She completely eye-fucked you." Roarke: "I know. I feel so cheap and used." Eve: "Shit. You got off on it. Men always do." Roarke: "True enough, which is why we're so often cheap and used. ~ J.D. Robb

I like your style, Lieutenant Dallas," he said when they'd fought their way to the car. "I like it a lot. And by the way, I don't think I'm in love with you anymore. I know I am."-Roarke ~ J.D. Robb

Roarke leaned over, ~ J.D. Robb

I'm so proud of you, and so amused at your discomfort in being recognized for you dedication and skill."
"Amused? Here's another funny for you. You're getting a medal, too."
He dropped her hand. "What? I'm a civilian, as you continually remind me."
"The Civilian Medal of Merit, and they don't given them out like candy, pal, especially to shady characters."
"I don't think it's appropriate."
She loved it, just loved when he turned all dignified.
"Oh, it is, and how I get to be amused. You're the one who started sticking his nose in, then his whole body. Now you're going to have to stand up there on Wednesday afternoon - fourteen hundred, so put that in your book - and take what you get. And I'm pretty damn proud of you, too, so suck it up. ~ J.D. Robb

Tag Feeney," Eve ordered when she was behind the wheel. "Have him run like crimes in and around London."
"It would be my honor, Mrs. Lieutenant Dallas Roarke." At Eve's burning look, Peabody only grinned. "Sorry. I just had to do it once. I'm over it. ~ J.D. Robb

I don't like to think of her as pretend Peabody anymore. The more we find out, the meaner and crazier she gets. It's like it's bad enough fake Peabody got murdered, but now fake Peabody is a dead, blackmailing asshole on top of it. It's depressing."
"Yeah, it's all really too bad for you."
"Well, it kind of is. How am I supposed to enjoy the vid now, when I'll be thinking how behind the scenes I was trying to blackmail McNab into bed, and the whole time he's in love with you? And that maybe there's a vid of the two of you all naked and sexy and - "
"Stop right there before I boot."
"Hey! Maybe there's a vid of fake Peabody and fake Roarke all naked and sexy. That would definitely make up for it. Maybe I can get a copy."
"There's going to be a vid of me tearing strips off your ass then using them to wallpaper my office. I'll make copies for everybody. Get Marlo down here. I'll start on Julian. ~ J.D. Robb

Bet you haven't had time to rub on the breast cream either." She turned on Roarke. "Some reason you can't slap some on your hands before you feel her up?" "I do try," he said, throwing Eve to the wolves without a qualm. "She's a difficult woman." "Let ~ J.D. Robb

Sit down," she ordered Peabody.

"I prefer to stand."

"And I prefer to give you a good boot in the ass, but I'm restraining myself." Eve reached up, fisted her hands in her own hair and yanked until the pain cleared most of the rage.

"Okay, stand. You couldn't sit with that stick up your butt, anyway. One you shove up it every time Subject Monroe, Charles, is mentioned. You want to be filled in, you want to be briefed? Fine. Here it is."

She had to take another deep breath to insure her tone was professional. "On the evening of March twenty-six, at or about nineteen-thirty, I, accompanied by Roarke, had occasion to visit Areena Mansfield's penthouse suite at The Palace Hotel, this city. Upon entering said premises, investigation officer found subject Mansfield in the company of one Charles Monroe, licensed companion. It was ascertained and confirmed that LC Monroe was there in a professional capacity and had no links to the deceased or the current investigation. His presence, and the salient details pertaining to it, were noted in the report of the interview and marked Level Five in a stupid, ill-conceived attempt by the investigating officer to spare her fat-headed aide any unnecessary embarrassment."

Eve stomped back to her desk, snatched up her coffee, gulped some down. "Record that," she snapped.

Peabody's lip trembled. She sat. She sniffled.

"Oh, no." In genuine panic, Eve stabbed out a finger. " ~ J.D. Robb

Don't leave me again. God. God. Don't leave me again."
"I didn't"
"Part of you did." He moved her back, and his eyes swarmed with emotion. "Part of you left me, and I couldn't stand it. ~ J.D. Robb

Then we'd better stop her." Coating the hammering fear with calming ice, Roarke worked precisely. "I'm not losing my wife today. I need more shagging light here. ~ J.D. Robb

Eve, did you marry me for my money?"
"You bet your ass. And you'd better hold on to it, or I'm history"
"It's very sweet of you to say so. ~ J.D. Robb

I can't let her stand trial." Her head lolled; she snapped it back. "I have to find ... I need to go ... " She couldn't even lift her weighted arm to her head. "Damn it, Roarke, damn it, that was a tranq." "Go to sleep," he murmured and gently unhooked her weapon harness and set it aside. "Lie back." "Inducing chemicals on unknowing people is a violation of ... " She slipped deeper, barely felt him unbutton her shirt. "Arrest me in the morning," he suggested. He undressed her, then himself, before slipping into bed beside her. "Just sleep now." She slept, but even there, dreams chased her. ~ J.D. Robb

(Eve)"Hold on. You have to give them a gift for moving?"
"Uh-huh. Plus they're shacking, so it should be a couple thing." She (Mavis) ate another canape, fed on to Leonardo.
"Why does there have to be a gift for every damn thing?" Eve complained.
"Retail conspiracy." Roarke patter her knee.
"I bet it is," Eve said darkly. "I just bet it is. ~ J.D. Robb

Roarke "I'll drop you." Eve "No, better I catch a cab or take the underground. This guy sees me show up in a hot car with a fancy piece behind the wheel, he's not going to like me." Roarke "You know how I love being referred. to as your fancy piece." Eve "Sometimes you're my love muffin. ~ Nora Roberts

You're arrogant, domineering, egotistical, and disdainful of the law."
He lifted one amused brow. "And your point would be? ~ J.D. Robb

Eve – Where's my ice-cream?
Roarke – You didn't behave so there'll be none for you.
Eve – That's just mean. ~ J.D. Robb

I feel so used. I find I like it. ~ J.D. Robb

You're a fascinating woman, Eve. Here we are, wet, naked, both of us half dead from a very memorable night, and still you watch me with very cool, very suspicious eyes."
"You're a suspicious character, Roarke. ~ J.D. Robb

The man loves you with everything he has, everything he is. Eve, that means you can hurt him. ~ J.D. Robb

Hey, sweetheart. All alone in this palace?"

She arched a brow when she felt the hand on her bottom and turned her head slowly to stare at McNab.

He went red, then white, then red again. "Christ! Lieutenant. Sir."

"Your hand's on my ass, McNab. I don't think you want it to be there."

He snatched it away as if scorched. "God. Man. Shit. Beg your pardon. I didn't recognize you. I mean..." He jammed the hand he sincerely hoped she'd allow him to keep in his pocket. "I didn't know it was you. I thought... You look..." Words failed him.

"I believe Detective McNab is trying to compliment you, Eve." Roarke slipped up beside them and, because it was too much to resist, stared hard into McNab's panicked eyes. "Weren't you, Ian?"

"Yeah. That is..."

"And if I believed he'd realized it was your ass he was fondling, I'd just have to kill him. Right here." Roarke reached out and flicked at the strings of McNab's snazzy red tie. "Right now."

"Oh, I'd have already taken care of that myself," Eve said dryly. "You look like you could use a drink,Detective."

"Yes, sir. I could."

"Roarke, why don't you take care of him? Mira just came in. I want to talk to her."

"Delighted." Roarke draped an arm around McNab's shoulder and squeezed just a little harder than comfort allowed. ~ J.D. Robb

For a moment, she let herself forget about the business at hand and smiled at him. "You know, Roarke, you're kind of cute." She realized it was the first time she'd really surprised him.
His head came up, and his eyes were startled - for perhaps two heartbeats. Then that sly smile came into them. The one that made her own pulse jitter.
"You're going to have to do better than that, lieutenant. I've got you in."
"No shit?" Excitement flooded through her as she whirled back to the screens.
"Put it up."
"Screens four, five, six. ~ J.D. Robb

Roarke didn't quite make it to Eve's office. He found her down the corridor, in front of one of the vending machines. She and the machine appeared to be in the middle of a vicious argument.

"I put the proper credits in, you blood-sucking, money-grubbing son of a bitch." Eve punctuated this by slamming her fist where the machine's heart would be, if it had one.

ANY ATTEMPT TO VANDALIZE, DEFACE, OR DAMAGE THIS UNIT IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.

The machine spoke in a prissy, singsong voice Roarke was certain was sending his wife's blood pressure through the roof.

THIS UNIT IS EQUIPPED WITH SCANEYE, AND HAS RECORDED YOUR BADGE NUMBER. DALLAS, LIEUTENANT EVE. PLEASE INSERT PROPER CREDIT, IN COIN OR CREDIT CODE, FOR YOUR SELECTION. AND REFRAIN FROM ATTEMPTING TO VANDALIZE, DEFACE, OR DAMAGE THIS UNIT.

"Okay, I'll stop attempting to vandalize, deface, or damage you, you electronic street thief. I'll just do it."

She swung back her right foot, which Roarke had cause to know could deliver a paralyzing kick from a standing position. But before she could follow through he stepped up and nudged her off balance.

"Please, allow me, Lieutenant."

"Don't put any more credits in that thieving bastard," she began, then hissed when Roarke did just that.

"Candy bar, I assume. Did you have any lunch?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know it's just going to keep stealing if people like you pander to it."< ~ J.D. Robb

I don't like the idea of you shivering unless I cause it. Stay warm.
Roarke, Naked In Death ~ J.D. Robb

Peabody, with me."
She waited until they were back in her office. "Don't hover over McNab like that."
"Sir?"
"You hover over him, you're going to make him think you're worried."
"I am worried. The twenty-four-"
"Worry all you want, dump on me if you need to. But don't let him see it. He's starting to fray, and he's trying hard not to show it. You try just as hard not to show it. If you need to vent, go out there on the kitchen terrace. Scream your lungs out."
"Is that what you do?"
"Sometimes. Sometimes I kick inanimate objects. Sometimes I jump Roarke and have jungle sex. The last," she said after a beat, "is not an option for you."
"But I think it would really make me feel better, and be a more productive member of the investigative team."
"Good, humor is good. Get me coffee. ~ J.D. Robb

It's always a pleasure watching you wake up," he commented. "But sometimes I wonder if you want me only for my coffee."
"Well ... " She grinned at him and sipped again. "I really like the food, too. And the sex isn't bad. ~ J.D. Robb

Eve: What is it about asking you Catholic questions that gets you all jumpy?
Roarke: You'd be jumpy, too, if I asked you things that make you feel the hot breath of hell at your back.
Eve: You're not going to hell.
Roarke: Oh, and have you got some inside intel on that?
Eve: You married a cop ... you married me. I'm your goddamn salvation. ~ J.D. Robb

Drop the fucking weapon, you fucking motherfucker or I'll fucking scramble your fucking brains. Hands up! Hands where I can fucking see them, you fucking cocksucker. You fucking breathe wrong, you fucking blink wrong, and I will fuck you up.
Fucker." Jacobsen snarled it as he shoved Marcell to the ground. "On your fucking face, you fucking shit coward. Stream my lieutenant in the fucking back? Fuck you. ~ J.D. Robb

She took a shaky swallow of wine. "She didn't know me. When we were face-to-face again, and she looked right at me. She didn't know me."
"Did that hurt you?"
"No. I don't know. I couldn't think. I just know that for a minute I was nothing again. Like they - she - took everything from me. Roarke, my badge, my life, myself. For a minute it was just gone because she was there. I can't be nothing again."
"You could never be nothing." Roarke spoke in a voice of barely controlled rage. "You're what you made yourself against the impossible. Even when you were helpless they couldn't destroy what you are. You're a miracle. You're my miracle, and you'll never be anything else. ~ J.D. Robb

With a sigh, he pulled out his link.
"What are you doing?"
"Ordering pizza
for your division
and more for the E and B team. And don't give me any bloody grief about it. I'm a bit on edge here as I couldn't get through the bloody, buggering door for more than five minutes
and that was after Feeney started on it before me. And my wife about to be blown to bits on the other side."
She knew the fear, the soul-emptying terror of it. She'd felt it for him a time or two. All she could do now was try to ease it.
"I wasn't going to let that happen."
"Weren't you now?"
"Nope. I wasn't going to let the last words I said to you be 'Later, honey.'"
Since it made him laugh, she sat back, closed her eyes for one blessed moment while she heard him ordering twenty-five (good God!) large pies with a variety of toppings. ~ J.D. Robb

Oh thank you, Jesus."
"It's Roarke." He tapped a finger on Eve's head. "You really shouldn't forget your own husband's name. ~ J.D. Robb

You're a dead man, Roarke. You don't know it, but you've already stopped breathing. The walking dead. And when you finally realize you're dead, and drop to the ground and you're laying there, I'm going to step over your cold, lifeless body, open the doors of that department store you call a closet, and I torch it.
Eve Dallas ~ J.D. Robb

Might have to go to London," she murmured. "Huh. Wouldn't it be a kick in the head if I really did have to be out of the country hunting a criminal mastermind when Mavis goes into labor?"
"I, my ass. That goes to we or I'll hurt you ~ J.D. Robb

You saved me, Eve." He watched her blink in absolute shock. "What you are, what I feel for you, what we are together saved me." He kept his eyes on hers as he kissed her. ~ J.D. Robb

Speaking of chocolate, what kind of cake are we having for the shower?"
"I don't know."
Sincerely shocked, Peabody jerked around in her seat. "You didn't get cake?"
"I don't know. Probably." Because the idea of the shower, what she had to do, hadn't done, should do, made her stomach jitter, Eve squirmed. "Look, I called the caterer, okay? I did it myself. I didn't dump it on Roarke, I didn't ask - God forbid - Summerset to handle it."
"Well, what did you ask for? What's the theme?"
The jitters escalated into a roiling. "What do you mean, theme?"
"You don't have a theme? How can you have a baby shower without a theme?"
"Jesus Christ, I need a theme? I don't even know what that means. I called the caterer. I did my job. I told her it was a baby shower. I told her how many people, more or less. I told her when and where. She started asking me all kinds of questions, which gives me a fucking headache, and I told her not to ask me all kinds of questions or she was fired. Just to do whatever needed doing. Why isn't that enough?"
Peabody's sigh was long and heartfelt. "Give me the caterer's info, and I'll check in with her. Does she do the decorations, too?"
"Oh, my God. I need decorations?"
"I'm going to help you, Dallas. I'm going to run interference with the caterer. I'm going to come over early on the day and help get it set up."
Eve narrowed her eyes and tried to ignore the joy and relief bubbling in her breast. "And what's ~ J.D. Robb

Every minute with you, Darling Eve, is a minute to treasure."
She slid a glance toward him as she uncoded the seal. "You really do want sex."
"I'm still breathing, so that would be yes. ~ J.D. Robb

The music room's in the next wing. We can have coffee and brandy there."
"I doubt we'd share the same taste in music, Roarke."
"You might be surprised," he murmured, "at what we share." He touched her cheek again, this time sliding his hand around until it cupped the back of her neck. "At what we will share. ~ J.D. Robb

Roarke: "Our engines don't run at the same speed."
Eve: "What the hell does that mean?"
Roarke: "Just that."
Eve: "It sounds like something that ought to piss me off. But I can't figure out exactly why. When I do, I might have to pop you one."
Roarke: "I'll look forward to it. If you don't sleep, eat. You need something in your stomach. And what are you grinning at?"
Eve: "You. You're such a wife."
Roarke: "Now, I'm pissed off. ~ J.D. Robb

Eve (to Roarke): Whatever happened to me back in Dallas, I came out of it. I'm standing here because of it. Maybe I have everything that matters to me, including you, because of it. If that's true, I'd go through it all again. I'd go through every minute of the hell to have you, to have my badge, to have this life. ~ J.D. Robb

You are embarrassed." She leaned over to kiss him, and while he was distracted, snatched
the disc. "That's cute. Really cute."
"Shut up. Give me that."
"I don't think so." Delighted, she danced back a step and held the disc out of reach. "I bet
this is very hot. Aren't you curious?"
"No." He made a grab, but she was very quick. "Eve, give me the damn thing."
"This is fascinating." She edged back toward the open patio doors. "The sophisticated,seen-it-all Roarke is blushing. ~ J.D. Robb

It's going to work."
"Classic," Roarke said.
"What's going to work? What's classic? I want my jacket."
"Forget it. You're going to walk right up to Milo the Mole's front door, and he's going to answer."
"I am? He is?"
"Damsel in distress, right?" Eve said to Roarke.
"A very alluring damsel. Clever, Lieutenant."
"Oh, okay. I get it. I look like I'm in trouble - all alone, unarmed. Harmless. Girl. He opens up to find out what's what. You should do it," Peabody told Eve.
"You're the one with the tits. Men are stupid for tits."
"Harsh," Roarke observed. "But largely true."
"Plus, you're the type, obviously, who appeals to skinny geeks."
"Oh yeah," McNab confirmed. "Completely. ~ J.D. Robb

There was never anybody before you," she said. "I just wanted to say that. And when I did what I do, and it opened a crack in me like it did last night, there was nobody there to hold on to me. I didn't want anyone to hold on to me. Until you. And I got through and I got by, and it was okay. But I think, maybe, if I'd just kept getting through and getting by, I'd have come to a point where I couldn't do it anymore. And if I couldn't do it anymore, it'd be the end of me, Roarke. So when you hold on to me, You're helping me stand up, one more time. And the dead, you're standing for them, too. I just wanted to say that." She went out quickly, and left him staring at her. ~ J.D. Robb

You know, lieutenant, you wear your weapon the way other women wear pearls."
"It's not a fashion accessory. ~ J.D. Robb

Christ, she missed him outrageously. Disgusted with herself, she ducked her head under the spray and let it pound on her brain.
When hands slipped around her waist, then slid up to cup her breasts, she barely jolted. But her heart leaped. She knew his touch, the feel of those long, slim fingers, the texture of those wide palms. She tipped her head back, inviting a mouth to the curve of her shoulder.
"Mmm. Summerset. You wild man."
Teeth nipped into flesh and made her chuckle. Thumbs brushed over her soapy nipples and made her moan.
"I'm not going to fire him." Roarke trailed a hand down the center of her body.
"It was worth a shot. You're back ... " His fingers dipped expertly inside her, slick and slippery, so that she arched, moaned, and came simultaneously. "Early," she finished on an explosive breath. "God."
"I'd say I was just on time. ~ J.D. Robb

I slept in myself, didn't get up until about nine."
"Has anyone looked outside, checked to see if the world is still spinning on its axis?"
"At which time," he continued dryly, "I had a workout - I had soufflé, too. Then, before I came down here to enjoy one of my gifts, I worked about an hour in my office. ~ J.D. Robb

Roarke, you've got to know I've got some bad stuff inside. It's like a virus that sneaks around the system, pops out when your resistance is low. I'm not a good bet." - Eve Dallas
"I like long odds." He lifted her hand, kissed it. "Why don't we see it through? Find out if we can both win." - Roarke ~ J.D. Robb

Okay. Look, why don't you take care of the half a million things you've been letting dangle in Roarke's Empire of Everything?"
"Catchy title. I may use it one day. ~ J.D. Robb

I can handle it. But it stinks, if you ask me, really stinks, that you get to go out somewhere drinking beer while I'm stuck at Baby Central. Just because you have a penis."
"We'll think fondly of you over beer, me and my penis."
She ate a little more, then smiled slowly. "You've still got to be in the birthing room when she pushes it out."
"Shut up, Eve."
"Your penis won't save you then, Pal. ~ J.D. Robb

And that, she thought as he left her, summed up the miracle of her life. She had a home with him, and he'd be there. ~ J.D. Robb

The security officer smiled and said, 'Good afternoon, ma'am,' to me before I
gave him ID."
"It's a sick world, Eve." He resisted taking her hand for another squeeze. "A sick,
sad world. ~ J.D. Robb

She leaned down until they were eye to eye. "His wife loved him. That's no bullshit. I love you."
"That's no bullshit."
"If I found out you were screwing around on me, could I off you?" He inclined his head. "I believe I've already been informed you'd be doing the rhumba - after appropriate lessons - on my cold, dead body."
"Yeah. Yeah." It cheered her up. "Just not sure pink Jolene has the stones for that."
"Jimmy Jay was in violation of the ... which commandment is it that deals with adultery?"
"How the hell would I know, especially since I wouldn't wait for you to face your eternal punishment, should you be in said violation, before I rhumba'd my ass off."
"Such is true love."
"Bet your excellent ass. I got the vibe he might've been screwing around, but maybe I'm just a cynical so-and-so."
Pleased with her, Roarke tapped a finger over the dent in her chin. "You are, but you're my cynical so-and-so. ~ J.D. Robb

Marriage is a freaking minefield. ~ J.D. Robb

Wear your new boots." He passed her the clothes. "They'll work well with that, and with the coat as well."
"What new boots?" Her eyebrows drew together as he took them off a shelf. "And where did they come from?"
"The boot elves, I assume."
"The boot elves are going to be pissed when they're dinged and scuffed inside a week."
"Oh, I think they're more tolerant than that."
"Those elves keep this up I'm going to need a bigger closet."
But she dressed as advised, then sat to pull on the boots while Roarke programmed breakfast for two.
They slid on like
as Peabody might say
butter. "Okay." She stood, took some strides. "They're great. Sturdy
I could definitely kick some teeth in with these."
"The elves had that as top priority. ~ J.D. Robb

There! There it is again! What language is that?"
From the bed, Roarke shifted. "I believe it's known as rooster."
With the weapon at her side, she stared at him, slack-jawed. "Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Not a bit. It's morning, more or less, and that's a cock signaling the dawn."
"A cock?"
"I'd say. I don't think Sindead and her man want you to stun their rooster, but I have to say, Lieutenant, you make a fascinating picture."
She heaved out a breath, set her weapon down. "Jesus Christ, we may as well be on another planet." She slid back into bed. "And if your cock gets any ideas about signaling the day, remember I've got a weapon. ~ J.D. Robb

I'm not afraid of you, Roarke."
"Aren't you?" He moved closer, curling his hands on the lapels of her shirt. "What do you think will happen if you step over the line?"
"Too much," she murmured. ~ J.D. Robb

Roarke: The bodies of the three men were found floating in the Chattahoochee River.
Eve: I think it'd be embarrassing to be dead in the Hoochie-Coochie River.
Roarke: Chattahoochee
Eve: What's the difference?
Roarke: Quite a bit, I'd think. ~ J.D. Robb

She knew bullshit when it was being tossed at her by the shovelful. "You know, Ms Purcell, I'm at absolute capacity in the friend department. You'll have to apply elsewhere. As for Roarke and his business, that's his deal. As for you, let's get this straight: You don't look stupid, so I don't believe you think you're the first of Roarke's discarded skirts to swing back this way. You don't worry me. In fact, you don't much interest me. So if that's all?"
Slowly Magdelana slid off the desk. "The man is just never wrong is he? I don't like you."
"Aw."
She moved to the door, then stopped, leaned on the jamb as she looked over at Eve again. "Just one thing? He didn't discard me. I discarded him. And since you don't look stupid either, you know that makes all the difference. ~ J.D. Robb

Eve-"In the name of all that is holy ... It's 2060, not 1760. Can't they figure out a better way to handle this process?"
Roarke-"Amen ~ J.D. Robb

You had to use Gwen, Roarke would have cut her up, Ginger knows it so she'd step in then he'd keep Gwen and enjoy his shit with Ginger and if he left either of 'em breathin', they would live the rest of their lives wishin' he didn't," Hawk clipped back. Oh boy. That didn't sound good. That sounded very, very bad. That sounded get my ass to the mall instantly and buy sexy underwear as a reward for my rescue bad. ~ Kristen Ashley

He loves me."
"You sound surprised."
"Nobody ever did. Not like this. It's easy to say, for some people. The words. But it's not just words with Roarke. He sees inside me, and it doesn't matter. ~ J.D. Robb

I couldn't fall out of love with you if I fell all the way to hell. ~ J.D. Robb

So he found her. Most people would have said she was relaxed. But then, Roarke thought, most people didn't really know and certainly didn't understand Eve Dallas. He was more intimate with her, closer to her mind and heart than he had ever been with another. Yet there were still pockets of her he had yet to plumb. She was, always, a fascinating learning experience. She was naked, dipped to her chin in steamy water and perfumed bubbles. Her face was flushed from the heat, her eyes closed, but she wasn't relaxed. He could see the tension in the hand that was fisted on the wide ledge of the tub, in the faint frown between her eyes. No, Eve was thinking, he mused. ~ J.D. Robb

You think I don't know, that I don't understand what that cost you. But you're wrong." She couldn't keep her voice steady, gave up trying. "You're wrong, Roarke. I do know. There's no one else in the world who would want, who would need to kill for me. No one else in the world who would step back from it because I asked it. Because I needed it."
She turned, and the first tear spilled over. "No one but you."
"Don't. You'll do me in if you cry."
"I never in my life expected anyone would love me, all of me. How would I deserve that? What would I do with it? But you do. Everything we've managed to have together, to be to each other, this is more. I'll never be able to find the words to tell you what you just gave me."
"You undo me, Eve. Who else would make me feel like a hero for doing nothing."
"You did everything. Everything. Are everything. ~ J.D. Robb

I want a homing beacon on your vehicle."
"There will be."
"No, I want one on before we leave the grounds in the morning. I'll see to it."
Give and take, she reminded herself. Even when
maybe especially when
give and take was a pain in the ass. "Okay. But there go my plans to slip off and meet Pablo the pool boy for an hour of hot, sticky sex."
"We all have to make sacrifices. Myself, I've had to reschedule my liaison with Vivien the French maid three times in the last couple of days."
"Blows," Eve said as they slipped into bed.
"She certainly does. ~ J.D. Robb

Are you okay?"
"I don't know. I have to think about it." Her head was still spinning. "We're on the lawn," she said slowly. "Our clothes are torn. I'm pretty sure I have the imprint of your fingers dented into my butt."
"I did my best," he murmured.
She snickered first, then chuckled, then broke into fits of giddy, hiccupping laughter. "Jesus, Roarke, Jesus Christ, look at us."
"In a minute. I think I'm still partially blind. ~ J.D. Robb

He wouldn't mention, now or then, the illegal nine-millimeter automatic he had in his pocket. Why distress the woman you loved with minor details? ~ J.D. Robb

Officer down. Officer down."
"I'm an officer now, am I? That's insult to injury. ~ J.D. Robb

propped up a little as her eyes adjusted. She hardly ever got to watch Roarke sleep. Most of the time he rose before she did. And sleep for her tended to be wandering in lucid, often disturbing dreams, ~ J.D. Robb

There's one more reason I opted against sleeping with Julian."
"Okay."
"He's not like Roarke, but he gives the illusion of being a lot like him when he's in the mode. So the idea of sleeping with him felt disloyal - and just, well, icky."
Eve started to laugh it off, then realized Nadine was perfectly serious. "Really?"
"Yes, really."
"All right, not completely understood, but appreciated anyway."
"I hear he bangs like a turbohammer."
"I thought you said he wasn't like Roarke."
"Oh, that was cruel. Maybe I'll give him a spin after all. ~ J.D. Robb

I wouldn't change a moment of the time, good or bad, we've had together since I first turned and locked eyes on you. What a jolt that was through me. I've never recovered.
- Roarke ~ J.D. Robb

Roarke's brow cocked as he noted Casto take in the black satin that slithered over Eve's body. In the manner of men or unfriendly male dogs, Roarke showed his teeth. ~ J.D. Robb

You have heard the expression 'love is blind'"
"I think it's bullshit. Lust dazzles, sure, at least for the short term. But love clears the vision. You see better, sharper, because you feel more that you did before ~ J.D. Robb

Two different primaries," she continued, striding around the office. "Two different cops, and both of them fucked up the case. What are they using to train them in Chicago
old videos of the Three Boobs?"
"I think that's Stooges," Roarke remarked.
"What?"
He glanced up, focused fully on her, and smiled at the absolute baffled fury on her face. "Stooges, darling. The Three Stooges."
"What's the difference, they're still incompetent knot-heads. ~ J.D. Robb

When I came in and you were sleeping, I thought: There's my soldier, exhausted from her wars." He lifted her hand, kissed her fingers. "Now, I look, and I think: There's my woman, soft and lovely." Her lips curved as he undressed her. "Where do you get this stuff?" "It just comes to me. I've only to look at you, and the world comes to me. You're my life. ~ J.D. Robb

Since we're into witches, let's swing by and check out this Isis at Spirit Quest." She slid her eyes right. Well, maybe she'd rag just a little. "You can probably buy a talisman or some herbs," she said solemnly. "You know, to ward off evil."
Peabody shifted in her seat. Feeling foolish wasn't nearly as bad as worrying about being cursed. "Don't think I won't."
"After we deal with Isis, we can grab a pizza sub
with plenty of garlic."
"Garlic's for vampires."
"Oh. We can have Roarke get us a couple of his antique guns. With silver bullets."
"Werewolves, Dallas." Amused at both of them now, Peabody rolled her eyes. "A lot of good you're going to do if we have to defend ourselves against witchcraft."
"What does it to witches, then?"
"I don't know," Peabody admitted. "But I'm damn sure going to find out. ~ J.D. Robb

And then Roarke came to my door, and that gave me what I needed after all those years. I thank God for that, and him. But I'm telling you, and hope you already know, what you do, beyond the law of it, is needed." "Sinead." Roarke stepped up, pressed a handkerchief in her hand. "Ah well." Sighing now, she dabbed at tears. "The world can be so dark. It's foolish to deny it, and the Irish know the dark better than some in any case. It reminds us to hold on to the light, every minute we can, and to prize it. You're a light to me." She kissed Roarke's cheeks. "Don't ever forget it. ~ J.D. Robb

What a woman you are," he murmured, and she heard the emotion in it, the
way the Irish thickened just a bit in his voice. And saw it in those vivid eyes when he drew back. "That you would think of this. That you would do this."
He shook his head, kissed her. Like the breath, long and quiet.
"I can't thank you enough. There isn't enough thanks. I can't say what this means to me, even to you. I don't have the words for it." He took her hands,
brought them both to his lips. "A ghra. You stagger me."
He framed her face now, touched his lips to her brow. "You're the beat of my heart, the breath in my body, the light in my soul. ~ J.D. Robb

I can't tell you how aroused it makes me when you quote codes, lieutenant. ~ J.D. Robb

I read her file." Voice strong and steady again, Peabody shifted back. "I know who she was, what she was. Now I know she left you with an animal. It's good she's dead."
Stunned, Eve turned her head, stared. "That's not very Free-Ager."
"Fuck that." Peabody's eyes flashed like supernovas. "Fuck tolerance and understanding. Yeah, you'd have put her in a cage for the rest of her pathetic, evil life. But maybe sometime during her rot, she'd have put it together. Maybe she'd have remembered you. She'd have used that on you; she'd have tried. Before you scared the piss out of her, if you could get to her before Roarke. If he could get there before me. And it's good she was such a selfish, pitiful excuse for a human being so she didn't remember you, didn't think about you all those years. She might've recognized you, especially after Roarke. She might've seen you on screen, and recognized you, caused you more grief and trouble. Dead's better. ~ J.D. Robb

Eve: "You already own half the universe"
Roarke: "Why settle for half when you can have all? ~ J.D. Robb

I want to see you again." He stopped, took her face in his hands. "I need to see you again."
Her pulse jumped, as if it had nothing to do with the rest of her. "Roarke, what's going on here?"
"Lieutenant." He leaned forward, touched his lips to hers. "indications are we're having a romance. ~ J.D. Robb

You're the husband?" the doctor asked with a nod to Roarke.
"Yes. How is she?"
"Spitting mad - I think she has some very ominous plans for you. And if you happen to be Peabody, you're in on them."
"She's okay." Peabody let out a gush of air. "That's great. ~ J.D. Robb

Try to look like Peabody."
"Sorry?"
"Serious, official, yet approachable."
"You forgot adorable."
"Peabody is not adorable."
"She is from my perspective. Besides, I was talking about me. ~ J.D. Robb

I'd trust you a hell of a lot more if you didn't refer to her as an old friend when we both know she was a hell of a lot more"
"What she was is nearly a dozen years in the past. Years before I ever set eyes on you." Now simple bafflement joined the irritation and the ice. "Christ Jesus, are you jealous of a woman I haven't spoken to, seen, or thought of in years?"
Even only looked at him for one long moment. "You're thinking of her now ~ J.D. Robb

I got you a present."
"Did you?"
"It's a book of poetry
romancy stuff. I thought, 'How schmaltzy is that,' so it seemed like the thing. Then I screwed up and left it in my desk at work ~ J.D. Robb

Eyes on hers, he flicked her shoulder. Her mouth fell open.
She started stomping the floor.
"What in God's name are you doing?" he demanded.
"Trying to kill the giant tarantula, because the only reason I can figure you just fucking flicked me is because there was a big, fat spider on my shoulder. ~ J.D. Robb

I love McNab."
Even as she turned toward Peabody, Eve could feel the muscle under her right eye vibrating toward a twitch. "Oh man. Do you have to do this?"
"Yeah. I love McNab," Peabody repeated. "It took me a while to realize it, or get there, however it works. But he's the one. If you were to drop down dead, and Roarke decided I could comfort him with wild
sex I probably wouldn't do it. Probably. But even if I did, I'd still love McNab."
"At least I'm dead in your sexual fantasy."
"It's only fair. I wouldn't cheat on my partner. So I probably wouldn't have sex with Roarke, should the opportunity arise, unless both you and McNab were killed in a freak accident."
"Thanks, Peabody. I feel a lot better now."
'And we'd probably wait a decent interval. Like two weeks. If we could control ourselves."
"It just gets better and better," Eve remarked.
"In a way, we'd really be celebrating your lives, and our love for you both."
"Maybe you're the ones who die in a freak accident," Eve tossed back. "Then me and McNab... No, Jesus. No." She visibly shuddered. "I don't love you that much."
"Aw, that's not very nice. Too bad for you, because McNab's an airjack in the sack."
"Shut up now. Save yourself. ~ J.D. Robb

I think I've just lost five pounds in fear sweat." Peabody mopped at her face. "Now I want a cannoli. I don't know why."
With a laugh, Roarke shifted to grin at her. "I'll buy you a dozen, precious."
"Cannolis, for God's sake. ~ J.D. Robb