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181 " He nodded toward her house. “Can I talk you into sharing a snack with me while we watch a movie or something for a bit? I know you need to go to bed soon, but I’d love to spend some time with you first. I promise to keep my hands to myself.”Stepping back, she shook her head with mock disappointment. “I was going to say yes… but then you blew it with the hands thing.”He chuckled. “And if I promise not to keep my hands to myself?”Crossing to the back door, she opened it and offered him a dramatic bow. “Step inside, my dear sir.”Those soft, full lips of his stretching in a smile, he did as ordered. "
― Dianne Duvall , Broken Dawn (Immortal Guardians, #10)
182 " I told Adaos he could study me and I would share everything I know about the virus and my species with him if he would share something with me,” Eliana admitted.Dagon crossed his arms over his chest. “And what might that be?”Pink crept up her neck and filled her cheeks as she shuffled her feet, looking sheepish as srul, and muttered something he couldn’t hear.“What?”Emitting a growl of her own, she spoke louder. “Information on Segonian courtship rituals and the societal do's and don'ts that surround them." She peeked up at him through long dark lashes as though trying to gauge his reaction.Everything within him went still. “Segonian courtship rituals?” he repeated softly. “Why would you wish to know more about that?”She sighed. “Because I couldn’t find anything about it in your informational databases, and I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time.” Reaching up, she rested her small hands on his stubbled cheeks, then rose onto her toes and drew him down for a kiss.His heart stuttered to a halt, then began to slam against his ribs. The first gentle brush of her lips hit him like an electrical current. His breath caught. Hers did, too. She drew back a fraction to stare up at him with wide eyes that acquired an amber glow. Then Dagon slid his arms around her and locked her against him. Dipping his head, he claimed her lips with greater urgency, letting her feel the heat that had been flaying him inside ever since she had walked onto his bridge, fully recovered from her wounds, and drawn him into a hug. "
― Dianne Duvall , The Segonian (Aldebarian Alliance, #2)
183 " A loud knock shook her door. Emma damn near jumped off the sofa. Her neck popped as she jerked her head around to stare at the door with wide eyes. Her heart began to slam against her ribs as fear trickled through her. Who the hell would be knocking on her door this late at night? Who the hell would be knocking on her door at any time of day or night? No one she knew would do so without calling first. And deliverymen and women didn’t drop off packages at freaking midnight. As quickly and quietly as a mouse, she darted into her bedroom and grabbed the 9mm her father had bought her and trained her to use. Flicking off the safety, she returned to the living room and swung by the coffee table to tuck her phone in her pajama pants pocket in case she needed to call 911. Only then did she cautiously approach the door. Another knock thundered through the house. Adrenaline spiking, she peered through the door’s peephole. Shock rippled through her. “Oh shit,” she whispered. Setting the gun on the coatrack bench beside her, she hastily unlocked the dead bolt, then the knob, and flung open the door. Cliff stood before her, his big body blocking her view of the yard. Emma gaped up at him. He wore the standard blacks of network guards covered with a long black coat similar to that of an Immortal Guardian. His face, neck, and hands were streaked with blood. His clothing glistened with wet patches. And his eyes shone bright amber. She had never seen them so bright and knew it meant that whatever emotion roiled inside him was intense. Panic consumed her. “Cliff,” she breathed. Stepping onto the porch, she swiftly glanced around, terrified she might see soldiers in black approaching with weapons raised. When none materialized, she grabbed his wrist and yanked him inside. Her hands shook as she closed and bolted the door, her fingers leaving little streaks of blood on the white surface. Spinning around, she stared up at him. “What happened? Are you hurt?” Her gaze swept over him, noting every wet patch on his clothing, every ruby-red splotch on his skin. Was that his blood or someone else’s? “How did you get here? Are you hurt?” Closing the distance between them, she began to run her hands over his chest in search of wounds. Cliff grabbed her wrists to halt her frantic movements. His glowing eyes dropped to the points at which they touched. He drew his thumbs over her skin as if to confirm she was real. Then he met her gaze. “I need your shower,” he said, voice gruff. Heart pounding, she nodded. As soon as he released her, she pointed. “It’s through there.” Without another word, he strode toward it. His heavy boots thudded loudly in the quiet as he entered the short hallway, then turned in to the bathroom. The door closed. Water began to pound tile. Emma didn’t move. Cliff was here. In her home. What the hell had happened? "
― Dianne Duvall , Cliff's Descent (Immortal Guardians, #11)
184 " She hesitated. "You know I'm older than you, right?" Richard stared down at her and forced himself not to laugh at the irony. He may be over two hundred years old, but he looked as if he were in his late twenties, thirty at the most. And Jenna was worried that her being thirty-seven would be a problem?A hint of insecurity entered her features. "I don't mean to press this, but... I dated a guy once--- very briefly---who said the same thing until his friends found out and started to razz him about it. I'm thirty-seven. Are you sure that isn't a problem?""I don't know why his friends would tease him about dating you unless they were envious. You look like you're in your twenties, Jenna. Not much older than your son, in fact. And, if you looked like you were in your forties, guess what. I would be just as interested." She smiled and closed the distance between them. "And if I looked like I were in my fifties?""Still interested.""Sixties?""I happen to think laugh lines are hot. "
― Dianne Duvall , In Still Darkness (Immortal Guardians, #3.5)
185 " You're a rare breed, Richard d'Alencon."She didn't know the half of it.Unable to resist, he dipped his head and touched his lips to hers in a gentle caress.Her breath caught.Lightning struck. "
186 " every endeavor. Should marriage to the sorceress "
― Dianne Duvall , A Sorceress of His Own (The Gifted Ones, #1)
187 " Don't fear me, Jenna."Amusement lit her features. "It's kind of hard to be afraid of a vampire who apologizes for using harsh language in front of a lady.""I'm not a vampire.""And I'm not a lady. "
188 " # 2 of 2 She laughed. “Stop cursing.”He grimaced. “Forgive me. It’s just… I seem to be inadvertently letting my guard down more and more around you.”“I like it when you let your guard down around me.” Her words appeared to do little to alleviate his concern though. “Is that so unusual? Don’t you let your guard down around your brethren?”He shook his head. “I have always spoken freely with David. Ami too, sometimes. But I’ve never broadcast my thoughts to either of them without meaning to. I haven’t done that since—” He broke off, seeming disinclined to continue.“Since your wife?” she asked gently.He nodded.That was telling.He watched her uncertainly.Did he worry she would freak out over his mentioning the wife he’d lost?He hadn’t freaked out when she had mentioned the husband she’d lost.“Whatever thoughts you send my way I won’t betray,” she promised.Thank you.She grinned when his baritone voice once more filled in her head. “That is so cool. You aren’t reading my thoughts, are you?”“No.”“Good.”His lips curled up in a slow smile. “Why? What would I find if I did? What are you thinking?”She swallowed. Did she dare tell him? “This may sound weird, but hearing your voice in my head totally turns me on.” Beneath the robe, her nipples had hardened. Other parts of her tingled. Her pulse raced. “And I’m sort of fixating on the fact that you’ve been missing sex more since you met me. Because I’ve been missing sex a lot more since I met you.”The golden light in his eyes grew brighter as a low rumbling sound filled her head. Seeming almost to vibrate through her, it set her body aflame.“Oh sh**,” she whispered. “That’s so hot.”“What is?” he murmured.“You just made this sort of low, growly sound in my head.” And it had affected her as much as stroking all of her erogenous zones at once would have.“I didn’t mean to.”“That just makes it even hotter. "
― Dianne Duvall , Death of Darkness (Immortal Guardians, #9)
