143
" It's only fair to warn you that you sealed your fate tonight. When you knew you were in trouble, you came to me. That makes twice, Mercy, and twice is almost as good as a declaration. You are mine now.... Ben says you might run. If you do, I will find you and bring you back. Every time you run, Mercy. I won't force you, but. .. No more excuses, Mercy. You are mine, and I am keeping you. "
― Patricia Briggs , Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, #3)
147
" So,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m too much for you. You should have said something. We might be married, Mercy, but no still means no.”
I widened my eyes at him. “I just haven’t wanted to hurt your feelings.”
“When I give you that little nudge, hmm?” His voice took on a considering air. “Come to think of it, I’m feeling a little nudge coming on right now.”
“Now?” I whispered in horrified tones. I looked up toward Jesse’s room. “Think of the children.”
He tilted his head as if to listen, then shook it. “They won’t hear anything from there.” He started slowly down the stairs.
“Think of Darryl, Zack, Lucia, and Joel,” I said earnestly. “They’ll be scarred for life.”
“You know what they say about werewolves,” he told me gravely, stepping down to the ground.
I broke and ran—and he was right on my tail. Figuratively speaking, of course. I don’t have a tail unless I’m in my coyote shape. "
― Patricia Briggs , Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson, #9)
148
" Zack shook his head. "I am glad you aren't mine. You're going to be dead before you're forty."
"No," rumbled my husband's soft deep voice from the hallway. "I'm going to be dead before she's forty. "
― Patricia Briggs , Shifting Shadows (Mercy Thompson #0.1, #0.5, #0.7, #0.9, #1.2, #1.8, #4.5, #5.5, #7.4, #8.5)
153
" What?” he asked, finishing the second of his nine-ounce steaks, medium rare. “Why are you looking at me that way?”
[...]
I sighed theatrically, resting my chin on my cupped hands and bracing my elbows on the table. “You are too gorgeous, you know?”
I said it just loud enough that the people who’d been watching us surreptitiously could hear me.
Unholy laughter lit his eyes—telling me he’d been noticing the looks we’d been getting. But his face was completely serious, as he purred, “So. Am I worth what you paid for me, baby?”
I loved it when he played along with me.
I sighed again, a sound that I drew up from my toes, a contented, happy sound. I’d get him back for that “baby.” Just see if I didn’t.
“Oh, yes,” I told our audience. “I’ll tell Jesse that she was right. Go for the sexy beast, she told me. If you’re going to shell out the money, don’t settle.”
He threw back his head and laughed until he had to wipe tears of hilarity off his face. “Jeez, Mercy,” he said. “The things you say.” Then he leaned across the table and kissed me.
A while later he pulled back, grinned at me, and sat back in his chair.
I had to catch my breath before I spoke. “Best five bucks I ever spent,” I told him fervently. "
― Patricia Briggs , River Marked (Mercy Thompson, #6)