Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1) QUOTES

81 " Kisses should not leave you satisfied. They should leave you wanting. -Gabriel St. John "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

82 " Yes. I've sepnt twenty-eight years doing what everyone around me expected me to do...being what everyone around me has expected me to be. And it's horrid to be someone else's vision of yourself. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

83 " If only others knew that Lady Calpurnia Hartwell, proper, well-behaved spinster, entertained deep-seated and certainly unladylike thoughts about fictional heroes. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

84 " Before I merely daydreamed about Ralston. Now I find myself actually with him. Actually talking to him. Actually discovering the real Ralston. He is no longer a creature I invented. He is flesh and blood and…now I can’t help wondering…” She trailed off, unwilling to say what she was thinking. What if he were mine?
She did not have to say the words aloud; Anne heard them anyway. When Callie opened her eyes and met Anne’s gaze in the looking glass, she saw Anne’s response there. Ralston is not for you, Callie.
“I know, Anne,” Callie said quietly, as much to remind herself as to reassure her friend. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

85 " Then allow me to finish it. Categorically. I am happy for you to pursue all the adventure you like. Here. In this house. Under this roof. Drink until you can no longer stand. Curse like a dockside sailor. Set your embroidery aflame, for God’s sake. But, as your elder brother, the head of the family, and the earl,” he stressed the last words, “I forbid you from frequenting taverns, public houses, or other establishments of vice. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

86 " If I were anyone else…your opera singer…the woman across the hall…would you have apologized?”
He looked confused. “No…but you are neither of those women. You deserve better.”
“Better,” she repeated, frustrated. “That’s just my point! You and the rest of society believe that it’s better for me to be set upon a pedestal of primness and propriety—which might have been fine if a decade on that pedestal hadn’t simply landed me on the shelf. Perhaps unmarried young women like our sisters should be there. But what of me?” Her voice dropped as she looked down at the cards in her hands. “I’m never going to get a chance to experience life from up there. All that is up there is dust and unwanted apologies. The same cage as hers”—she indicated the woman outside—“merely a different gilt. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

87 " ..Instead of Ralston saying any number of wonderful things that could have been appropriate for the precise situation in which they had found themselves -from You are the most unparalleled female I have ever known, to How can I ever live without you now that I've found heaven in your arms, to I love you, Callie, more than I had ever dreamed to even Shall we have another go?- he'd gone and mucked it up by apologizing. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

88 " I’m crying for that little boy who never had a chance to believe in love. And for your father, who obviously never experienced it either. Because that was infatuation, not love. Love isn’t one-sided and selfish. It is full and generous and life-altering in the best of ways. Love does not destroy, Gabriel. It creates. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

89 " You really shouldn’t sneak up on people in the dark, sir. It isn’t gentlemanly.” He responded quickly, the deep tenor of his voice sweeping over her. “My apologies. Of course, one might argue that lurking in the darkness isn’t exactly ladylike. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

90 " No atreverte a vivir una aventura es peor que haber tenido una experiencia decepcionante. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

91 " Él guardó silencio, manoseando el papel entre los dedos, ella suspiró, irritada.
- De acuedo. Es una lista. -alargó el brazo con la palma hacia arriba, esperando que él pusiera allí la nota.
- ¿Qué clase de lista? -preguntó Gabriel con una mirada inquisitiva.
- Una lista personal. -Respondió ella, tratando de imprimir en su voz un tono de femenino desdén, esperando que así se sintiera poco caballeroso y renunciara a aquella batalla en particular.
- ¿Una lista de compras? ¿Una lista de libros impropios que te gustaría leer? ¿una lista de hombres...? -ella se puso colorada antes esa última preguta y él hizo una pausa al tiempo que agrandaba los ojos- Santo Dios, Callie, ¿es una lista de hombres?
Callie golpeó el suelo con el pie, en un gesto repleto de irritación.
- ¡Santo cielo, no! Da igual lo que contenga la lista, Ralston. Lo único que cuenta es que me pertenece.
- Esa no es una buena respuesta, emperatriz -señaló él, y comenzó a abrir la nota. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

92 " - Es evidente que la razón de que hayas perdido el juicio de esa manera es habernos visto bailar juntos a lady Calpurnia y a mí.
- ¿No estás exagerando un poco?
- No lo creo, Gabriel. Has aterrorizado al pianista, has despedido al profesor de baile y has conseguido que nuestra hermana saliera huyendo a su habitación, sin mencionar esa insinuación de que no me estaba comportando como un caballero.
- ¿Pretendes hacerme creer que no coqueteabas con ella de una manera impropia? -el tono de Ralston tenía un toque de testarudez.
- ¿Coqueteando? Si. ¿De manera impropia? No. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

93 " Remember, you are an empress. Behave as one, and they will have no choice but to see you as such. I already do…” He paused, and she held her breath, waiting for his words. “Your Highness. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

94 " What silliness that we must consider the proper order of milk and tea when pouring a cup."
Callie swallowed back a laugh. "I suppose you do not place much stock in such ceremony in Venice?"
"No. It is liquid. It is warm. It is not coffee. Why worry?" Juliana's smile flashed, showing a dimple in her cheek.
"Why indeed?" Callie said, wondering, fleetingly, if Juliana's brothers had such an endearing trait.
"Do not be concerned," Juliana held up a hand dramatically. "I shall endeavor to remember tea first, milk second. I should hate to cause another war between Britain and the Continent."
Callie laughed, accepting a cup of perfectly poured tea from the younger woman. "I am certain that Parliament will thank you for your diplomacy. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

95 " It appears that you have the advantage of me."
"Indeed, it does seem that way." Callie was shocked by her own boldness.
"May I assist you in some way?"
"I had thought so. However, after witnessing the manner in which you address the women in your life, I find I would rather not join their ranks. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

96 " Her jaw dropped. “Ah,” he said genially, “I see you take my meaning. Yes. If I discover that you’ve completed another item on that list without my escort, I shall tell your brother everything.” She "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

97 " Lady Calpurnia."
"I'd rather you call me Callie," she said hurriedly.
"You don't like Calpurnia?" The words were lazily curious.
She shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes.
"Callie..." He coaxed, the words spoken in a deep, liquid tone that she was certain he used whenever he wanted something from a woman. She would not be surprised to discover that it always worked. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

98 " Well done, brother," Nick said. "If only the ton knew that you have such an inflated sense of familial obligation... your reputation as a fallen angel would be shattered."
"You would do well to stop talking."
"Truly, it's heartwarming. The Marquess of Ralston, in all his wickedness. Laid low by a child. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

99 " Oh." She moved against him, and it was his turn to gasp. "Oh... that's quite..." She moved again and he stilled her hips with a strong hand, unwilling to trust himself if she continued her rolling motions.
"Indeed," he said, suckling the tip of one breast idly. "It is. Quite."
He retreated almost entirely from her passage and thrust again, a smooth, long movement that chased away the residual pain and replaced it with a spark of pleasure. "Oh... yes."
"Yes?" he teased, repeating the movement.
This time she met his thrust with her own and sighed. "Yes," she agreed.
"My sentiments, exactly," he said, and began to move rhythmically in deep, smooth strokes designed to drive them both wild. After several long moments of his rich caresses, Callie began to move beneath him, canting her hips to increase the pressure of his thrusts.
Ralston shifted to accommodate her body's request, increasing speed and force. Clenching his teeth against the pleasure of her body, so tight and hot around him. Callie began to cry out , little mewling cries of pleasure that made him wild, so real and honest was her passion. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)

100 " Perhaps you should exhibit some of the character you are showing this evening in a more public forum,” he said. “I’ll admit you seem far more intriguing than I have ever given you credit for, my lady, and intrigue is the spark of desire. "

― Sarah MacLean , Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)