A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1) QUOTES

61 " How long has it been since you’ve slept?” Chase asked.
“I sleep.” Not much.
“How long since you’ve slept more than an hour here and there?”
“I do not require a mother.”
Chase lifted a brow. “Perhaps a wife, then?”
Bourne wished Chase were in the damn ring, too. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

62 " When you father dies! What then?"

Lord Needham looked up from his pheasant. "I beg your pardon?"

Lady Needham waved one hand in the air as though she hadn't time to think of her husband's feelings, instead prodding, "He shan't live forever, Penelope! What then?"

Penelope could not think of why this was in any way relevant. "Well, that shall be very sad, I imagine."

Lady Needham shook her head in frustration. "Penelope!"
"Mother, I honestly have no idea what you are implying."
"Who will take care of you? When your father dies?"
"Is Father planning to die soon?"

"No," her father said.

"One never knows!" Tears were welling in the marchioness' eyes.

"Oh, for God's-" Lord Needham had had enough. "I'm not dying. And I take no small amount of offence in the fact the thought simply rolled off your tongue. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

63 " It wasn't that she thought highly of herself. It was that she thought highly of the promise of more. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

64 " He's nice enough. He likes dogs." She looked to Penelope. "As does Tommy."

"This is what we've come to? Choosing our potential husbands because they like dogs? "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

65 " How sad,” she whispered to herself. He heard it. “What?” She shook her head, meeting his gaze, the only thing familiar about him. “He’s gone.” “Who?” “My friend. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

66 " Penelope! Marriage proposals from wealthy, eligible young men do not blossom on trees!” Particularly not in January, I wouldn’t think. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

67 " She was mine before she was yours,” Tommy said, anger in his tone. “All those years without you . . . she still had me. And when she sees who you are . . . what you’ve become . . . she will turn to me again. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

68 " He was saved from having to reply by Philippa, turning to face them. "What on earth? Do you see this?"

He had not been paying attention, but Olivia was now alternately pantomiming cracking a whip, and screwing up her face, eyes tightly closed, teeth bared, with her fingers splayed out at either edge of her mouth.

"Driving a squid! Whipping the sunshine!" the marchioness called out, pride in her tone, drawing laughter from the rest of the room.

"Driving a Squid is a play I would dearly love to read," Philippa said on a giggle, turning back to Penelope. "Penny, really. We could use your help. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

69 " Michael,” she whispered, wishing he would kiss her. “I love the way you say my name. You’re the only one who calls me Michael,” he said, before he gave her what she wanted, his tongue stroking deep and smooth until she was squirming in his arms, pressing her breasts into his magic hands. “You hated it,” she protested. “You’ve worn me down. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

70 " Don’t be so sily, Philippa,” the marchioness said, “Lord Castleton is an earl. Beggars cannot be choosers.” Penelope gritted her teeth at the adage, her mother’s favorite when discussing her unmarried daughters’ prospects. Pippa turned her blue gaze on her mother. “I was not aware that I was begging. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

71 " Penelope!” Lady Needham stood just inside the door to the dining room, stick straight, her hands clenched in little fists, confusing the footmen, frozen in uncertainty, wondering if dinner should be served or not. “Thomas proposed!” “Yes. I was present for that bit,” Penelope said. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

72 " His hand came to her neck, his fingers tracing the corded muscle there, and she knew he could feel her pulse racing. “You think I did not miss you?” She froze at the words, her breath coming shallow, desperate for him to say more. “You think I did not miss everything about you? Everything you represented?” He pressed against her, his breath soft against her temple. She closed her eyes. How had they found themselves here, in this place where he was so dark and so broken? “You think I did not want to come home?” His voice was thick with emotion. “But there was no home to which I could return. There was no one there.” “You’re wrong,” she argued. “I was there. I was there . . . and I was . . .” Alone. She swallowed. “I was there. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

73 " She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, closing her eyes against the thought—against the words they’d just shared, against the keen understanding that she’d waited eight years for a marriage that was about more than what she owned, or represented, or had been bred for, only to marry a man who saw her for nothing more than those things. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

74 " Scandal had made it easy for Penelope to end the engagement without being jilted. Well, at least, not precisely.

She would not describe it as a jilt, exactly. More of a jolt, really. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

75 " Surely not every man kissed like this . . . else women would get nothing done. He pulled back. “You’re thinking again.” She was. She was thinking he was magnificent. “I can’t help it.” She shook her head, reaching for him. “Then I am not doing it correctly.” Oh dear. If he kissed her any more correctly, her sanity would be threatened. Perhaps it already was. She really, honestly didn’t care. Just as long as he kept at it. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

76 " And then his mouth was on her, his tongue stroking in long, slow licks, curling almost unbearably at the place where pleasure pooled and strained and begged for release. She cried out, sitting up straight before he lifted his head and pressed one large hand to her soft stomach. "Lie back... let me taste you. Let me show you how good it can be. Watch. Tell me what you like. What you need."
And she did, God help her. As he licked and sucked with his perfect tongue and his wicked lips, she whispered her encouragement, learning what she wanted even as she was not sure of the end result.
More, Michael....
Her hands slid into his curls, holding him close to her.
Michael, again...
Her thighs widened, willing and wanton.
There, Michael...
Michael...
He was her world. There was nothing beyond this moment.
And then his fingers joined his tongue, and she thought she might die as he pressed more firmly, rubbed more deliberately, giving her everything for which she did not know to ask. Her eyes flew open, his name on a gasp.
His tongue moved faster, circling at the place where she needed him, and she moved, all inhibitions gone, lost to the rising, cresting pleasure... wanting nothing more than to know what lay beyond.
"Please, don't stop," she whispered.
He didn't.
With his name on her lips, she threw herself over the edge, rocking against him, pressing to him, begging for more even as he gave it to her with tongue and lips and fingers until she lost awareness of everything but the bold, brilliant pleasure he gave her.
As she floated back from her climax, he pressed long lovely kisses to the inside of her thighs until she sighed his name and reached for his soft mahogany curls, wanting nothing more than to lie next to him for an hour... a day... a lifetime.
He stilled at her touch as her fingers sifted through his hair, and they remained that way for long moments. She was limp with pleasure, her whole world in the feel of his silken curls in her hands, in the scrape of his beard at the soft skin of her thigh. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

77 " He eased her back onto the fur, aching at the way she sighed as her back rubbed against the soft mink, as she learned the sheer decadence of skin against fur. He leaned over her, claiming her mouth until her hands were tangled in his hair, and she was pressing up against him. Only then did he lift his lips from hers and whisper, "I'm going to make love to you on this fur. You're going to feel it against every inch of you. And the pleasure I will give you will be more than you've ever imagined. You will cry my name as it comes. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

78 " Don't stop now, darling."
She didn't, her finger wandering over the soft skin of her rounded stomach, into the curls that hid that magnificent place between her thighs. He watched, encouraging her with whispered guidance as she explored for herself, as she tested her own knowledge, her own skill, until he thought that he might die if he was not inside her. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

79 " He took her lips with a wicked kiss, a growl rolling deep as he moved carefully, slowly pulling out until he was nearly gone from her, then rocking back into her gently, over and over, his thumb working against her, ensuring her pleasure even as he wondered if he would be able to hold his at bay.
"Michael," she whispered, and he met her gaze, worried that he might be hurting her. He stilled.
She arched her back. "Don't stop. Don't stop moving. You were right..." Her eyes drifted closed, and she gave a moan of pleasure as he sank into her with one long stroke. He thought he might lose control at the sound of that moan, low and beautiful, at the back of her throat, but he did not stop.
She shook her head, her hands running over his shoulders and down his back, finally coming to rest on his buttocks, clasping in time to his movements, to the stroke of his thumb. "Michael!"
It was happening to him, too.
He'd never given much thought to timing his release to his partner's. He'd never cared to share the experience. But, suddenly, he could think of nothing but meeting Penelope there, on the edge of her pleasure, and letting it crash over both of them. "Wait for me," he whispered at her ear, thrusting against her. "Don't go without me."
"I can't wait. I can't stop it!" She convulsed around him, milking him in a rapid, stunning rhythm, his name on her lips sending him into oblivion, tumbling over the edge in a terrifying, extravagant climax that rivaled anything he'd ever experienced. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)

80 " He should be named Lord Simpleton,” Olivia said, frankly. Pippa chuckled. “Stop. He’s nice enough. He likes dogs.” She looked to Penelope. “As does Tommy.” “This is what we’ve come to? Choosing our potential husbands because they like dogs?” Olivia asked. "

― Sarah MacLean , A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels, #1)