ŷ������

“That was real?��
His arms tightened. “Yeah. The stench of all that blood
overwhelmed you. It’s to be expected, you being a new mate.��
“I think it was the flying body parts.��
His mouth curved into a smile. “Life with me is never
boring.”
― Laurann Dohner, Mine to Chase

“I told you when we mated that I would gladly give you my heart, my life, and my love, but that when I did so they came with one condition. Never abuse me. Love is not abuse.”
― Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dragonbane

“He was taking another hit from his short-and-squat of Goose when his eyes skipped to the arched doorway of the room.
Jane hesitated as she glanced inside, her white coat opening as she leaned to the side, as if she were looking for him.
When their eyes met, she smiled a little. And then a lot.
His first impulse was to hide his own grin behind his Goose.
But then he stopped himself.
New world order. Come on, smile, motherfucker, he thought.
Jane gave a short wave and played it cool, which was what they usually did when they were together in public. Turning away, she headed over to the bar to make herself something.
“Hold up, cop,�� V murmured, putting his drink down and bracing his cue against the table. Feeling like he was fifteen, he put his hand-rolled between his teeth and tucked his wife-beater tightly into the waistband of his leathers. A quick smooth of the hair and he was . . . well, as ready as he could be.
He approached Jane from behind just as she struck up a convo with Mary—and when his shellan pivoted around to greet him, she seemed a little surprised that he’d come up to her.
“Hi, V . . . How are—��
Vishous stepped in close, putting them body to body, and then he wrapped his arms around her waist. Holding her with possession, he slowly bent her backward until she gripped his shoulders and her hair fell from her face. As she gasped, he said exactly what he thought: “I missed you.��
And on that note, he put his mouth on hers and kissed the ever-living hell out of her, sweeping one hand down to her hip as he slipped his tongue in her mouth, and kept going and going and going . . .
He was vaguely aware that the room had fallen stone silent and that everything with a heartbeat was staring at him and his mate.
But whatever.
This was what he wanted to do, and he was going to do it in front of everyone—and the king’s dog, as it turned out. Because Wrath and Beth came in from the foyer.
As Vishous slowly righted his shellan, the catcalls and whistling started up, and someone threw a handful of popcorn like it was confetti.
“Now that’s what I’m talkin�� ’bout,�� Hollywood said. And threw more popcorn.
Vishous cleared his throat. “I have an announcement to make.��
Right. Okay, there were a lot of eyes on the pair of them. But he was so going to suck up his inclination to bow out.
Tucking his flustered and blushing Jane into his side, he said loud and clear: “We’re getting mated. Properly. And I expect you all to be there and . . . Yeah, that’s it.��
Dead. Quiet.
Then Wrath released the handle on George’s harness and started to clap. Loud and slow. “About. Fucking. Time.”
― J.R. Ward, Lover Unleashed

“He went to look closely at the painting, which portrayed a parade of fat white geese strolling past the doorway of a cottage.
"Someday I'll be able to afford real art," Garrett said, coming to stand beside him. "In the meantime, we'll have to make do with this."
Ethan's attention was drawn to the tiny initials in the corner of the work: G.G. A slow smile broke over his face. "You painted it?"
"Art class, at boarding school," she admitted. "I wasn't bad at sketching, but the only subject I could manage to paint adequately was geese. At one point I tried to expand my repertoire to ducks, but those earned lower marks, so it was back to geese after that."
Ethan smiled, imagining her as a studious schoolgirl with long braids. The light of a glass-globe parlor lamp slid across the tidy pinned-up weight of her hair, bringing out gleams of red and gold. He'd never seen anything like her skin, fine and powerless, with a faint glow like a blush-colored garden rose.
"What gave you the idea to paint geese in the first place?" he asked.
"There was a goose pond across from the school," Garrett said, staring absently at the picture. "Sometimes I saw Miss Primrose at the front windows, watching with binoculars. One day I dared to ask her what she found so interesting about geese, and she told me they had a capacity for attachment and grief that rivaled humans. They mated for life, she said. If a goose was injured, the gander would stay with her even if the rest of the flock was flying south. When one of a mated pair died, the other would lose its appetite and go off to mourn in solitude.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Hello Stranger

“It hardly matters if you’ve known someone a lifetime or a minute. Our wolves always know who they belong to.”
― Dannika Dark, The Vow

“It appears my brother didn't share his good news with me." Blaise tsked in Max's direction. "I would have sent a wedding present had I known."

"Since we were mated centuries before you were born, I'd have paid money to see you do that.”
― Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dragonbane