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“And I just couldn't take it anymore. I closed the distance between us, slammed him back against the chair and kissed him, holding his head still with both my hands buried in that stupid, stupid hair. I half expected more resistance, because Pritkin had never met an argument he didn't like. So it was a shock when he ran his hands down my sides, cupped my hips and slid us both to the floor.
"I'm going straight to hell for this," he muttered.
"At least you'll know a lot of people," I said breathlessly. ”
― Karen Chance, Curse the Dawn

“Pritkin kissed like he did everything else, straightforward, accepting no prisoners and with an intensity that left me breathless. It was hot and hard and desperate, like he was starving for it, and I opened my mouth and took it, because, God.”
― Karen Chance, Embrace the Night

“We’re going jogging.â€�
“I don’t run for recreation. I run when someone’s after me with a weapon.�
“That can be arranged,”
― Karen Chance, Embrace the Night

“He had the look of an atheist who’d just had a visit from God: stunned, disbelieving and faintly ill.”
― Karen Chance, Claimed by Shadow

“I drank some too-hot coffee and scowled at him, annoyed although I couldn't remember why. The light from the lounge was leaking in, highlighting his spiky blond hair. I decided that must be it.
"You really hate my hair, don't you?" he asked, a smile flickering over his lips so fast I might have imagined it.
"Yeah"
"Why?"
I reached out to touch it, and was surprised as always to find it mostly soft. Just a little stiff in places from whatever product he used on it. It felt weird, imagining Pritkin having anything in his hair but sweat. But he must have; nobody's did that all on its own.
"It's like...angry hair," I said, trying to pat it down and failing miserably.
He caught my wrist. "Most people would say that suits me."
"I'm not most people."
"I know.”
― Karen Chance, Hunt the Moon

“Pritkin gave me a little shake and I eyed him without favor. The only other occasions when I had been dragged back in time, the trip had been triggered by proximity to a person whose past was being threatened.
I have to tell you,â€� I said frankly, “if someone is trying to mess with your conception or something, I’m not feeling a pressing need to intervene.”
― Karen Chance, Claimed by Shadow

“I couldn’t see Pritkin’s face very well, just a pale blur against the shadows, but he didn’t sound happy. Some people thought he had only one mode... pissed off. In reality, he had plenty of them. Over the past few weeks, I’d learned to tell the difference between real pissed off, impatient pissed off and scared pissed off. I suspected that this was the last kind. If so, that made two of us.”
― Karen Chance, Embrace the Night

“I felt betrayed and absolutely livid, but my body wasn’t smart enough to know it. It had liked the feel of his hands, wanted more of it, wanted it now. It was almost like there were two of me, one who heartily approved of the mage and one who would have dearly loved to see him dead.”
― Karen Chance, Embrace the Night

“I looked up to see the sailing ship above me, the prow dipped low and Mircea hanging off the end of the wooden figurehead. His fist was knotted in my waistband, which explained why I couldn’t breathe. Considering the alternative, I really didn’t mind so much.
Even so, I was surprised his reflexes had been good enough to catch me. He looked kind of shocked himself. For a second, the reserved demeanor cracked open on something wild and fierce and compelling. Then he dragged me up, put a hand on either side of my face and kissed me full on the lips. From somewhere above, I heard Pritkin swear.”
― Karen Chance, Curse the Dawn

“I stared at him, unable to believe this was happening. That he could just
disappear, along with everything rich and strange he’d brought into my life.
Vanished, like magic.”
― Karen Chance, Curse the Dawn

“War mages ordered, threatened and bitched. They didn't deal.”
― Karen Chance, Hunt the Moon

“Pritkin muttered something that sounded fairly vicious. “My clothes are warded! Even if I wished to accede to your demand, it would not work on them.â€�
“Then strip.�
“I beg your pardon?â€� He sounded almost polite suddenly, as if he believed he couldn’t possibly have heard right.”
― Karen Chance, Embrace the Night

“I hadn't realized how much I'd relied on his scowls or his shrugs or his grudging looks of approval to help me figure something out-until they weren't there anymore. Or how I could talk to some people about a lot of things but only to him about everything. And how unbelievably valuable that was.”
― Karen Chance, Tempt the Stars

“My body cheerfully informed me that he felt really good pressed against me like that, all hard muscles and smooth contours and ominous bulges. My body liked the air of barely leashed strength and caged mayhem he was giving off. My body thought he smelled really good, like heat and coffee and electricity. My body was going to get me killed.”
― Karen Chance, Tempt the Stars

“Look, I need something-"
"Evidently."
"Don't get all British on me," I snapped as his accent went clipped. That usually precipitated a hissy fit, but I was already having one and we didn't get to do that at the same time.”
― Karen Chance, Tempt the Stars

“You'll be all right, Cassie."
"No! I won't be! I need you-"
"Why? What can I give you that others can't?"
"What?"
Green eyes suddenly burned into mine. "It's a simple question. You said you need me. Why?"
"I-I told you. This job-"
"Which you're handling admirably."
"I am not! I couldn't even get to my parents without help!"
"There are other demon experts-Jonas for one."
"But I need you!"
(...)
"Then give me a reason."
"I...there's so many-"
"Name one."
"I can name a hundred-"
"I didn't ask for a hundred; I asked for one. And you can't give it to me."
"Yes, I can!"
"Then do it!"
"I..." I stared at him, because he looked like there was a lot riding on my answer. Maybe everything.”
― Karen Chance, Tempt the Stars

“What about your servant? Did he see anything?"
[...]As soon as the crisis was over, Billy had fled into his necklace and I hadn't seen him since.
I gave him little poke, just for the hell of it, and got back the metaphysical version of the finger. "Billy doesn't know anything," I translated.
"Are you certain?"
Tell him to suck my balls!
"Pretty certain.”
― Karen Chance, Hunt the Moon

“Because the next moment, when I was hauled out from under the bed and up to a pair of so-familiar green eyes, I just hung there limply. And stared. At a face that was hard to look at. Not that it was unattractive. There had been a time when I'd thought so-the overlarge nose, the hard-as-glass eyes, the I-couldn't-be-bothered-to-shave-today-and-possibly-not-yesterday-either stubble didn't exactly spell out movie-star good looks. But there was a lot more to John Pritkin than looks, although even there I'd started to come around recently. The strong, stubborn jawline, the rock-hard body, and the flashes of humor behind the taciturn expression-hell, even the rigid blond spikes he called hair might not add up to handsome, but they added up to something. Something that might have been disturbing if I hadn't had plenty of other things to disturb me right now.”
― Karen Chance, Tempt the Stars

“You said something else...something about needing me, for me. What did you mean?"
"I meant-I mean, well, we're friends-"
"Are we? Are we friends?"
"I-yes. What else would you, uh.."
"I am not sure what I would call it. I had never given it much thought until recently. There did not seem to be a point."
"Yes, yes, exactly. And there's no reason to suddenly-"
"But I suppose I shall have to now, if I am returned, that is. Won't I?”
― Karen Chance, Tempt the Stars

“Is anything going to kill me if I use your bathroom?" I finally asked.
"Knowing you?" Pritkin's voice was muffled since he hadn't raised his head.
I frowned. "Is that a yes?"
A couple of fingers came up to massage his temple. "That is a no. Assuming you didn't bring anything deadly along with you.”
― Karen Chance, Tempt the Stars

“I bent over him and, before I could say anything, he grabbed me by the back of my head, dragged my mouth down and kissed me. Kissed me, with no drama and no explanation, like it was just something we did.
Knowing in a half-forgotten way that he kissed like a demon was one thing; experiencing it all over again was quite another. There was no refined seduction- Pritkin kissed openmouthed, hard and hungry, until I could hear nothing over the pounding of my heart, until I could taste my blood on his lips as his tongue thrust into me.”
― Karen Chance, Curse the Dawn

“I liked Pritkin loud and bitching, in other words, his normal state. I didn't like it when he got quiet.”
― Karen Chance, Tempt the Stars

“You're right", I told him desperately."I can get others to do what you do. They won't be as good, but...okay. It could work. But it doesn't matter because no matter how good they are, they can't replace you. They can't because I don't need you only for what you can do. I need you...for you.”
― Karen Chance, Tempt the Stars

“(...) the small of his back slick with sweat, the surprisingly soft hair brushing my body when he took control. And moved over me.
"Stop it", Pritkin grated, his voice somehow cutting through the fog. But he didn't let go. I suppose he was afraid to, because a Pythia or one of her senior initiates could shift without him if there was no contact. But that left us stuck together, and that was becoming really, really-
Awesome, my body piped up enthusiastically.
"I told you, cut it out!" Pritkin said, sounding pissed.
"You first," I snarled, snapping my eyes open to glare at him, because he wasn't exactly helping.
Of course, neither did that.
He must have been jogging, probably his usual early morning ten-mile warm-up before coming to torture me. At least, I assumed that was why the rock-hard abs were outlined by a damp khaki T-shirt, the thin old sweatpants were clinging in all the right places, and the sleeves of the hoodie had been pushed to his elbows, showing the flexing muscles in his forearms. And then there were those hands and those eyes and that mouth...
I shivered again, a full-on shudder this time, and he cursed. But that didn't seem to matter. Because it had come out like a growl, and my body liked that, too. My hips shifted automatically, pressing us together, and I gave a little gasp because it felt so good.
And then gasped again when I was abruptly released.”
― Karen Chance, Tempt the Stars

“Pritkin was saying something, something I should probably be paying attention to since he was looking a little...stressed.”
― Karen Chance, Tempt the Stars

“How could he not see all the ways he'd changed my life? How could he not know-
But he didn't. It was in the way he turned his head away, when I just stood there. In the way he closed his eyes. In the small, self-mocking smile that played around his lips that I didn't understand but knew couldn't be good.”
― Karen Chance, Tempt the Stars

“I see you.â€�
You always did, I thought, watching sparks dance in his eyes.”
― Karen Chance, Reap the Wind

“Pritkin, it’s a hotel room, not a death trap!â€� A glance over his shoulder showed him impatient blue eyes under a fall of messy blond curls. “Anyway, you’re here.â€�
“I can’t protect you from everything,� he forced himself to say, because it was true. It was also frankly terrifying in a way that his own mortality was not. He’d never had children, but he sometimes wondered if this was how parents felt when catching sight of a fearless toddler confidently heading toward a busy street. Not that his charge was a child, as he was all too uncomfortably aware. But the knowledge of just how many potentially lethal pitfalls lay in her path sometimes caused him that same heart-clenching terror.
And the same overwhelming need to throw her over his lap and spank the living daylights out of her, he thought grimly, when she suddenly popped out of existence. “Cassie!”
― Karen Chance, A Family Affair

“Pritkin looked surprised, the way he always did at the idea that anyone might actually care about him.”
― Karen Chance

“I’d learned that the hard way, all week. I hadn’t realized how much I’d relied on his scowls or his shrugs or his grudging looks of approval to help me figure something out—until they weren’t there anymore. Or how I could talk to some people about a lot of things, but only to him about everything.”
― Karen Chance, Tempt the Stars