“Somehow, I did not finger you for a treasure-hunter.” “Oh, but I am,” without shame. “Her name is Titianni Aziz.” — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Caine might have smiled at her, had his heart not been breaking to smithereens inside of him.” — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Looking back at him was a man who was battered and broken. And alive, for the first time in his life.” — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“He wanted to die. He prayed for it. Through the roar in his ears, he begged for it.” — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Oh, Lord, why was she doomed to adore a man steeped in blindness and utter stupidity?” — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Kas was right: a woman could destroy a man. This one could do so, simply by knowing his name. She could do… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“He smelled the salt on his own lips and the orange blossoms in her hair. Real ones, he could see now, tucked… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Caine was a murderer. A liar. A cad. A skulker in shadows and a heartless wretch. What sort of woman or God… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“He heard the voice that had called to him in dreams, had saved him from the sands and from following his brother… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“In a land that knew only dark beauty, she was something of a hybrid no one dared touch. But the tall Arab… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“He didn’t deserve compassion. Sympathy. Not even understanding. He deserved worse, far worse than he had ever been given.” — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Kent had begun sleeping with his good eye open, for he knew the mark of sedition when he saw it. Even partway… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“No fairy tale, this. This was by no stretch of the imagination a polished fantasy. This was a searing, living force, rough… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Caine usually woke from the recurring dream mid-air, having yet to be dashed upon the rocks, whimpering and panting like a child… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“She was an extension of his dreams. A sprinkling of magic dust, of unfeasible wishes, on his stable existence. The one thing-the… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“I remember every good thing about you. Every sweet and perfect thing. And nothing else.” He touched her chin, tipped it up… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“He had always prided himself on his ability to bargain, to bluff, to contain his ever-aching heart within the folds of his… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“The blood dried on his good hand, he passed his palm over her hair. It curled about his wrist and sprung back… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“She was a little thing, too, inciting that basic compulsion in him as a man to protect her in so hectic a… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“I know I am flaky, I accept that—and I know, as well, that I can mangle the good king’s English like no… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“She wondered how a man could look into a woman’s eyes and lie so completely, so convincingly. She wondered how he could… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“…deceitful!” she decided with a little bounce of fury that briefly ballooned the silk of her trousers. “There! You deceitful …” “Gillia…”… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Wait for me.” If his voice was just a bit hoarse, she didn’t seem to take note of it. She looked at… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Shifting uneasily, Caine cleared his throat, left to wonder why her eyes would make him so unbelievably uncomfortable now after all that… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“He watched her for her reaction, or possibly watched her just to watch, his eyes hooded by his lashes and his mouth… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Southern gentleman,” he said aside to him in Arabic. “Do you wish for me to continue this for you?” Caine’s temper shifted… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Better this way, what remained of his battered sensibilities told him. He was no good for her, anyway. She didn’t understand him.… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“He’d thought it would be the right thing to say, but she scoffed a little… and that, more than anything—more than the… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“By now, she was far from the scorch of these sands. After the ransom deal, she would be safely married in England.… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“My name, sir, is Virgilia Wessex. I am a Sunday school teacher from Sussex, England, and I have given you no leave… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“A hand stole around her mouth, silencing her, then his lips parting her tumbled hair: “The walls have ears.” She blinked, and… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“He felt, rather than saw, her chin lift toward him. But instead of pulling her hand from his grip and turning away,… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Care for her. He was unworthy of such a gift. Unworthy of her blind trust and her sparkling, slightly crooked smiles, let… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“It was a question of insurmountable proportions. A single word that held every fear he had ever had-and every wish he had… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Because you have my heart, Virgilia Wessex.” Softly, almost achingly. “Every black ounce of it. Scars and all.” — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“She accepted it uncertainly. “This will help?” Without waiting for an answer, with that unsettling trust of hers, she popped open the… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“They were literally inches from being buried alive in this place, millions of miles from home or any sort of civilization, where… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Just say, dakhilak.” Without hesitation, “Dakhilak.” He nodded. Her accent was getting no better. “Now, you can never take it back.” “Well, what does… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“She was a little thing, too, inciting that basic compulsion in him as a man to protect her in so hectic a place as… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“What she knew was sand and wind and innumerable stars. The rumble in a camel’s throat as it swayed over shifting dunes, its trappings… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“He squinted at her. He recalled the tears in her eyes that had not fallen into her teacup. No, it wasn’t a revelation. Not… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“He felt, rather than saw, her chin lift toward him. But instead of pulling her hand from his grip and turning away, she tightened… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“Somehow, I did not finger you for a treasure-hunter.” “Oh, but I am,” without shame. “Her name is Titianni Aziz.” — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“La mu’axsa, but I think I’ll just keep sliding down this greased pole to hell?” — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“There will always be another war, Gillia.” He allowed his cynicism to seep through. “Do you know why? Because there will always be bigots… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“It came as naturally to him as breathing or lying, or worse. His mama had only taught her son to be cautious at all… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“She wondered how a man could look into a woman’s eyes and lie so completely, so convincingly. She wondered how he could have looked… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“When silence greeted her question, she looked at Caine—for that was how he saw himself in that moment and in all the moments after:… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
“And what was to become of what he had taken from her? He had dashed her heart to the ground and danced on it… — V.S. Carnes Copy Share Image
