Quotes from Zoe Archer

we can tell our hearts exactly what to believe, but the cheeky little bastards won't listen to anyone but themselves

The best part about adventures is that you can't plan them.

He pulled back just enough to growl, "Goddamn, I love you. From the first time I saw you, pointing a gun at me, I knew you'd be either my death or my salvation.

Life's got a habit of slipping through your fingers, slippery as an eel, and leaving you with nothing. Maybe if we're offered a chance at something good, we should grab it while we can

No man wants his woman in danger." She rolled over, propping herself up on her elbow, and scowled at him. "And if the woman's a better shot than he is?" His face had softened with repletion, the corners of his eyes turning up with a smile. "Then he makes sure she has enough bullets.

She swallowed hard, taking him in, as rain pattered around them. Nothing back. He held nothing back, and she kept giving him meager handfuls. He deserved better than that. She would set things to rights.

He could never have enough of Eva. The heat of her, this hidden wild woman who was his alone. That they were both fully dressed but bare in the most important places only sharpened his excitement.

Deliquescence.

Have much experience killing people?" "I didn't become a captain by knitting socks," he said, and Thalia had no answer to that.

The window slid open. A blast of cold air gusted in. Ada stepped back, alarmed, as a figure climbed through the window, like some predatory animal or mythical creature. The kind of being that spirited young maidens from their beds to live forever in an underworld kingdom.

She felt, rather than saw, his eyes on her, the interplay of determination and, oddly, humor. "You aren't taking another step on this journey of yours without me. Someone's got to knit the socks.

A mechanically minded intellect, a seasoned soldier, a code breaker and expert strategist, a Chinese scholar, a Buddhist monk, a bandit chief, and an Englishwoman more at home on horseback than in a salon. All talking battle strategy. It sounded like the beginning to a bizarre joke.

Women didn't have the luxury men did—men could take lovers as much as they liked. But women always bore the consequences, either in the form of a baby or a ruined reputation, or both. Even if none of that mattered, Ada knew herself well enough to understand that she couldn't take a man to her bed just for physical pleasure.

Now that I've found you, it scares me witless to think of anything happening. To you. I'm not used to being... afraid. A sudden realization came to her, So this is love, she said quietly. The daily prospect of joy or disaster

Men, she said rueful, are the most absurd creatures on this green earth. But there are camels, Gabriel pointed out. Believe me, she answered. I've taken camels into consideration.

There's always truth in seduction. That's why it works.

Do you ever have ordinary days? she asked as they ascended the stairs. Why would I want them?

You don't have to fight anyone for me, she said. Except you. Oh God. He leveled her with a few words and searing looks. She felt herself in a dizzying plunge, wanting the flight, worried about the landing. I give as much as I am able, she said. I know, he answered.

You mean, she breathed, you're in love with me? I don't care what words anyone uses, he growled, stopping his pace to stand in front of her. Use the words of all the languages you know. Or make some up. Doesn't matter. What matters is that I want to be with you forever. Only you. And I hope to God, he said his voice rough as he stroked her hair, her face, that you only want me. There was no glib charm now, only the raw truthh of his heart, laid bare before her.

I'm praying, he thought to himself.  He'd never been one for church, preferring to take his divine inspiration from what surrounded him.  But lying here with Olivia, touching her reverently, he felt something shift inside him, something large and profound, as though he'd finally learned the answer to a riddle he'd been trying to solve. 

There's a small thrill in taking a chance

A husband I may be, but the change is my mistress and I can never stray. -Leo Bailey Demons Bride

Give me your pain, love,' he said holding her against the steady beat of his heart. 'Let me take it for you.

Winter had stripped the garden and grounds to their bones. Dead grass crunched beneath Michael's boots as he and Ada walked toward the ruin. Easy to see why Christmas would be necessary at this time of year. Warmth and green seemed like far memories. But the holiday could provide a welcome break from the relentless gray and chill.