Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart

He called me a pie!” she announced, defensively. There was a pause. “Wait. That’s not right.” “A tart?” “Yes! That’s it!

Juliana?” the words were low and far—too calm for her husband, who had found that he rather enjoyed the full spectrum of emotion now that he had experienced it. “Yes?” “What are you doing twenty feet in the air?” “Looking for a book.” “Would you mind very much returning to the earth?” “What are you thinking, climbing to the rafters in your condition?” “I am not an invalid, Simon, I still have use of all my extremes.” “You do indeed—particularly your extreme ability to try my patience—I believe, however, that you mean extremities.

I . . . hit him . . . elsewhere.” “Where?” “In his . . .In his inguine.” “Oh, dear God.” It was unclear whether Ralston’s words were meant as prayer or blasphemy. What was clear was that the woman was a gladiator. “He called me a pie!” she announced, defensively. There was a pause. “Wait. That’s not right.” “A tart?” “Yes! That’s it!” She registered her brother’s fists and looked to Simon. “I see that it is not a compliment.” “No. It is not.

You are beautiful and brilliant and bold and so very passionate about life and love and those things that you believe in. And you taught me that everything I believed, everything I thought I wanted, everything I had spent my life espousing--all of it...it is wrong. I want your version of life...vivid and emotional and messy and wonderful and filled with happiness. But I cannot have it without you.

Un momento con una donna capricciosa vale undici anni di vita noiosa. A single moment with a fiery female is worth eleven years of a boring life.

You are my siren,” he said, running his hands along her thighs and down her calves, feeling the shape of her even as the silk of her gown kept them both from what they wanted. “My temptress . . . my sorceress . . . I cannot resist you, no matter how I try. You threaten to send me over the edge.

You think my feelings toward you apathetic? You think you bore me?” “Don’t I?” He shook his head slowly, continuing toward her, stalking her in the small space. “No.God knows you are infuriating . . And impulsive . . .” Her back came up against the wall, and she gave a little squeak, even as he advanced. “And altogether maddening . . .” He placed one hand to her jaw, carefully lifting her face to his, feeling the leap of her pulse under his fingertips. “And thoroughly intoxicating . . .” The last came out on a low growl, and her lips parted, soft and pink and perfect. He leaned close, his lips a fraction from hers. “No . . . you are not boring.

Leave it to the English to fabricate a lake,” she tossed over her shoulder to Carla, who snickered. “And leave it to the Italians to fall into it!” “I was retrieving my hat!” “Ah . . . that makes it all much more logical. Do you even know how to swim?” “Do I know how to swim?” she asked, and he took more than a little pleasure in her offense. “I was raised on the banks of the Adige! Which happens to be a real river.” “Impressive,” he said, not at all impressed. “And tell me, did you ever swim in said river?” “Of course! But I wasn’t wearing”—she waved a hand to indicate her dress—“sixteen layers of fabric!” “Why not?” “Because you don’t swim in sixteen layers of fabric!” “No?” “No!” “Why not?” He had her now. “Because you will drown!” “Ah,” he said, rocking back on his heels. “Well, at least we’ve learned something today.

Yes, she was a scandal. Her brother simply didn’t know it. “I fell in the Serpentine today.” “Yes, well, that doesn’t usually happen to women in London. But it’s not so much of a scandal as it is a challenge.

But stay away from him, Juliana. When we said we wanted to make you a good match, Leighton was not who we imagined." Even her brother thought Simon too good for her. "Because he is a duke?" "What? No," Ralston said, truly perplexed by her instant defensive response. "Because he's an ass.

She was all he wanted. He would give everything for her. Without thought. Without regret.

Sometimes, love was not enough.

We are a motley bunch. But we more than make up for it with tenacity." ~ Ralston to Simon

Don’t you . . . ever . . .” He pulled Nick from the wall and slammed him back again. “Ever . . . refer to what I feel for your sister as charity. She is bold and beautiful and brilliant, and you are lucky to breathe the same air she breathes.” His anger was so acute, he could barely get the words out. “She thinks herself unworthy? It is we who are unworthy of her, and if you call her a scandal one more time, I’ll destroy you. With visceral pleasure.

They had lied, those who had extolled the virtues of love—its pleasures, its sublimity—those who had told her that it was beautiful and worthwhile. There was nothing beautiful about it. It was awful.

Yes Simon. He was in control. He was ruining her for all others. And she did not care.

He continued. “So I shall simply tell you the truth. I have spent my entire life preparing for a cold, unfeeling, unimpassioned life—a life filled with pleasantries and simplicity. And then you came into it . . . you . . . the opposite of all that. You are beautiful and brilliant and bold and so very passionate about life and love and those things that you believe in. And you taught me that everything I believed, everything I thought I wanted, everything I had spent my life espousing—all of it . . . it is wrong. I want your version of life . . . vivid and emotional and messy and wonderful and filled with happiness. But I cannot have it without you. “I love you, Juliana. I love the way you have turned my entire life upside down, and I am not certain I could live without you now that I have lived with you.

Then why?” “Because you expect me to fail. You expect me to do wrong. To be reckless. To ruin myself.” “Why not work to prove me wrong?” “But don’t you see? I am proving you wrong. If I choose recklessness, where is the failure? If I choose it for myself, you cannot force it upon me.

I am not certain I could live without you now that I have lived with you.

He nodded. "I no longer focus on meeting their expectations because I am too focused on outdoing hers.

What if I said she sold me one evening?” His brow furrowed. “One evening of what?” She gave a little shrug. “Simplicity. Ease. Peace.” One side of his mouth lifted in a half smile. “I would say, let’s buy a lifetime of it.

She hated him then. Hated the way he stripped her bare. The way he knew her failings before she knew them herself.

What? No,” Ralston said, truly perplexed by her instant defensive response. “Because he’s an ass.

Mataría a los dragones de la sociedad por ella" - Simoa

Desde que nací me han preparado para vivir una vida fría, insensible y desapasionada; una vida llena de normas de etiqueta y cortesías vacuas. Entonces llegaste tú… que eras lo opuesto a todo eso. Eres bellísima, brillante, descarada y pones toda tu pasión en la vida, en el amor y en todas las cosas que crees que merecen la pena. Me has enseñado que todo lo que creía, todo lo que quería y todo lo que defendía… no sirve para nada. Quiero tu versión del mundo… Quiero una vida llena de emociones, sin normas, maravillosa y feliz. Pero no puedo tenerla sin ti a mi lado. Te quiero Juliana. Me encanta cómo has puesto mi vida del revés, y no estoy seguro de que pueda seguir viviendo sin ti ahora que sé lo que es vivir contigo" - Simon

No cuando sabía que nunca sería lo suficientemente buena para él. No cuando no podía darle aquello que él tenía en tan alto concepto: un refinado pedigrí y una reputación intachable. Lo único que ella podía ofrecerle era un pasado escandaloso, y su amor. Y en ocasiones, por muy triste que fuera, el amor no era suficiente" - Julianba

No, si tuviera la oportunidad, no la despertaría tan bruscamente, sino que lo haría lentamente, acariciando larga y tiernamente aquellas gloriosas piernas… se acuclillaría a su lado y sepultaría la cara en aquella mata de cabello color ébano, bebiendo su aroma, y después recorrería con los labios el adorable ángulo de su mandíbula hasta llegar a la curva de su suave oreja. Le susurraría su nombre, despertándola con su aliento en lugar de con el sonido de su voz. Y entonces terminaría lo que había empezado hacía varios meses" - Simon

I no longer focus on meeting their expectations because I am too focused on outdoing hers.