Quotes from Spell of the Highlander

“The entire time I'm burning in Hell, I'll regret each tear I made you weep. But if Hell were the price for twenty days with you, I'd condemn myself again and again.

- Cian MacKeltar ”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“If she could have anything in the world, he'd asked her, what would it be?

She'd answered that one without hesitation: a best friend. She hastily added, a truly, seriously best friend; one that I couldn't wait to talk to first thing in the morning as soon as I woke up, and one that I still wanted to be talking to, right up to the last minute before I went to sleep.

He'd smiled faintly. You mean a soul mate, he'd thought but not said.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Because I knew the moment I saw you,” he ground out savagely, her “I hate you” still ringing in his ears, “that in another life—a life where I didn’t become a dark sorcerer—you were my wife. I cherished you. I adored you. I loved you until the end of time, Jessica MacKeltar. But I doona get to have that life. So I’ll take you any fucking way I can get you. And I’ll not apologize for one moment of it”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Your feet will bring you to where your heart is.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Are you decent?" a woman's voice called, pushing the door cautiously ajar.

"Nay, but we're clothed," Cian purred.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Suddenly he smiled, and the sadness was vanquished by whisky heat. “Aye, Jessica, I like you. And I’m not just stuck with you. You fit me here, woman.” He thumped his chest with his fist. Then he shook her hand from his forearm and pushed off with the cart again. Jessi watched him move down the aisle, all sleek animal muscle and dark grace.
Wow. He wasn’t a man of many words, but when he used them, he certainly used the right ones.
You fit me here. You are the exception to everything.
Crimeny.
It was how she’d always thought a relationship should be. People should fit each other: some
days like sexy, strappy high-heeled shoes, other days like comfortable loafers—but always a good fit. And if you cared about someone, they should be the exception to everything; the number-one priority, the one who came before all others.
He was halfway down the aisle from her now, plucking a
can from the shelf—her primal hunter/gatherer procuring food by modern means, she thought, with a soft snort of amusement.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“When did having a life become an event you had to schedule?”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“She shrugged, looking as baffled by it as he felt. "I don't know. I wonder sometimes if people even know what love is anymore. Some days, when I'm watching my friends change lovers as unperturbedly as they change shoes, I think the world just got filled with too many people, and all our technological advances made things so easy that it cheapened our most basic, essential value somehow," she told him. "It's like spouses are commodities nowadays: disposable, constantly getting tossed back out for trade on the market and everyone's trying to trade up, up--like there is a 'trading up' in love." She rolled her eyes. "No way. That's not for me. I'm having one husband. I'm getting married once. When you know going in that you're staying for life, it makes you think harder about it, go slower, choose really well.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Propping the mirror against the wall near the door, he waved a hand at it and clipped, "Drustan: Cian MacKeltar. Cian: Drustan MacKeltar."

"Dageus," Drustan's voice was soft as velvet, never a good sign, "why are you introducing me to a mirror?”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Seventeen more days,” Jessi breathed wonderingly. “God, you must be climbing the . . . er, walls . . . or whatever’s in there, huh?”
“Aye.”
“So, just what is in there, anyway?” She tested the glass by shaking it gently, and deemed it secure enough. It shouldn’t slide now.
“Stone,” he said flatly.
“And what else?”
“Stone. Gray. Of varying sizes.” His voice dropped to a colorless monotone. “Fifty-two thousand nine hundred and eighty-seven stones. Twenty-seven
thousand two hundred and sixteen of them
are a slightly paler gray than the rest. Thirty-six thousand and four are more rectangular than square. There are nine hundred and eighteen that have a
vaguely hexagonal shape. Ninety-two of
them have a vein of bronze running through the face. Three are cracked. Two paces from the center is a stone that protrudes slightly above the rest, over which I tripped for the first few
centuries. Any other questions?”
Jessi flinched as his words impacted her, taking her breath away. Her chest and throat felt suddenly tight. Uh, yeah, like, how did you stay sane in
there? What kept you from going stark raving mad? How did you survive over a thousand years in such a hell?
She didn’t ask because it would have been like asking a mountain why it was still standing, as it had been since the dawn of time, perhaps reshaped in subtle ways, but there, always there. Barring cataclysmic planetary upheaval, forever there. The man was strong—not just physically, but mentally and
emotionally. A rock of a man, the kind
a woman could lean on through the worst of times and never have to worry that things might fall apart, because a man like him simply wouldn’t let them.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Nope,” she managed. “No other questions.”
Eleven centuries of captivity. Hung on his hated enemy’s study wall. Eleven centuries of not touching. Not eating. Not loving. Had he had anyone to talk
to?
Her face must have betrayed her thoughts, for he startled her by saying softly, “ ’Tis no longer of
consequence, lass, but thank you for the compassion. ’Tis nigh over. Seventeen more days, Jessica. That’s all.”
For some reason his words brought a sudden hot burn of tears to the backs of her eyes. Not only hadn’t eleven centuries turned him into a monster, he was trying to soothe her, to make her feel better about his imprisonment.
“You weep for me, woman?”
She turned away. “It’s been a long day. Hell, it’s been a long week.”
“Jessica.” Her name was a soft command.
She disobeyed it, staring out the window at the rolling hills.
“Jessica, look at me.”
Eyes bright with unshed tears, she whipped her head around and glared at him. “I weep for you, okay?” she snapped. “For eleven centuries stuck in there. Can I start driving again or do you need something else?”
He smiled faintly, raised his hand, and splayed his palm against the inside of the silvery glass. Without an ounce of conscious thought, her hand rose to
meet his, aligning on the cool silver,
palm to palm, finger to finger, thumb to thumb. And though she felt only a cold hardness beneath her palm, the gesture made something go all warm and soft in her heart.
Neither of them spoke or moved for a moment.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Think you two puny Druids can hold this keep for a single night?”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“As she watched, he examined the can intently, read the ingredients, then returned it to the shelf and chose another, repeating his thorough study of it.
The contrast between his rough, tough-guy appearance and the domestic act he was performing did funny things to her head.
She had a sudden, breathtaking vision of a dark-haired little boy sitting in the seat of the cart, laughing up at Cian, grabbing at his swinging braids with chubby little fists, while his daddy inspected the ingredients on a jar of baby food. Her mind’s eye
picture of sexy, strong man with beautiful, helpless child made something soft and warm blossom behind her chest.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Is there anything love couldn't make us do?

--MARTIAL, C.E. C.40-104”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“No new beginnings.
Damn it, it shouldn’t bother her!
But it did. She tried to turn away, but his hand flashed out and caught her by the chin.
“Let me go,” she snapped.
“Nay.” His grip was implacable on her jaw.
There was little point in fighting for control of her face; he could have hoisted her into the air with that one big hand on her jaw, if he’d wished.
He searched her gaze a long silent moment. “You truly doona ken it, do you? Excepting with you, Jessica. You, lass, are the exception to everything,” he said softly.
As if he’d not just knocked the breath out of her with those words and left her feeling weak-kneed, he released her chin, turned away, and began pushing the cart again.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“But he didn't need to seek visual confirmation of what he'd just heard to know she had. And the truth was, he couldn't blame her. He'd not have let her die, either. He'd have moved mountains. He'd have battled God or Devil for his wife's life.

She'd betrayed him.

He smiled faintly.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Och, woman,” he said softly, “you show me Heaven and ask me to revisit Hell? Not now, sweet Jessica. Now is for us.
No grim thoughts. Only us .”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“According to Keltar legend, each Druid born into the clan was destined for a soul mate, a perfect match in heart and mind, as well as body, coming together with an explosive, incendiary passion that could not be denied. If the Keltar male exchanged the sacred Druid binding vows with his true love, and his mate willingly returned them, they could bind their souls together for all eternity, in this life and forever beyond. The vows linked them inextricably. ’Twas said if a Keltar gave the vows and they were not returned, he would be forever incomplete, missing a part of his heart, aching for the love of a woman he could never have, eternally bound to her, through this life and all his future existence, whether in the cycle of rebirth, heaven, hell, or even an eternal Unseelie prison. If aught must be lost . . . the legendary vows began, ’twill be my life for yours. . . .”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Stunned, she looked down. Up. Down. Up again. Slowly. “Take your time, lass,” he murmured, so softly she scarcely heard him. His next comment was deliberately beyond her audible range, a silky “I plan to with you.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Cease ceasing movement so abruptly! Christ, woman, must you catapult forward after each cessation? Are you certain you’ve strapped the mirror securely? We should stop and check it. By Danu, wench, try nudging this beast gently, not kicking it with both heels! A silence, a slew of choked curses, then: Horses! What the bloody hell is wrong with horses? Have they all been slain in battle?”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Haud yer wheesht, woman.” “Hold my what?” “It means ‘hush,’ Jessica. Just hush. Would it kill you to hush?”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Tell me not to kiss you, Jessica. Tell me right now. And best you make me believe you mean it,” he warned softly, a breath from her lips. “Don’t kiss me.” She wet her lips. “Try again,” he said flatly. “Don’t kiss me.” She swayed toward his body, a magnet to steel. “Try again,” he hissed. “And best ’ware, woman, ’tis your last chance.” Jessi took a deep breath. “Don’t.” Another deep breath. “Kiss me?” He laughed, a cocky, rich purr of a sound.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“When she’d finally cranked up her favorite Godsmack CD in an effort to tune him out, he’d let out a roar that had rattled the windows in her car: By all that’s holy, woman, what is that hideous noise? Cease and desist! A battlefield at full charge could be no more cacophonous!”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Och, Christ, woman,” he hissed. Devouring the space between them in two strides, he cupped her jaw with one big hand, tipped her face up, and claimed her mouth in a kiss. Once, twice, three times. Then he drew back and glared down at her. “I thought you were dead. I couldn’t fucking get out of there and I thought of a thousand things I’d done wrong and imagined a million deaths for you. Kiss me, Jessica. Show me you’re alive.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“You will not look at me,” she heard him say to the valets. “You will see only her.” A silence. Then, “And you will not look at her breasts.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“I would have bargained with the devil for you, too, lass,” he said softly. “I’d have done anything too. I love you, Jessica. You are my one true mate, lass. Never forget that.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“So how far would you have taken it, Mister Poor-me-I’m-trapped-in-a-mirror-dark-sorcerer? If it had worked, if I’d ‘removed my woolen and shown you my breasts,’ how far would you have pushed?” “How the bloody hell far do you think?” “I’m asking you. How far?” she demanded. “I haven’t fucked in eleven hundred and thirty-three years, Jessica,” he said flatly. “I am a man.” “How far?” she repeated frostily. “All the way, woman. All the frigging way. Now get in the damned car.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Because I knew the moment I saw you,” he ground out savagely, her “I hate you” still ringing in his ears, “that in another life—a life where I didn’t become a dark sorcerer—you were my wife. I cherished you. I adored you. I loved you until the end of time, Jessica MacKeltar. But I doona get to have that life. So I’ll take you any fucking way I can get you. And I’ll not apologize for one moment of it.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Love, once given, is forever. It canna simply go away.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

“Put me down. I can walk.” “Nay. I’ve no desire for you to be master of your destiny in any manner, however small. You are too unpredictable.” “I’m unpredictable?” “Aye.” She was speechless a moment. Then she pinched his butt, hard. “Ow!” He smacked her bottom. “Ow!” she yelped. “Behave,” he growled. “Tit for tat, lass. Remember that.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Spell of the Highlander

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