“She laid her head against his collarbone, and he kissed her temple. To her shock, she felt a shudder roll through his body about the same time she registered wetness against her skin. Tears. His tears.
She started to turn around, but he tightened his grip.
“Stay,” he said in a choked voice. “Just let me hold you, baby. Just let me hold you.”
― Maya Banks, quote from The Darkest Hour
“Never be afraid to tell me anything,” he whispered against her hair. “No matter how ashamed you might feel. I’ll never judge you, Rachel. I love you.”
― Maya Banks, quote from The Darkest Hour
“Trying to drown me woman?"
'You can't drown a SEAL,' she said. 'How embarrassing would that be?'
'God yes. Shoot me, hang me, let me die of infection from a hangnail, but don't let me die in the water. They'd send me to hell on principle.”
― Maya Banks, quote from The Darkest Hour
“Is there something wrong?” he asked.
She gave a short negative motion with her head. And then words, so sweet, like a cool northern breeze blowing off the lake. “You could hold me now.”
It was almost his undoing.
“Ah baby.”
― Maya Banks, quote from The Darkest Hour
“But a woman will only go so long putting her heart on the line without getting anything in return.”
― Maya Banks, quote from The Darkest Hour
“Bastard had the bad manners to die before we were through talking to him.”
― Maya Banks, quote from The Darkest Hour
“I won’t let it happen again. I protect what’s mine.”
― Maya Banks, quote from The Darkest Hour
“Sometimes second chances are the very best chances,” she whispered. “Because this time we’ll get it right.”
― Maya Banks, quote from The Darkest Hour
“Everything okay, sweet pea?” Garret asked as he walked over.
“Yep. Just talking to Sean and getting some fresh air.”
Garret shoved his hands into his pockets. “You mean you’re hiding out here with this pussy who’s here for the same reason.”
Sean grunted. “Yeah, the exact same reason you’ve run outside like a damn girl.”
Garret grinned. “Too many damned people. Ma eats that shit up, but I swear it makes the rest of us crazy.”
“So at what point is she going to figure out we’ve fled the premises?” Rachel asked. The last thing she wanted was to hurt Marlene’s feelings.
“Not to worry. Mom is well used to having to round us up. She usually gives us ten minutes or so to get the crazed look from our eyes, and then she’ll come out all sweet-like but with a glint in her eyes you know better than to ignore.”
“And at that point, she drags us back inside by our ears,” Sean finished.”
― Maya Banks, quote from The Darkest Hour
“First rule of seduction. At least one of us has to get naked. Preferably you,” he murmured.
Nervous apprehension replaced some of the excitement. It was silly. He’d seen her naked. Many times. They’d made love before. But for her it was like the first time all over again.
“Hey,” he said softly. He drew away and tucked a finger under her chin, prompting her to look up at him. “We’ll take this as slow as you need. If I could make love to you with you fully clothed, I’d do it, but I think we both know that’s not an option.”
She giggled and felt some of her unease leave her.
“Let’s not take it too slow or we’ll both be old and decrepit before we ever make love.”
“Mmm, I plan to make love to you until they put me in the grave. That’s what they make Viagra for.”
She leaned into him and hugged him fiercely as another laugh escaped.
“Make you a deal. We undress together. Last one naked is a rotten egg.”
She yanked away as she said the last and immediately began peeling her clothes off.
“Oh hell no,” he sputtered. “Maybe you don’t remember what a competitive family you married into.”
“While you’re talking, I’m getting naked,” she taunted.
A wicked glint sparked in his eyes. “I fail to see how I lose either way.”
― Maya Banks, quote from The Darkest Hour
“If I interrupted violence, by all means I'll step back. Always nice to see bloodshed first thing in the a.m.”
― Maya Banks, quote from The Darkest Hour
“Hey, have you guys seen Rachel?”
“I’m looking at her,” Sam said.
Ethan stepped out, and relief settled over his face. He stopped beside Garret and glanced between Rachel and Sean and then at the others.
“You okay?” he asked.
She smiled, not wanting him to worry. “I’m fine. I stepped out for some fresh air not realizing this was a time-honored tradition of escaping Marlene’s get-togethers.”
Ethan relaxed and stuck his thumbs in his belt loops. “Yeah, it’s become something that rivals war games. He who survives the longest without being hauled back in by Mom wins.”
― Maya Banks, quote from The Darkest Hour
Maya Banks
Born place: in The United States
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“Television, radio, and all the sources of amusement and information that surround us in our daily lives are also artificial props. They can give us the impression that our minds are active, because we are required to react to stimuli from the outside. But the power of those external stimuli to keep us going is limited. They are like drugs. We grow used to them, and we continuously need more and more of them. Eventually, they have little or no effect. Then, if we lack resources within ourselves, we cease to grow intellectually, morally, and spiritually. And we we cease to grow, we begin to die.”
― Mortimer J. Adler, quote from How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
“It's hypocrisy of men makes these hills grim”
― Jack Kerouac, quote from Lonesome Traveler
“Strangulation. It was a fearful way to go, wrestling, kicking your way towards oblivion, panic, the fretful sucking for air, and the killer behind you most likely, so that you faced the fear of something totally anonymous, a death without knowledge of who or why. Rebus had been taught methods of killing in the SAS. He knew what it felt like to have the garotte tighten on your neck, trusting to the opponent’s prevailing sanity. A fearful way to go.”
― Ian Rankin, quote from Knots and Crosses
“Saturday morning was their unrestricted television time, and they usually took advantage of it to watch a series of cartoon shows that would certainly have been impossible before the discovery of LSD.”
― Jeff Lindsay, quote from Dexter in the Dark
“Although this may seem a paradox, all exact science is dominated by the idea of approximation.”
― Simon Singh, quote from Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem
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