#tenderness

The rage of the Beast Lord was a terrible thing to behold. Some people stormed, some punched things, but Curran slipped into this icy, bone-chilling calm. His face hardened into a flat mask, and his eyes turned into a molten inferno of pure gold. If you looked at it for longer than two seconds, your muscles locked, your knees shook, and you had to fight to keep from cringing. It was easier to look at the floor, but I didn’t. Besides, he wasn’t angry with me. He wasn’t even angry with Kate. He was angry with Anapa. I had no doubt that if he could’ve gotten a hold of the god at that moment, he would’ve broken him in half. “It’s only ribs,” Kate told him. “And they’re not even broken. They are fractured.” “And the hip,” Doolittle said. “And the knee.” There you go. Don’t expect mercy from a honeybadger. “How long do you need to keep her?” Curran looked to Doolittle. “She can go to her quarters, provided she doesn’t leave them,” Doolittle said. “I can’t do anything else with the magic down. She must stay down until I can patch her up.” “She will.” Curran reached for Kate. “Hey, baby. Ready?” She nodded. Curran slid his hands under her and picked her up, gently, as if she weighed nothing. “Good?” he asked. She put her arm around him. “Never better. ↗

— Ilona Andrews

#gunmetal-magic #ilona-andrews #kate-daniels #love #tenderness

Eyyia?" said her husband, and Eliane bet Danel heard the mangling of her name as music. "You sound like a marsh frog," she said, moving to stand before his chair. By the flickering light she saw him smile. "Where have you been," she asked. "My dear. I've needed you so much." "Eyyia," he tried again, and stood up. His eyes were black hollows. They would always be hollows. He opened his arms and she moved into the space they made in the world, and laying her head against his chest she permitted herself the almost unimaginable luxury of grief. ↗

— Guy Gavriel Kay

#grief #ishak #love #marriage #tenderness

Before I could reply, he had picked me up, literally swept me off my feet, and kissed me. And afterwards, when I tried to speak, he silenced me in much the same manner. It was a shock (but not at all distasteful) to be so caught up. Later - when he at last set me down - he handled me more gently. He took of my glasses and told me that he loved me. ↗

— Jennifer Paynter

#gentle #heart-breaking #jane-austen #jennifer-paynter #love

Tucker strokes my hair. There's something so tender about the gesture. It might as well have been him whispering I love you. ↗

— Cynthia Hand

#hair #love #tenderness #tucker #love

I peek up at his features, at the crooked grin i want to savor, at the color in his eyes i'd use to paint a million pictures. ↗

— Tahereh Mafi

#eyes #love #shatter-me #tenderness #love

Do you know what it means to come home at night to a woman who'll give you a little love, a little affection, a little tenderness? It means you're in the wrong house, that's what it means. ↗

— Henny Youngman

#affection #come #do you know #give #home

When death comes it is never our tenderness that we repent from, but our severity. ↗

— George Eliot

#death #never #our #repent #severity

It is justice and respect that I want the world to dust off and put - without delay, and with tenderness - back on the head of the Palestinian child. It will be imperfect justice and respect because the injustice and disrespect have been so severe. But I believe we are right to try. ↗

— Alice Walker

#because #been #believe #child #delay

I want affection and tenderness desperately, but there's something in me that prevents me from handing it out. ↗

— Ethel Waters

#desperately #handing #i #me #out

I understand by this passion the union of desire, friendship, and tenderness, which is inflamed by a single female, which prefers her to the rest of her sex, and which seeks her possession as the supreme or the sole happiness of our being. ↗

— Edward Gibbon

#desire #female #friendship #happiness #her