Iron Kissed Quotes

“Some people are like Slinkies. They aren't really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to my face when I push them down a flight of stairs.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“Some people are boys longer than others.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“A second floor window opened, and Kyle stuck his head and shoulders out so he could look down at us. “If you two are finished playing Cowboy and Indian out there, some of us would like to get their beauty sleep.”

I looked at Warren. “You heard ‘um Kemo Sabe. Me go to my little wigwam and get ‘um shut-eye.”

“How come you always get to play the Indian?” whined Warren, deadpan.

“Cause she’s the Indian, white boy,” said Kyle.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“It's only fair to warn you that you sealed your fate tonight. When you knew you were in trouble, you came to me. That makes twice, Mercy, and twice is almost as good as a declaration. You are mine now.... Ben says you might run. If you do, I will find you and bring you back. Every time you run, Mercy. I won't force you, but. .. No more excuses, Mercy. You are mine, and I am keeping you.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“The warmth of his body shouldn’t have felt good. He was angry and every muscle was tense. It was like being leaned on by a very heavy, warm brick. A sexy brick.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“Cheeses crusty, got all musty, got damp on the stone of a peach,” I agreed. He looked blank, so I repeated it with proper emphasis. “ ChEEZ-zes crusty. Got Al -musty. Got DAMp on the StoneofapeaCH.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“She sees ghosts,” said Samuel, impatient with my whining.

"I see dead people,” I deadpanned back. Oddly, it was Uncle Mike who laughed. I hadn’t thought he’d be a moviegoer.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“If you could just see your face,” she told me. “You look like a cat in a bathtub.”
― patricia briggs, Iron Kissed

“She crawled,” Ben said. There were tears in his voice. That was wrong. Ben barely even tolerated me on the best of days. “She crawled to the bathroom to clean herself again. If it weren’t for the two subs in the pack, I’d be on the bottom. And she wouldn’t stand up in my presence for guilt.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“A cowboy, a lawyer, and a mechanic watched Queen of the Damned,” I murmured.
Warren—who had once, a long time ago, been a cowboy—snickered and wiggled his bare feet. “It could be the beginning of either a bad joke or a horror story.”
“No,” said Kyle, the lawyer, whose head was propped up on my thigh. “If you want a horror story, you have to start out with a werewolf, his gorgeous lover, and a walker.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“He stepped back with exaggerated courtesy. But when I walked past him, he swatted my rump. Hard enough to sting.
“You need to be more careful,” he growled. “Keep interfering in my business and you might get hurt.”
I said sweetly as I continued to Jesse's room, “The last man who swatted me like that is rotting in his grave.”
“I have no doubt about it.” His voice was more satisfied then contrite.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“Cheeses crusty, got all musty, got damp on the stone of a peach.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“It was Adam, but he was too late. He couldn’t love me anymore. He would be so angry with me. I had to hide. He didn’t love me so he might hurt me when he was angry. When he calmed down, that would hurt him. I didn’t want him hurting because of me. There was nowhere for a person to hide. So I wouldn’t be a person. My eyes fell on the shelves that lined the far back corner. A coyote could hide there.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“I think I’ll just go take a shower,” I said.
It wasn’t until Samuel stiffened that I remembered I’d just come out of the shower. So much for playing normal.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“Just as I’ve always known there are monsters in the world, monsters and things even more evil, I’ve always known that it is God who keeps evil at bay.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“A rape victim...a rape victim who fights...They've been violated, made helpless and afraid. It breaks their confidence in the safety of their little world. It makes them afraid."

[....]

"If you don't fight, it's not quite the same. If they make you help, make you cooperate, then it's not clear to you anymore. Is it rape? You feel dirty, violated, and guilty. Most of all guilty because you should have fought. Especially if you're Mercy and you fight everything."

[...]

"She chooses to go to Tim's house, but she also feels on some level that it's the wrong thing to do. Her choice. Her fault. Her fault when she drinks from that bloody fairy cup. Her fault that he - "

Just that fast Adam had Ben on the ground underneath him while he snarled. "It's not her fault she was raped," he growled.

Ben lay limp and gave Adam his throat, but he didn't quit talking, even though a tear slid down his cheek. "She thinks so."

Adam stilled.

"What's more," he continued hoarsely. "I bet she wonders if she was raped at all.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“When things started to get dangerous, it was important to have people who knew as much as you did. That way, when you stupidly got yourself killed, someone would have a starting place to look for your murderer.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“It wasn't hard to follow the scent of blood to the living room where the fae had been killed. It had been a violent death, perfect for creating ghosts.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“It was like being leaned on by a very heavy, warm brick. A sexy brick.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“If I let them all treat me like I was broken, then how was I going to convince myself I wasn’t?”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“Jesse must have heard me because she stuck her head out of her bedroom and then rushed over. “Can I help?”

I looked down to see what caused the consternation in her face. It wasn’t my nakedness. She’d grown up with werewolves, and shapeshifters can’t afford too much modesty. [...]

No, it wasn’t my nakedness; it was the blood. I was covered with it.

Appalled, I looked behind me at the carpet that was stained with my blood all the way up the stairs. “Darn it,” I said. “That’s going to be expensive to clean.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“A rape victim... a rape victim who fights...They've been violated, made helpless and afraid. It breaks their confidence in the safety of their little world. It makes them afraid." .... "If you don't fight, it's not quite the same. If they make you help, make you cooperate, then it's not clear to you anymore. Is it rape? You feel dirty, violated, and guilty. Most of all guilty because you should have fought. Especially if you're Mercy and you fight everything.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“And it had left me with a certain skill for managing enraged werewolves, which was a good thing, my foster father had told me often enough, since I sure had a talent for enraging them.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“There's something really disturbing about finding out how little you really know about something you felt like you were an expert on.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“You’re a werewolf,” said Nemane. “Samuel Cornick.” There was a pause. “The Marrok is Bran Cornick.” I kept my gaze on Samuel. “I was just explaining to Dr. Altman why it would be inadvisable for them to eliminate me even though I’m sticking my nose in their business.” Comprehension lit his eyes, which he narrowed at the fae. “Killing Mercy would be a mistake,” he growled. “My da had Mercy raised in our pack and he couldn’t love Mercy more if she were his daughter. For her he would declare open war with the fae and damned be the consequences. You can call him and ask, if you doubt my word.” I’d expected Samuel to defend me—and the fae could not afford to hurt the son of the Marrok, not unless the stakes were a lot higher. I’d counted on that to keep Samuel safe or I’d have found some way to keep him out of it. But the Marrok… I’d always thought I was an annoyance, the only one Bran couldn’t count on for instant obedience. He’d been protective, still was—but his protective instinct was one of the things that made him dominant. I’d thought I was just one more person he had to take care of. But it was as impossible to doubt the truth in Samuel’s voice as it was to believe that he’d be mistaken about Bran. I was glad that Samuel was focused on Nemane, who had risen to her feet when Samuel began speaking. While I blinked back stupid tears, she leaned on the walking stick and said, “Is that so?” “Adam Hauptman, the Columbia Basin Pack’s Alpha, has named Mercy his mate,” continued Samuel grimly. Nemane smiled suddenly, the expression flowing across her face, giving it a delicate beauty I hadn’t noticed before. “I like you,” she said to me. “You play an underhanded and subtle game—and like Coyote, you shake up the order of the world.” She laughed. “Coyote indeed. Good for you. Good for you. I don’t know what else you’ll run into—but I’ll let the Others know what they are dealing with.” She tapped the walking stick on the floor twice. Then, almost to herself, she murmured, “Perhaps…perhaps this won’t be a disaster after all.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“I grew up in Montana, where an old, unregistered rifle was worth a lot more than a new gun whose ownership could be traced. Not that the gun owners in Montana are planning on committing crimes with their unregistered guns—they just don’t like the federal government knowing their every move.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“You have a real gift for getting into trouble, don’t you? That was one thing I forgot when you left the pack.” “How is any of this my fault?” I asked hotly. He sighed. “I don’t know. Does it matter whose fault it is once you’re sitting in the middle of the frying pan?” He gave me a despairing look. “And as my father used to point out, you find your way into that frying pan way too often for it to be purely accidental.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“You need to choose,” he told me intently. “Adam or Samuel or neither. But you can’t keep them dangling.”
Adam was the Alpha of the local werewolf pack, my neighbor, and sometimes my date. Samuel was my first love, my first heartbreak, and currently my roommate. Just my roommate—though he’d like to be more.
I didn’t trust either of them. Samuel’s easygoing exterior masked a patient and ruthless predator. And Adam . . . well, Adam just flat scared me. And I was very much afraid that I loved them both.
“I know.”
Warren dropped his eyes from mine, a sure sign he was uncomfortable. “I didn’t brush my teeth with gunpowder this morning so I could go shooting my mouth off, Mercy, but this is serious. I know it’s been difficult, but you can’t have two dominant werewolves after the same woman without bloodshed. I don’t know any other wolves who could have allowed you as much leeway as they have, but one of them is going to break soon.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“He took two quick steps forward, wrapped a hand around the back of my neck, and held me for his kiss. I hadn’t expected it—not while he was still so close to changing. I’m sure that’s why I didn’t pull out of his hold.
The first touch of his lips was soft, tentative, asking where his hands had demanded. The man was diabolical. I could have resisted force, but the question of his kiss was an entirely different matter.
I leaned into him because he asked with the light touch and the gentle withdrawal of his lips that begged me to follow where he led. The heat of his body, welcome in the over-cooled house, rewarded me as I leaned closer to him, as did the hard planes of his body, so I was drawn to press even tighter against him.
He danced like that, too. Leading instead of pulling. It had to have been deliberate, something he worked at, because he was as dominant as they came—Alphas are. But Adam was more than just dominant: he was smart, too. And he didn’t play fair.
Which is how he ended up against the wall with me plastered all over him when someone . . . Darryl, quietly cleared his throat.
I jerked free and hopped back to the middle of the hallway. “I’ll just get Jesse’s clothes now,” I told the carpet on the floor and then took my red face into Jesse’s room and shut the door. I didn’t mind getting caught kissing, but that had been a lot more carnal than a kiss.
Sometimes good hearing isn’t a blessing.
“Sorry,” Daryl said, though his voice carried more amusement than apology.
“I bet,” growled Adam. “Damn it. This has got to stop.”
Darryl gave a full-throated laugh that lasted quite a while. I’d never heard him laugh like that. Darryl was pretty uptight usually.
“Sorry,” he said again, sounding more apologetic this time. “Looked to me like you’d rather it not stop.”
“Yeah.” Adam sounded tired. “I should have gone after her a long time ago.”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed

“gyre”
― Patricia Briggs, Iron Kissed