Linda Howard Quotes & Sayings

Do you want romantic? I can try. I'm more of a see-it, want-it, go-for-it type of guy, and I did: see you, want you, go for you. Her — Linda Howard

Do you want to know why men name their penis? So the most important decisions in their life aren't made by a stranger. — Linda Howard

Sweeney: I can just see all you tough young soldiers cuddling together.
Richard: Not cuddling, huddling. There's a difference. — Linda Howard

She should have remembered her past experiences in the relationship wars and not let herself get so excited. Evidently her hormones had overruled her common sense and she had become drunk on ovarian wine, the most potent, sanity- destroying substance in the universe. — Linda Howard

Not so wide that a woman would feel as if she might fall in, and not so small it looked as if he'd just sucked a lemon like Ronald Trump's, or whatever his name was. All in all, Richard's lips looked just right. — Linda Howard

Hurry," Hector urged, and his voice changed as his power surged, his tone and cadence sliding into the rhythm that said he was seeing the future. "Battle is in the air. I smell it. I can almost touch it. Death is coming Death is coming for us." With a click, the call disconnected. — Linda Howard

I loved you when you were a snot-nosed kid, into so much mischief
it's a wonder my hair didn't turn prematurely gray. I loved you when you
were a teenager with long, skinny legs and eyes that broke my heart
every time I looked at you. I love you now that you're a woman who
makes my brain go soft, my legs go weak, and my dick get hard. When
you walk into a room, my heart damn near jumps out of my chest. When
you smile, I feel as if I've won a Nobel Prize. And your eyes still
break my heart. — Linda Howard

Orgasms, for her, had been what she faked with a man and provided herself when she was alone, — Linda Howard

I read somewhere that flying is like throwing your soul into the heavens and racing to catch it as it falls."
"I don't think mine would ever fall," he murmured, looking at the clear cold sky. — Linda Howard

I told you, we haven't had sex! It was just a kiss. Like the Viper was just a car, and Mount
Everest was just a hill. — Linda Howard

He was silent a moment; then he said, "I want a drink of water."
She almost laughed aloud, because it was such a mundane request that could have been made of anyone, but then she saw the tension in his jaw and lips and realized that, again, he was checking out his condition, and he wanted her with him. She turned to the small Styrofoam pitcher that was kept full of crushed ice, which she used to keep his lips moist. The ice had melted enough that she was able to pour the glass half full of water. She stuck a straw into it and held it to his lips.
Gingerly he sucked the liquid into his mouth and held it for a moment, as if letting it soak into his membranes. Then, slowly, he swallowed, and after a minute he relaxed. "Thank God," he muttered hoarsely. "My throat still feel swollen. I wasn't sure I could swallow, and I sure as hell didn't want that damned tube back."
Behind Jay, Frank turned a smothered laugh into a cough.
"Anything else?" she asked.
"Yes. Kiss me. — Linda Howard

Everything feels like the end of the world, and you can't reason with someone who can't see tomorrow. — Linda Howard

She was flustered; he could see it in the
way she kept twisting her fingers together. Did she think he was going to throw her down
on the seat and rape her? After all, he was a renegade Indian, and capable of anything.
Then again, the way she looked, maybe this was the most excitement she'd ever had. — Linda Howard

I have a blanket behind the seat, a thick wool one. We can cuddle on the bleachers, and with the blanket wrapped around us no one will know if I sneak a feel every now and then."
"I'll know."
"God, I hope so. If you don't, then I've either lost my touch or my aim. — Linda Howard

Cows are the Devil's handmaidens. — Linda Howard

Blake filled her world. The sweaty male scent of him was in her nostrils, the slippery texture of his hot skin under her hands; the unbearably erotic taste of his mouth lay sweetly on her tongue. At some unknown point his kisses had slipped past celebration and become intensely male, demanding, giving, thrilling. Perhaps they'd never been celebration kisses at all, she thought fuzzily.
Suddenly he removed his mouth from hers and buried his face in the curve of her neck. When he spoke his voice was shaky, but husky with an undertone of laughter. "Have you noticed how much time we spend rolling around on the floor? — Linda Howard

You remember the 'be quiet' part of the rules? Embrace it. — Linda Howard

I have a real low tolerance for parasites, and you're so close to the limit that I'm already reaching for the flea powder. — Linda Howard

You found a pen?" "No, but I have a can of Cheez Whiz. I'll write your number on the counter with it, then find a pen and copy it. — Linda Howard

She glanced at her watch. He'd been massaging his legs for half an hour. "I think that's enough," she said firmly. "Don't you want to go back to bed?"
He straightened up in the wheelchair and his teeth flashed in a grin. "Baby, I'm so tired of that bed, the only way you could get me back in it would be if you crawled in there with me. — Linda Howard

Unfortunately, what should or should not be had no relation to what was. — Linda Howard

You can't miss what you've never had. — Linda Howard

I have brain damage, remember? I'm not responsible for my actions
or for the actions of my hand, which acted of its own volition and without my knowledge.' Cam to Bailey — Linda Howard

She glared down at the pan. And then she kicked it. The first kick sent it tumbling a couple of feet; something black and gooey came out. The second kick got better distance, maybe because it wasn't as heavy now. Evidently unsatisfied, she advanced on one of the pickups and grabbed a hammer from the back. Going down on one knee, she swung the hammer for all she was worth and beat the hell out of that pan, then she got up and kicked it one more time for good measure.
"Damn," Walt muttered. "I'm not ever going to say a single bad thing about her cooking.
"Yeah," Eli muttered in return. "No matter what it is, I'll eat it or die. Even that cake."
"More like, eat it and die," Patrick put in. — Linda Howard

A thousand thoughts ran through my mind. Well, at least six or seven, anyway, because a thousand thoughts are a lot. Try counting your own thoughts and see how long it takes you to get to a thousand. — Linda Howard

Hormones were as potent as whiskey, and twice as sneaky. — Linda Howard

She whimpered softly into his mouth. "We can't," she cried, desperation and desire tearing her apart.
"The hell we can't," he rasped, taking her hand and moving it down his body to where his flesh strained at the fabric of his pants. Her fingers jerked at the contact: then a spasm of pain crossed her pale face, and her hand lingered involuntarily, exploring the dimensions of his arousal. He caught his breath. "Jay, baby, don't' stop me now! — Linda Howard

You should've come with me. Had fun, lots of fun." The last sentence was deep with sensuality. "You don't know what you're missin', Faithie."

"Then I don't miss it, do I?" Faith whispered, and Jodie giggled. — Linda Howard

[ ... ] You didn't think I'd let the backstabbing little hussy get away with it, did you? Not that I don't love Jenni, but she's the baby of the family, and she thinks she should get anything and everything she wants. Occasionally she has to be shown differently. — Linda Howard

If death turned out to be a lack of being rather than a lack of consciousness, well, then, that sucked. — Linda Howard

Her lips parted slightly in a smile so female it took his breath away, and her deep blue eyes beckoned him, dared him. Once again her hips lifted. "What are you waiting for?" she breathed.
"For you," he answered, and even as he lost himself in the mindless ecstasy of making love to her, the truth of that remained. He'd waited for her forever. — Linda Howard

That was the thing about cats; even the scruffiest one was convinced of its innate superiority. — Linda Howard

If your hero is a firefighter, your heroine better be an arsonist. — Linda Howard

He unsnapped her jeans and said, "I want you just like this." Then he kissed her.
There was nothing romantic about Diaz, no murmured sweet things, no gallant gestures, just this kiss that went on and on, deep and voracious. She'd never been kissed like this before, with an intensity that stripped everything down to the simplest components: male, female. He held her with his hand burrowed into her hair, her skull gripped in his palm, her head tilted back while he fed from her mouth. That was what it felt like, a taking. And yet he gave, too. He gave pleasure. She burned with it, the flames fueled by nothing more than his mouth and tongue. — Linda Howard

She wasn't ready to give her real name to anyone, not until she knew exactly how Brad had found her the last time. Now that she didn't trust Kat; she'd simply learned that she really couldn't be too careful. Her gaze scanned the counter. A few feet away was a full bottle of ketchup, and inspiration struck. "Hunt," she said swiftly. "Carlin Hunt."
Kat snorted as she ended the handshake. "Well, at least you didn't look at the floor and tell me your last name was Linoleum."
Caught. — Linda Howard

So do I, Mrs. Hardy. Six o'clock, then. — Linda Howard

Sudden, hell. I've been hard for two months. — Linda Howard

I'm not good at games, Robert. Don't kiss me unless it's for read. Don't come around unless you mean to stay."

"Do you mean marriage?" he asked coolly, his expressive eyebrows lifting.

..."if you're looking for a summer affair, I'm not your woman."

His mouth twisted as an unreadable expression crossed his face. "Oh, but you are. You just haven't admitted it to yourself yet. — Linda Howard

Honey, the only experts in PMS are men. That's why men are so good at fighting wars; they learned Escape and Evade at home. — Linda Howard

I'll tell you what's wrong!" he roared, "I'm trying to quit smoking!" Then he strode angrily to the truck, leaving her standing there.
She blinked her eyes, and slowly a smile stretched her lips. She strolled to the truck and got in. "So, are you homicidal or merely as irritable as a wounded buffalo?"
"About halfway in between," he said through clenched teeth.
"Anything I can do to help?"
His eyes were narrow and intense. "It isn't just the cigarettes. Take off your panties and lock your legs around me, and I'll show you. — Linda Howard

Then I added a dash of salt, which counteracts the natural bitterness of coffee, — Linda Howard

Jina Matthews, who worked at the cubicle directly beside Carlin's, wasn't having a good way, either. She was on her phone, her expression tense. She and her boyfriend had been fighting a lot lately, and it looked as if Jina was at the end of her rope. She said a few choice words, then thumbed a button on her phone. Looking across the aisle at Carlin, she made a wry face.
"It was so much more satisfying when you could slam a phone down. Pushing a button just doesn't have the same gratification factor." Her phone, set to vibrate, buzzed around on the desk as another call came in. Jina picked it up, looked at the caller ID, and jabbed the button again. "Unless it's the off button." She leaned forward and spoke to the silent phone. "Call all you want, jackass. I can't hear you," she said in a singsong falsetto. — Linda Howard

She had always enjoyed her sense of being alone, envisioning herself as a ball that rolled through life, bumping into other lives but not stopping. — Linda Howard

excitement of it. He'd been the golden boy, — Linda Howard

Oh, is that what's in the box? You threw my engagement ring at me? — Linda Howard

A village somewhere was missing it's idiot. — Linda Howard

Nice is good. It doesn't sound exciting, but think about it. I think Mr. Perfect would be kind to kids and animals, help old ladies across the street, not insult you when your opinion is different from his. Being nice is so important it's close to being number one. — Linda Howard

REQUIRED TO TAKE A COMBINATION OF GINKGO AND VIAGRA, SO YOU CAN REMEMBER WHAT THE FUCK YOU'RE DOING. — Linda Howard

Why is it when a man gets mad, he's aaangry, but when a woman gets mad, it's just a tantrum? She paused, struck by what he'd said. — Linda Howard

You guys take over while I go put on a shirt."
Mrs. Kulavich had edged close enough to hear him. She beamed at him. "Don't bother on my
account," she said. "Sadie!" Mr. Kulavich said in rebuke.
"Oh, hush, George! I'm old, not dead!"
"I'll remind you of that the next time I want to watch the Playboy Channel," he growled. — Linda Howard

Anything over eight is strictly for show-and-tell — Linda Howard

Was the period of happiness worth the unhappiness that followed a breakup? Most people seemed to think so, because they got on the love train time and time again. — Linda Howard

Plans?" he snorted. "I'm ninety-three years old! Who in tarnation makes plans at my age? I could stop breathin' any minute now. — Linda Howard

It was amazing how flowers could grow in the damnedest places, but the Devlin weed patch had sprouted quite a wildflower in Faith. — Linda Howard

I don't have casual sex," she said.

He almost smiled. It was merely an expression in those pale eyes, rather than an actual movement of his mouth. "My dear, I promise you there wouldn't be anything casual about it. — Linda Howard

The old ladies were dressing up, she thought; the clouds draped around the mountains' shoulders like a dirty boa, with the snowcaps jutting above and the broad green bases below. — Linda Howard

I thought you were a drunk."
"A drunk?"
"Bloodshot eyes, dirty clothes, getting home in the wee hours of the morning, making a lot of
noise, grouchy all the time as if you had a hangover ... what else was I to think?"
He rubbed his face. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking. I should have showered, shaved, and dressed in a
suit before I came out to tell you that you were making enough noise to raise the dead. — Linda Howard

God, I love you," he said, and laid his head on her belly, his arms locked around her hips.
Madelyn slid her fingers into his hair.
"It took you long enough," she said gently.
"What I lack in quickness, I make up in staying power."
"Meaning?"
"That I'll still be telling you that fifty years from now." He paused and turned his head to
kiss her stomach. — Linda Howard

He lifted the arm covering his eyes and turned his head to glare at her. "I knew you were trouble the first time I saw you."
"What do you mean, trouble?" She sat up, glaring back at him. "I am not trouble! I'm a very nice person except when I have to deal with jerks!"
"You're the worst kind of trouble," he snapped. "You're marrying trouble. — Linda Howard

Do you know why men name their cocks?"
"No, why?" she asked, trying to stifle her laughter.
"So most of the major decisions in their lives won't be made by a total stranger. — Linda Howard

You don't just... just float someone in the air like that!" she shouted, so beside herself she was almost frenzied.
"Why? Is there some human law against it? — Linda Howard

Women, music, beer, and pie. Rurik, you're just an all-American guy. — Linda Howard

She started to tell him so, but the words vanished
unsaid when he abruptly thrust his hands under her skirt, all the way to her waist. Mary
gave a startled shriek and jerked back, almost oversetting the chair. He glared at her, his
eyes like black ice.
"You don't have to worry," he snapped. "This is Saturday. I only rape on Tuesdays and
Thursdays. — Linda Howard

A small village lay just over the farthest hill. When he had to feed, he went there. And when he left after feeding, the people he'd met, even those he'd fed upon, immediately forgot he'd been there at all. Every time he entered the village, the residents greeted him as a new visitor. That was his power, his curse, his salvation; no one remembered him. — Linda Howard

Chloe put aside worries about her job, her life, and turned to face him. "Sex can't be the answer to everything," she said as she draped her arms around his strong neck.
He bent his head to hers. "For now, it can," he said and kissed her. — Linda Howard

He supposed he knew, rationally, that she wasn't the prettiest woman in the world, but if his eyes saw any imperfections, his heart didn't care. — Linda Howard

Oh, Jesus," he said, wheezing with the effort it took to control
himself. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "You little
innocent. I'm fluent in French, but it isn't my first language." It
was plain by the mortified expression in those green eyes that she
didn't understand, so he explained. "Baby , if I can still think
clearly enough to speak French, then I'm not totally involved in
what I'm doing. It may sound pretty , but it doesn't mean
any thing. Men are different from women; the more excited we are,
the more like cavemen we sound. I could barely speak English with
you, much less French. As I remember, my vocabulary
deteriorated to a few short, explicit words, 'fuck' being the most
prominent."
To his amazement, she blushed, and he smiled at this further
evidence of her charming prudery. "Go to sleep," he said gently.
"Lindsey didn't even rate a replay. — Linda Howard

He stood looking down at her for a moment, then walked to the window and raised it. "Let's let the storm in," he said, and then it was with them, filling the half-dark room with sound and vibration. The rain-chilled air washed over her, cool and fresh on her heated skin. She sighed, the small sound drowned out by the din of thunder and rain.
There by the window, with the dim grey light outlining the bulge and plane of powerful muscle, Wolf removed his wet clothing. — Linda Howard

As the morning wore on, she was grateful — Linda Howard

Jay stepped into the room, and for a split second both her heart and lungs seemed to stop functioning. Then her heart lurched into rhythm again, and she drew a deep, painful breath. Tears sprang to her eyes as she stared at the inert form on the white hospital bed, and his name trembled soundlessly on her lips. It didn't seem possible that this ... this could be Steve. — Linda Howard

Love by itself isn't enough; it's never enough. There had to be other things, such as liking and respect, or love would get worn away by the realities of everyday life. — Linda Howard

Calmly, deliberately, he moved his hands down to her breasts and molded his fingers over them. Jay inhaled sharply, and he said, "Easy, easy," as he stroked the soft mounds.
"Steve, no." But her eyes were closing as warm pleasure built in her, her blood beating slowly and powerfully through her veins. His thumbs rubbed over her nipples and she quivered, her breasts beginning to tighten.
"You're so soft." His voice roughened even more. "God, how I've wanted to touch you. Come here, sweetheart. — Linda Howard

Just as he'd done to her, she slowly moved up and down, caressing him with her body, drawing out his response. He ground his teeth together, fighting not to come when she was just as determined he would.
Frustrated, she wondered why he was holding back - until she heard herself moan, and realized the friction was working on her, too.
The battle there in the shower was in close-combat conditions. With the clinging grip of her body she tried to wring a climax from him, locking her legs around him and pumping hard. He slowed her down with that one arm around her hips, grinding her against him and sending her response rocketing. — Linda Howard

She had learned never to look back, never to give fate a second chance to kick her in the teeth. — Linda Howard

He had destroyed her, so why couldn't she destroy him in return? — Linda Howard

because there may be a few coincidences in life, but none in crime. Everything has a motive. — Linda Howard

He snorted. "They were probably scared."
"Scared!" For some reason, that hurt, just a little. She felt her lower lip wobble. "I'm not that bad, am I?"
"Worse," he said cheerfully. "You're hell on wheels. You're just lucky I like hot rods — Linda Howard

An accident of birth had signed her death warrant.
He could mark her name off his to-do list. — Linda Howard

It takes strength to participate in life. — Linda Howard

Death isn't peaceful; it is just nothing. Everything is gone. No more sunrises, no more hopes, no more fears. Nothing. — Linda Howard

Minor detail. I'm going to kiss you, Marlie - "
"I'll bite you again," she swiftly warned.
He shrugged. "I always have had more guts than sense," he said, and very gently brushed her mouth with
his. — Linda Howard

I personally don't think a woman should ever live with a man unless they're married. I guess there are some really great guys out there who wouldn't take advantage of having a live-in cook and maid, but guess how those arrangements usually turn out? — Linda Howard

Chloe said the first thing that popped into her head., "I don't sleep with dead guys..."
Luca gave her an amused look. "Good. I'm not dead. Never have been.... I'm immortal. — Linda Howard

Sign by elevator put up by computer geeks in office building: REMEMBER: FIRST YOU PILAGE, THEN YOU BURN. THOSE WHO DO NOT COMPLY WILL BE SUSPENDED FROM THE RAIDING TEAM. In Mr Perfect — Linda Howard

Don't kiss me," she said warningly.
"I don't intend to," he replied, smiling a little. "I don't have my whip and chair with me. — Linda Howard

The only choice you have right now is the color you want the house painted, and your choices are white and white." She was yelling by the time she finished, her face flushed. — Linda Howard

It's not the heat," came his return mutter. "It's a critical buildup of sperm". — Linda Howard

Payback was always hell, wasn't it? — Linda Howard

Well, you've done it now," was her sisterly
opening shot.
Jaine rubbed between her eyebrows; a definite headache was forming. After the exchange with
David, she waited to see where this one was going.
"I won't be able to hold up my head in church."
"Really? Oh, Shelley, I'm so sorry," Jaine said sweetly. "I didn't realize you have the dreaded
Limp Neck disease. When were you diagnosed? — Linda Howard

Just how many pairs of black shoes do you need?" he finally asked, staring at them lined up on the floor. Okay, shoes aren't a laughing matter. I gave him a cool stare. "One pair more than I have." "Then why didn't you get them?" "Because I would still need one pair more than I have. — Linda Howard

You don't have any brain damage. Any. Not even minimal. So now I have to believe in miracles, because you're a living, breathing, walking, talking miracle, and that means there's something else out there after all of this, isn't there?"
A luminous smile spread across her face. "Yes," she said simply.
'Then get used to it, sweetheart, because the miracle has a permanent bodyguard. — Linda Howard

Are you making fun of my hero complex?'

Yeah. — Linda Howard

What is it about having a period that makes women so bitchy?" I paused for a moment, struggling against the urge to leap on him and tear him limb from limb. For one thing, I love him. Even when he's being an asshole, I love him. For another, any attempt to leap and tear right now would hurt me way worse than I could possibly hurt him. It was an effort, but I said as sweetly as possible, "It isn't that we're bitchier, it's that having a period makes us feel all tired and achy, so we have less tolerance for all the bullshit we normally SUFFER IN SILENCE." By the time the sentence ended the sweetness was long gone, my jaw was clenched, and I think my eyes were bugging out. — Linda Howard

She didn't want to handle him. She didn't want anything to do with him - this man with his cold, intense eyes and clipped speech, this stranger, this Yankee. He made her feel like a rabbit facing a cobra: terrified, but fascinated at the same time. He tried to hide his ruthlessness behind smooth, cosmopolitan manners, but Evie had no doubts about the real nature of the man.

He wanted her. He intended to have her. And he wouldn't care if he destroyed her in the taking. — Linda Howard

You're a demon, you know that?" he said with feeling. "When your feet hit the floor every morning, I'll bet the devil shudders and says 'Oh shit, she's awake'" Cael to Jenner — Linda Howard

She felt both relaxed and protected with him, at least from outside forces. Nothing, it seemed, could protect her from him, and tonight she wasn't even certain she wanted to be. Claimed, and mated. She was his, but was he hers? And if he was, what in hell did they do about it?
"I don't even know what you want," she said fretfully, beginning to lose herself in rising sensation.
"This," he muttered in a dark, rough tone. "You.
Everything. — Linda Howard

I'll be on another case soon. You won't need me anymore. You'll be walking, though I think you should wait a while before climbing another mountain."

"You're my therapist," Blake snapped.

Dione gave a little laugh. "For months you've depended on me more than any other person in your life. Your perspective is distorted now.
Believe me, by the time I've been gone a month, you won't even think about me."

'Do you mean you'd just turn your back on me and walk away?" he asked disbelievingly. — Linda Howard

I'm calling the police," she said, showing him the phone in her hand.
He smiled, and for a moment she forgot about the phone. "You don't need the police."
No, of course she didn't How silly. — Linda Howard

When we're married and he looks at me sitting beside him at the table, he should feel as if he's fought a great battle and accomplished something - namely, winning me. He'll treasure me more. I like being treasured. — Linda Howard

Carlin closed her eyes, rolled onto her side, and took a long, deep breath. Maybe she should just stop fighting it and arguing with herself, and deal with reality. So, she had the hots for her boss. It wasn't as if she could act on the attraction. The tingles and the butterfly stomach and the twitches in a place she'd thought would be twitch-free forever should serve as a reminder that her life wasn't over. He'd tried, but Brad hadn't taken everything from her. On the other hand, because of him she couldn't act on the attraction, and she hoped he burned in hell. — Linda Howard