The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie Quotes

“We don't fit in, you and me," he said. "We're both oddities no one knows what to do with. But we fit together." He took her hand, pressed her palm to his, then laced their fingers through each other's. "We fit.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“Ian closed his eyes. Beth watched emotions flicker across his face, the uncertainty, the stubbornness, the raw pain he’d lived with for so long. He didn’t always know how to express his emotions, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel them deeply.
When Ian slowly opened his eyes, he guided his gaze directly to Beth’s. His golden eyes shimmered and sparkled, pupils ringed with green. He held her gaze steadily, not blinking, or shifting away.
“I love you,” he said.
Beth caught her breath, and sudden tears blurred her vision.
“Love you,” Ian repeated. His gaze bore into hers harder than Hart’s ever could hope to. “Love you, love you, love you, love you, love you, love you…”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“Is this what love feels like?" he whispered to her. "I don't like it, my Beth. It hurts too much.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“I do not think of him as Lord Ian Mackenzie, aristocratic brother of a duke and well beyond my reach; not as the Mad Mackenzie, an eccentric people stare at and whisper about.

To me, he is simply Ian.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“Ian cupped her chin and turned her face up to his. Then he did what he’d been practicing since the night on the train – he looked her fully in the eyes.
He couldn’t always do it. Sometimes his gaze simply refused to obey, and he’d turn away with a growl. But more and more he’d been able to focus directly on her. Ian’s eyes were beautiful, even more so when his pupils widened with desire. “Have I told you today that I love you?” he asked. “A few dozen times. Not that I mind.”
As a young woman who’d been starved for love much of her life, Beth lapped up Ian’s generous outpouring of the words. He’d surprise her with them, catching her as she walked down the hall, pushing her up against a wall, breathing, “I love you.” Or he’d tickle her awake and tell her while she tried to hit him with a pillow. The best was when he lay against her in the dark, fingers tracing her body. She treasured his whispered, “I love you.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“Stay with me.”
“We’re married,” she whispered. “Of course I’ll stay.”
“You could decide to leave me.”
“I won’t.” “Promise me.”
“I have promised. I do promise.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“Because when I look at you, I forget everything. I lose all track of what I’m saying or doing. I can see only your eyes.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“Beth stared at the bowl, a fragile piece of the past, such a delicate object in Ian’s large, blunt fingers. “Are you certain?”
“Of course I’m certain.” His frown returned. “Do you not want it?”
“I do want it,” Beth said hastily. She held her hands out for it. “I’m honored.” The frown faded, to be replaced by a slight quirk of his lips.
“Is it better than a new carriage and horses and a dozen frocks?”
“What are you talking about? It’s a hundred times better.”
“It’s only a bowl.”
“It’s special to you, and you gave it to me.” Beth took it carefully and smiled at the dragons chasing one another in eternal determination. “It’s the best gift in the world.”
Ian took it gently back from her and replaced it in its slot. That made sense; in here it would stay safe and unbroken.
But the kiss Ian gave her after that was anything but sensible. It was wicked and bruising, and she had no idea why he smiled so triumphantly.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“...Illegitimate children can be left money, but they can't inherit the peerage."
"You wouldn't want it," Cameron put in. "More trouble than it's worth. And for God's sake, don't murder Hart or I'm next.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“Why is she so stubborn? And disobedient?” Cameron barked a laugh. “Because Mackenzies always choose headstrong women. You didn’t really expect her to obey you, did you? No matter what the marriage vows say?”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“Explain to me what loving feels like, Beth. I want to understand.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“My Beth,” he whispered, his breath hot on her swollen lips. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Beth couldn’t stop crying, but she smiled, her face aching with it.

“Setting me free.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“He pulled her close. "Your being with me makes it stop. It's like the Ming bowls - when I touch them and feel them, everything stops. You are the same. That is why I brought you here, to keep you with me, where you can please make...everything...stop.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“This was too absurd, and at the same time dismayingly tempting.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“I'm not a bloodhound, your lordships."
"Woof, woof," Cameron said, giving Fellows an evil grin. "Good dog.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“She heard the echoes of Ian’s screams in her head. Beth pressed her forehead to his hands, her heart wrenching. Ian’s hands were large, sinews hard under his kid-leather gloves. Yes, he was strong. In the Tuileres Gardens, it had taken both Mac and Curry to pull him away from Fellows. That didn’t mean others could try to tear at that strength, try to defeat him. The doctors in the horrible asylum had done it, and now Fellows was trying to.
I’m falling in love with you, she wanted to say into their clasped hands. Do you mind awfully?”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“I have a question to ask you.” Beth stretched one arm across the back of the seat, hoping she looked provocative. “And what is that, husband?” Ian leaned down, his body hemming her in. His large fists rested on the seat back behind her. “Do I love you?”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“she liked to laugh that a young widow who'd just come into a good fortune must be, to misquote Jane Austen, in want of a husband.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“When you love, especially with your heart, it comes upon you so fast, you don't have time to resist.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“All of us are mad in some way,” Ian said. “I have a memory that won’t let go of details. Hart is obsessed with politics and money. Cameron is a genius with horses, and Mac paints like a god. You find out details on your cases that others miss. You are obsessed with justice and getting everything you think is coming to you. We all have our madness. Mine is just the most obvious.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“Don't hunger for what you can't have, she admonished herself. Take pleasure in what you can. Such thoughts had got her through the worst days.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“You didn’t want Mather to have the bowls, and you didn’t want him to have me.” He stared a moment. Then he leaned to her, suddenly fierce. “When I saw you, I knew I had to take you away from him. He had no idea what you were worth, just like he can’t price the damn bowls. He’s a philistine.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“Call me Beth, please,” she said. “I am no longer Mrs. Ackerley and have become, to our mutual astonishment, your sister.” Hart”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“Do you mind my madness? Even if you’re right that I can contain the rages, I will always be mad. I won’t get better.” “I know.” Beth snuggled against his chest. “It’s part of the very intriguing package that is Ian Mackenzie.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“She was his lover. Beth laughed for the delight of it. Being with Ian was decidedly unrespectable, and she felt freer than she'd ever felt in her life. Under him, she could spread her wings.
Beth laughed again. She was spreading herself as far as she could. Ian's eyes were closed, his face twisted in pleasure. His thrusts accelerated, his hips pounding as if it were the last coupling he'd ever have.
He drove her into the mattress, his body heavy on hers, his sweat dripping onto her skin. Rain streamed against the windows, and a boom of thunder swallowed Beth's sudden cry of ecstasy.
Ian shouted, not waiting for thunder.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“The man who couldn’t look anyone in the eyes was making himself do it, no matter what the pain. He was giving her a gift, the greatest one he could, straight from his heart.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“Beth ached where they joined. The friction burned on her petals too long untouched, fire that made her want to open her legs wide. She did, sliding her feet on the covers, letting her hips arch upward.
"Do you feel it?" Ian asked.
A dozen phrases went through Beth's head, but she gasped out, "Yes."
"Your cunny is tight, my Beth. Squeezing me so hard." He smiled when he said it, feral and raw.
No man had ever done bawdy talk with her. Game girls had told her of it, but she'd never dreamed she'd hear it hot in her ear, spoken by a beautiful man.
"Squeeze me some more, love," he murmured. "You feel so damn good."
"Good," Beth echoed. She tightened her muscles, and he groaned.
He felt good. All full and hard and moving inside her.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“A safe harbor. In the turmoil of her life, she’d known so few of them.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“—Algunas veces me siento sobrepasado. Intentar entender lo que dice la gente, tratar de recordar todo lo que se supone que debo hacer para parecer normal, es difícil para mí. A veces las reglas son demasiado duras. Así que me voy por un tiempo.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

“Beth knew in that instant that she was not a true lady, and never would be. A true lady would have fallen out of her chair in a gentle swoon or screamed down the opera house. Instead, Beth leaned into Ian’s touch, liking it.”
― Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie