Broken Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac, #4)

by Caroline Peckham

“Watch out boys,” he said as he leaned back in his chair. “I think we’ve just let a Lion into the pride instead of a Lioness and if we’re not careful, she’ll be crowning herself king before we know it.”

“You think a month would be long enough to get over you, bella?” he asked, the rich, deep tone of his voice sending a shiver down my spine as delicious as tasting sin itself. “A month is nothing, a year even less, a lifetime wouldn’t be long enough to remove the mark you’ve placed on my heart. So no, it’s not enough time, amore mio, but it’s too long all the same.”

"Mi manchi come al sole mancano tutte le stelle e la luna quando affonda oltre l'orizzonte,"

Everything in life is about balance. Without pain, we cannot know pleasure, without sadness, we cannot appreciate joy. These equilibriums are what make the universe move forever forward. Without them, life would be static."

“There is only one person who can run rings around a king, Elise,” he said slowly. “Let alone four of them at once.” “Oh yeah?” I joked. “And who’s that?” “A queen. So maybe it’s time you started thinking about what good you want to do now that you’ve been crowned.”

“It would be easier to give up breathing than you, Ryder,”

“Bite me, baby,” Ryder commanded. “I can’t figure out what to do about this right now. I’d rather get my pain from your teeth than your lips tonight.”

I wasn't going to make anyone happy unless I knew how to be happy myself.

Two flames, one anchor. You'll find them when they need you most.

"I need you all, you feed different parts of my soul, but that doesn’t mean I care for any of you any less."

“Stop looking at me like you want to eat me, bella, that just makes it harder to resist you,” he teased.

"No, bella. You're a queen among men and the sooner you realise that the better. Haven't you noticed how easily you make men worship you? There's magic in you more powerful than the stars themselves."

you have a way of seeing the man instead of the monster, amore mio. It's one of the things I like best about you and hate the most too." "Why do you hate it?" I teased, turning to look over my shoulder at him. "Because, you use it to see me, but you use it to see Ryder too. And if I have to believe that there is enough worth looking for in myself then I have to admit that that could be the case for him. Even if it's hard to picture most of the time."

"You know you don't have to be with me, right? Not if you don't want to be. You can crack and shatter and break and I’ll hold you through it all until you're ready to build yourself back up again. You can lean on me, rely on me, ask anything of me that you need and I'll be there to offer it up."

"I thrive on pain, baby. I've been gutted and flayed and burned, and none of it has compared to the agony I've been in over losing you."

"I spent years in the dark, living in an endless expanse of emptiness. Where I felt nothing but the words I branded on my knuckles. I thought I was broken, but maybe my soul was just lying dormant, stopping me from experiencing anything good in this fucked up world. But you’ve awakened me, Elise, and I can't go back to sleep."

"I'll always be a monster, baby. I'll be the reason Fae lock their doors at night in Alestria, I am branded on the inside of my enemies' skulls and my name will always strike fear into their hearts. But I will also be your monster, if you'll have me. If you deem me worthy. I don't have much to give but a blackened heart and a tarnished soul, but they're yours because...” I took a breath and expelled my deepest truth, “I love you."

Your pain is my pain, your joy is mine too. I don't have to know why you're feeling it to experience it with you. You're a part of our pride and even if you are more Lion than Lioness half the time, it’s the job of the males in the pride to make sure the females are always content and happy. It hurts me to see you hurting. And it hurts Leon even more, which is why he hatched this hairbrained scheme of his."

Some loves leave a scar on your heart which you never want to heal.