Status Updates From Timeless (Stolen Brides #4)

"His gaze roved over the masculine garb she still wore, in a way that stole her breath."

"Violence of any kind, for any reason, is strictly forbidden among us. The sort of killing and mayhem that occur every day in your world are unknown."

"Josette and Keldan had barely noticed when she and Hauk left them. The young couple had been too busy celebrating their reunion. Which might take the rest of the night. And Avril did not want to steal one moment of their happiness. Even if it meant being stranded out here with Hauk until morning."

"As the lavender light of evening slowly gave way to darkness, she looked down at the icy water lapping around her bare toes."

"She touched his face and spoke to him in Norse. Keldan uttered a shout of relief and joy, wrapping his arms around her in a fierce hug. He said something to Hauk, his tone one of gratitude, before burying his face in Josette's dark hair."

"Keldan wanted to marry the most special one he could find. A woman who would touch his heart. A woman with 'sparks and liveliness'...the moment he set eyes on you, he knew you were the one. All he wants is to live in that vaningshus he built in the meadow and make you happy all the days of your life. And raise a little carpenter or two."

So he is 300 years old and she is 22....

"Smiling, Keldan sighed dreamily. 'Hauk, she told me she loves me.'"

"'That is the reputation our raiding ancestors earned for us...but most of our people lived as peaceful farmers or craftsmen. And for all the Norsemen who went abroad in search of plunder, others went in search of trade and new sea routes and new lands."

"Outside, the bright sunlight dazzled his eyes, and the sound of the surf and seabirds made it seem deceptively like any other idyllic, tranquil Asgard morning."

"Josette did not want to leave. No matter how I tried to reason with her, she would not come with me. She...' Avril glanced at Keldan. 'She refused to leave him. I think she is in love with him.'"

Keldan assuming Josette is missing because he scared her off

"'Mayhap she left me...Mayhap I frightened her in the meadow yesterday. It may have been too soon for her. Mayhap she is hiding from me."

"'I for one have no desire to end my days as a wolf's toothsome tidbit.'"

"'Do not try to change my mind. I have always allowed others to make my choice for me. For once, I...' her voice faltered, then grew stronger. 'I am making a decision for myself. I want to stay here, with Keldan.'"

“Her senses danced like the leaves overhead, warmed by the sun, by his caress, by the yearning in his voice that so matched the feeling inside her…the word for home sounded rather like the word for heart.”

“His dark eyes held as much gentleness as his touch.”

“‘No one has ever made me feel special the way you do…no one ever had much time for me…I have to find out from you which direction we will have to sail…to get home.’
‘Home here now. Stay…please.’”

“This gentle Viking who liked to make furniture and hunt berries for breakfast and laugh with her beneath a sun-drenched sky.”

“There was such a playful quality about him…that hint of a smile that always curved his lips…his unfailing cheerfulness. He seemed to take such pleasure in making those around him smile.”

“Legends of Asgard men and their mates, who shared a bond so deep that they did not need words to communicate, even when distance separated them - a bond so strong they even shared the same dreams.”

“It was a shame, he thought ruefully, that she could not plunge the knife into his heart and put him out of his misery.”

“Her body veiled by a thin shift, rumpled in just the right way to reveal an enticing glimpse of pale, feminine secrets.”

“He appeared out of the night shadows, as silently as if he were made of fog and sea air.”

“She felt him lose to her sometimes, especially when she was afraid…she could reach up to the stars and he would hold her hand.”

"'It is rather hard for me to remember to be angry with people who are so kind.'" (125-126)

Love that Josette is completely won over because Keldan made a nice home for her in a nice field by the ocean and was so gentle with her and made her a giant breakfast and nice furniture. (And didn't care that she broke all the gifts he gave her previously).

Props for her getting caught in her lie so quickly, even if she does not realize it yet. I expected the lie to get drug out instead of being brought up this quickly and the full truth of it having to be faced.

....the claim holds even if they are already married.

"They were too fragile. Too rare and precious, like delicate blooms he could hold in his hands for only an instant of time. He preferred the occasional liaisons he enjoyed with Asgard women, which lasted however long he and the lady might wish."

"And when he lost her, as well, the emptiness inside him had widened and deepened, and his life was all the darker for having known even a brief touch of the sun...he had learned his lesson: it was best not to hope, not to dream of a life different from the one the gods had given him. Most of the time it was not even a struggle anymore."