The Avant-gardiste Quotes

“Danny’s brows furrowed with another scowl. “You’re so goddamn obstinate, Kate, so fuckin’ selfish. You don’t give a shit ‘bout how I feel or ‘bout how much it torments me.”
“Yes, I do,” she objected, her throat thick despite her anger. “That’s why our ways must part for a while. Because we’re both suffering. We need to be apart from each other, Danny, don’t you see?”
“You need to be apart, damn ya,” he growled, clenching his fists. “You needa get rid of me ‘cause ya don’t wanna be reminded of how ya were toyin’ with me. So your conscience won’t haunt ya, tellin’ ya that it was wrong to take advantage of my feelings as long as ya needed me.”
Katherine let out an outraged gasp.
“I never took advantage of you or toyed with you—ever! I’ve seen you as my brother. I didn’t know your feelings for me went deeper.”
Danny huffed a hard, sardonic laugh, and for a moment she felt strongly reminded of Joe.
“Don’t play innocent with me, Kate! You knew exactly what ya were doin’. All that banterin’, your enchanting smiles—. You’re a grown woman, not an inexperienced girl. You already had yasself a husband, ya know the deal.”
― Melanie Nova, The Avant-gardiste: Into the West

“Cass snorted with laughter.
“She’s a real beast with a bellyful of bedsprings. Wouldn’t wanna be the one to break her in,” he said in his thick Irish brogue. “Reminds me of that hot-blooded redhead in Omaha.” He nudged Sully with a salacious wink. “What was her name again?”
Sully chuckled. “Molly.”
“Oh yeah, Molly.” A broad grin of reminiscence showed on Cass’s face. “Was a real beauty, that one, wasn’t she? We should name this filly after her.”
“We should,” Sully agreed, scratching the adolescent red fuzz on his chin.
“Was she your horse, Cass?” Willie asked, giving the young Irishman a curious stare.
“Hmm?” Not paying the boy much attention, Cass took a long drag on his cigarette. His slanted green eyes followed the mare’s nervous movements attentively.
“Well, Molly?” Willie blinked with impatience. “Was she?”
Cass gave him a baffled look, as if he didn’t understand the question. Then, a wide grin blazed across his angular face while smoke came drifting out of his mouth.
“Yeah, she was,” he nodded, smirking, and exchanged a brief, meaningful look with Sully. “Had fire and was classy, too, like this one.”
Sully hooted with laughter, and Cass joined in.
“What happened to her?” Something was funny, but Willie didn’t grasp what it was.
Cass took another puff, then smirked again. “Well, I kinda had to get rid of her, kid. A filly like that can take ya to an early grave, y’know. She wears ya out so utterly you’re barely able to walk afterwards.”
― Melanie Nova, The Avant-gardiste: Into the West

“His lips slowly curved into a crooked smile while his dark eyes clung to hers, an intense, desirous resolve filling them. At the same moment, Katherine realized that their banter had gone too far.
But it was too late.
Before she could even blink, his arms wrapped around her, pulling her up against him while his mouth came down on hers, smothering her surprised gasp. With a low moan in his throat, he hungrily ground his lips into hers.
The commanding fervor in his kiss stunned her at first, making her freeze in stupefied shock. Then she resolutely braced her hands against his chest and tore her mouth away from his, appalled.
“Don’t—!”
― Melanie Nova, The Avant-gardiste: Into the West

“Ya shouldn’t expect too much though, princess.” He leaned into her, a hint of warning in his voice. “Ya won’t be able to enjoy it for long anyway. Winter’s just ‘round the corner, and the first snow won’t be long in comin’. Believe me, old man winter out here really packs a punch. Such a goddamn blizzard’s a fuckin’ unpleasant thing.” He lifted one corner of his mouth in a crooked, mean smile. “This country’s full of nasty surprises.”
She returned his gaze, unperturbed. “Are you done?”
― Melanie Nova, The Avant-gardiste: Into the West

“A good night to you, too, Mr. Buchanan,” she said, tilting her head in his direction with reserved dignity.
His lips pulled back from his teeth in a wolfish smile. “You better enjoy it, princess! Might be your first and your last on this ranch.”
She smiled back at him with the distinguished grace of a lady of her social class, accepting the challenge.
“And that’s where I will prove you wrong, Mr. Buchanan.”
― Melanie Nova, The Avant-gardiste: Into the West