How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I was suddenly aware of him, of the overwhelming Eldricness of him, of his busy London blood pumping just inches away. (3.103)
Quickly contradicting her promise not to ever be interested in boys, Briony responds to Eldric's manly presence. When she mentions his pumping blood she is focusing on the way his physical body functions and not on her emotions or thoughts.
Quote #2
Was Eldric thinking of those witchy girl-parts too? Had he ever seen those bits of a girl before? Most girls would blush to think such thoughts, but when you've been as wicked as I, you don't have any blushes to spare. (5.47)
Again revealing her attraction to Eldric, this question leads Briony to think about sexual thoughts in relation to Eldric's past. Get your mind out of the gutter, Briony.
Quote #3
On Blackberry Night, the lads and lasses run barefoot through the swamp, pretending to try to catch the Devil; but it would appear the Devil catches them instead, for they consume quantities of beer and wine, and they shed their clothes, and there are always a number of surprise weddings come Advent. (16.78)
Blackberry Night is essentially a night where teenagers can explore their lustful feelings. The metaphor of chasing the Devil suggests that they are looking for an excuse to do something morally wrong—and later, when girls become pregnant, it's time for a shot gun wedding to please their judgmental friends and family.
Quote #4
This was the wrong thing to say. It was provocative. It made Cecil lean in still farther and say, "Do you," with a most unpleasant inflection on the do. (16.90)
Cecil clearly feels lustful feelings toward Briony, and when she unintentionally flirts with him, he continues to flirt. Bummer for Cecil, though, she's just not into him.
Quote #5
"Don't touch my daughter!" Father's scratch-lips ripped apart. (18.16)
Worried that the two teens have given in to their desires, Briony's father overreacts to their so-far innocent relationship. Though there is potential for attraction between Briony and Eldric, their friendship is so tame at this point that they are both surprised and offended at the accusation. Well, Briony is mostly not paying attention but Eldric is offended for the both of them.
Quote #6
His hands crunched into my wrists. Too hard! His lips pressed into my lips. Too hard! My lips pressed against my teeth. His man's weight pressed against my girl froth; his chest crumpled my girl-lungs. (21.24)
Cecil gets out of hand, and pushes himself on Briony even though she's not interested. Lust isn't always a good thing, and in the wrong person, it can get downright dangerous.
Quote #7
Remember what Father had said about Fitz? About not leaving me alone with him? The effect of arsenic on men—that was surely the reason. (22.215)
Briony realizes that even though she didn't know it, her father was protecting her from the lustful danger of an addicted man when he fired her tutor.
Quote #8
I was asking about lust, wasn't I? I was fairly certain of it. But isn't love supposed to come before lust? It does in the dictionary. (24.111)
Oh, the hormones—Briony's questions about love and lust are new to her because she has never felt either, but also because she does not have the guidance of someone who has been through this before.
Quote #9
There was one difference between Eldric and Cecil, a difference peculiar to Briony Larkin, and that was lust. I lusted after Eldric; I shuddered away from Cecil. (26.14)
Briony confuses her love for Eldric with pure lust, so when she says she lusted for Eldric and not for Cecil, she could easily replace the word lust with love and still be truthful. Her dislike of Cecil also comes from his disrespectful pursuit of her.
Quote #10
Except when a person acts like Cecil, and worries about his own manliness, and thinks it a good thing to show a girl he's manly, because girls love strong men, of course they do, they love it when someone hold their wrists too hard, and makes their lips bleed, and crushes out all their lace and froth and gleam. (32.252)
Even the best boys can be a bit scary to girls, and Briony scolds Eldric for acting lustfully toward her like Cecil did. Again she feels fearful in response to the aggressiveness of a lustful man. Eldric, however, has shown her loving sensuality before, and she desires the same from him again.