PenguinMerchant
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“Damen,” Nikandros said, frowning, “if someone sees you there will be rumors, you know that. And with how…tepid our relationship has been with this Veretian envoy, if one of them even glimpses you they’ll take it as a threat—”
“No one will see me,” Damen said placatingly, opening the doors to the balcony. He propped one open with a small heavy stone, ensuring that the gap of about six inches wasn’t at risk of opening wider. “Everyone is still getting drunk in the great hall. No one will be looking outside.”
“If Prince Laurent even mentions that he thinks he’s seen something—”
“Prince Laurent won’t say anything because he won’t even notice my shadow,” Damen said, dousing the lamps in the room and plunging the two of them into darkness. “This is a reconnaissance mission only, Nik. I promise you.”
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Laurent de Vere, handsome, clever, and rich, with a moderately comfortable home and an immoderately bratty disposition, seemed to break up some of the worst matches in existence; and had lived nearly twenty-four years in the world with very little to distress or vex him.
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Auguste sets Laurent up on a blind date. The universe — and Damen — have other plans.
“I am on a blind date,” the man says, holding up his hands to forestall any more explanation from the too-helpful Ancel. “My brother set me up and I just—I wasn’t entirely listening when he told me what the guy’s name was. It was something that sounded like Brayden, that’s all I remember.”
“Could it have been—was it Damen?”
Damen’s not entirely sure what makes him offer up that lifeline. He—obviously—isn’t waiting here for a blind date, and he doesn’t know this man’s brother from Adam. Even the smallest amount of questioning would show him to be a liar, and maybe even get security called on him.
Still, as the man takes a moment to size him up, look him up and down appreciatively, Damen can hardly work up the effort to care.
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The shadows did nothing more than highlight Laurent's steely grace, the knife sharp definition of his cheekbones, the devastating fall of his hair. Damen had the brief thought that even if they did somehow make it out of here without any permanent injuries, the memories of Laurent's face would scar him for the rest of his life.
"Why did you come here today, Damen?" Laurent asked.
To negotiate a truce with your organization and make my father proud, was the first answer that came to mind. It's what he should say—straight, to the point, with a bit of sentiment thrown in at the end in case the logical part didn't hit hard enough. The second answer came unbidden, and he kept this one quiet too: I wanted to meet the only other man as steeped in his own mythology as I was. I wanted look behind that facade to see if there was something in him that I recognized.
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Damen said, “I’m not sure what it is you’re asking me to do.”
“It’s simple enough,” said Laurent. “Come to my games, cheer me on in the stands. Be my date to a few networking events. And most importantly, let the press see how blissful domesticity with you has softened me.”
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Damen was staring at him when he looked up again, a warm slow sweep of his eyes that made Laurent tingle down to his toes.
You are drunk, he told himself sternly. Do not say something stupid.
Bookmarked by PenguinMerchant
20 Aug 2024
Bookmarker's Notes
Lovely snappy dialogue, possessive Damen
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Laurent felt his mouth twist. “You want me to stay, but not enough to do anything about it.”
Damen’s expression softened. “I wouldn’t make you stay,” he said, “for the world.” He said, “Laurent, it would be such a sacrifice.”
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- Part 2 of selkieverse
Bookmarked by PenguinMerchant
30 Sep 2023
Bookmarker's Notes
The most beautiful fairy tale I've ever read.
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Damen makes an enquiring noise. Laurent imagines saying to him, I needed something to do with my hands while you tried to talk about sex, and then pretends not to have heard.
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Bookmarked by PenguinMerchant
21 Apr 2023
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Where Johnny goes, the Devil follows; where Johnny goes, the Devil is already there.
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- 32,602
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Bookmarked by PenguinMerchant
24 Jan 2023
Bookmarker's Notes
This has no business being this good, what the hell (heh)
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No one in their right mind would ever seriously try to woo Lin Ronghu, the Emperor's infamously ruthless (if unofficial) spymaster.
Not that that's stopped the local legend, a (self-described) beautiful detective with peerless martial arts. His crush is a major inconvenience - at least until there's a murder that puts Lin Ronghu's most hated political nemesis straight in the frame. Since Lin Ronghu can't believe that anyone would be that stupid, he decides that maybe having a private detective around might be good for something after all...
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Bookmarked by PenguinMerchant
13 Dec 2022
Bookmarker's Notes
Every single word in this is like a perfectly placed stone in a perfectly maintained rock garden. I don't think I've read traditionally published works that have this kind of careful surety to them. The mystery within is satisfying and resolves well, the characters are so charming and likeable, the world is fleshed out and believable. THIS is what I want from my political intrigue books, and I have no idea why it's so hard to find or why the best one I've ever read is squirreled away on AO3 and not on the NYT bestseller list.