cast_iron_bitch | (no subject)

He was too aware of his pulse.

It was foolish, as a good many things Laurent had decided to let transpire tonight were foolish. Still, he assembled several bottles of wine, a plate of cheeses, a small assortment of meats, loaves of bread, and grapes. It was too much, but so too was Damen's appetite. He had placed a large carafe of water in the cold box to chill. He had dressed himself in a long sleeved shirt, a tie, removed the tie, and put it on again.

He should not have demanded this.

Laurent could count on one hand the number of times he had given up control in the last seven years. That any had had a happy ending was an affront to plausibility, but it hadn't escaped Laurent that each favorable time had been with one man. Yet each time had been the result of circumstance, the both of them caught in an escalating chain of deadly events and each doing their best to survive it. Never by Laurent's own hand, save for that night in the fort, that evening in the inn.

A heavy knock came at the door, rendered by an overlarge Akielon hand, and Laurent waited in silence while his heart climbed down from its perch in his throat. He went to the door and opened it. Damen was on the other side.

'I hope you don't expect a spectacle.'

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Laurent could not help a smile of his own, though he had to wonder if he would ever have been noticed behind Auguste at all. But it did not matter. The world was as it was, and they had to live in it.

He placed his water on the counter, lifting his hand to stifle a sudden yawn. It was not very late - he could only blame the wine for it. He said, 'You find me entertaining?'

'I find you infuriating,' Damen replied bluntly with a hint of a grin. 'And captivating.'

He paused for a moment, certain he was saying too much but unable to stop the words when he added, 'I think you're the most beautiful man I've ever seen.'

As soon the words were past his lips, Damen let out a quiet, overwhelmed laugh and shook his head. The moment now, was too weighted indeed. 'You're tired,' he said, taking a step back, his smile more cautious now. 'I should leave you, and the wine.'

Laurent had been called beautiful more times than he cared to number, the most beautiful nearly again as much. It was not the words or even the sentiment, but the way that Damen said it that caught his breath. When Damen laughed, Laurent's eyes widened, but it was pleasure that thrummed through him to see all that he was feeling there in the curl of Damen's own overwhelmed smile.

'Take the wine,' he said, reaching between them to capture Damen's hand. He lifted it, hesitating for only a moment before he pressed his lips to the center of Damen's palm in a single closemouthed kiss. 'I have enjoyed it but drink will not become a habit.'

Laurent's blue eyes were wide then, surprised either by Damen's admission itself or the timing of it. Apparently, it was an evening for revelations.

But it could not have been a secret, Damen thought. If everything was as Laurent had said, and Damen believed it in a way he couldn't describe, then there wasn't any possible way Laurent was unaware of how attractive Damen found him.

And he was absolutely certain Laurent had been made aware of his desirability in far greater detail and from a far greater number of people in his life.

His breath caught as Laurent then took his hand, gently twisting his wrist to bend and press a kiss to his palm. Light a touch as it was, Damen felt a flush of heat all through him, his heart pounding as, for a moment, he was struck utterly dumb. 'I'll take the opened bottle,' he said when he could again find his voice, rough as it suddenly was. He curled his fingers lightly as though to capture the kiss in his fist and fought every urge in his body to take another with his lips.

'Keep the others,' he decided. 'I do hope we will have occasion to share another soon.'