That everything he knew was gone, but that this was here, in its place, this one bright thing.

The Summer Palace takes place after the end of the trilogy, and offers a little glimmer into what happened at the end of Kings Rising, as well as what would come to pass in the months after.

For now it was the simple pleasure of Laurent beside him, their hands linked, with only sunlight and fresh air about them.

I was so eager when I saw that this was a short story specifically about Laurent and Damen, and I could not have been happier with this story... unless it had been 300 pages instead of 30. Or 3,000 pages. That would've been okay, too. I'm so helplessly in love with this ship and I can't imagine ever tiring of these two.

Having made the decision to let Damen in, Laurent had not gone back on it. When the walls went up, it was with Damen inside them.

With how slow of a burn their romance was, and how difficult and broken Laurent could be, I was so relieved to find the tangible level of tenderness and love between the two of them. Fair warning: this story is honestly just a gradual escalation through precious, steamy, and - at times - angsty flirting and smut, but if you shipped these two even half as hard as I do, you need this story in your life. ❤

His smile widened. Laurent said, "What?"
"You were watching the road," said Damen.