Sublime

Overt strength and power is rarely seductive—it makes us afraid, or envious. The royal road to seduction is to play up your vulnerability and helplessness. You cannot make this obvious ; to seem to be begging for sympathy is to seem needy, which is entirely anti-seductive. Do not proclaim yourself a victim or underdog, but reveal it in your manner,

Every seduction has two elements that you must analyze and understand: first, yourself and what is seductive about you; and second, your target and the actions that will penetrate their defenses and create surrender.

“Who says I’m the one who would be ruined?” He almost missed a step. “Are you offering to ruin me?” “Are you asking to be ruined?” Yes.

The Ardent Rake teaches us a simple lesson: intense desire has a distracting power on a woman, just as the Siren’s physical presence does on a man.

removed my necklace and very slowly put it around her neck. “This is still mine,” I whispered, kissing her lightly. “It’s something to remember tonight by. But I want it back next time I see you. It’s very special to me.” As I walked away, I knew I’d just made her night. It didn’t even matter whether I got laid or not, because this was the game

“My lady . . .” Dr. Weeks contemplated her for a long moment, his eyes weary and kind. “I know many scientific facts about the human heart—not the least of which is that it’s far easier to make a heart stop beating entirely than to keep it from loving the wrong person.”

Do not imagine that women are the tender creatures that some people would like them to be. Like men, they are deeply attracted to the forbidden, the dangerous, even the slightly evil. (Don Juan ends by going to hell, and the word “rake” comes from “rakehell,” a man who rakes the coals of hell; the devilish component, clearly, is an important part