Shocked, Payson could hardly imagine thecircumstances. “That is… incredible. It sounds like something outof a movie. What happened after?”
“Nicolas refused to leave my side as Ihealed; he risked dishonorable discharge to stay with me. I toldhim about my home. By that time, my father was ready to retire. Heand my mother live in Paris now, but they were not very active inthe business anyway. My grandmother was happy for us to come livehere with her. So, we put in our notices and left.” They grinned ateach other, sharing a sweet kiss.
Payson hid the pang of envy, watching thehappy couple. They said their goodnights and she let the fatiguefrom the day, the sadness she had pushed to the back burner forhours, rise to the surface.
Exhausted from the long day and a whole lotof hormones, Payson sunk into the plush bed. She left the Frenchdoors open to let in the cool spring air. In the distance, sheheard the soothing sound of frogs croaking, the smell of fresh rainstarting to soak dry soil.
Letting the soothing smells and peacefulsounds calm her, she closed her eyes and allowed herself a secretmoment to imagine what Ronan was doing. Was he as miserable as shewas?
Drained and delirious from the jetlag, sleepfinally took hold.
26
Ronan had been running on pure adrenaline for thepast twelve hours. He’d managed to find Alain’s vineyard; it wasboth ancient and charming. From a distance, he watched as a lightfinally flickered on in the upper story of the east wing.
Like Romeo, he watched as Juliet came out theopen French doors and took in the night air. She didn’t linger onthe terrace. Even from a distance, he could see she was weary andsad.
Knowing it was his fault, he berated himselffor leaving in such a sudden, cruel way. She was such a brightlight shining on his dark world; he wanted to do anything in hispower to keep that magic. His chest burned at what she must begoing through. Aching to hold her close.
Patiently, he waited longer, for just theright opportunity. Eventually, the main house lights turned off,the inside of the home becoming dark as night. To avoid detection,he waited until he was certain the household was asleep. None toosoon either; fat raindrops were starting to fall from thecloud-covered sky.
Silently, covertly, he made his way throughthe dark field to the house. Assessing the area, he determined thebest way to get into her room, avoiding being spotted by anyoneinside the house or watching from the outside. Using a crack in theexterior wall, Ronan dug in his foot and lifted his body to thenext crack and slowly climbed the stone wall.
Making his way up the stone house using thefew-and-far-between cracks between blocks for leverage, he wasfinally near Payson’s terrace. Checking his grips, testing hisfooting, he grounded himself into his footholds before leapingacross the several foot gap to the base of the terrace.
Silencing a yelp at the near miss, he managedto grab hold of the support to the lower edge of the balcony withone arm. He laughed internally, thinking how awesome it would be ifhe could somehow create a YouTube video of espionage outtakes,showing the many times our heroes missed the handhold or bumpedtheir heads. Certainly, he made sure that didn’t happen when theoutcome could be life-threatening, but in certain emergencies likethis, making the leap was worth the risk of looking foolish orspraining one’s ankle. Dangling for a moment, he used the momentumof his body weight to swing so his other arm could reach a bithigher.
With ease that came with experience andagility, he pulled himself up the rest of the way and climbed overthe rail. Maybe he ought to take up rock-climbing? He was going tomiss little adventures like this. Although, this time, the assetinside was more valuable than all the rest combined.
Gently pushing open her terrace doors, hefound her fast asleep on a massive bed. Her auburn hair spreadacross the pillow in stark contrast to the crisp white sheets.Eyebrows scrunched together in a deep scowl, she appeared troubledeven in sleep.
He’d missed her so much. Once he'd fallen forPayson, being away from her for so long was physically painful.Closing and locking the door behind him, shutting all the bedroomcurtains, he allowed himself to pretend, just for a moment, thatthey weren’t being chased by multiple parties out to arrest orlikely torture him.
Stripping down to the skin, he slid into bedbeside her. Aching to hold her close. Hoping she didn’t wake andscream at the intrusion… or smack him for being such an ass. Hopingshe would forgive him someday.
He nuzzled close, inhaling her soothing,lavender scent, and curled his body against hers. Sleep camequickly, for the first time in weeks.
~
The sky still dark, Payson listened to theraw, rumbling sounds of an approaching thunderstorm, feeling thedeep booming resonate down to her bones. Stirring, she snuggledagainst Ronan, savoring the comfort of his warm skin pressed upagainst hers…what? Holding her closely, he slept soundly,peacefully.
She was torn between fury and bliss, thrilledhe was here, regardless of how or why. Before she woke him to givehim an earful, she twisted her body around in his arms to face him,brushing her lips gently across his in a soft, longing kiss.Whispering, she told him she loved him.
Running her hand along his jaw, darkened bythe rough growth of beard that hadn’t been shaved since she’d seenhim last. When she knew he was sound asleep, drawing back her hand,she flicked him dead-center on his forehead.
“Ow,” he awoke rubbing his injured forehead.Eyes slowly opening, he groaned, “What was that for?” His visionclearing, he saw her scowling at him, her face inches from hisown.
“What was that for?You left me. Witha short, stupid note. You couldn’t have come to tell me before youleft? Or even called to say, sorry honey, something’s come up, butI have to leave?” Bubbling with emotion of every sort, Payson couldhardly get her words out fast enough to keep up with her angrilybabbling brain.
Expression remorseful, Ronan reached out, hishand running through her hair. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry. I hatedleaving you. More than anything. Please, I wouldn’t have left if Ididn’t have any other choice.” Testing, he placed a gentle kiss onher forehead. “Please forgive me, but it’s not over yet.”
“What’s not over? I thought you were retired,but I knew you couldn’t settle idly into small town life. I hatethat I let you… that I gave you this… this… power over me. Dammit.I hate that I feel so… Just get to the point and tell me what’sgoing on,” she demanded as she sat up in bed, looking down at hisnaked form.
Eyes wandering over his many scars, she sawthe dangerous side of him she hadn’t realized was there before.She’d seen the edge the moment she had first met him, but hadn’trealized how deep it ran. Looking into his ice-cold eyes, she sawwhy he was so good at what he did… saw the ruthlessness inthem.
Despite all that, she also saw the warmth,the ache. Dark circles stained heavy under his eyes. No sign of thecharming dimples or arrogant smile. He wasn’t the broken man he waswhen they’d first met, nor was he the hard-hearted spy anymore. Hewas hurting as much as she was, maybe more.
Sitting up to get closer to her, he gentlynudged her chin toward him, kissing her softly at first,apologizing with his touch. His lips trailed along her jaw, downher shoulder, sending electric shivers through her body.
