Chapter Thirty-Two
It was the sun coming through the window that woke her up. It landed on her face and she opened her eyes lazily, seeing the curtains flutter. She sighed, a wonderful sense of peacefulness settled in her body. She blinked her heavy eyelids, and his form came into focus, sitting on a chair across from the bed. He was fully dressed and smiling at her.
It all came back with a crash, and she snapped awake. She grabbed the blankets and pulled them up to her chin as she sat up rigidly in the bed. But a sharp pain went straight up through her middle, and she doubled over with a groan before reaching out to pile more blankets in front of her. She looked up sheepishly to see the amusement in his expression and then buried her face in the covers for a moment before sitting up and addressing him.
“Is it late?” she asked. She straightened her hair and tried to appear calm.
“Just after dawn,” he said.
“You look awfully smug this morning,” Alex said.
“Why wouldn’t I?” he said, still grinning.
She felt that rush coming over her body again as she looked at him, but this time it was so much more intense because she knew where it could lead, what he could do to her. She ached with a desperate desire against that newsoreness deep inside her as far too many feelings bubbled up. But she fought it all down and changed the subject.
“So now you must tell me,” she said, trying to compose herself. “What came of your adventure? I know nothing of the success or failure of the mission.”
“Alex,” he said, his tone changing, “I am so sorry I could not wait?—”
She cut him off, “I understand why you left. I do. I am, however, interested in your progress.”
“Well, we did not capture the ‘leader’,” he said. “We tracked Giroux and his men to their new camp and waited for him to show until the last possible moment. But I had made a promise,” he said, leaning forward in the chair, his eyes turning smoky again. “I couldn’t miss the ball. And I was indeed rewarded for making good on my word.” He grinned arrogantly at her, and Alex, overcome, looked down at her hands.
“Yes, yes,” she said, feeling herself flush. “And there shall be a band of minstrels playing for you when you leave my room.” She cleared her throat and adjusted her pile of blankets. “But the men? Is everyone okay?”
“Everyone is okay,” said Philippe. “Tired, beaten up, but well. Franc and Luc are in Aliette with wounds, but they should be fine.”
“And what transpired to give you your scars?” she asked.
Philippe finally shifted his focus, much to her relief, and gave her the details of the last week. After a rough fight, they had indeed overwhelmed the rebels. They brought the captured men to be detained in Aliette, where they waited now in holding cells. Philippe planned to take them back to Chevalerie. There they would be interrogated. The leader was still at large, but Philippe indicated he had some ideas about where they might find the man. Until then, he was fairly confident that the problem would abate, now that the captain was cut off from his lackeys.
“So, it’s back to Aliette and then Chevalerie?” Alex asked.
“Yes. I have sent Claude and Auguste ahead. Laurent and Henri will travel with us.”
“Our party has dwindled,” she said.
“But I am very happy to have recovered our guide,” he said with a grin.
Within the hour, Philippe had finished the rest of his own preparations. There had not been a band playing for him when he walked out of Alex’s room. In fact, everyone he came across was too tired from the night before to really notice. But he would have liked it. He indeed felt deserving of an award.
Emily sleepily bade him farewell before she and Alex embraced and shared promises to stay in touch. The Marquis was absent, having already left for his morning ride. Philippe would have liked to talk with him again, but nothing had changed since they’d spoken the day before. The problem had not been solved to satisfaction, but it had been contained for the time being. He could get his troops back to Chevalerie and decide on a new plan with his father. He felt at least with Giroux and the others in captivity, they had bought themselves enough time to refresh and reorganize.
They would return to Aliette that day, wait for reinforcements to take over the prisoners and then get back to Chevalerie as soon as possible, which, as long as they did not linger, could be achieved in just a few days. At that point, another phase would begin in which they would need to get information out of these guys, and that could get brutal. Though he felt more and more confident about his theories, he had yet to share his thoughts with anyone but his father. If he was indeed correct, the situation would have to be handled with extreme care. He needed council. And he needed to regroup.
The morning was still young, and as they rode towards Aliette at a gallop, he breathed in the fresh air. He felt reborn. He watched Alex just ahead of him, with pride filling his heart. Her hair flowed behind her as she rode, and he remembered how it had cascaded across her naked skin the night before. When he woke up that morning, with her body still pressed into his, he had to restrain himself. He wanted her again, immediately, with a violent desire. But he didn’t want to overwhelm her. There’d be plenty of time for that later, he thought smugly.
He wondered what she was thinking. Was she as relieved and excited as he was that they had crossed this boundary between them? She was flustered, nervous, and adorable that morning, and he knew it may take her a little while to relax in his presence again, but they had buried so many obstacles, he could stand to be patient a little while longer.
Presently, they approached a tight canyon and the group slowed.Philippe angled his horse next to hers as Laurent and Henri stretched out up ahead. Alex looked back at him playfully. His body began to respond. She was thinking about it too, he thought as he sidled his horse closer.
He could notwaitto get her home and all to himself.
“Hey,” he said, coming up next to her. The closer he got, the more heat he felt under his clothes.
“Monsieur,” she responded.
“Monsieur?” he asked. “Have we not put away the formalities?”
