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“Hey,” Edward said quietly. “How about a shower? You can’t be comfortable with that drying on your stomach. Come with me and I’ll wash you.”
Daniel stared at him for the longest time before he finally nodded. They still had tonight, after all.Chapter EighteenWhen Edward told him that he wanted to get away from all the tourists in Paris, Daniel wasn’t expecting a three-hour drive out of the city starting right at dawn. The sweet guy had a cup of coffee waiting for him as he stumbled out of bed and into the shower. He sipped it while standing under the hot spray, trying to get his poor brain cells to start firing.
The only thing that was flashing through his head was the fact that he and Edward had made love several times throughout the night. His body was feeling deliciously sore and used. The kind of worn out that you were supposed to feel after a successful vacation.
He didn’t quite know whether to categorize this vacation as “successful” unless he counted coming out alive as what made it successful. He wasn’t feeling particularly relaxed compared to his stress levels when he left Ward Security nearly two weeks ago. But he knew that he wouldn’t trade the experiences he had with Edward for anything in the world. Sure, they’d spent a lot of time being chased and shot at and nearly blown up, but he got to see more of the world and meet the most amazing man.
And now he had to say good-bye.
There was no happily ever after waiting for them at the end of this. They weren’t going to ride off into the sunset for a life of wine and roses.
Edward was going on to his next job, which would likely be some distant, exotic location full of danger and excitement.
And Daniel was going home to his life of numbers and insane pranks involving duct tape. Daniel loved his life. He loved being able to see his family whenever he wanted, and he loved the second family he’d fallen into at Ward Security. But knowing that he wasn’t going to see Edward’s handsome face again, it felt a little dull and drab.
Swallowing back his sigh, Daniel vowed to turn his full attention to the task that lay before them. Edward talked about various places he’d visited during the long drive out to Grand, France. Despite its name, the village was relatively small with only a few thousand people, but it was home to a Roman amphitheater. Most of the amphitheater had been lost to time and weather, but a good portion of it was still around, according to the pictures he’d been able to pull up online.
Edward had spent a couple of hours on the phone the night before talking to James as well as Marcus, setting up the meeting. There had been a few other hushed calls that Edward had been careful so Daniel couldn’t overhear. He wasn’t going to deny that he was incredibly curious about who Edward was talking to, but all of Edward’s job was centered around secrecy. He couldn’t expect the man to reveal everything to him simply because they were sleeping together.
Daniel also took the time to send a few quick texts to Quinn, telling him that he was still in France but he was expecting to return home soon. He stressed that he was safe and well, even if he wasn’t feeling quite so well.
On the drive, Edward kept his instructions simple. Follow his every move and any instructions he gave. Not exactly helpful, but Edward admitted that he wasn’t entirely sure how the meeting would go, and they had to be flexible.
“How did you find this place?” Daniel asked when they had been silent for too long in the car.
There was a part of him that wanted to argue for more time, negotiate for planned visits. Hell, he was ready to talk Edward out of being in the CIA. The poor guy seemed to be nearing a crossroads in life, and maybe the CIA wasn’t a great fit for him any longer. Was it so wrong that Daniel hoped that maybe he was ready for something new, and he could fit somewhere in that “something new” motif?
But that wasn’t fair to Edward. He deserved the right to figure out his own life without prodding from Daniel.
Edward snorted. “Luck.”
“Huh?”
Shifting in his seat, he rested his right hand on the steering wheel while putting his left elbow on the door. He leaned his head against his left hand and smiled. “An assignment in Germany went really fucking wrong. I mean, everything that could go wrong, did. I had to get out of the country. Planes and trains were totally out of the question. I grabbed the first car that looked like it would carry me more than a few hundred kilometers and drove west. I stayed one night in this town called Nancy, but the people I was trying to avoid nearly caught up with me. I grabbed another car and got off the main roads. I’d been heading toward Paris to disappear in the major city, but I knew I’d never make it before they found me. I started going south. Dijon wasn’t too far, and from there I could head east to Zurich, catch up with my handler, and figure out our next steps.”
