Page 83 of If I Were Wind

His thumbs drew circles on my inner wrist. “I know.”

“You said that you couldn’t live with yourself if something happened to me. How would you feel knowing that it’s the same for me? That I would be distraught if you died? That I want to protect you?”

He kissed my fingers, his soft lips brushing over my knuckles. Then he kissed my palm, my wrist, honing in on my kicking pulse. At each stroke of his lips, his eyes grew darker with desire. I wished his touch wasn’t so devastatingly powerful for me. I leaned closer, but he straightened, hard lines crossing his forehead.

“I’m sorry. We agreed to some rules,” he whispered. “I promised to follow them.”

What a sodding lousy moment for him to remember that. I cleared my throat. “Yes, I guess we have rules.” And I had a lot of work to do.

There was a knock. “Roy?” Miss Hammond asked from the other side of the door.

“Come in,” Roy said.

In her high heels, she walked inside and put a document on the desk. “From Commander Allen. Hello, darling.” She waved at me before leaving.

“News about the mission?” I craned my neck as he frowned at the piece of paper.

“No. It’s about Clare.”

Blimey. I’d forgotten about her. “What happened to her?”

“She’s been suspended for two months for now. Allen has to push aside an inquest about her case because of everything else that’s happened.” He gestured in the general direction of the mill.

“Just two months? But she…” I paused, trying to choose my words carefully. “She did some horrible things.”

“That Allen isn’t aware of at the moment.” He folded the paper.

“Shouldn’t you inform him?”

“No.” He pushed the document aside. “We have more urgent matters to take care of. The important thing is that her skill is not a secret anymore.”

“But—”

“You should get ready for the trip.” Rising from his chair, he tugged at the collar of his shirt. “We’ll fly to Amsterdam tomorrow morning, then we’ll take a train to Venlo.”

Nothing like the news of flying to ruin my mood. The blood flowed down from my head. Another flight. Great.

He checked the clock on the mantelpiece. “Hell, it’s time.”

“For what?”

“Don’t be angry, but I arranged for you to have a phone call with your aunt, in case you wanted to talk to her before leaving. She should call Miss Hammond any minute now.”

“Angry?” I sprang up so fast that my tiger pendant bounced back and forth on my chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed him. “Thank you.”

He laughed, returning the hug. It was one of his deep, carefree laughs that was like the sound of crystal bells dinging. “You’re welcome.” He caressed the top of my head and kissed my temple. “Now go, before I break the rules again,” he whispered in my ear.

I would have let him, if it weren’t for the fact that I wanted to talk with Aunt Mabel, especially after the dark conversation with Roy. Reluctantly, I let him go. “Thank you,” I said before leaving the room, feeling his stare on me.

Miss Hammond welcomed me with a bright smile and pointed at the phone next to her desk. No privacy for the beasts, but I wasn’t going to complain. “For you, darling.”

“Thank you.” Grinning hard enough to hurt my cheeks, I picked up the phone. “Aunt?”

“Kristin.” Her sweet voice was covered by the squeals of Doris and Gladys in the background. “How are you?” she asked at the same time that Doris said, “We miss you,” and Gladys yelled, “When are you coming back?”

“Shush, girls. I can’t hear anything.” Aunt Mabel’s voice rose.

“I’m fine.” I gulped past the lump in my throat. “Where are you calling from?”

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