Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Birds were chirping, singing, and twittering pleasantly as Alex awoke. There was light on her face and the air she breathed was warm. Alex’s eyes fluttered open and she stared at the ceiling of her room for a moment, listening to the lovely sounds of the morning just outside her sun-soaked window.
Wait. What?
She sat up like she was spring-loaded but had to grab her head as a dart of pain ran through her.
She sank back into the sheets. It had been years since she slept past sunrise.
What had happened? Why did her head hurt?
Was she sick? No, she wasn’t sick, she realized with dread.
She was hungover. Her stomach curdled, filling her mouth with saliva and forcing her to swallow hard. Very, very hungover.
The memories of last night began to come back to her. Philippe had threatened the big man who wanted to take her. He had protected her, she thought, warmth growing in her chest. They had kissed, she’d just about begged to sleep with him, and then he had gotten her on the horse and she…
“Oh my god,” she said aloud. She covered her mouth with her hands, then buried her face in the covers. “Oh my god!” she whimpered.
What the hell had she done last night? She tried to have sex with Philippe, then she threw up on him. What kind of tricks of fate were being played on her?
She sifted through her memories and tried to determine just how bad her actions had been.
Had she really thrown herself at him, and he had rejected her?
No, that wasn’t quite right. He wouldn’t sleep with her because she was drunk.
She attempted to sit up again and brought her knees up to her chest, realizing she still wore the clothes from last night.
Then she saw the tear in her pants and remembered the kisses they had shared, and she began to melt all over again.
They had reached a whole new level and his hands on her body had nearly killed her.
If only she hadn’t been such an idiot, perhaps they would have…
Wait, hadn’t he sworn to bed her once she was free from the grip of drink?
Suddenly, her focus changed. She was right back where she was yesterday.
She still hungered for Philippe and, at the thought of him, her body was coming alive again.
She would find him and demand he make good on his promise, so maybe she could go back to normal and stop this obsession.
With new determination, she threw back the covers, pain in her head be damned.
That’s when she saw it, the note on the bed stand, leant up against the cup of water she vaguely remembered him trying to make her drink the night before. The letter had her name on it.
She reached forward, hand shaking, knowing that whatever was in this letter was not something she would be happy about.
She leaned back against her pillows and opened the parchment. My Dearest Alex, it began.
It is a cruel joke that I must leave you tonight, but our enemy retreats and I must follow. We cannot wait until the morning. If they escape into the Alps, it will be nearly impossible to make them pay for their crimes. I hope the soldier that lives inside you will understand.
But it is the woman in you I must beg for forgiveness.
Please do not run away, Alex. I have so many things to say to you, but I cannot possibly do it here.
In one week’s time, I believe you have promised to attend the Marquis’ ball.
I don’t know what dangers await us, but I will be there, looking for you.
I shall pray every night to find you. Please, I beseech you to meet me there.
Your servant,
Philippe
P.S. As I write this, I am waiting for a clean pair of pants. You are dangerous even when you are drunk, little fox.
Alex clutched the letter and read it two, three times before she sank back down against the pillow.
He was gone, and her role in this mission had ended.
She had been trying so hard to disconnect her feelings from this man, but she felt a sense of sadness that gripped her right down to her toes.
She had just decided to explore what could happen between them, to let this maddening desire take over, and now the opportunity was gone.
She didn’t know the circumstances of their departure or to what places they now traveled, but she did know a week was a very long time, and surely by the end of this one, he would have found someone new to entertain him.
She had basked in the attention that he gave her for as long as she could—the feelings he evoked, so achingly sweet—but she always knew it was only temporary.
At least if they had indeed slept together, he would have given her a memory that could warm her for years.
It would have been a gratifying way to say goodbye.
Alex stared up at the beams in the ceiling and closed her eyes.
With a terrible sense of disappointment, she realized she would probably never see him again.