“Yes?”
“You have a caller.”
A caller? Surely Thornton wouldn’t refer to Axel as such. What was this about? When she rounded the corner, she couldn’t trust her eyes. “Quint? I can’t believe you’re here!”
She threw her arms around him.
“Merry Christmas, sugar.”
“I wasn’t sure you’d make it.”
“I wanted to surprise you,” he said, running his finger down her cheek.
Thornton cleared his throat and excused himself to hang Quint’s coat, leaving the two of them alone in the vestibule.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” she said, wishing her eyes hadn’t filled with tears.
Quint wiped away the single drop that ran down her cheek and then captured her lips with his.
Would that they could walk out the door and be alone, but that would be terribly rude. Not to mention, his sister had just gotten engaged.
“Come and meet everyone,” she said, taking his hand.
“I hear congratulations are in order,” he said after hugging Wren and shaking Sutton’s hand. “I’m Quint Alexander.”
“Wilder Whittaker.”
“What are you doing here, and how did you know about our engagement?” Wren asked, looking from Darrow over to Z.
Quint smiled. “Yes, Z filled me in, but to be honest, I was worried about you.”
“Why?”
“We haven’t spoken since right after Thanksgiving.”
“It isn’t like we do that kind of thing, Quint.”
“Would you like a coffee?” Darrow asked when Wren’s tone made her uncomfortable.
“I’d love it, darlin’. Thank you.”
“Who is this?” asked Orina.
“Wren’s brother, Quint.”
“You’re happy to see him,” she said with a wink.
“You have no idea but, Orina, I haven’t forgotten what we talked about.”
“When’s the wedding?” She heard Quint ask when she brought over his coffee.
“We’re keeping it small. Limited to everyone in the room,” Wren answered.
“Okay, when?”
“Um…New Year’s Eve. Will you be able to stay for it?” she asked.
“Couldn’t get me to leave,” Quint answered, smiling at Darrow.
“Wellie! What a wonderful surprise,” Darrow heard Thornton say in a voice that was louder than necessary. “And, Axel, we had no idea you’d be joining us. Come in, come in.”
“Oh, my,” Wren whispered, leaning against Darrow and giggling.
Darrow pushed back. “Don’t start. If you start, I’ll start.”
“These two,” said Quint. “They get the giggles at the most inappropriate times.”
“Come and meet Wellie,” she said when she saw Thornton helping him over to a chair.
“Happy Christmas, Wellie,” she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. “I’d like you to meet Quint Alexander. He’s Wren’s brother.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Alexander.” Wellie looked at Darrow and winked. “More than just Wren’s brother, no?”
“Yes, Wellie. He is,” she whispered, looking up to find Axel staring at her.
“Axel, this is Quint. Quint, Axel.”
The two men shook hands, leaving Darrow feeling guilty about how this came about. She had, at least, told Axel there was someone else, but she’d also alluded that it was over. In hindsight, she should’ve told him Quint was coming for the holiday, but up until a few minutes ago, she hadn’t been certain he was.
“You look happy,” he said a few minutes later when Quint was talking to his father and Wilder.
“I am, Axel. Although, Quint is merely visiting. I don’t intend to return to America when he does.”
“No?”
Saying it out loud would continue to reinforce her resolve about needing to figure out her life on her own. “No. And I’m sorry I didn’t forewarn you; I wasn’t certain he was coming.”
“I’ll survive. I suppose there will come a day when you’re faced with meeting someone I’m involved with.”
“Yes, there will,” Darrow said, trying to ignore the pain that settled in her chest with his words. She had no right, though. She’d moved on, and Axel would too. “I want us both to be happy, Axel.”
He lifted his glass of wine to hers. “Agreed.”
“SO THAT’S AXEL,” Quint said later when they’d finished dinner and were getting ready to say goodnight and go to Covington House.
“Yes. That’s Axel.”
“He seems like a nice enough guy.”
“Are you trying to convince me of that or yourself?”
Quint put his arm around her shoulders and kissed the side of her face. “Jealousy isn’t somethin’ I have a lot of experience with.”
“You’ve nothing to be jealous about.”
He leaned forward so his mouth was next to her ear. “I really want to be alone with you, Darrow.”
“Let’s say our goodbyes, then.”
Quint went to talk to Z, Wren, and Sutton while Darrow thanked Thornton and Orina.
“He seems nice, Darrow,” said her brother.
“I think so.” She smiled at Orina, who winked.
“Don’t be too scarce.”
“Ready?” She said after Quint thanked Thornton and Orina.
He leaned into her. “I’m ready, Darrow. Are you?” he whispered.
She knew her cheeks were flaming, but there was nothing she could do about it except smile and make their exit.
25
“This is hardly a sweet little house, Shadow,” said Quint when they walked inside the front door of the place Darrow had labeled as such.
She smiled at the use of the nickname. “It’s smaller than the abbey. It’s smaller than the ranch house too.”
“Not by much.”
Quint peeked in the rooms that he could see from where they stood. When he turned back around, Darrow was standing at the base of the stairs, naked from the waist up.
“Take the rest off,” he said, his voice heavy with desire.
As she unbuttoned her slacks, she took one step backwards up the staircase. When she moved the zipper partway down, she took two more steps. When she was halfway up, she shimmied her pants off her hips. Two more steps, she left them where they lay on the stairs.
Quint climbed to where she was, still facing him. “Panties off, Darrow. Let me see you.”
She slid them down her legs, again leaving them where they lay.
“Sit on the top stair,” he said, putting one hand on each of her knees and spreading her legs. He knelt in front of her and breathed in her heady scent.
He steadied himself with both hands on her breasts and leaned in closer, blowing cool air on her heat.
“Quint,” she breathed, her fingers woven in his hair. “Oh, God,” she groaned. “I missed you so much.”
He looked up and smiled. “Just this?”
She shook her head, seemingly unable to speak when he tweaked both nipples with his fingers.
“I need you, Quint. More of you.”
“What do you need, baby?”
“You. Naked. In my bed.” She scooted back from him, stood, and sashayed her sweet body down the hallway with Quint following right behind. Like her, he undressed as he went.
He stood behind her and pulled her back to his front. When she realized he was as naked as she was, Darrow gasped. He reached around with one hand and cupped her full breast.
“I’m going to take you hard, baby. I hope you’re ready.”
Her mewl told him she was. He nipped at the soft skin on the curve of her neck, and she shuddered.
“GET UP ON THE BED, baby, but stay in this position.”
As he watched her, Quint rolled on a condom. An overpowering need to feel her around him without the barrier between them washed over him. Where had that come from? He’d never once had unprotected sex. Why now? Because it was Darrow. The woman he had no business
falling in love with, and yet, that’s exactly what he was doing. He raised his head and saw her looking at him over her shoulder. He wanted to see her face, her eyes connecting with his, when he finally, after a month, buried himself inside her.
“Turn over, baby,” he said, guiding her with his hand.
Her eyes bored into his when he rested against her sex. Could she see how much she meant to him just by looking into his eyes?
“Darrow?”
She nodded but didn’t speak.
Slowly, he thrust into her, and her eyes closed.
“Look at me,” he demanded.
“Quint?”
“There we go,” he murmured when he was as deep inside her as he could get, the pressure growing too fast, until he balanced on the precipice. Together, they fell. Waves of pleasure roared through him, and still, their eyes stayed locked together.
He rolled, keeping their body joined until they were both on their sides, so close that he could feel her warm breath on his neck.
His mind raged with want to tell her how he felt, but he couldn’t say the words out loud. They stared into each other’s eyes as if they were at an impasse. Neither knew what to say, so they chose not to say anything at all.
At midnight, Quint finally let her sleep. He held her soft body snuggled against him as his mind raced and emotions swirled through him. He’d never been in love, yet he felt like he was barreling straight into it with a woman he had no chance of making a life with, and it scared the shit out of him.
IT WAS UNSEASONABLY warm two days later when Darrow took Quint on a tour of the abbey’s gardens.
“Would you like to ride?” she asked.
“If you would.”
She stopped walking, and since they were holding hands, he stopped too.
“What?” he asked.
“What would you like to do, Quint?”
“Sure, a ride sounds great.”
“Never mind.”
“Whoa. Wait a minute. What just happened?”
“I have never known you to be indecisive—or disinterested.”
“I’m just happy to do whatever you want to do.”
“Bullshit,” she said, dropping his hand and folding her arms. “If you don’t want to be here, say so.”
That wasn’t it at all, but he wasn’t any better at lying than he was talking on the phone, which meant the time had come for him to be honest.
“Come here.” He pulled her arms apart and brought her body so it was flush with his. “We need to talk.”
“Bugger me,” she mumbled, trying to wiggle out of his hold, but he refused to let her go.
“It isn’t as bad as all that,” he said, cupping her nape with his hand and bringing his lips to hers.
“Whatever it is, just say it.”
“Can we go back to the house?”
“Oh my God.”
“Darrow, stop this. You don’t even know what I want to talk to you about.”
“No one says they want to talk unless it’s something bad. Otherwise, whatever it is, they just say it.”
He shook his head and released his hold on her. “Look, my sister is getting married in just a couple of days. I don’t want to argue with you.”
“Is that what we’re doing? Are we arguing?” She turned on her heel and stalked off, leaving Quint standing on the garden path wondering what the hell just happened.
26
There would be absolutely no way she would cry. Nope. Wasn’t happening. Darrow knew the opening to a breakup, she’d heard it often enough from Axel, and she didn’t need to stand around and hear it from Quint.
“Bugger it,” she muttered, picking up her pace. Perhaps she could ring Wren and see if Quint could just stay at Dorchester House until New Year’s Eve and the wedding. He sure as hell wasn’t staying with her if he couldn’t wait until after that to end things with her.
Cor blimey. What a bloody idiot she was. Orina’s words echoed in her head. Get to know yourself, learn to be okay with yourself. You don’t need to be in a relationship to be complete. That much was obvious since she couldn’t seem to stay in one for more than…how long had Quint been here? Three days? Jesus, was she that bad?
“Darrow, stop,” she heard him say from behind her, but she wouldn’t. She couldn’t take the humiliation.
“I think you should stay with Wren and Sutton until the wedding,” she shouted over her shoulder. “In fact, Dorchester House is right over there.” She pointed toward the forest. “I’ll have your things brought over to you.”
She felt his hands land on her shoulders. Of course the bastard caught up with her, at six-three, he was nearly a foot taller than she was. She tried to shrug away from him, but he held tight.
“Stop, dammit.”
“I’ll make this easy on you,” she said, spinning around to face him. “I’m sorry, Darrow, but this just isn’t working out between us. It’s been fun, but now it’s over.”
“Are you finished?”
“Need I go on?”
Instead of answering, Quint’s mouth captured hers. He thrust his tongue in her mouth as his powerful arms pulled her into him. He lifted her until her legs went around his waist. One hand held her bottom while the fingers of the other weaved through her hair, holding her as he deepened the kiss.
“Don’t do this,” she murmured when he rested his forehead against hers.
“What is it you think I’m doing?”
She shrugged and tried to drop her legs, but he held her where she was. She could feel his hardness press against her. Was he really getting turned on by fighting with her?
“What am I pretending, Darrow? That I care about you? Sorry, I’m no good at pretending or lying.”
“If you care about me, why are you ending things between us?”
He let go of her bottom, and her feet landed on the ground. “When did I say I was ending things between us?”
“You said we needed to talk.”
“Yep. Sure as sugar did, sugar. Evidently, you filled in the rest of the blanks all on your own.”
“Go ahead, then. Talk. Whatever you wanted to say, say it now.”
“I’d rather wait.”
“What for?”
“I don’t want to fight with you, sweetheart. All I want to do is go back to the house. Once we get there, I’ll light a fire and throw down a blanket near the hearth, slowly—piece by piece—take your clothes off, and then, in the most romantic way I can muster, show you how I feel about you.”
“That sounds quite nice.”
“Sounds nice to me too.”
“I’m sorry, Quint.”
“You wanna know how you can make it up to me?”
She nodded.
“March that sweet little body straight home and wait for me near the fireplace.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to watch you walk.”
“But I usually follow you.”
“Not this time, Shadow.”
He spun her around and gave her a gentle nudge. Instead of walking in front of him, she hung back and took his hand. “I am sorry.”
“I know you are, and I’m sorry too. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m not the best communicator there ever was.”
Darrow didn’t say anything else on the rest of the walk back. Too many thoughts were swirling in her head. Why did Quint say they needed to talk? There had to be something more to it than just him saying he cared about her.
But why had she overreacted? Mainly because she’d been so hurt when she didn’t hear from him after that one terribly awkward phone call. And then, she’d struggled on Christmas morning, thinking he wasn’t going to show up.
“Tell me what you’re thinking right now,” he said, stopping right before the gate to Covington House.
“To be honest…”
“Always. Please,” he said before she could finish.
“I feel a bit like I’m on a carnival ride.”
“In
what way?”
She dropped his hand, opened the gate, and went in the front door. Instead of waiting by the fireplace like he’d asked, Darrow went into the kitchen and fetched a bottle of Wellie’s brandy. “Fancy a glass?” she asked.
“Sure, if you think it’s necessary.”
“Wellie always says ‘a glass of brandy won’t solve your problems, it’ll just make finding a solution much easier.’”
“Do we have a problem?”
She carried the brandy into the sitting room and waited while Quint lit the promised fire.
“Where is this going, Quint?”
Quint knelt by the fire, stoking it until it was fully ablaze, and then came and sat on the sofa beside her. “That’s why I said we needed to talk.”
She took another sip of brandy and turned her body so she was facing him.
“You confessed something to me when you were in Texas.”
“Yes?”
“You have dreams, Darrow. The only thing stopping you is your own belief in yourself. You don’t need me or either of your brothers to tell you that you can achieve them. You need to believe it for yourself.”
She turned back to face the fire. “It isn’t that easy.”
“Why not?”
“They don’t let just anyone into MI6 training. There are a series of interviews required, and to even get the first one takes a referral.”
“So ask for one.”
She folded her arms and shook her head. “My brothers will refuse.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I already asked.”
Quint looked at her like he didn’t believe her, but she had. It was a few years ago, but their combined reactions and subsequent refusals were worded in such a way that she’d never ask again.
“That’s surprising.”
“It wasn’t to me.”
“Who does the referral need to come from?”
“There’s a list of who can endorse a candidate.”
“What about Z?”
She’d thought of that, but it seemed unfair to put him in that position when he likely knew that both Thornton and Sutton were opposed.
“Does the person have to be MI6?”
Darrow shook her head. “There’s a wide range of candidates, none of whom I know would agree to recommend me.”
“What about Wren?”
Shadow (Military Intelligence Section 6 Book 4) Page 12