Page 32 of Duality (The Archers #1)

ADRIAN

“ Y ou must be freezing.”

The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Evelyn jolted upright in her chair, her peaceful expression vanishing.

She was sitting out on the back patio, the large lawn stretching out in front of her.

In the back corner of the yard, an overgrown garden escaped the low wrought-iron fence.

“Fuck, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” I thought for sure she would hear me coming through the door. The sliding glass door squeaked loudly when it opened. I needed to pick up some oil for it, but that could wait.

“No, it’s fine, I was lost in thought,” Evelyn said, sinking back into the outdoor couch.

“Couldn’t sleep?” I asked, handing her a mug before settling the blanket I was carrying over my arm over her lap.

She let me fuss over her with a small, bemused smile. I settled into the seat next to her instead of one of the chairs. I wanted to be closer to her. She pivoted to face me, tucking her toes under the blanket. I eyed her bare feet and glared at her.

She giggled softly. “What?”

“Where are your shoes?”

She shrugged. “I don’t sleep with shoes on.”

“You should come outside with shoes on, though.”

She shrugged again, and I gave into the urge to pull her feet into my lap. “Fuck, your toes are cold.”

She laughed again, a low melodic sound, and I relished in it. She didn’t laugh often, so every time she did it felt like a gift. “I can take them back.” She went to move her feet out of my lap, and I clasped her ankle gently.

“No,” I said gruffly, “Keep them there. Can’t have you dying of frostbite before the gala.”

She tilted her head to the side, a soft frown on her face. “Can one actually die of frostbite?”

I shrugged. “Fuck, if I know.”

She laughed again, and I grinned at her.

The dark circles were still present under her eyes, but they were lighter after a few nights of good sleep.

She still had years to catch up on, but between Alexander, Sebastian, and I, we had been trying to get her to bed at a reasonable hour the last few nights.

There was so much to do and plan for with the gala coming up, but there was a whole team on it.

She wasn’t alone anymore. If only we could get her to realize that.

“Thank you.” The words came out of nowhere.

“For what?” I frowned. She didn’t have anything to thank me for.

“For always keeping my secret.” She looked out into the garden, her eyes distant.

I squeezed her ankle softly, rubbing my hands over her cold feet. “You never have to thank me for that.”

She bit her bottom lip, chewing on it anxiously. I leaned forward and tugged it away from her teeth, rubbing my thumb across the soft pink skin. She froze, a quick intake of breath her only reaction, and I settled back in my seat. I didn’t want to push her too quickly.

“I know it’s caused…friction between you and Marcus. I never wanted that,” she said, her voice just above a whisper.

I shrugged. “Marcus and I will figure it out. We always do. He’s already mostly over it.”

She huffed. “He doesn’t seem like it.”

I grinned. Marcus was all tied up in knots over her, but he was having difficulty expressing his emotions.

Evelyn had rocked his world with her revelations, but he’d needed it.

I understood why he was feeling like his world’s foundation had shifted.

After what happened on his last mission in the military, I understood the importance of honesty to him.

But he’d swung too far the other way in the last few years, and his rigidness was going to be his downfall.

He needed Evelyn to push him in the other direction.

But the two of them needed to sort that out between them. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t push, though.

“I’ll always keep your secrets,” I promised.

She tilted her head again, brow furrowed. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you keep it? I mean, I know your mom, but Marcus…” She trailed off like she didn’t know how to phrase the question.

“Well…” I started, trying to find the words that wouldn’t make me sound like a love-struck fool.

“I didn’t want to jeopardize the Archers.

You do good work. You do the work that I want to do.

” I paused, trying to figure out if I wanted to tell her what I had been wrestling with for a while.

She patiently waited for me to gather my thoughts. Fuck it. I was going all in.

“I know you’re not sure what’s going to happen after all of this is over,” I started. “I don’t think any of us really know how it’s going to end. All I know is that if you do leave SDS, I want to come with you. To work at the Archers.”

Her eyes widened dramatically, and she sat upright. “Wait, what? Why?”

I chuckled at her surprise. “I just told you. Because you do good work. You have an important mission, and I want to be a part of that.”

“But you do good work at SDS, though?”

I nearly laughed again at her puzzled look. “But I don’t get to do it with you.”

Her eyes widened again as she eyed me like I was a crossword puzzle.

I knew she didn’t understand. Or maybe she did, but I was tired of not having it all out there.

I saw the way she looked at Alexander and Sebastian.

I saw the way she looked at Marcus when he wasn’t looking.

I wanted her to look at me that way, too.

“What are you saying?” she asked softly, looking down at her hands as she fiddled with her fingers.

“I’m saying that I want to be a part of this family we’re building here,” I said softly, smiling gently at her when her eyes flew up to meet mine. “I want a chance to sweep you off your feet and be one of your boyfriends.”

“One of my boyfriends?” Her eyebrows shot up, but she didn’t look turned off by the idea.

“Yes, one of your boyfriends.” I smiled.

“And who are my other boyfriends?” she asked, but the blush in her cheeks gave her away.

I smiled and squeezed her ankles. “I think you know who. They’re the ones walking around with stars in their eyes when they look at you.”

Her blush deepened, and she dropped her gaze to her hands. “I’ve always been attracted to you,” she confessed softly, and my heart beat kicked up. “But I never let myself dream of doing anything about it in case one day I needed to leave SDS.”

“If you left, I would have chased after you,” I said firmly, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that I would have. If she had left one day, had disappeared like I knew she had a plan for doing in the event something went wrong, I would have chased after her.

“Really?” Her voice was small, almost child-like. Like she really couldn’t imagine anyone caring that much for her.

I gave into the temptation and pulled her onto my lap, fussing over the blanket until it was wrapped tightly around her.

Couldn’t have her getting cold now. She didn’t resist, letting me fuss over her with her cheek pressed against my chest. Once I was finished, I tilted her chin up towards me so I could stare into those pretty hazel eyes.

“Really,” I confirmed. “There’s nowhere you could go, nothing you could do, that would make me not want you.”

That sounded a little creepy, but the way her eyes lit up was worth it. Her soft pink lips parted, and I couldn’t resist anymore.

Leaning down, I brushed her lips with mine.

She parted them for me, and I groaned, pressing my lips to hers harder.

I cupped her cheek, angling her head so I could kiss her deeper.

She tasted like coffee, and underneath it, the undeniable sweetness that was all her.

I wanted to devour her. She sat straighter in my lap, trying to get closer to me.

I groaned as she shifted to straddle my lap, breaking our kiss momentarily before I tugged her lips back down to mine.

In this new position, she was straddling me, her legs on either side of my hips and the warmth of her center poised over my aching cock.

I pulled her hips down, and she gasped into my mouth as her core connected with mine.

She rocked her hips into mine again, and a breathy moan slipped through her lips.

My hands guided her hips as she kept up the motion, pulling her down harder against me and drinking up every moan and gasp that fell from her lips.

She moved her hips faster, tossing her head back as she chased her pleasure.

The move exposed the column of her throat.

I pressed kisses to the exposed skin, sucking her skin in between my teeth and biting down gently.

A throaty cry escaped her as she shattered in my arms. I held her close as her body shook, rubbing one hand up and down her back.

She buried her face in my neck and sucked in quiet, shuddering breaths.

I was rock-hard, but I breathed through the ache.

This was all about her. Her breathing steadied after a few minutes, but neither of us spoke.

The morning sun was beginning to peek through the trees, the warm light encasing us in a soft glow.

Evelyn hummed in my arms, and I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

The loud squeak of the sliding glass door screeched through the peaceful silence. When Evelyn froze in my arms, I knew who it was.

“Breakfast is ready.” Marcus’s voice was gruff from behind me.

I turned my head to look at my best friend. He scowled, but he couldn’t hide the longing in his eyes from me. He spun on his heel when I gave him a knowing look. When the door slid close again with a loud screech, Evelyn buried her face in her hands.

“Fuck, he already hates you and then you went and humped his best friend.” Her words were barely audible, and I wasn’t sure I was even meant to hear them, but I chuckled, nonetheless.

“Give him time, little warrior,” I told her, enjoying the way her eyes lit up. “He’ll come around.”

And he would. Marcus was stubborn and moody but also fiercely loyal. This woman held his heart in the palm of her hands. Neither of them knew it yet, though.