Page 24 of Only You

The first thing she noticed was how dark the sky had gotten. Madame Roulet had said the general would be gone all night but she didn’t want to worry her. She sighed before stepping away from Damien’s embrace.

‘I have to head back,’ she said. She stroked his face, wanting to linger in the moment as much as possible.

He frowned but kissed her palm. ‘I’ll find a way to write to you.’

‘I’ll be waiting.’

She stepped back before the urge to kiss him was too strong.

It was already dangerous enough that she held him for so long.

She adjusted her cape and walked back towards the house, supressing the tears that sprung up with every step.

It took her a while to notice the footsteps behind her, and she looked over her shoulder to see Damien lingering a few feet back. She stopped with a raise of her brow.

‘What are you doing?’

‘It’ll be dark soon enough,’ he said. ‘A young lady shouldn’t be out here by herself, and I’ve heard I make good company.’

‘And who told you this?’

‘A princess I met a long time ago,’ he said. ‘A foreigner, but quite charming.’

The words made her pause as affection bloomed.

It could have been the way the light caught Damien’s hazel eyes or the velvety tone or how the fading sunlight danced over his brown skin – anything equally superficial.

It would have been much easier to toy and flirt with that feeling than succumb to the fondness that constantly weighed on her heart.

Already it was like being welcomed by a warm flame.

How was she to resist it after being cold for so long?

‘Let’s go see the Jardin des Plantes,’ she suggested. ‘They’re not far and, if I remember correctly, you’re as fond of them as I am.’

‘That sounds lovely,’ he said, gesturing in front of them. ‘Lead the way.’

Damien shouldn’t have been there.

He should have followed her home silently, let her go at the door. He should have ignored how easily they fell back into step with one another. He should have remembered the punishments that awaited him if General Roulet were to find out that he defied his orders again.

Instead, he felt elation walking through the gardens by her side, the sudden switch making his head spin.

Yet, he felt torn. Seeing her, finally being able to explain what happened, had put an extra spring in his step initially, but all he could focus on was the lack of vibrancy in her eyes, how hard she clenched her hands together.

Whatever pressure she had been previously hiding now hung over her like a cloud.

He knew there was nothing he could have done while Roulet had been keeping tabs on him – and still would be until the wedding – but he still felt a pang of guilt.

He should have tried harder to come back.

‘The flowers may be gone are still gorgeous,’ Sabine commented, looking around with wonder. ‘I have never seen anything like this. We never had seasons like this back home. Only wet and dry.’

‘I remember,’ he said. ‘I told you, it sounded much nicer than snow.’

‘You were correct…’ She trailed off, smiling tentatively. ‘You seemed to like my stories.’

‘Your home always sounded amazing.’ He remembered her animated explanations of the lush, far-off lands. ‘I could only wish to have grown up in a place like that.’

Sabine giggled as she faced him, the lost expression from earlier long gone.

She looked both vulnerable and fierce all at once as she sat on the edge of a fountain.

Damien checked their immediate surroundings.

People were exiting the park, but some lingered nearby.

Figuring it would look more suspicious if he continued to stand, he took a seat next to her, looking straight ahead.

‘I never stood a chance. Not from the first moment we spoke,’ she admitted.

Damien didn’t dare face her. He wasn’t sure he could handle the look he’d seen on her face, or the sweet promises falling from her lips.

He almost wanted to ask her to stop, but he still craved the reassurance that he had mattered to her.

‘I’ve never been able to truly hide from you, even when I wanted to.

Sometimes, when you would stay the night, we would breathe in sync. Did you know that?’

‘I… never noticed,’ he said, dumbstruck by her words. He watched the last few people trickle out the garden, guards wandering at the fringes but not paying them attention.

‘I wish I never did. Then, I could be the lady I was meant to be… I shouldn’t be here, putting you at risk. I need to return—’

Damien cupped her face and brought it to his own.

Sabine didn’t fight, immediately melting at his touch.

It felt like someone had lit a match under his skin, her touch feverish every time her hand brushed him.

He pulled her into his arms, the movement muscle memory.

How many times had he done this as sunlight warmed her skin?

He bit her lip, hungry to recreate that moment with her, his mind turned dizzy with their mutual desire.

And destructive , he reminded himself. She was still engaged, tied to an influential family. Yet, Lamont was no soldier, no fighter like them. The idea that he would ever be stupid enough to try and stop them almost made Damien scoff.

Let him try to take you away , he thought arrogantly as Sabine moaned, clinging to his shoulders.

‘Come with me,’ he whispered when they separated, both breathing heavily. He was ready for her to be reasonable, to remind him that she couldn’t.

‘Okay.’

‘We shouldn’t have done that.’

Damien shook his head where it rested on Sabine’s chest. ‘I think it was your best idea yet.’

He shimmied down to kiss her stomach, and she was very aware of the blanket that separated his lips from her bare skin.

They had escaped to an inn a few streets over.

Sabine drew eyes, but Damien kept a proper distance, not stepping inside until the street was empty.

The owner narrowed her eyes at them but said nothing at the gold coins Damien tossed on the counter.

The bed barely fit the two of them, but it didn’t prove to be much of a problem as their bodies became entangled.

Her skin still tingled in the aftermath, hypersensitive with every move he made, and she had to stop herself from sinking her nails into his back to pull him over her again, instead settling for tracing random shapes across the planes of his back as he continued to kiss her.

She bit the inside of her cheek before running her fingers through his curls.

‘It’s a great idea until we have to scramble for our clothes,’ she murmured as she stared at the ceiling.

Damien propped himself on his elbows, framing her face. ‘Your guardians are not down the hall from us.’ He leaned down to kiss the curve of her neck. ‘We’re fine.’

‘What about when I have to go home?’ He groaned, tucking his face into her neck.

She wrapped an arm around his waist, kissing his shoulder, and breathing in the woodsy scent that naturally clung to him.

‘I’m still engaged, and you’re still being monitored by Roulet…

I don’t know how we’re going to keep this up. ’

He pulled away so she could see his face. ‘Then, we figure out a way to get out.’

Sabine raised her brows. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Let’s run away.’

Her eyes grew wide. The words had been an inkling in the back of her mind; an idea easily dismissed.

Yet, when Damien disappeared, it became a fantasy.

Now… now, she had to choose. If she said no, this would have to be the last time she saw him.

Roulet knew there was something between them.

Maintaining the affair after she was married would be difficult, especially since she would be leaving the city soon after. They would have to give up everything…

‘How do we do that?’

He flipped them over, so she was laying atop him, her hair falling around their faces. Damien’s fingers trailed up her exposed back, his hooded gaze making her throat run dry.

‘I may not be in the navy, but I have friends there. I can call in a favour or two. I have money saved. It’s not a lot but—’

‘My trousseau,’ Sabine said. ‘Between that and Lamont’s ring, we’ll have more than enough money to disappear.’

‘Now, we just have to pick a place and a route,’ Damien said.

‘My father comes in October,’ she told him, remembering the letter he sent before departing from C?te d’Ivoire. ‘We have to leave before he arrives, or we won’t have a chance.’

‘I’ll find a way out before then,’ he vowed.

‘I never have anything to do on Wednesday or Saturday. I’ll convince Madame Roulet that I need another walk,’ she smirked.

‘Okay.’ He looked over at the clearly expensive dress that lay abandoned on the floor. ‘And maybe come in something more… subtle.’ She giggled before nodding eagerly. Her laughter faded as she realised the implication of what was happening.

‘We’re really doing this,’ she whispered.

Damien’s eyes grew serious, and he leaned up to kiss her. It was a gentle touch, sealing the promise. They weren’t going back; they couldn’t. And Sabine couldn’t think of all the promises she made to her father. She was here now, and she needed to be happy.

‘Yes,’ he said between kisses. ‘We’re doing this.’