Page 34 of The Valiant Knight (The Ravensmire Chronicles #2)

Ravensmire Castle

Post-Dinner

Library

I f there was one thing that was absolute truth, it was that Gabby loved a mystery. Luckily for her, they had one. With each passing moment, this whole thing was making her more and more curious.

Sue her, but she couldn't help but want to find out what was going on at the castle. Curiosity killed the Fed.

Because they had to figure out who was haunting the castle, it meant sitting down, and going over everything that Gryphen and Ian had found when they’d been here. Then, they’d add what they had.

In case they couldn’t finish before it was time to head back for Tony, and for her to start her life.

Tonight, they were spending a cozy night reading on the library couch.

As she watched Finn crouching in front of the fireplace to stoke the flames, she was grinning.

It didn’t go unnoticed.

“I can tell you’re watching me, Gabriella.”

She laughed.

“I mean, I can’t help myself. I’m in a castle, and there’s a sexy McKnight handling the fire.”

That amused him.

“So I’m your valiant knight, chasing away the cold?” he asked, more than happy to play that role. Honestly, he was hopelessly smitten with her, and with each passing moment, he fell further into love.

He was putting a lot on this relationship.

As in he was all in.

Gabby was giddy, thinking about having her own knight in shining armor because that was what he was. Oh, he’d saved her a couple of times, so that definitely made him valiant in her book.

And her hero.

Without a doubt.

“Well, if the kilt fits, my sexy cop, wear it,” she admitted.

He was beyond entertained by this woman. She was lying on the couch, there was a fuzzy blanket on her lap, and she was saving him a seat.

This was nice.

He could get accustomed to this.

Finn could see himself coming home from work after a long day to cuddle with his woman on the couch.

Sign.

Him.

Up.

Not far away from her, also on the couch was Bark, and he was doing the other thing he did best.

Sleep.

They’d taken him outside and he chased a goat for about an hour. Now, he’d sleep like the dead. That goat had worn him down in all the right ways.

Heading her way, she lifted the blanket, and scooched over to give him some space beside her. There was nothing better than cuddling on a couch in a castle.

Finn was living the life.

It was crazy how yesterday he went home to his houseplants and a cold couch with no one to be with, and now, he had a woman of his own.

Not only did he have a woman, but he had a smart, funny woman who made his heart light.

“I like this,” he said, kissing her on the temple as she leaned against him with the big book in her lap.

Gabby looked up at him.

“I do too. I’m a homebody,” she warned. “After I work, I like tea, a blanket, and to decompress. You don’t like running triathlons, right?” she asked, knowing he worked out somehow.

His body was lit.

Oh, well, unfortunately, Finn had really bad news for her.

“I run every day before work. Five miles, and then I come home, shower, get dressed, grab a coffee, and head to work.”

She stared at him in horror.

“Every day? On purpose? Is someone chasing you so you feel the need to run?”

Finn laughed, and that whiskey warm chuckle sent chills up her body.

“It burns off frustration,” he said. “If you know what I mean.”

She moved to sit in his lap, and he grinned.

Funny.

He wasn’t feeling the least bit frustrated now. A woman who wanted you all of the time took care of that.

For.

Damn.

Sure.

“I won’t run if you find a better way for me to burn off that frustration,” he offered.

Oh, well, sign her up.

Slipping her hands into his hair, she pulled his mouth to hers, and kissed him.

Oh, and she kissed him good.

It was the hot tangle of tongues, and the way she was pressed to his body.

Immediately, his body turned back on, and he moaned at the oral assault.

Jesus.

H.

Christ.

He loved his life.

When she slowly broke the kiss, his lower lip was between her teeth. As she set it free, he looked dazed by that pleasure.

“Like that? Will that convince you to stay in bed a little longer in the morning?”

Oh, well, she could bet her ass it would. Finn wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t leaving their bed now.

Screw that.

“My God, woman,” he muttered. “More of that, and I’ll quit my job to stay in bed with you all day.”

That made her laugh.

If he thought that she wouldn’t take him up on that offer, he was crazy.

“Oh, well, sexy cop, we’ll talk about that later,” she said, running her fingers down his cheek. “You’re very handsome, Finn. I’m lucky.”

Her admission from nowhere caught him off guard. His ex never told him he was handsome.

Ever.

At some point, he believed that he was a bridge troll, and now, he was seeing that his woman liked looking at him.

That gave his ego a boost.

Ah, if his ex could see him now, she’d be so jealous that he’d replaced her with a prettier, funnier, and sexier woman.

Karma was a bitch.

“I’m glad you’re attracted to me. It’ll make it easier to keep you naked in bed with me all day,” he admitted.

She giggled when he tickled her ribs, and almost fell off of his lap. Luckily for her, he caught her.

“Told you. My valiant knight.”

When he hugged her, she felt that need in him to just take a moment like this. If he needed to hold her, she understood.

So she hugged him back.

“I found my person,” he whispered in her ear. “My life is peaceful. Thank you, Gabby, for coming here and finding me.”

That made her smile.

“I found mine too,” she admitted.

And even better, she was here, safe, and away from her ex ever finding her.

“I do have to go home though,” she said, catching him off guard.

He tensed.

Oh, he didn’t like that.

“What do you mean? I thought…”

She put her fingers over his lips.

“Finn…all my things are in DC. I have to pack them up and send them here. I need my computers to work for Elizabeth, and Bark has his toys, his dog bed…”

He calmed down.

Yeah, that made sense. Still, a little part of him knew he wouldn’t be okay if she left—even for a couple of days.

So, he went there.

“Can I come with you?” he asked. “I’d like to help you pack and see your life there. I want to see where you call home, and figure out if I could live there.”

She was confused.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

He was to the point.

“What if you move here, and you hate it? I want to see what it’s like in America in case that happens. I won’t let you leave alone. I’ll join you. Once we’re together, Gabby, I want us together forever.”

That tickled her pink.

“I’d love that. I have a lot of shoes. That’s going to take some time, but I can already tell you I love it here. I won’t want to go back. The only thing that might motivate me is my job, and since Elizabeth is letting me work from here…”

Thank God for that.

Gabby reassured him.

“You don’t have to worry, Finn. I’m not leaving you behind. We can go back together. Fly home with me, and we’ll have a little vacation.”

Oh, they’d have a honeymoon.

Finn would make sure of it.

“Promise?”

She nodded.

“I promise. I found my miracle here, and thankfully, he feels the same about me.”

Oh, that he did.

Bet

On.

It.

“We’ll go back, leave Bark here with Graham, if he’ll dog sit, and come back in a week. We’ll do it lowkey, so no one tries to talk me out of it.”

Oh, hell, no.

That was never happening.

“Mmmm…stealthy recon. I like it,” he said, teasing her earlobe with his teeth.

When the door opened, Tony came in and stopped.

“Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting?” he asked.

Because they would continue this later, she slid off of his lap.

“No, Tony. We’re just talking about going back to DC to get me packed up.”

He sat on the couch, and Bark crawled into his lap to get some attention.

“So you’re really doing this, huh?”

Finn stared at him.

“I’m four feet from you, Lad. Don’t make me hurt you for trying to talk her out of it,” he warned.

Glancing over, Tony was confused.

“Why would you hurt me? I was going to tell her she’s making the right decision.”

That surprised him.

“Oh,” he said. “Then tell her. Constantly.”

The man grinned.

“Gabby, you’re doing the right thing. I can tell. You’re both happy. Before, you were both a pair of bitches to deal with. Clearly, the sex helps.”

Finn laughed.

The man was so absurd, but he genuinely liked him. He said what he meant, and meant what he said. That was always good in a person.

“You’re an odd man, Doctor Magnus.”

Yeah, well, tell him something he didn’t know.

“Are we going to figure this out now?” he asked, meaning the whole castle thing. “Because we don’t have endless time. We have to go back at some point.”

Yes, yes, they were.

Grabbing the book on the table, Gabby sat back, and opened it. Inside, she found some of the pages that were haphazardly placed there that had been found.

Then, she found a note from Ian Patterson.

‘To whoever picks up where we left off,

So far, we know that Ceit was spurned, and she was pissed and haunting the place.

We found some of her love letters, and her letter where she curses his bloodline.

(Duncan’s) We had to stop, but you need to keep going.

Something is going on at Ravensmire and it won’t settle itself.

Because we love Elizabeth, we have to get this handled before she comes here.

We visited the church, and got as much as we could from there. There’s an online archive but we didn’t try to do that route yet. We don’t know all of the players in the game, but you can find more. The Church has access.

Good luck, and keep it going.

We owe the Blackhawks, and Ceit to figure this out.

Just two people who found even more love here,

Ian and Gryphen.’

She showed them.

“They seemed to have done a lot of legwork,” Finn admitted. “I saw them in the square the one day. He’s a big dude, isn’t he?”

Tony laughed.

Oh, he could say that.

“Gryphen is a Marine. He hovers over his man and gets cranky if you mess with him.”

That he respected.