Page 69 of The Eagle's Vault

And I damn sure wasn’t a woman who needed Declan’s protection.

I wasn’t a little girl who needed to be kept out of harm’s way. I was a woman who could stand on her own feet. Who could make her own decisions. I was a damn good safe engineer. I could handle Declan Ramsay.

Squaring my shoulders, I rapped my knuckles against the door. Was I too loud? I didn’t want to wake anyone else up. Was I not loud enough? I wanted him to wake up.

The door opened a minute later, revealing a sleepy-eyed, tousled Declan. A somehow-even-sexier Declan. It probably had something to do with the black lounge pants he was wearing, his mouth-watering chiseled chest on full display. Abs for days. A light smattering of hair across his pecs. A trail of it leading lower. “Leigh?”

“Declan.” Every word I’d planned fled from my brain. Whatwasmy plan? What had I rehearsed? “I had a big dream about my trip to Rome.”

He blinked slowly, like he was still waking up. It had only been twenty minutes since Jayce came back. How fast did the man get to sleep? “Do you want to come in?”

I hesitated.You were supposed to ask about the books, Leigh.What a mess. “Actually, I’m here for my books.”

“Of course.” Declan stepped aside to let me in. He walked over to a table where my books lay stacked, their familiar covers triggering a surge of longing. As he picked them up, he turned toward me, his lips parting to speak.

“No, listen.” I raised a hand before he could say anything, ignoring the books he held. “I had this big dream of coming to Rome, having a grand adventure, meeting a man I’d have a torrid love affair with. We’d ride a Vespa around the city, throw coins into the Trevi Fountain, swearing to return together, knowing we never would.”

He stood still, one hand full of my books, the other covering a yawn. The drawn-out sound amplified the pounding of my heart and the ridiculousness of my words.Keep going, Leigh. You’ll get to the point soon enough.

“Instead, I broke into a vault, fled a hotel in the middle of the night, wore a disguise to see the Catacombs, ran from a crazy security guy, met an antiquities smuggler, and I screwed up my chance at a torrid love affair.” The words all tumbled out in a gush. Had I said even half of the things I’d planned? “I messed it all up, Declan.”

He returned my books to the table and shook his head slightly. “Leigh, are you okay?”

“My mother died in a car accident when I was ten. I was in the car with her.” The words were out before I could stop them. The memory of that night still as vivid as if it had happened yesterday. “She had a ruptured aneurysm that caused it, and they found one in my brain, too. They operated and took care of it, but I spent weeks in the hospital. It took me a long time to recover.”

My vision blurred, but I forced myself to keep talking. For once, someone would listen to me. “After that, every man in my family treated me like I was made of glass, like another aneurysm was going to show up any second and they’d lose me, too. Every man I ever dated did exactly the same. My stepmother only made it worse, but I think it was more about jealousy than concern.”

Declan scrubbed his hands over his face, the sleepy look finally clearing. “I don’t understand.”

Tears welled in my eyes, but I blinked them away. I had to say this. I had to let Declan know I wasn’t the pathetic, helpless woman they made me out to be. “Everyone’s always trying to protect me, Declan. I stayed in a toxic relationship for two years because I didn’t know what it was like to make my own decisions. I put my degree on hold for him because he didn’t like how much time I was investing in my dissertation, and I didn’t think I mattered.”

“Dissertation?”

“So you said you wanted to protect me, and it freaked me out.” I rubbed my palms against my jeans. “It reminded me of him. And I didn’t like that. Especially not when it came from you.”

His confused expression softened.

What else was there to say after that ridiculous diatribe? “I know I’m rambling. But after the car ride home, I realized I got the adventure I wanted.”

“You’ve lost me.”

“I don’t want your protection.”

“I’m sorry, Leigh.” Declan let out another yawn, running a hand through his messy hair. “I didn’t realize that until I got back, too. I said what I thought you wanted to hear.”

“What I want—I want the other thing.” I stepped closer to him, heat rising in my cheeks.Say it and to hell with the consequences.“I want another kiss, Declan.”

The corner of his lips twitched, and he closed the distance between us. “Tell me everything you want.”

“I want to taste you, to feel your hands on me.” I lifted a tentative hand toward him, touching him, running it over the dark hair, down his tanned chest. Hard as a rock. “I want more, no matter how bad an idea it is. I don’t care if we’ll never see each other again, but I want one night with you.” I swallowed hard, steeling myself, trying to prevent my hands from shaking. “What I want to hear is you moaning my name.”

That was a first. But the heat creeping up my cheeks was plenty familiar.

Instead of recoiling, Declan’s eyes darkened with desire. He grabbed my face, like he had in the garden, and his lips crashed into mine. We picked up where we’d left off, his tongue just as demanding, as urgent.

I surrendered to him, giving in to the need coursing through me. His touch was commanding yet gentle at the same time; possessive yet tender. An eternity later, we finally pulled away from each other, needy and breathless. He kissed me again—softer this time, but no less passionate—as if he couldn’t bring himself to let me go.

Heat pooled between my legs as he ran his hands down my body, skating them over curves and angles with purpose. His muscular arms pulled me tight, hoisting me up so my legs wrapped around his hips.

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