Page 74 of Code Name: Admiral

Nothing looked any different when we pulled in front of it than it had the day I first brought Alice here. It was hard to imagine that only seventy-two hours ago, we’d been under siege.

“Diesel assured me that the team he has in place knows to give us privacy.”

Alice wriggled her eyebrows. “I’m looking forward to…privacy.”

While we’d slept in each other’s arms, we hadn’t made love, something we both agreed was worth waiting for until we were here. Home, as she’d said.

I convinced her to let me bring our bags in, and when I did, I found her in the morning room—or her office, as I now thought of it. I watched as she picked up a crystal, then walked over to the window that faced north.

“I love it here,” she said when I came to stand behind her.

“I do too. I’d forgotten how much.”

“What’s it like in the summer?”

“There are people here.”

She laughed and motioned to the handful of camps that were lit up. “It looks like some are here now.”

“There will be more. A lot more.”

“Nothing like Manhattan, though.”

I shuddered. “No, never like the city.”

“If we do go back, I want to tell Lark that I’ve been to Gloversville.”

My eyes scrunched. “Have you been?”

She rolled her eyes again, something I didn’t remember her ever doing before. “I have not, which means you need to take me.”

“It will be my pleasure, although there isn’t much there.”

“Maybe if she visits, she can come here too.”

I wrapped my arms around her waist. “You should invite her.”

She leaned against me. “Pershing?”

“Yes, my love.” It was the first time I’d said the word to her, not that it was in the way I wanted to say it, especially since she hadn’t bristled or tensed.

“I want to be with you tonight. You know, in the way we haven’t let ourselves.”

“I want that too,” I said, moving her hair to trail kisses down her neck.

“Can we, um, start now?”

Rather than answer, I took her hand and led her into the bedroom. Her eyes opened wide when she saw another zafu cushion next to hers on the floor and a second yoga mat leaning against the wall beside the other.

She turned to the bed and clapped her hands. “Are those crystals?”

“They sure are.”

She walked over and picked up the first of the eight I’d asked Bryar to place on the blanket in front of our pillows. She moved through them, holding each in her hand for a few seconds before picking up the next.

“Amethyst, rose quartz, selenite, black tourmaline, lepidolite, celestite, howlite, and moonstone. They’re perfect.” When she turned to me, her eyes filled with tears. “I love you, Pershing, more than I knew even existed. Thank you for this. Thank you for taking care of me, protecting me, and loving me back.”

“I do, you know. I love you so much,” I said, gathering her in my arms.

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