Page 38 of The Dare

I expect he’ll be booking up every cabin on the sleeper for the night if he has to, just to make sure no one else gets near me.

“It’s just for tonight,” I tell him.

Tell myself.

Somehow, and I’m still not exactly sure just how I know, but after this train ride’s over, so is my old life.

Suzanna will live. She’ll survive the imaginary trauma of me being whisked away by the very man she dared me to kiss.

“We could head into those woods for a while,” Michael growls, nuzzling my cheek with his, making me curl my fingers deeper into his shoulders through his shirt.

The train’s horn sounds loudly again, this time followed by a series of shrill whistles.

Michael mutters a curse under his breath, saying he was sure we had a full half-hour according to the timetable.

I feel a moment of mild panic, which disappears as soon as we start moving. As soon as I’m aware of how close I am to Michael again.

Nothing can really bother me as long as I’m in his arms, and outside of that, I’d feel sorry for anyone or anything that got between me and him.

We make it back to the train in time, the conductor glancing at his watch before he apologizes to Michael.

“Sorry sir, we gotta make up for some lost time. Thought we’d lost you for a minute there,” he smiles.

Keeping a hold of me, Michael climbs the steps back onto the train.

“Everything alright, sir?” The conductor asks, noting him still carrying me.

“Never better,” Michael says heartily, stooping to avoid bumping his head and then moving so he can carry me inside the rail car properly before he has to set me down because it’s just too narrow.

No trains on the honeymoon.

The idea startles me at first like it’s actually Michael’s voice I can hear but I think we both have the same idea at the same moment.

No more trains after tonight. Not for a while at least.

We sit in the lounge car for quite a while, long after the train’s moving again.

Without even checking, I know Suzanna’s back in our sleeper.

I can just feel it.

Once the steward yawns and asks if there’s anything else he can get for us, we get the hint.

Time for us to go to sleep.

I stand, and Michael moves to walk me back to my sleeper, but I stop him.

Resting a hand on his chest again before holding him for a moment.

“I’ll be alright,” I tell him, feeling now just how much he doesn’t want to let me go.

Not now and not ever.

And not because he’s clingy either, just because my place is by his side.

“Just for tonight,” he reminds me solemnly, stroking my hair back before kissing me.

I can feel him watching me as I go to my shoebox of a compartment.