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obviously thought she’d try and extend the affair. And he’d be right. She probably would have. She would have leaped at the chance.
    Elowyn tucked the letter back into the bag. It wasn’t his fault. He never suggested he wanted more than a fling on the road. In the beginning, it was all she’d wanted, too. Things had changed for her and she’d wrongly assumed things had changed for him, too. She’d misjudged him and by extension, she’d misjudged them.
    She’d just lit the fire when Grahame entered the little alcove, looking wet from his efforts with the horses. “The rest of the barn isn’t as snug as our corner here,” he said, reaching for a blanket and stripping out of his wet coat. He looked around. “I must say, you’d have made an admirable army wife. I wouldn’t have expected it.”
    Usually, she would have said something saucy in reply to his teasing. Tonight, she simply handed him his shirt, still too numb from her discoveries. Grahame shrugged into his dry shirt with slow movements, finally sensing something was off. “What is it, Ell?”
    She hadn’t meant to confront him. She’d meant to have one more night and then distance herself in the morning, but seeing him so easy and free as if nothing was wrong, as if her heart wasn’t starting to break just the tiniest of bits, had prompted a more direct response. Elowyn met his gaze evenly. “I know about Vienna. I saw the letter in your bag.”

Chapter Twelve
    The revelation caught him off guard. His face became a stoic mask as he lowered himself down by the fire. She pressed her brief advantage. “Why didn’t you tell me, Grahame?”
    “It doesn’t change anything.” His gaze was riveted on the flames.
    “I disagree. It has the power to change everything. Is that why you said nothing?” She tried to stay cool. Yelling and fighting were not viable substitutes for a controlled, adult discussion. “When we arrive in Vienna, it’s over?”
    “It has to be,” Grahame bit out tersely.
    “Care to explain why? I’m a big girl, Grahame. I can take it.” It was a lie. Whatever he told her, it was going to hurt. She knew that much already.
    “No, I wouldn’t care to explain it,” Grahame growled. He glanced up from the fire and his features seemed to soften. “I’m not all you think I am. I’d prefer to leave it at that. My pride demands it.”
    “What about my pride? It demands a little something, too,” Elowyn shot back, unwilling to settle.
    He gave her a look of exasperation. “It’s not you, it’s me.”
    Elowyn snorted. “ That doesn’t make it better.” She wanted to stay angry; it was easier to distance herself from him then. But her anger was slipping away. She’d expected him to be harsh, to laugh at her notions of what their affair had meant; perhaps she’d expected him to even tell her she’d been foolish in her assumptions. But he’d done none of that. Instead, he mirrored her own frustration.
    Something flickered in his gray eyes. “Believe me when I tell you I wish this could all be different.”
    “If wishes were horses...” Elowyn flashed a sardonic glance to where their mounts were stabled. “What do you suppose that makes us?” Oh, yes, the edge was starting to wear off indeed, the anger all but gone now. Was she going to despise herself for this in the morning?
    Grahame’s eyes were solemn and sad. “Two people who found happiness for a short while. But Ell, it can’t last. I can’t make you happy forever.”
    “Let me be the judge of that.” Suddenly, she knew her own mind. She went to him, kissing him on the mouth, her hands working the shirt he’d so recently put on. She couldn’t control him, or the outcome once they reached Vienna, but she could control tonight. Tonight she wanted him one last time.
    Elowyn reached for him, her hand seeking his phallus, but he stalled her. “No, tonight, let me take you.” He wanted her! Her heart soared with elation, his words further proof that