Killian helped her up from the grass, his hands lingering on her waist for a moment as he brushed a few stray blades of green from her leather pants. The heavy air of the afternoon had been replaced by a comfortable, shared intimacy, though the underlying hum of excitement hadn't faded.
"I think we've earned a moment of quiet," he murmured, guiding her back toward the sleek black car waiting at the edge of the park. "A nap, a breather... just some time where the rest of the world isn't allowed to reach us."
As the driver pulled away into the winding streets of Paris, Killian didn't reach for his phone to check the headlines or call Marcus. Instead, he pulled Raya close, letting her head rest on his shoulder. He remained uncharacteristically tight-lipped about the rest of the day, a small
