Whispers of Desire at Cliveden House - 5

Posted on: 24/11/2025

Chapter Five – Between Duty and Desire.

John slipped out of the boathouse, the echo of her kiss still pulsing through him like a second heartbeat. Something in that brief, stolen moment had been taken from him and something far more dangerous had been left behind.
He kept to the gravel path, low and cautious, using the thick manicured hedges as cover.
Ahead, near the crest of the slope, he spotted two figures heading back toward the house: Max Grayson striding with his usual stiff impatience, and Magda a step behind, shoulders drawn, gaze lowered in the posture of someone expecting criticism before it arrived.
John slowed until their shapes dissolved over the ridge.
His tongue brushed his lips, as if confirming the memory of her kiss, warm, and honest.
But there was another truth with it, heavier and far less welcome.
The phone call John hadn’t meant to overhear this morning as he left the dining room. The unknown man's clipped, coded conversation with a man whose voice belonged elsewhere. A voice John recognised instantly from a Foreign Office briefing. A voice tied to a dossier stamped TOP SECRET – EYES ONLY.
"I've contacted Max," he said, "and he's willing to trade with us."
Was Max a client?
Was Max a contact?
Or was this man on the phone someone Max should never have been speaking to?
Max was indeed arrogant.
Max was indeed controlling.
Had Max been compromised?
John's phone had received a message which had been in his jacket pocket since breakfast and had gone unchecked until now.
One missed call. Blocked number at 07:00.
He knew who used that channel.
He played the message.
Just one sentence he’d heard many times before, the voice unmistakable:
“Max Grayson is an active threat. Eyes on.”
No context. No greeting. No explanation.
Just an order.
A tightness caught at the back of John’s ribs.
The Service suspected Max.
Which meant John’s presence here had never been a coincidence.
He hadn’t simply chosen Cliveden for a quiet getaway.
He had been placed.
Steered.
Positioned.
He hated it when they did that.
“Eyes on,” the message had said.
But his eyes had fallen on Magda.
And that was the problem.
He would do his duty. He’d watch Max, track his movements, uncover who he had been speaking with and why. That part of him was still intact.
But Magda…
In a single touch from her hand followed by a kiss, she had stopped being collateral.
She had become something far more personal.
The house came into view. The windows of the hall glowing from the log fires burning.
Somewhere inside, John imagined that Magda would be smoothing her hair, rebuilding the careful composure she wore beside her husband. And Max, no doubt, would without doubt be checking his phone, waiting for a message from the man who should not have had his number in the first place.
John stepped through the front door, breath steadying, focus tightening.
A kiss was one thing.
A compromised civilian tied to a active threat was another.
He was caught between the two now, heart on one side, duty on the other.
He closed the heavy oak door behind him and had barely taken three steps into the hall when a voice he knew drifted from the staircase to his right. It was calm, controlled, and had, unmistakably, been waiting for him.
“John… a word, if you will.”


Chapter Six coming soon ...

No part of any of the books, poems and short stories by John E Lawrence may be stored, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express permission of the author.

All of John's books and short stories are a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © John E Lawrence 2025

The right of John E Lawrence to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved.
Publishers are welcome to contact me directly by email by initially completing my enquiry form, https://www.johnelawrence.co.uk/contact, or email me; john@johnelawrence.co.uk 

Thank you.