Page 112 of Marked By Moonlight
“To hell with Gordon,” Mina muttered, echoing my thoughts exactly.
Bene chuckled. “That will be my motto the day we finish our contracts.”
Mina opened her mouth, then closed it.
I slid past her, into the bedroom, as she called to the others before closing the door.
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” they echoed — Bene cheerily, Roux less so.
We stood in silence for a while, gazing out the floor-to-ceiling windows. Eventually, Mina drew the curtains and sat on the edge of the bed, pulling off her shoes and socks. Then she stood again and pushed down her pants. I stared as she pulled her shirt over her head next.
“Uh…no talking, I guess?”
“Oh, we’re taking, all right,” she grumbled, turning her back to slip her bra off and toss it on a chair. Just as quickly, she pulled on a white T-shirt that came to mid-thigh in place of pajamas.
I froze, because that was my shirt. One I’d left at home — er, at the château.
She turned back and stuck her hands on her hips, catching my expression.
“Yes, I have been sleeping in your shirt, because I missed you. Because I love you. Yes, I’ve been going to bed every night wishing you were beside me.” Her voice trembled just a little. “But I will not play by your rules any more. So, time to decide. Stay with me now and make good on that mark you left on me, and stay for real this time. Not for a few nights between jobs or whenever it suits you or when you judge it safe enough. I want one night after another and then another, not for weeks or months, but for decades.” She took a deep breath. “The other option is backing out and letting your mark fade. Forever. Is that clear?”
Wow. This really was a new Mina.
And she wasn’t done yet.
She stuck a finger at my chest. “You marked me. Well, consider this my mark on you. One that says, this man is mine, and everyone else needs to stay the hell away.”
My dragon glowed, noddingyesto every statement.
She punctuated each word with a fierce tap. “But you have to do your part — and I don’t mean protecting me. I mean, you commit to making this work, or you leave.” She gulped for air. “There. Your turn to talk.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it. What the hell to say?
Say yes. To her. To us. To forever,my dragon grumbled.
She softened slightly. “What does your heart say?”
“Stay. Forever,” I said without the slightest hesitation.
“So how does this even require deliberation?”
“It shouldn’t. But I don’t want to see you hurt.”
She rolled her eyes. “That again.”
Thatwas her life. Did she not know that?
She took my hands. “I think you’re looking at this from the wrong perspective.”
I frowned. There was another perspective?
Her eye roll said,Stupid dragon.
“Picture us back at the château. Picture a nice, normal life. No Gordon, no secret missions, no bad guys,” she started. “Just you and me fixing up the château and running a business.”
Yes, please,I wanted to yell.
