Page 76 of Dark Voyage Matters of the Mind

"I do," he admitted. "But I also love seeing you unravel when I pleasure you and you don't have a stitch of clothing on you. I see the real you underneath the makeup, the form-fitting clothes, and the high heels, and I love what I see. I appreciate the care you put into your appearance because it reflects your personality and not because it makes you look better for me."

Her expression turned soft. "I would kiss you, but I haven't brushed my teeth, and my mouth stinks."

He leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss on her lips. "Never." He straightened up, grabbed the bag Mia had brought, and handed it to Frankie. "Let's get out of here."

"Wait." She lifted a hand to stop him. "I need to find my phone."

"We can ask Gertrude where it is." He opened the door and pushed the chair into the front office of the clinic.

"Leaving so soon?" Gertrude asked.

"The sooner the better," Frankie said. "Do you happen to know where my phone is?"

"If you didn't lose it in the commotion, it should be here." Gertrude opened one of the desk drawers and pulled out a zip-lock bag with a phone and some spare change. "Is that yours?"

"Yes, thank you." Frankie took the bag, pulled out her phone, and opened the case. "I'm glad to see that none of my credit cards were lost." She chuckled. "Not that I need them. They are for decoration only at this point because I can't charge anything until I start earning an income again."

Dagor frowned. Frankie didn't seem to be poor. He didn't know much about female fashion and how much it cost, but she had a lot of clothes and shoes.

The nurse gave her a knowing smile. "I've heard that you are going to work in the new Perfect Match studio as a beta tester. I bet that pays well."

"Yeah," Frankie answered without much enthusiasm in her voice. "I can't wait to start."

Frankie

As Dagor pushed Frankie's chair toward the elevator, she thought about what he had said to her before they'd left the clinic.

The word love had passed his lips several times but not once in reference to his feelings for her. He just loved how she looked in various states of dress or undress.

The question was what to do about it.

Should she just tell him that she knew he loved her and dare him to deny it?

If she weren't a coward, she would have done that, but on the remote chance that he would refute her claim and break her heart, she preferred to take a less bold approach.

She hadn't told him that she'd fallen in love with him either, so what did she expect from an emotionally stunted god?

Perhaps she should be the one who went first.

Except, that was just as scary as informing Dagor that she knew he loved her and chancing that he would deny it.

The fact was that under normal circumstances, neither of them should have been talking about love yet, but these were anything but.

Dagor had taken a barrage of bullets for her, had stayed by her side like a husband or a boyfriend would throughout her stay in the clinic, and had given her his blood, which could potentially activate her transition.

If it didn't, she had every intention of letting him induce her the traditional way.

No more condoms for them.

Then, there was the impending end of the cruise and the fork in the road awaiting them.

Dagor was going to Tibet while she was heading to the village, where he was not invited for whatever reason. He still hadn't given her the details about his team's relationship with the clan and why they were prohibited from visiting the village, but it was strange that he and his friends had been invited to the cruise but not to where the clan lived.

The village was supposedly a hidden compound, but if she and Margo were invited, why not let the gods visit?

The thing was, there wasn't much Dagor could do about that or about changing the path he had to follow, but Frankie could.

If she gave up on the job offer to beta test for Perfect Match, she could go with Dagor. Gabi was joining their team, so there was no reason Frankie couldn't. Well, except for the pitiful state of her bank balance, the amount she still owed on her student loans, and her credit card debt.