Page 48 of Dark Voyage Matters of the Soul

"Because it's private, and they might be embarrassed about sharing the details. That's all I'm going to say on the subject."

"Fine. I'll get it out of Negal." He entered the dining hall and continued to the kitchen. "I'm going to hang up now so I can collect our food. Any preferences?"

"I don't know what they are serving today, but I'm not a picky eater. Whatever you bring is fine."

"See you soon." He ended the phone with a kissy sound that should have been embarrassing, but Dagor didn't care.

If Frankie loved it, he would be talking dirty to her and making kissy sounds in the middle of the war room.

Well, that might be a slight exaggeration. But anywhere else was fair game.

"Can I have two plates to go?" he asked one of the ladies working in the kitchen. When it was clear that she didn't understand what he'd said, he grabbed two empty plates and mimed putting food on them.

Smiling, she nodded. "Da, ya ponimayu."

Dagor dipped his head. "Spasiba."

He should have addressed her in Russian to begin with, but he'd been so preoccupied with thoughts of Frankie and what she would be wearing when he got to the cabin that he'd forgotten the kitchen staff came from Igor's old compound, and they all spoke Russian, and some also spoke Finnish.

When the two boxes of food were ready, he thanked her again and hurried out the door.

Thankfully, there was no line at the elevators going up, and he only had to wait for the cab to empty before getting in. No one stopped the elevator on its way to Frankie's deck either.

Once he was at the door, he rang the bell and held his breath as he waited for her to open up.

Would she be wearing stockings and garters and nothing else?

Or maybe just a see-through baby-doll?

He hadn't seen any such garments when he'd looked for something comfortable for her to wear after she'd fainted, but maybe she had a hidden stash somewhere. He hadn't looked in the nightstand drawers, and those were roomy enough to hide a number of flimsy, sexy outfits.

When Frankie opened the door, he was only slightly disappointed to see the short, colorful silk robe that left her long legs exposed but hid everything else of interest. She wasn't wearing stockings either, which meant no garters.

"Hello, beautiful." He leaned to kiss her pouty lips. "I like the robe."

"Oh, this old thing?" She batted her eyelashes playfully. "The sexy stuff is underneath." She moved aside to let him in.

When she closed the door behind him, he put the boxes on the entry table and reached for her. "Let me see."

"Na-ah." She batted his hands away. "No peeking until after we eat, or you will go hungry to your target practice, and I won't have you being outperformed by Aru and Negal and all the Guardians."

"I don't mind."

Usually, he was super competitive and minded very much, but he didn't mind losing if it meant seeing what Frankie had under the robe and hopefully peeling it off her with his fangs.

Not that it would make a difference to him. He had perfect aim.

"But I mind." She took the boxes and put them on the table. "Do you want a plate?"

"Not if you don't. I'd rather be done with lunch as soon as possible and get to unwrap my gift."

Frankie

The truth was that Frankie didn't have anything super sexy underneath her robe. It was just a nice little panties and bra set that she'd gotten on sale at Victoria's Secret, but it wasn't something that would cause Dagor's jaw to drop.

Hopefully, he wouldn't be too disappointed.

As Dagor wolfed down every last morsel in his box, Frankie picked at her food, careful not to overeat, even though everything was delicious. Intimacy on a full stomach wasn't fun.