Page 35 of A Dagger of Twisted Starlight

“Are you okay with it?” I asked him point-blank. “I don’t want to do anything you aren’t good with.”

“I’m totally fine with it as long as you are. You’re the bodyguard, after all.” He walked over to the stone wall. It reached to about his chest. He placed his hands on the mossy rock. I leaned a hip against the wall, crossing my arms and searching his expression, examining his face. He had such perfectfeatures. Soft, inviting, and sultry as sin with the flip of a switch. He was tall but not taller than me, sexy legs covered with a dusting of hair, a juicy booty that filled out the black shorts he wore. “How’d you become a bodyguard anyway?”

“Saw the job opening and applied.”

“That easy?”

“Pretty much,” I said. I turned so I could look out at the ocean. “They saw I was a dragon and hired me on the spot.” Manticore Beach, with its large granite black rock formations, appeared to be the popular hangout spot for today. A colorful array of beach towels were laid out with a smattering of surfers trying to catch the waves before they crashed onto shore. “It wasn’t my original plan. I was always into fitness and did take defense classes, but my real passion was to work in law. I wanted to be a lawyer.”

“No way,” Blake said. “Seriously?”

“You don’t have to act so shocked.”

Blake’s eyes opened wide, and he waved his hands in the air. “I’m not. I mean, I am kind of, only because you’re this superhot and muscular bodyguard, and that just seems like a natural fit for someone of your muscular aptitude and strength, and now I’m just rambling and?—”

I quieted him with a kiss. “I got the point.”

He smiled wide at me, his lips shining. “Right.”

“I wanted to specialize in family law. Having such a strong family unit myself made me feel like helping others with their family issues, somehow try to make things right. It called to me. I just struggled during my schooling. Tests have always given me trouble. I sit down, and everything goes blank, which is what happened for my LSATs. All three times I’ve takenthem.” I shrugged. The weight was heavy and not one I always talked about. It made me feel like a failure. I was used to getting over my hurdles, so when a seemingly impossible one presented itself, I became frustrated. It affected every other decision that came after it. It pushed me into doing what I felt I was “supposed” to do. I liked being a bodyguard, but I didn’t love it. I didn’t always feel fulfilled, not when my clients were entitled brats being protected from their own self-damaged egos.

Blake was clearly a different kind of client, so at least that was nice.

“I totally get it. I had a tough time with exams. It was the timing that always got me. I’m a thinker. I need to take my time.” Blake squinted his eyes against the sun as he looked at me. “Couldn’t you, you know, have checked the answers and turned back time a bit?”

I chuckled. “Yes, I did know, and no, I didn’t do it. Dragons are honorable.” I winked at him. “More so than your sneaky shifter ass.”

“I’m not… ugh, whatever.”

“It’s fine,” I said, smiling at how red he got. “I’m happy with where my life is heading. If anything, I can retake the test another time and see what happens.”

“If you need a study partner, you know my number.” The sunlight painted him like a glowing canvas, every brushstroke intentional, placed by a master at balance and shapes.

“You’ll be the first person I ask,” I said. I nudged him with a shoulder. “And how about you? I’ve sensed something’s up. You’ve been distant ever since we got back from DC.”

I didn’t blame him either. Our time at the White House had been tumultuous, to say the least.

“I’m just…” Blake chewed at his fingernails.

“What is it? I feel you worrying.” I wrapped an arm around him. It was an instinct, wanting to comfort him. He leaned into me.

“I’ve had a lot on my mind. That’s all. I get distant when I’m anxious, and the current situation is very fucking anxiety-inducing.”

“Want to try and talk it out?”

Blake considered me for a moment. I thought he was about to shrug me off and say it was all fine. He didn’t, though.

“It’s all tangled. My thoughts are a mess. I’m between stressing about my feelings for you and my feelings toward what’s happening”—he gestured in a circle—“around us. My father is a breath away from becoming president. And there’s someone out there with arguably the strongest weapon of mass destruction imaginable, andwe’resupposed to be hunting them down. It’s a mess. A disaster. It’s totally wild.”

I placed a gentle hand on his lower back. He looked up at me with doe-like eyes that filled me with an urge to protect him. “I agree, this is completely outside the realm of ‘normal.’ I’m still processing it all. I can tell you not to stress about your feelings toward me, at least. Let that flow. I am. My feelings toward you are the only thing keeping the chaos at bay.”

“Really?” Blake asked. Those damn eyes. They cast a spell on me not even a Marvel could pull off.

“Really,” I replied. I leaned in and kissed him, further pushing the chaos away. He kissed me back, a hand finding mine. His grip fit so perfectly in mine. I held his hand tight.

“I believe it,” Blake said. He moaned into another kiss. Hislips were against mine when his eyes opened wide. “Whoa. I don’t think I’m ready for you to go back there right now.”

I squinted at him. “What are you talking about?”

---