Page 23 of Mastered By Bliss

“I have to go.”He gets up, moving fast, dressing in the near darkness.

“Anything I can do?”Dmitri asks.

“Stay here with Leah while I’m gone.”Gage shrugs on a shirt and buttons it.

“Gage, wait.We can go with you.”I drop the sheet so I can get out of bed.“It isn’t safe?—”

“I’ve already texted Ironwood.One of their guards will meet me in the garage and drive me to LA.I won’t be alone.It’s safer here for you, though.”He grimaces.“Away from me, it’s safer.”

I want to argue with him, but Dmitri nods in agreement.They’re right, but I hate this, Ihateit.

“Stay with your bodyguard.”I can’t keep the waver of fear out of my voice.“Please.”

His gaze softens behind his glasses.He swoops down to give me a kiss—fierce, protective, full of love.“I will.Stay with Dmitri or your own bodyguard.Don’t go anywhere without one of them.”

It’s Gage who’s in danger, not me.But I can do this one thing to help, this one thing to keep him from worrying.“I promise.”

“Thank you.”He kisses me once more, exchanges a look of wordless understanding with Dmitri, and then his phone is to his ear and he’s gone.

I’m left with questions.Is Claudia okay?Jess?Someone is going after the AoG actors, and now Gage is throwing himself into the heart of it.

“He shouldn’t go down there,” I whisper.

“He’s taking a bodyguard.”Dmitri wraps his arms around me, gently pulling me back so I recline against him.“At least he isn’t going alone.”

“I know, but someone’s coming after everyone who worked with him.He’s in a lot of danger.We should go, too.”

“Then he’ll worry about you, on top of Claudia and Jess.”

I don’t want to cause Gage more worry—I want to be there for him.“This is terrible,” I say.“All the worry, all the uncertainty.”

Dmitri gently traces the red marks each of them made on my breasts.“Some things are certain.”

His tone sounds dangerously close to anotherforeverstatement.I switch it around.“I guess it’s certain that if you suck hard enough, you’ll leave a mark.”

“Leah.I’m being serious.What’s certain is that Gage and I love you.”

His sincerity stabs through my defenses.I capture his restless fingers and bring them to my mouth to kiss them.“I love you, too.”

“How much?”

I roll over and lie on top of him, my breasts pressing against his chest.“So much.”

“Enough to marry me?”His gray eyes meet mine, challenging me to look away.“Enough to marry Gage?”

Heartbeat thundering in a new form of panic, I roll all the way off of him.“Not you, too, with this marriage thing.”

“Would it be so bad?”He strokes my shoulder.

“Yes.”

After that, neither of us speaks.We both pretend to sleep, but I know I don’t sleep.And I don’t think he does, either.

* * *

Dmitri

My post at Low Vice’s back door isn’t nearly busy enough to keep me from obsessing about Leah and last night’s conversation about marriage.I’ve come to a couple of conclusions as I stare over the parking lot.

---