He isn’t being specific, but I know exactly what he’s talking about. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s just a mortal, flesh and blood.”
His mouth touches the base of my neck, where my bones meet and create a bump. “She shouldn’t be standing next to the knight. She isn’t even armed.”
“But it’s her choice to be there.”
“Liza, we have to go back to L.A. soon.”
“I know. We’ve been away for too long.” I hate it that our time’s coming to an end, but I know it can’t last forever, despite what Dominic and I both said before. He has a billion-dollar empire to run. I have the foundation. No matter how amazing Rhonda and Patrice are, they need me to spearhead some of the biggest fundraisers and initiatives.
“Don’t sacrifice yourself to protect me ever again.” He nips the skin at the nape of my neck. “Promise me.”
“Then promise you won’t do the same for me.”
“That’s different.” I can hear a frown in his voice.
“Why? Because I’m a woman?” I turn so I can see him. Water has spiked his impossibly long eyelashes. I can feel the indomitable will in that intense blue gaze. “So I should sit on my hands and wait for a man to solve my problems?”
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
“Yes, I do. You don’t want to see me hurt. You’d take a bullet for me…or worse. But Dominic, how you feel about me is a mirror of how I feel about you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have said I love you.” My voice firms. “I’ll always protect what’s mine. You can’t gain anything without being willing to risk it all. I can’t protect you—or anybody—if I’m not willing to risk my life…”
“Liza—”
I put a finger over his mouth. “What I’m trying to protect is important. The alternative is unimaginable.” I replace the finger with my mouth, then pull back a little to add, “You wouldn’t love me if I were some weak, simpering woman clinging to your arm and asking you to do every little thing.”
His eyebrows twitch. A small shake of his head, then he raises his eyes to the sky, because no matter how much he wants to deny it, he knows I’m telling the truth.
My smile starts small, then grows wider. “I love you, you know. I’m going to do everything in my power to fight for that, just the way you’ll do the same for me.”
He wraps his arms around me. “I wish we never had to leave.”
“I know, but we can’t stay forever. Maybe we can come back every year.”
Then, because I don’t want to waste our time on the island with pointless wishes and regrets, I put one hand behind his neck to kiss him, and use the other to dip beneath the lavender petals and find his thick, hard shaft.
Chapter Thirty-One
Dominic
A small buzzing wakes me up. At first I’m disoriented in the dark. Only the sound of waves and Liza’s soft breathing fill the room.
Then the buzzing goes off again.
I frown and fumble on the night table by my side of the bed. It’s my phone going off.
What time is it?
The phone screen glows 4:28 a.m. Only three people have this number: Antoine, Brian and Kristen. But I don’t recognize the caller.
Adrenaline spikes my bloodstream. Moving quietly to avoid waking Liza up, I take the phone to the study and shut the door before answering it. The caller’s persistent, trying over and over again.
“Dominic King.” I take a seat at the couch and place both elbows on my knees.
“You need to bring Lizochka home.”