Earth Bound (27 page)

Love was damn painful. She was stamped into his bones, into every organ of his body. There was no way out for him. He wanted her to love him with that same intensity. Their love didn't have to be the way it was portrayed in storybooks. They burned hot and bright, not just for the chemistry, but because two broken souls who had no hope found a way to be whole. He would protect her with every means he'd been taught or he'd learned over a lifetime of brutal lessons.

“Come on,
solnyshko moya
, it's too cold out here for you. And Kiss was really uncomfortable. I could tell by her breathing. Let's go boil water or do whatever it is one does when their dog is about to give birth.”

She let him pull her up and then stopped abruptly, tugging on his hand until he stopped. “Wait. You don't know how to help her? Do you know what to do?”

He grinned at her. “I know how to kill a man a thousand different ways. You need that,
angel moy
, and I'm your man. Dogs or anything else giving birth, I'm not an encyclopedia of knowledge.”

He felt weak with relief now that the crisis had passed. He wasn't certain how to feel about the by-product of loving her so much. He was a man confident in every part of his life, yet she'd reduced him to something close to desperation. He felt vulnerable and exposed. There was no way he could ever allow any other living person to see him in such bad shape.

He tugged her to him, needing to hold her against him. She went into his arms and they clung to each other, just
holding on, as if they had survived a terrible battle. He felt as if they had, as if he'd fought a war and come out victorious but exhausted. He nuzzled the top of her head with his chin.

“Don't ever do that to me again, Lexi. I don't know what I'd do. I don't know how to feel emotion. It's all or nothing with me. You're my all.”

“I gave you my word,” she replied, her voice muffled against his shirt.

He could tell she felt as exhausted as he did. “Come on,
solnyshko moya
, we may have a long night ahead of us. Let's go check on Kiss.”

The storm had let up so that only a fine rain came down, turning the sky a dazzling silver. He tucked her beneath the shoulder of his injured arm, leaving his unhurt arm free. He was equally adept at using either hand to shoot or throw a knife and probably wouldn't have a problem because the injury was nearly healed, but he wasn't taking any chances.

“The farm is so beautiful at night,” Lexi said. “I love sitting outside and just looking at all the trees and plants. I can breathe out here.” She could also see enemies coming at her.

“I've been thinking about Lucia,” Gavriil said. “She was very interested in the dogs. It would make Kiss uncomfortable to have her watch as she gave birth, but I think we could get Kiss to accept her near the puppies and she can help to socialize them. She needs something to immerse herself in.”

Lexi glanced up at his face and then touched his jaw. “Do you hear yourself? You're looking out for a traumatized child when you barely know her. You're a good man whether you think you are or not.” She flashed him a little smile.

His heart reacted as well as his somersaulting stomach. That was how far gone he was. A little ridiculous for a man like him, but no one was around to witness it and the night didn't care. The rain veiled his expression from her. It was difficult to admit how completely mesmerized he was by
her. Just the way she moved, a turn of her head, a quick smile and a flash of her green eyes and he was lost.

“Gavriil?” Her hand slid down his arm and she linked her fingers with his. “I don't want you to think I was running away from you or running out on you. I wasn't. I think you deserve so much more than you may get. At least that was my thought process, as flawed as it may have been. I was leaving for the right reasons.”

“There aren't any right reasons, Lexi,” he said gruffly. “There never will be. Just talk to me. We'll find a way to work anything out. We'll never be like other people, but it doesn't matter. We'll have our own world and the people who love us will accept whatever that is.”

“You give me confidence,” she said, glancing up at his face. “I don't have a lot of confidence other than with my plants. Especially when it comes to being a woman.”

He led her up the porch steps to the front door. “That's exactly where you should have the most confidence,
solnyshko moya
.”

She went up onto her toes and brushed a kiss on his chin. “Because I matter to you and you look at me the way you do, you give me confidence.”

He reached past her to open the door for her. Drago and Kiss both rushed them. “They prefer to be with people. These aren't backyard dogs and no one can ever make the mistake of thinking one will be, just because they're large.”

“I'll have to make certain Judith knows that,” Lexi said. “Her house is beautiful and she's a meticulous housekeeper. Thomas is going to want one, but Judith will balk at the size. You didn't introduce them yet, did you?”

He shook his head, patting both dogs. He slid his hand gently down Kiss's side to her belly. “She's definitely in labor. She shouldn't be up and around. Let's get her back into the closet.”

“I was surprised to find you'd made the whelping box,” Lexi said. “I did my best by putting old sheets and towels in it and making certain the box was in the darkest part of
the closet. It's a big closet and I think she'll be comfortable in it.”

“She'll have her own room,” he said, making his way back to the bedroom. “You don't keep any clothes in it.”

She shrugged. “I don't need many clothes. I work most of the time and sit on my porch enjoying the sunset or visit with one of my sisters. When I go to the market, I wear my work clothes.”

“I'm fond of your work clothes.” He sank down onto the floor beside the closet when Kiss moved inside and lay down, panting.

“You're going to sit up all night with her, aren't you? I'll get us something to drink and warm some towels just in case.”

“This could take hours,” he warned. “You'll want to be comfortable.” He tugged at his boots, set them aside and placed his weapons close.

Her laughter bubbled up, a soft melody that sent fingers of desire brushing down his chest to his belly, lower still so that his groin stirred. It was a gentle overtaking, unexpected and tender. It was . . . good.

“I can't believe you always have a gun about an inch from your fingertips.”

He pulled the knife from his boot and showed it to her, baring his teeth at her. “I believe in being prepared.”

“You're such a Boy Scout.”

“I was going for wolf.”

Her laughter drifted back to him as she left the room to get the things necessary to spend the night on the floor with the dog.

Kiss delivered six puppies—two females and the rest males. It took her most of the night, and Gavriil and Lexi sat with her the entire time. Lexi helped breathe life into one struggling little one when it seemed as if they might lose him. They rubbed him with a warm towel and showed him to Kiss, telling her how wonderful she was.

Twice, Kiss laid her head in Gavriil's lap as he petted and encouraged her, telling her how amazing she was. Lexi
looked at him with stars in her eyes. “I don't understand why you can't see yourself the way I do.”

“Silly woman. I don't understand why you can't see yourself the way I do.” He repeated her words back to her and then leaned over and kissed her. “It doesn't matter, as long as you can see me.”

G
AVRIIL
opened his eyes, instantly awake. Beside him, Lexi lay curled up, exhausted from staying up all night. He smoothed his hand over her hair as he slipped the other under the pillow to grasp his gun. He had never thought to wake up like this, his woman soft and warm against him. Every protective instinct he had welled up along with the feeling of love.

Lexi had laughed and cried when each puppy had entered the world, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. Sharing the birth, something he'd never experienced before, made him feel even closer to her. Each moment spent in her company only made him certain they belonged together.

Drago's large head pushed against him. The dog stood close to the bed, alerting silently as Gavriil had taught him.

“I feel them,” Gavriil assured, and put his hand on the dog's head once to acknowledge the animal had done his job. He signaled Drago to the door and slipped from the bed.

Lexi turned over immediately, her lashes lifting, her gaze colliding with his. There was fear in her eyes when she realized he was dressing fast and he had his gun out and close to him.

“Everything's all right,” he assured her hastily. “We've got company is all. I think your sheriff and one other. I believe my youngest brother has come with him. The others are on the way.”

She sat up and pushed at her tumbling hair impatiently. “What others?”

She looked beautiful. Sexy. Her eyes were large, still drowsy. Her hair was gorgeous, a thick mass of auburn silk, falling in waves around her to pool on the sheets. He had a wild urge to crawl back into bed and make love to her for hours. She was all soft skin and bedroom eyes. He found her impossible to resist.

He moved around the bed and bent to brush a kiss across her upturned mouth. Her eyes widened and her lashes fluttered.

“My other brothers. No one is going to come onto the property without the land alerting all of us. Can't you feel it? The shifting?”

“You came,” she pointed out, making a little face at him. “There was no shifting to warn me.”

“The earth moved for me the moment I laid eyes on you,” he said truthfully. He kissed her again, this time a little more possessively, his tongue teasing the seam of her mouth. He wanted to taste her, the cool forest that could bring passion or peace.

His fingers curled around the nape of her neck, his thumb tilting her chin up while his mouth coaxed hers to open for him. Her lips trembled once and then her hands came up to his shoulders and her lips parted.

There it was. Paradise. The heat and fire swept into him, burning over and into him. She was there inside him, the taste of her addicting, his need deepening. There was no living without this woman ever again. Now that he knew
what life was with her in it, now that he had a home, something he hadn't known he craved until—Lexi.

He whispered her name as he pressed his forehead against hers. “So this is what love feels like.” His fingers tightened possessively around the back of her neck, the pad of his thumb caressing her soft skin.

Her lashes fluttered, eyes going a vibrant green. Her mouth curved into a soft smile. “You say the most beautiful things, Gavriil. You should have been a poet.”

He brushed a kiss over each eye and slipped his gun into the waistband at the small of his back before straightening. “I'm a poet with a knife or gun.”

She drew her knees up and dropped her chin on the top of them, smiling at him. Watching him. Caressing him with soft eyes. “You're going to go out there and act all tough, aren't you?”

“That's my intention, yes.” He slipped a knife into his boot. It took discipline to keep his face pure stone when she made him want to laugh.

She made his life fun—another first. He looked forward to every moment in her company. He could see the world with new eyes, not with his jaded, cynical vision. She had given him a life. Existing in a dark world of violence was no life. He had known that all along, but she'd awakened him from his complacency.

He hadn't known he needed saving or that there was a giant hole in him that needed to be filled to bring him to life. He wasn't certain how he'd gotten so lucky, but he intended to keep making her happy for the rest of her life.

“I'll get dressed and make some coffee. I brought back a coffeepot and coffee from Airiana's.”

“Thanks. And if this sheriff upsets you, I'll throw him out, just give me a sign.”

Her laughter teased his nerve endings, sending little darts of fire racing over his skin and into his belly. “Everything about you makes me happy,” he admitted. “Just listening to the sound of your voice. Looking at you.”

She blushed, clearly not used to compliments. He resolved to give her as many as possible without sounding like a lovesick idiot. He didn't mind that she thought he should have been a poet, as long as no one else thought it.

“Go before I turn so red I can never recover,” she said, waving him away.

He laughed and went to the closet to peek in at Kiss and the puppies. “She's going to have to do her business soon. I'll take her out back when my brothers get here.”

She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Seriously, Gavriil, I can be alone with Jonas Harrington. He's a good man and he's been a friend to us.”

“I'm sure he has. Ilya likes him as well, but I don't know him and he doesn't know me. My brothers do know me and what I'm capable of. They won't let anything happen to you.”

“Like tripping and falling on the living room rug?”

“There isn't a rug. If you trip and fall, someone's going to pay.”

She rolled her eyes at him and waved him out again. “Give me a couple of minutes to take a shower. I'll be right out.”

“Great.” He couldn't help teasing her. “You'll come out smelling like the early morning after a fresh rain. In a closed room surrounded by men. I'm going to need more than one gun.”

She laughed softly. “You're impossible. Get moving, I think they're at the door.”

“They're still standing at the edge of the walkway. Ilya's afraid I'll come out shooting so he's being polite and keeping the sheriff busy until the others show up and I come out and greet them.”

“You have such a foul reputation, Gavriil.”

“And totally deserved.” He infused his voice with pride.

She wasn't impressed. She threw a pillow at him. He'd never played before. At least he couldn't remember doing so. Happiness was foreign to him. He moved through the shadows like a robot. There was no laughter, and certainly
no fun. He didn't wake up in the morning looking forward to the day.

Her soft, teasing laughter followed him as he went to the door. She was truly his sun. His world. She was home. She'd gotten inside of him—into his bones—into his soul. When she smiled at him, the shadows of his other life receded so far he couldn't see them anymore.

He had to get away from the potency of her company before he ran the risk of making a fool of himself in front of the others. He didn't want to appear vulnerable, and loving Lexi was all encompassing. The men coming to the house were experts at reading others. Loving her left him completely exposed.

“Don't forget to keep the dogs locked in the bedroom.” His voice had gone gruff, emotions too close. “They'll be nervous and protective with the puppies. Drago is very intelligent and highly trained, but this is a new situation for both of us.”

“I have heard that dogs take on the traits of their owners.” Deliberately she looked at the male Black Russian Terrier. “I can see the resemblance in that focused stare targeting victims and smiling with his teeth.”

He bared his teeth at her and then left her to go meet the local sheriff. He moved through the house in silence, allowing the familiar man he'd been for so many years to take him over. He slipped into that persona easily, the fit exact. It was easy to blur his image a little as he stepped through the doorway, pushing energy into several directions around him to give him the time to move to the protection of the column before the sheriff and Ilya even knew he was on the porch.

“You're here early,” he greeted.

Ilya turned slowly. His brother smiled at him and put a hand on Harrington's shoulder, a gesture meant to show Gavriil neither had a weapon drawn and that he was friends with the sheriff.

“Not that early,” Ilya denied. “It's already light.”

“Just barely,” Harrington said.

“You just wanted to stay home with the baby,” Ilya
accused, as they came up the walkway to the steps leading to the porch. “It's just the fog.”

The sheriff extended his hand toward Gavriil, his eyes steady, trying to read Gavriil. His handshake was firm, but he didn't try impressing with his strength.

“Jonas Harrington,” he said briefly.

“Gavriil Prakenskii,” Gavriil identified himself, watching the sheriff closely.

His blue eyes flickered just a moment. A muscle jerked in his jaw, but he didn't even glance at Ilya.

“Of course. I should have known.” Jonas glanced at Ilya. “No wonder you were so insistent on joining me this morning.”

Ilya shrugged, clearly unrepentant.

Gavriil kept his eyes on the sheriff as first Levi and then Thomas emerged from the surrounding foliage and joined them on the porch. Max sauntered nonchalantly around the house.

“Looks like I'm outnumbered,” Jonas quipped. He didn't seem upset, in fact he seemed happy for Ilya, smiling as the other men approached them.

Gavriil had to respect the man. Five Prakenskiis in the same space was more than intimidating, yet Harrington didn't bat an eye and it was very obvious he knew who they were even though his brothers used different identities.

Max, Thomas and Levi stared at their youngest brother.

Levi looked a little choked up. “You grew up,” he said. “I'm Lev. I go by Levi Hammond, and I married Rikki Sitmore.”

Ilya took his hand. “The sea urchin diver.”

Levi nodded. “Do you know her?”

Ilya shook his head. “Rikki has always kept to herself.”

Gavriil kept his attention mainly on the sheriff, who had turned around to watch the brothers introduce themselves. He'd turned his back completely to Gavriil and that told him Harrington, who looked tough as nails, wasn't an operative. He would never have trusted an unknown, not even with Ilya watching his back.

“Stefan.” Thomas was next. “I go by the name of Thomas. Thomas Vincent, and I married Judith Henderson. She owns an art store in the village. I bought the gallery.”

“It's good to see you,” Ilya said. “I'm married to Joley Drake.”

“I actually do read the tabloids at the grocery store,” Thomas said, nudging Levi. They grinned at one another. “You sure do look pretty.”

Ilya growled low in his throat. Both brothers laughed at him.

Max stuck out his hand. “Maxim—Max. Airiana is my fiancée.”

“You have the four children Jonas told me about. Your . . . nephew and nieces.”

“That's right.”

“How are the children doing?” Jonas asked.

“It's an adjustment after losing their parents and sister,” Max said. “We've gotten them into counseling, although it's a process.” He glanced around. “Benito likes to shadow me, so no one shoot him if he sneaks up on us.” He looked up at Gavriil as he cautioned them all.

Gavriil bared his teeth at his brother, his eyes flat and cold, uncaring that Harrington suddenly swung around and caught him in the act.

“I think Benito learned his manners,” Levi said, with a quick grin in Gavriil's direction.

“Scary kid, isn't he, Gavriil?” Thomas said.

Gavriil leveled a look at his brother and turned and went into the house, leaving the door open so they all could follow him, all the while keeping the lot of them in his field of vision without appearing to do so. He was acutely aware of the sheriff staring after him curiously.

When they entered the house, Gavriil waved them all toward chairs, a casual gesture that clearly showed he was comfortable in his role as host in Lexi's home. He wanted to immediately establish that not only did he belong there but he was at home there.

He took the chair that allowed him the best view of the room. He noticed Levi glancing around, clearly looking for Lexi. Twice he exchanged an uneasy look with Thomas. He deliberately allowed them to consider that the big bad wolf might have eaten the little lamb. He wasn't the least surprised when Levi gave him a cool stare.

“Where's Lexi?”

“She'll be right out,” he said, noncommittally. “Ilya mentioned you and your wife just had a baby, Jonas. Congratulations.”

Jonas smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He looked friendly enough, but clearly, with all the brothers showing up, he was suspicious. “Yes. She's beautiful, thank you.” He looked around the room at the men who he knew to be highly trained operatives. Five of them, all in the same room. All brothers. “Would someone like to tell me what the hell is going on? Ilya?”