He had promised himself he would never feel like that helpless boy, ripped apart by the loss of every single person he loved. He wouldn't love. Wouldn't feel. No one could ever hurt him like that again. How had she slipped past his every defense? How had she found that tiny piece of his soul he kept hidden from the world?
She stirred and he slipped his arm around her waist, wanting her to sleep as long as possible. He needed a little time to assess the intensity of his feelings for her. So strong. Overwhelming really. There was no way to hide from the emotions building with every minute spent in her company.
He hadn't known he was vulnerable. Now, it was too late. He had said he had no choice, and maybe the truth was, there never had been one, not when it came to Airiana, but he knew his conscious choice would be her. He would be risking everything. Everything. His life didn't matter that much to him, but his heart . . . his soul . . . those mattered, and she owned them.
He had watched her the entire time they were together, and a man like Maxim noticed everything. He knew her every move. The little faces she made when he annoyed her and the sudden flashes of humor or temper. He had never considered what it would be like to have a partner, someone to watch his back, and he certainly would have laughed if someone had told him this little slip of a woman would be the one he would always want with him.
He pushed back strands of blond hair spilling into her face. Her eye was several shades of purple and still looked a little swollen, but the seawater had helped, taking some of the raging fire out of it. Her feet were healing a bit as well. She seemed to be able to heal fast and he was grateful for that.
She regretted killing the men she'd been forced to kill. He wondered what it would be like to be that innocent. He knew what those men were like, what they were capable of. There was no redemption--nor did they want it. The men he hunted and the ones associating with them were the dregs of society. They made up the harsh underbelly where it was kill or be killed.
Maxim breathed her in again, taking her deep. She was already tangled tightly inside of him, and there was no getting her out. He couldn't run. He couldn't hide. He had to face the fact that love had ferreted him out. He hadn't been prepared so there was no way to combat it. The emotion stole up on him and like the truest arrow, pierced his heart until he knew there was no recovery.
Her lashes fluttered, those long, feathery lashes that drew his attention immediately to her eyes. He bent to brush kisses along the lids. Her eyes were gorgeous, such a startling blue, and could deepen or lighten in color depending on her mood. He had to admit the storm clouds swirling at times were well worth stirring her up.
A man had to wonder if her passion ran as hot as her temper. Or if that habit she had of giving herself so generously would be there in her lovemaking. His body had flared to life the moment he had awoken, her breast in his palm. He shifted, sliding his thigh between her legs, careful to keep his movements gentle. One hip and thigh carried bruises from her encounter with Gorya.
There was something extremely sensual and decadent about sliding one's skin along a woman's soft skin, especially her inner thigh. His body hardened more, his blood rushing to fill his aching shaft with a hungry demand. He pressed close to her buttocks, nestled there between her soft, firm cheeks, warm and aching with a pleasure he'd never known.
"Maxim?" Her arm reached behind her to circle his head. "You slept." It was a question and a statement.
He brushed kisses over her eyes and down her nose to the corner of her mouth. "I've never slept so much in my life. Lying beside you is amazing." He kissed her, tangling his tongue with hers, thrusting inside her mouth to get the taste of hers that drove him mad and kept him coming back for more. The taste he dreamt about and had on his tongue when he wakened.
She pushed her body tighter against his, kissing him back with the same generosity she showed in everything she did. She just gave herself to him. Completely. Her trust was like an aphrodisiac pouring into his mouth and down his throat. Heat surged. Rushed. Electricity crackled and sizzled. He wanted her until every cell in his body ached and demanded.
He rolled her under him, on her back, still kissing her, trying to stay gentle when he felt like a tiger about to devour its most alluring prey. Her hands slid over his shoulders, touched one wound lightly and slipped to his biceps. Just that whisper of her touch on his body inflamed him more. He wanted her to touch him everywhere. He needed her touch.
Right now, he wanted to know every curve and valley. Every shadow. Intimately. Her body had been given to him, into his care, and his job, as he saw it, was to care for every aspect. He kissed his way to her chin, her throat and then down to the swell of her breasts.
Her breath came in a ragged, shocked gasp as his mouth closed over her breast and drew it deep, his tongue lashing her nipple. Teeth scraping. Her body arched. Pushed into his. So responsive. So perfect. She made a little sound in her throat and his own body answered with hot blood raging in his veins.
He indulged himself as he never had before, taking his time, using his teeth to tug and his tongue to ease any sting, his hands shaping and kneading. She fit in his hands. Her perfect little body, all woman, curved and soft and belonging to him. He realized he'd be ferocious in his possession of her. No other man would ever come near his woman or her body. And no one would ever harm her.
He kissed his way over her breasts down along her injured ribs to the dip of her sweet belly button just waiting for him to explore. Her little noises drove him wild, and now her body writhed under him.
"You're mine," he whispered against her soft skin. He kissed her belly, right where his child would grow someday. He had choices, and his choice was to claim her. To keep her. To let her teach him all about love. Enough that he could share that love with children.
Her eyes met his. Even with one slightly swollen, her intense blue gaze moved him. He couldn't speak. Couldn't move. His entire body felt paralyzed with need for her. She shook him up so that the world tilted for a moment, and he held her close, waiting for the intensity of his emotions to settle.
Show me, Airiana. I want to learn how to love with you. I'm not going to run away. I honestly didn't know I was hiding myself away, but I don't want to be alone anymore. He couldn't give her the words aloud. He just couldn't. But he could say them in his mind to her. He could kiss her firm belly and swirl his tongue over her delicious skin.
I know everything there is to know about sex, but not about love. I want to love you, to show you I can be counted on. I'm not going to bolt the moment things get rough.
She reached up and pushed back his thick hair. "I know that about you."
He wanted her to know everything. To know her trust and faith in him would never be a mistake. I'm tenacious and relentless. I'm capable of being there for you under any circumstances and I always will be. You'll never need to worry that I'll want another woman.
"I've always known you were a man of your word and once you gave yourself to someone, it would be forever. For always. You have too much integrity to do anything else, Maxim." Her fingers slid lightly over his nose and traced his mouth.
The things he'd told her about himself were all true. He knew once she belonged to him he would hold on to her with everything he was, but he had to trust her that she would accept that flaw in him.
She slipped her arms around his neck and pressed her body close to his. "I'm not going to hurt you, Maxim. I just want you safe. You'll be safe with me."
He allowed himself a small smile. "There's nothing safe about being with me, Airiana, both of us know that, but if you're really willing to take the chance, I'm willing as well. Are you really looking at me? Do you see me?"
She nodded slowly, her eyes holding his. "I see you better than you see yourself. You want out, away from these men who send you all over the world, but you're so afraid everyone you love will be taken if you escape. You're a good man. A brave one. But you're far too protective of everyone."
He knew he had been attempting to protect his heart and the small slice of a soul that was left inside of him. If he loved her and lost her . . . He groaned and lowered his forehead to hers, still looking into the deep blue of her eyes. "Be certain, Airiana. I'll never give you up." It was already too late--love had found him and it was already wrapped tightly around his heart and had entered his soul.
"You're my choice, Maxim."
"It won't be easy loving me." He could at least admit that to her. Warn her. He would hold too tight. Make her crazy with his arrogance. Expect her to follow his every dictate. He had the feeling his shins were going to be black and blue a lot.
Her soft laughter vibrated through his body. "Did you really think I didn't know that about you?" She took his hand and brought it to her mouth, her tongue sliding over the center and then up his finger. Gently she bit on the pad of his middle finger, her teeth scraping back and forth. His breath left his lungs when she sucked his finger into her mouth.
"You must really like a good challenge," he said, hardly able to draw air into his lungs. Her mouth, so tight around his finger, gave him the same sensation around his cock. She nearly drove every sane thought from his head. Thunder roared in his ears.
Her tongue wrapped around his finger, stroking along the pad until his only thought was to bury himself deep inside her and relieve the building pressure. He withdrew his finger, and for one moment reveled in the knowledge that he would be teaching her how to please his body with her mouth and tongue.
He had that privilege. That pleasure. He kissed her. Gently. Tenderly. He hadn't known tenderness and certainly hadn't known he was capable of such a thing. Possession welled up. Need. A dark craving that spread through him like a firestorm.
He nipped her chin with his teeth, lavished more attention on her breasts until she was once again writhing beneath him, arching up to give him better access. He wanted her with every breath he drew. She was more precious to him than his gift of air. He stroked his hand down her body possessively, from beneath the soft rise and fall of her breasts to the triangle of curls guarding her treasure.