"He would have killed me, and I still, after all of the training both Lissa and Levi gave me, couldn't find the courage to kill him. He paralyzed me. I just froze. I felt like a terrified child. I'm so sorry." She lifted her head and looked him in the eyes. "I would be a total hypocrite if I told you how wrong you were in what you did. You were able to do what I should have so many years ago."

To his shock, Kiss rushed over to push her face against Lexi in an attempt to comfort her. The females of the breed were often less accepting of new relationships than the males, who just generally remained aloof. Lexi dropped her hand in the silky coat for a brief moment.

"I'm all right, Kiss," she murmured. "I just can't stop crying."

Gavriil signaled the dog back to the corner as Lexi laid her head on his shoulder again. He tightened his arms around her, holding her body close to his, aching for her. He'd done a lot of terrible things in his life and he suffered pain beyond what most could have taken, but being helpless when the one person in the world who meant the most suffered, that was true pain.

"I'm going to stay, Lexi. We're going to build a life for ourselves. We're going to find a way to be a family and be happy together. You know the worst of me and you seem to be able to accept me the way I am. I'll do my best to make you happy. I can give you my word on that. I know I can keep you safe."

She pulled back again to look into his eyes. "Will you really be happy cooped up on a farm after all your travels? With a woman so broken she doesn't know if she can have a normal relationship with a man?"

"I lived alone for two years in the hills and forests of Russia. I've spent my entire existence alone. The farm is the perfect place for a man like me who needs solitude as well as peace. I like the work, and you're the kind of woman who wouldn't mind if I needed space." He couldn't imagine needing space from her, but if so, she wouldn't be upset with him. She was too accepting.

Lexi moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. "What are we doing here? Are we really discussing trying to have an actual relationship? Like a man and woman? Not just roommates?"

"Like a real man and a real woman?" A slow smile came out of nowhere. This was what happiness felt like. This was sharing a moment with another human being that counted. She'd given him so many firsts now he could hardly believe it. "Yes. I think that's what we're talking about, Lexi, but I don't want you to panic."

"I am. I'm totally panicking. I'll let you down, Gavriil, and you deserve so much more than I'll ever be able to give you. I'm a hard worker and I could be a good companion, but the womanly thing totally eludes me."

He took her hand and gently opened her fingers, exposing her palm. "I can see the panic in your eyes, solnyshko moya. Truly there is no need for it. If the man-woman thing is meant to be, then it will happen. We can live as companions, although, honestly, I will never see you as a sister." He brushed his thumb over the center of her palm, watching her face, watching the hint of desire creep into those forest green eyes.

She made a face at him. "I think you're the proverbial devil in blue jeans come here to seduce me."

"You got that right." He brought her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss into the center. "I might point out before you get afraid, that you slept in your bed last night and I was very, very gentlemanly."

She smiled and this time it reached her eyes, lighting her face. "I did, didn't I? That was my very first night in my own bed. And you were a perfect gentleman."

"Where will you be working? I've got a couple of things to do here and then I'll catch up with you."

"You aren't going to rig the house with bombs or something equally as crazy, are you?" she asked, suspicion in her voice.

He laughed. He couldn't help it. "I'm going to have Levi and Rikki come over and I'll introduce the dogs to them. Then I'll ask Maxim and Airiana to bring the children. I need to make certain they accept everyone on the farm as part of their pack before Kiss has her puppies. She's looking more and more as if she might have them sooner rather than later."

"When is she supposed to have them?"

"She's about a week out, but she's already showing signs. I don't want her to be so protective over the puppies that she has a difficult time accepting the others who live here. Lucia and your sisters have to feel comfortable coming to visit."

"I'll need to tell Lissa about them," Lexi said. "She's skittish about the subject."

"You said she was bitten?"

Lexi frowned. "I actually can't remember if she said that or not, but she acts like she may have been. Lissa isn't afraid of much."

"I imagine she isn't," Gavriil said.

"What does that mean?"

"Only that she's fierce," he said. "Has she ever kicked one of my brothers' butts in training?"

"She says they're always just a little faster, but she comes close."

He nodded. "Why don't you let me talk to Lissa this morning? I like her. I don't want to alienate her in any way. She's seems closest to you."

Lexi stepped away from him, shrugging. "I love them all, but Lissa seems to know I'm not the sweet, fragile child the others see me as."

"You are sweet, Lexi, and whether you want to admit it to yourself or not, you're fragile. That doesn't mean you can't be strong or courageous, both of which you are. It means this hard-won peace that you found can be ripped away. You need to stay here, on the farm. You've made a home and life here. Your sisters obviously worry about Rikki having to move, but they should be worried about you as well."

"I could do it."

"Of course you could, but that doesn't mean you should. In any case, it isn't going to happen, so put that worry to rest. I've spoken to Ilya and we've come to an understanding. I think he'll make certain the Drakes will be accepting of us. After all, in a way, we're all family or will be soon."

She shot him a quick look but refrained from asking what he meant. "I'm heading out to check the lettuce field. I had to replant this last week and I want to finish up there."

"Kiss me."

"What?"

"Before you go, kiss me. Isn't that the accepted practice when the woman of a man's heart and soul exits the home to go to work? I'm fairly certain I'm right. If you don't know the answer, we can always call one of your sisters and ask."

Her eyes had gone wide with shock, dark with excitement and maybe a little fear. "You wouldn't dare."

"Of course I would." He forced innocence into his voice. "How else are we going to learn anything?"

Lexi stalked back across the room. He could almost hear her heart pounding. Her breath came a little too fast, her breasts rising and falling in agitation. She stood in front of him for a long time, staring down at his face, her hands behind her back.

"What is it, dusha moya?" he asked gently. She looked so lost his heart nearly broke for her.

"I don't know how."

He frowned. "What do you mean, you don't know how?"

"He made me do things to him, but kissing wasn't one of them."

He had never hated a man in his life. When he killed, he killed dispassionately. It was a job, and he did his job and left. But Caine... The man had taken a child and abused her in every way possible, stripping her of dignity and humanity in order to control her completely. He hadn't shown her a single kindness and he'd never tried to prepare her body for the brutality of what he would do to her.

"That's good. It's a good thing that man didn't subject you to a disgusting pretense of love. I was taught how to kiss. Like a damned robot, Lexi. No feeling. No purpose other than to arouse a woman I needed information from. I've never kissed a woman I felt affection for." Hell, he'd never felt affection until now. "I guess this will be another first for both of us."

"What if I do it all wrong? Or worse? I totally freeze up and both of us will know for certain I'm not capable of any kind of kissing?"

"What kind of kiss are we talking about here? I'm all for diving straight to it if we want to figure this thing out fast, but I was taking the slower, much more careful approach. Letting you get to know what an all-around great prize you're getting. I come with an arsenal, two killer dogs and skills on my resume few others can ever claim."

The anxiety slowly left her face to be replaced by a small smile. "You're impossible, do you know that? I'll bet no one else knows you have a sense of humor."

"It's been a well-kept secret, so much so, even I didn't know."

She burst out laughing and the sound was prettier to him than any music he'd ever heard.

"Come here, woman." He stood up and pointed to the spot in front of him. When she complied, he caught her chin in his hand and leaned down to brush his mouth across hers. His heart nearly stopped and then began beating hard in his chest. He had intended to let it go at that. A chaste kiss, nothing to frighten her, but he couldn't stop, not after seeing her fears.

He brought her in closer to him. His mouth moved again, back and forth. Coaxing. Gentle. Her lips trembled beneath his. He felt the rise and fall of her breasts against him. He counted each breath she took. His tongue slid along the seam of her lips, asking for entry.

This is something I can give you. Something he had no part of. Give yourself to me, Lexi, put yourself into my keeping.

Lexi went very still, an untamed bird readying herself for flight. He felt every inch of her body pressed against his. Her scent surrounded him, drifted into his lungs, filling him with... her. He didn't rush her decision, but teased her lower lip with his teeth, with his tongue, coaxing her response rather than demanding it.

His fingers curled around her neck, his thumb sweeping gently over her cheek. Her lashes fluttered and closed. Her lips parted and his tongue swept inside the hot sweetness of her mouth. His heart actually stuttered. The earth seemed to move beneath him. The world dropped away everything until there was only Lexi.

He was aware of everything about her. How small she was. How fragile and delicate in comparison to him. Yet her muscles were firm, her curves soft, her body fitting perfectly into his. Her mouth was pure honey, a hot, sweet confection he'd never tasted but would never get enough of. Warm molasses moved through his veins, thick with desire, spreading heat throughout his body.

He was good at seduction, even better at sex, a practiced art he was highly skilled in. Gavriil had been taught to always be in control. He allowed his body release when it was time, and of course it was always pleasant, but just kissing her was different than anything else had ever been. His heart, when it finished stuttering like mad, began to pound as if it might actually leap from his chest into hers.

He controlled his reactions to all women, every move he made totally rehearsed and deliberate. There was no way to be deliberate kissing Lexi. There had never been... this feeling. He couldn't describe it. He only knew that pure emotion overwhelmed him, consumed him and that it was the real thing. His stomach knotted and his body went hot with need.

Her mouth was a miracle, plain and simple. Heaven. He had never believed in heaven or God until that moment. Until he found it in her. The taste of her was intriguing, addicting, and he knew he would never get enough of her, never be able to kiss her long enough or often enough to sate his craving for her. She tasted like love. Pure love. He didn't even believe in love, but there it was, all in this one small woman he held in his arms.

Passion for her was real. There was no denying that his body demanded hers, and he wanted to rejoice because he had the ability to feel a real physical response to a woman to his woman. She'd been so afraid she wouldn't be able to respond he'd been equally afraid his training would take over.

He was gentle, kissing her over and over, his breath, hers. He didn't want to ever come up for air. Not ever. He wanted to weep for being granted such a gift.

Lexi stood very still in Gavriil's arms. She'd never imagined kissing someone could ever be like this. She'd never believed she ever would be kissed and if she were she had been certain she wouldn't like it.

Gavriil's mouth on hers was hot and felt as if he was claiming her, not as a possession, but as someone to cherish and protect. More, there was actual desire. Real desire. Not a brutish, ugly use of her body, but something so different she felt tears burning in her eyes at the pure joy of the moment with him. With Gavriil.

She had never considered how a real man felt about a woman he chose the true caring telling her that her pleasure, her response, was more important to him than his own. The evidence was in the way he held her. In the touch of his hand on her neck and his thumb caressing her face. The stroke of his tongue exploring her mouth so gently, not demanding, never asking anything of her.

She hadn't expected he would be gentle or tender, and that disarmed her as nothing else could have. She felt his response to her, the genuine desire, but more than that, the feeling. It came out of nowhere, rising like a tidal wave in her to match that generous feeling in him. She couldn't name it, didn't even want to feel the emotion because it made her too vulnerable, but she knew he felt it too.

Her body went hot. Her breasts ached. She felt dampness between her legs. The sensations startled her to the point she nearly pulled away from him, but the pad of his thumb sliding over her skin and the taste of passion was too much of a temptation to miss. He opened the door to a world she never imagined she could be a part of. It was both exhilarating and terrifying.

He had to be every bit as scared as she was. He'd lost everything just as she had. He knew once they were together, they would both be vulnerable again. She hadn't expected to want to give back to him, but he was risking everything, and she refused to do less for him.

She slipped her tongue tentatively alongside his, trying to follow his lead. The taste of him, wild, masculine, and exciting, exploded in her mouth, seeped into her bloodstream, and ran hot through her veins. Every nerve ending in her body sizzled with an electrical charge. She knew she tasted passion. But there was love. She hadn't known love with a man, and how could it be? How could Gavriil Prakenskii love such a broken woman? He was... extraordinary. She hadn't known how extraordinary until this moment.

Lexi found something there in the absolute beauty of his mouth that she'd never really had hope for a future. She wasn't certain a physical relationship was possible, but Gavriil had given her this moment, this first, gentle, amazing kiss that went on and on and robbed her of breath and sanity.

Her mind seemed to melt, her body on fire. Gavriil poured himself into her, giving her everything giving her... him. He kissed her with complete and utter focus and passion and emotion. He swept her away from the real world of violence and uncertainty. He wiped out every bad memory that never left her consciousness until there was only Gavriil and the paradise of sheer feeling, his hard, strong body and the promise that there might be a future for her.

Tears clogged her throat, making it impossible to breathe. She gasped. At once he lifted his head and pressed his forehead against hers, drawing a ragged breath into his burning lungs. His hands held her upper arms as if he held on to a life raft.

Gavriil cleared his throat, trying to think when his brain had gone to mush. "Well, that changes things."

She offered a tentative smile, pressing her fingers to her lips. "I don't know about changing things, but it does give one hope, doesn't it?"

"Definitely. In the meantime, the ground needs to stop shaking and the room needs to stop spinning. I'd move, but it's impossible with all the activity going on around us." He drew his brows together. "You do feel it, don't you? I'm not alone in this?"

"I feel it, but I'm not certain what it means."

"It means we're definitely in a relationship." He gave a little sigh. "You know I'm going to be hell to live with now."

For one moment fear flickered in her eyes. She drew in her breath, but waited for him to finish.

He ran his finger down her face to her chin. "You're pretty much everything to me, Lexi, the only thing."

She frowned at him, shaking her head, but before she could speak, he pressed his finger against her mouth. "Let me say this. I barely know my brothers. I would protect them with my life, but are they capable of taking away the life I've lived? Holding me here? They aren't, Lexi. How could they be?"

"You love them."

"I don't know what love is unless it's standing in front of me. I'm loyal to them. Everyone has to have a reason to live. To stay alive and protect my brothers seemed a good reason. But then you came along and the ground's shifted right out from under my feet."

"Gavriil."

Her voice was soft. Sensual. He hadn't noticed that note before. Her voice slid over his skin like the touch of fingers, reached inside of him and grasped his heart.

"You love your dogs."

"I do care for my dogs and I want them safe, I care a great deal for them, but again, I would have left them with my brothers. I wouldn't have stayed for them. I'm staying for you. I have never needed or wanted anyone in my life until you. There's a connection between us, and I can't walk away from that. I don't want to."

"Do you have any idea how scary it is to think about this?"

"Yes. You make me vulnerable. I've never cared one way or the other if I lived or died. You gave yourself to me when I kissed you. You didn't have to. You had no reason to, but you did. I felt it."

She blinked rapidly and he could see that her lashes were wet. "You gave yourself to me first. If you were going to risk everything, I was going to as well."

"I'm going to turn into your shadow. And when I can't be with you, Drago and Kiss are going to be with you." He wasn't going to lie to her. He was no prize. He was going to be difficult to live with.

"I think Kiss is going to be staying right here at home." She looked around her, as if noticing the sun had come up for the first time. "I'm late. You made me late. I've got to go, Gavriil."

Reluctantly he stepped away from her, inwardly cursing that he hadn't already introduced the rest of the family members to his dogs. He would have sent Drago with her, but it was too dangerous. The breed had been bred to be independent thinkers, which meant, if Drago thought Lexi was in danger, he would act to protect her without her consent.

Lexi stood a moment looking at his face. He felt the impact of her gaze and wanted to sweep her back into his arms.

"Thank you, Gavriil. For that perfect moment. I felt whole. I wasn't guilty or filled with sorrow or thinking of what happened to my family. I saw only you and felt only sensation. It was a gift you gave me this morning and I'm going to hold it to me while I work. I'll be thinking of you this morning, not him. Not what he did to me or took from me. You can't know what you've done for me."

He stepped close to her again, cupping her chin in his palm and looking into the cool forest of her eyes. "I know more than you think, solnyshko moya, because you did the same for me. I had no idea a woman was capable of wiping out my past so eloquently."

Her eyebrow shot up. "A woman?"

He found himself smiling. "The woman. You. There is no other. I've been all over the world, and the first time I laid eyes on you, stepping out of the cornfield, I knew then I was lost. It never occurred to me that would ever happen."

"It still might not, Gavriil," she cautioned. "I have no idea if I can actually be comfortable or trust a man the way I would need to in order to be in a real relationship. A normal one."

He stroked his finger down her cheek. "I have news for you, solnyshko moya, our relationship will never be normal. We'll make it work for us, not other people. And we'll go slow. You kissed me. That's trust, and it's enough for now."

She nodded slowly. "You don't know it, Gavriil, but you truly are an extraordinary man."

"Only you think so. Go out to your lettuce field and I'll be there as soon as possible. I want to talk to Lissa first and then Airiana and Maxim. The others can wait."

"I'll be safe. Once I'm in the fields, the ground lets me know when someone's approaching. I won't be on the tractor."