"You never sleep in it."

"Exactly. It's brand-new, never been used. Totally comfortable. Judith made certain it was the best. Bamboo, no nasty creatures or fungus would dare touch that mattress. You'll be so safe. And I'll guard you when you sleep."

"This sounds like a dream come true. Really. How could a man go wrong?"

"There's more," Lexi added. Her smile widened, taking his breath away.

"I can't wait," he said.

"When you're all better and forever beholden to me because I'm such a good healer, you can work the farm with me. I might even let you drive my tractor, although I'm not making any promises. That's my baby and I don't let just anyone drive it."

"This proposition of yours just gets better and better," he replied. He sat up. He had to. Otherwise the thin sheet was going to give away the fact that his body had stirred to life all over again. His cock was really becoming a nuisance. The damn thing had decided to rebel, taking on a life of its own. He discovered that moving around too much with a whale of a hard-on wasn't particularly a great idea.

"Isn't it though? If you have clean clothes, I can wash the ones you were wearing." She indicated his neatly folded stack of clothes. "There's blood on your shirt. I'm always nicking myself, so I'm fairly adept at removing a bloodstain."

He frowned, allowing her ponytail to slide through his fingers, freeing her. "What do you mean, nicking yourself?"

"On tools. I cut myself all the time. I wear leather gloves, but sometimes they're just in the way."

She was so matter-of-fact about injuring herself that it set his teeth on edge. Someone needed to care for her, not the other way around. He found he was irritated at his brothers and the other women on the farm. Clearly they didn't help Lexi, yet they were definitely reaping the rewards of her work.

"Doesn't anyone help you out around here?" His voice was harsh, a low, demanding tone that had her turning away from him.

"Of course they do, when they can. Everyone works. I told you that. At harvest, they all help."

She was quick to defend her family members from any perceived slight. He realized he would have to guard his opinions of the others and he was annoyed with them no matter what she said. The farm, from what he could see, was huge. It was far too much work for one person.

"That's good," he said, using a neutral, almost casual tone, as if they were discussing things in the abstract. "Because a farm this size definitely needs more than one person working it." He wasn't going to make the mistake of firing her up, forcing her to defend the others. He needed her defending him, not them.

"I don't like strangers around me," Lexi confessed. "The farm is kind of my haven and the thought of someone I don't know hanging around bothers me. I keep thinking I'll hire someone to help out, but so far, I haven't been able to make myself do it. The others have mentioned hiring someone several times but I keep putting it off."

She sounded apprehensive and a little ashamed, as if, by not hiring an outsider, she was a coward. The idea of someone outside the circle of family didn't sit well with him, after all. He didn't want another man working alongside Lexi.

"I suppose there's nothing else for it then," he said, with an exaggerated sigh. "I'll have to take you up on your generous offer and let you boss me around for a few days in order to drive that tractor of yours."

He was rewarded with a quick flick of those deadly green eyes. She fastened her gaze on him, and he felt the bed shifting out from under him. He lifted the sheet enough to keep his body from scaring the hell out of her. She was damned beautiful. She moved like a summer breeze. He hadn't known women like Lexi really existed.

"Why are you suddenly looking so sad?" Lexi asked, concern on her face. She put the tray of needles down on the bureau and came back to him. "What is it, Gavriil? I'm really not bossy. I was teasing you."

"I know that."

Her fingers were back in his hair, stroking it back, massaging his scalp, a comforting, soothing gesture a woman might make to a child. She was petting the wild animal, taming him with her touch.

"What is it?"

He caught her hand before she could inflame his body any further. He'd been fourteen years old when he gained control over that part of his anatomy. He still bore the scars on his back and thighs from the punishments when he wasn't able to. All that training, all those years of discipline were gone in the blink of an eye and she wasn't even trying to seduce him.

"I haven't spent this much time with another human being since I was a child."

She pressed her lips together, her forest-cool eyes never wavering. "You don't have to spend time with me, Gavriil. I have tons of work to do, and I can stay on my porch. There's also a building we all share. Blythe mentioned it and said you could stay there if you preferred being alone."

He couldn't help himself. He brought her fingertips to his mouth and bit gently, his teeth scraping back and forth. It was that or kiss her, and he thought biting at her fingers was far safer for both of them than kissing her. Her eyes darkened. A small frown appeared, but she didn't pull away from him.

He realized she didn't recognize foreplay or seduction. She'd been a child with an evil man and he'd never taken his time with her, or made love to her. Caine had used her, but he had never made her aware of her own sexual appetite. At least Gavriil had been made aware early on that sex could be pleasurable. He doubted if Lexi had a clue.

There had been a few moments between them, like now, where something stirred in her eyes, a flare of sexual confusion, as if he was causing a reaction in her body. She looked a little frightened, as if she didn't know what was happening to her.

"I'm just fine where I am," Gavriil said. "I like being around you. You soothe me. There's something very peaceful about you. I've never been teased before. Do you realize how many 'firsts' you're giving me?"

She smiled and her eyes were like the sun's rays beaming through a canopy of leaves. Her entire face lit up, showing off all her creamy, flawless skin and her full, soft very tempting lips. She was killing him without trying. He needed to get his libido under control before he blew his every chance.

"I'm glad."

Awareness crept down his spine. His grip tightened on her hand. "Lexi. I want you to walk into the bathroom and close the door. Casually. Just go into it as if you're going to use it. Keep smiling at me. No questions."

She looked frightened but she nodded her head. She touched his face, featherlight, but he felt it all the way to his bones.

"It's probably nothing, but I prefer to stay alert," he added quietly.

Lexi held it together, following his instructions exactly, going to the bathroom and closing the door. She moved with unhurried steps, looking natural should anyone be watching.

The moment the door was shut, Gavriil reached for his jeans, turned and slipped into them almost in one motion. He shoved his feet into his boots, and concealed the weapons in their usual places. He was dressed and armed in seconds. He moved with casual grace to the open window. He waited there, just to the left, out of sight. Still. Patient. Baiting his prey. His knife was in his palm, a familiar extension.

There was silence. His heart rate remained exactly the same. His pulse never changed. This, he understood. This was his world. Here he had control. Discipline. Power. He understood the rules.

A whisper of movement told him his prey was growing restless. A shadow moved. Stopped. Gavriil didn't so much as tense. Deep inside, he was coiled and ready to spring, but for the moment he remained utterly still. His mind didn't race. There was no chaos or fear. He was in complete command.

A head appeared in the window and he struck with lightning speed. Grabbing the thick dark hair, he dragged the head all the way inside, exposing the neck, pressing the razor-sharp blade of his knife against the throat. Dark eyes stared up at him. Shocked. Scared. A child's eyes.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Gavriil demanded. "Who sent you?"

"Lexi!" The boy screamed her name.

Lexi emerged from the bathroom at a run. Gavriil, still holding the knife to the boy's throat, blocked her rush, shoving her back behind him.

"Do you know this boy?" Gavriil asked. He didn't take his cold gaze or the knife from the boy, not once. In his experience a child could be just as deadly as an adult. He'd made his first kill at fourteen.

"Let him up. That's Benito, Max's boy." Lexi peered around his larger body, staring at the knife that bit just enough into the boy's throat to cause a thin line of blood. "Please don't kill him."

Gavriil removed the knife from the boy's throat, and not so gently dragged him into the room, mostly by his hair.

With one hand he patted the kid down; the other kept him immobile. He retrieved a Glock from the waistband of the boy's jeans and held it up in the air.

"What's this? Were you planning on killing me, boy?" Gavriil kept searching for more weapons. He never just carried one on a job. Evidently the kid felt the same way he had a hell of a big knife shoved down into his boot.

"Benito! What were you thinking?" Lexi asked, trying to step around Gavriil.

He cut her off with a sweep of his arm. "Stay behind me until we straighten this out. I don't give a damn whose kid he is, not when he comes sneaking around with a gun and knife."

"He's twelve years old," Lexi said. "A child."

"He's not a child when he's armed." Gavriil transferred his hand from the boy's hair to his throat. "You'd better start talking, kid, I can break your neck just as fast as I can cut your throat. Were you hired to kill Lexi?"

"Oh, for God's sake," Lexi said, exasperation in her voice. "He wouldn't do that. He lives here on the farm with Max."

"Then he can convince me. You stay behind me, Lexi, or I'm going to have to hurt this kid. I'm not taking chances with your safety."

"Are you her bodyguard?" Benito asked, his eyes nearly rolling back in his head with fear.

The boy didn't move though. Not even a tiny inch to try to get away from the deadly grip Gavriil had him in. Gavriil had to give him credit for that. Benito was terrified, but he was thinking it all out.

"If you didn't come here to kill Lexi, or me, what the hell were you doing outside the bedroom window? Are you some kind of Peeping Tom?"

Benito shook his head. His gaze clung to Lexi's. He didn't look at Gavriil. "No sir. I was practicing."

"Practicing what? Scaring Lexi?"

His voice was a low whip of menace. What the hell was the kid doing? Did he have any idea just how close to death he'd come?

Lexi started around Gavriil once again to comfort the boy, but he shifted just enough to keep his body between hers and the kid's. She put her hand on the small of his back. For a split second, he was more aware of that contact than anything else.

"He's working on his skills. Guarding all of us. Moving quietly without detection," Lexi explained.

"Is that true?" Gavriil asked, slowly allowing his hand to drop away from the boy's neck.

Benito touched his fingers to his throat and looked at the blood smeared on his fingertips. He nodded. "Yes sir."

Gavriil let his breath out slowly. The kid had guts, and even though he was clearly a pain in the ass, one had to admire him. He willed Lexi to let him handle the situation without her. The kid needed a scare thrown into him which Gavriil had given him. Now he needed to feel as if he was going to learn something from the experience.

"Lexi was about to make me some tea and we were going to eat lunch. I'll clean up your throat there and then we'll sit down and I'll tell you where you went wrong."

Lexi's fingers slipped down his bare back to the pocket of his jeans. She curled her fingers there. He glanced at her over his shoulder.

"Are you all right?"

"I was afraid," she admitted. "I really thought some of Caine's people might have come after me. Now that I know there's nothing wrong, I think my knees are a little weak, but I'm really okay. I am."

He wanted to blast the kid all over again. He turned back to the boy. "That's another reason you don't slink around and scare people. Everyone has a history. You don't want to make it worse for them, do you?"

Benito shook his head. "I'm really sorry, Lexi."

For a moment, Lexi pressed her face against the small of his bare back, right where her hand had been. Right over a series of scars from a whip tearing his flesh open when he was a child. Gavriil wanted to pull her into his arms and comfort her, but he stopped the impulse.

"I really am sorry, sir," Benito said, the fright fading that fast. "And I want to know what I did wrong. I mean aside from coming here in the first place," he added hastily.

Gavriil reached behind him without turning, and put his hand over Lexi's, pressing her palm into his buttocks where she held on to his pocket. "Never try sneaking up on me again. Not ever. It isn't safe. You're very lucky I was in the mood to ask questions. Otherwise, you'd be dead and Max would be coming after me. Do you understand? You can't play around with this kind of thing. If you're going to learn, you need to understand the difference between playing and coming after someone like me."

Benito nodded his head several times, wincing a little. The cut was shallow, but it had to hurt.

Lexi lifted her head. He felt the warmth of her breath against his skin. Her fingers traced the long, numerous scars crisscrossing his back, a whisper of movement only, barely there, but his body stirred and his gut tightened into knots.

"Didn't Max tell you to stay away from here?" He caught Lexi's hand and pulled it down, away from his bare skin. She had to stop if he was going to be able to think clearly. All that did was bring her attention back to Benito's plight.

Gavriil held her still, preventing her from going to the boy. The kid had to learn, and being babied wasn't going to help. "Lexi, would you mind making me that cup of tea?"

She was silent a moment, clearly making up her mind whether or not to let him handle the situation without her. In the end she capitulated. "Benito, would you like some as well?"

He shook his head, looking a little apprehensive now that she was leaving.

"Lexi, I left my war bag just outside the greenhouse, concealed in the brush on the west corner. I wouldn't want a child to find that bag. It also has clean clothes in it. Would you mind getting it for me while I make certain this wound doesn't get infected?"

Lexi studied his face for a long time, clearly trying to read his stone-cold features. "Benito is very much treasured here, Gavriil. He's trying hard to be a man under difficult circumstances."

Gavriil had lived through difficult circumstances. He wasn't going to allow that to be an excuse. The kid was spying on them, looking through bedroom windows. That wasn't okay in his book. Benito also needed to know that that kind of behavior could get a person killed.

"The west corner," he repeated, his tone implacable.

"See. I knew you'd forget our deal at the first opportunity," she accused.

He caught her chin, forcing her green eyes to meet his dark blue ones. "Just this one time, solnyshko moya, while I'm seeing to your safety."

"Well don't shoot him. Or stab him. Or beat him up either. I want him in good condition when we return him to Max and Airiana."

Out of the corner of his eye, Gavriil noticed the boy squirming. He didn't much like the idea of Max or Airiana finding out what he'd done. "That leaves me a lot of room, Lexi."

She winked at him. "I'm well aware of that. Just make certain he's alive when I come back. Benito, you do everything he says. He isn't nearly as patient as Max."

She shot Benito a warning glance and then left the room, taking the tray of needles with her. Gavriil was pretty certain, if he were capable, he would have fallen in love with her right then and there. He had no clue how love felt, so he dismissed the idea and turned his attention back to Benito.

"Let's get you cleaned up, kid," Gavriil said. He blew out a couple of candles as he went by them on his way to the bathroom. The first aid kit was under the sink. "Sit in that chair over there. You never let a knife wound go. Not ever. Sometimes the germs on the blade are worse than the cut. Always clean it as soon as possible."

Benito sank into the chair, staring with wide eyes at the massive scars covering Gavriil's body. There was everything from burns to what looked like grated skin as well as bullet and knife scars. There were whip marks across his back and a large shiny indentation from a shotgun. The scars on his chest were the worst, the ridges circular from where the knife had been twisting as it was brought out of his flesh.

"Yeah. Take a good look, kid. This isn't the high life. You don't want to go into this business and end up with no life, no family and a body like mine. Raise your chin. This is going to sting."

Gavriil pressed an alcohol wipe to the seeping wound. The boy didn't make a sound. Tears welled in his eyes but he sat absolutely still. Grudging respect had Gavriil hastily applying the soothing ointment that contained a triple antibiotic. He sank into the chair across from the kid.

"I'm Gavriil. Gavriil Prakenskii. You're Max's boy?" He crossed his arms across his chest, allowing his legs to stretch out in front of him. He was well within striking distance. Both arms could swing up or down easily blocking any attack, and both feet, in that lazy sprawl, could easily kick a target. The position was very deceptive and one he'd cultivated to look as if he was completely relaxed.

Benito cleared his throat. "He's adopting us. My sisters and me."

Gavriil nodded slowly. "I hear you lost your parents."

"They were murdered." Benito nearly spat the words, rage welling up.

"Tough. That's tough. My parents were murdered too. You have to be careful, kid. That burn you feel in your gut can be dangerous and lead you down paths you don't want to go. Max is a good man. He's tough as nails and he's a scary son of a bitch, but he's a good man. You listen to him and learn from him."

"He told me to stay away from here."