Earth Bound (39 page)

Her eyes met his as he emerged from the truck and then she was looking him over very carefully for any possible damage. It made him feel loved. Welcomed. She didn't smile, but she stood slowly and walked to the top of the stairs. Gavriil deliberately waited for the truck to leave so they were alone in the dark.

He moved up the stairs until he was on the one just below her. She still wasn't tall enough to be level with him, but it didn't matter. She moved into him, circling his neck with her slender arms and leaning her body against his, melting into him. Gavriil closed his arms around her tightly and just held her there.

“I was worried,” she admitted against his shoulder. “Very worried.”

“I know,
solnyshko moya
, I'm sorry. It couldn't be helped. I didn't get a scratch on me. Not one.”

She pulled her head back, her eyes searching his. “That's good. I would have been so upset, you don't even know. As it is, I'm still very angry with you.”

“You kicked me in the shins,” he pointed out soberly. He was an intelligent man, and smart men knew one didn't make the mistake of laughing when his woman said she was angry.

“You told me to kick you when I was angry with you, but that isn't near enough of a punishment. You can't just order me around, Gavriil.”

“I know you think that, Lexi,” he said soberly, framing her face and looking down at her with serious eyes. “But you're wrong.”

She opened her mouth to protest but he stopped her with a kiss. He'd needed to kiss her from the moment he'd gotten out of the truck. Lexi might have said she was angry with him, but her mouth tasted of passion. Of love. The magic was there, and he allowed himself a brief respite, basking in the exquisite perfection of her love.

He lifted his head slowly and pressed his forehead to hers, looking into her green eyes. “You order me when it comes to farm work. You know what you're doing and naturally you're the leader because it's your field of expertise. When it comes to threats, violence or danger, I have to take the lead. Isn't that what a partnership is? We both rely on the other's strengths?”

Lexi scowled at him. “You know, when I first met you, you weren't that good at talking. All of a sudden you've got
like the silver tongue or something. Once in a while, much to my bitter disappointment, you actually make sense. I think you were sandbagging it.”

“Is that a farmer's term? Sandbagging?” He brushed her mouth with his all over again because she really was his sun and she'd just made him light up.

“You know very well what it means,” she contradicted.

He caught her by the waist and lifted her out of his way, so he could gain the porch. “Perhaps I do, but with you, I always have to have my best game on, so it doesn't apply. How are the puppies? Is Kiss taking good care of them?”

“Yes, and when I got home, little Lyutyj actually seemed to recognize my voice and scent. He stumbled away from Kiss toward me.”

“So of course you held him and gave him more of the supplement.” He set her down on the porch and reached past her head to pull open the door. “Have you noticed he's getting a little on the chubby side?”

“He is not,” Lexi defended. “I can't believe you would say that.”

“Next time you sit outside by yourself in the dark, bring Drago out with you. That's what they're for. Protecting you.”

“He'd rather be with Kiss and the puppies.”

Drago greeted them both, pressing close, nearly knocking Lexi down. Gavriil gave the large male a soft reprimand and he was much gentler as they made their way down the hall to the laundry room.

“These dogs need to be with people, Lexi. They actually prefer it. In any case, they're working dogs. His job is to protect you. I want him doing his job at all times.”

“Drago and Kiss guard you,” she countered. “Lyutyj is going to protect me.”

“Are you going to argue with every safety rule I give you?” He peeled off his clothes and put them in the washing machine. “You did throw your shoes away, didn't you? And put the clothes you wore tonight in the washer?”

“Yes to all three questions.”

He was stark naked and she wasn't running away. Her eyes moved over his body in a little caress. Her breasts rose and fell with each breath she dragged into her lungs. He felt his cock harden, and instantly her gaze dropped down to his groin.

He held his breath as her fingers opened and she actually reached a scant two inches toward him, palm out. It was the slightest gesture, and one she barely seemed aware of, but his entire body shuddered with the idea that she might touch him, close her fist around him. Claim that last part of him for her own.

He turned to face her deliberately, leaning his hip against the open washing machine, looking as casual as possible. “It absolutely amazes me how you can make me want you without even trying, woman.” He dropped his hand just as casually to his rock-hard shaft, closing his fist around it. “Look at what you do to me, every time.”

She smiled and shook her head, but she didn't raise her gaze to his. She took a step closer. “You always look so intimidating, Gavriil. When I see you like this, so hard and long and thick, it doesn't seem possible that you fit inside me.”

“You were made for me, Lexi. No one else. I fit perfectly.” He stroked his fist down the shaft and then let go.

Her breath caught in her throat again, and this time she reached out purposely. Right before her fingers found his shaft, she looked up at him as if for permission. He didn't move, didn't say anything at all. She had to make up her own mind. Her palm closed around him, warm and soft. Her touch nearly destroyed him. His legs went weak and his heart pounded in his chest. Blood roared in his ears and thundered through his veins. With just one tentative touch.

Because she loved him. He held himself very still, fearing to move. His hips, of their own volition, wanted to thrust upward, to feel that silken glide through her fist, but he wasn't going to ruin a perfect moment with sex.

“You feel hot.” She lifted her gaze to his again. “You
know how people use that term, ‘velvet over steel'? That's what you feel like.”

She could kill him so easily and she didn't even know it. She had all the power between them. In her soft hands and perfect mouth. In her forest green eyes and her feminine curves. But mostly in the way she saw him. She looked into him and she saw the man he should always have been. The man he was when he was with her.

She swallowed hard and let go of him to smear two pearly droplets over his ultrasensitive head, watching him shudder with the fire racing through his body.

G
AVRIIL
reached out and bunched Lexi's hair in his hand. He gave her long ponytail a tug. “You've put it up again, all this glorious hair. It needs to come down.” He pulled the little wrap right out of her hair and then used both hands to mess it up, letting the silken mass tumble free.

“What are you doing?”

He grinned at her, his blue eyes alive with sensual mischief. “Maybe we should wash those sweats as well. I think little Lyutyj got a spot of dirt on them. Why don't you strip right here? I can help you.”

“How thoughtful of you, Gavriil,” Lexi said.

She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue, hesitating only for a moment. He knew how difficult it was for her to be spontaneous when it came to making love, but she pulled the soft sweatshirt over her head. Her eyes held shy anticipation and raw courage. For him. She was always willing to step out of her comfort zone for him.

He knew few men would understand what it had cost her to wrap her fist around his cock and hold him, just for a moment. To touch him so intimately, but he knew how
difficult it was and that she'd done it for him, to show him she loved him and that she would always try for him.

The strange thing was, he knew it really didn't matter to him whether or not she ever got to the point where she could wrap her mouth around him. What mattered was that she loved him enough to try baby steps.

Lexi wasn't wearing a bra and her soft curves thrusting toward him were very tempting. She had high, perfectly formed breasts and a narrow rib cage that went into her tucked-in waist. Her hips flared in a shapely feminine curve that drove him nearly as crazy as her breasts. She had a beautiful body. He couldn't imagine a man forcing her to bind her chest, telling her she was ugly because she'd developed.

He reached out with gentle fingers, shaping her breasts, massaging and cupping them in his palms. He couldn't resist tugging her nipples and rolling them between his fingers just to hear her gasp and see the dazed look come into her eyes.

“I'm pretty crazy about you, Lexi Thompson,” he confided.

She smiled up at him, unknowingly pushing closer into his hands. “That's a good thing, Gavriil Prakenskii, because I'm finding that I can't do without you.”

He hooked his thumbs in her sweatpants and crouched low to pull them to her ankles. She placed her hands on his arms as she stepped out of them, trembling a little bit. She looked around her helplessly, and he realized that he'd switched on the light when he'd come into the laundry room. She didn't like the brighter lights on when she was naked and about to make love with him. Very casually he stood up, reaching out and flicking the switch off.

The room wasn't totally dark, but she blinked up at him. “Thank you.”

“I like looking at you,” he said.

“I know you do. I like looking back, it's just that . . .” She trailed off with a little sigh. “I still hate the scars on my back and butt.”

He smiled at her. “Silly woman, when I'm facing you I can't see them.”

“I know that.” She shivered under his focused gaze, little goose-bumps rising on her skin. “But I know they're there, and I want to feel beautiful when I'm standing naked in front of you.”

He lifted his palm to cup the side of her face, to rub strands of silky hair between his fingers. “Clearly I'm going to have to do a better job of explaining to you how beautiful and perfect you are to me.”

She shook her head, a slow smile stealing into her eyes. “You do a fantastic job. I just have to get to a place where I believe you.”

He threw her clothes in the washer with his and started the machine. Water began pouring into the basket. His hand shifted around to the nape of her neck to draw her closer to him, his thumb lifting her face to his.

“I need to kiss you. Sometimes I just
need
to kiss you. I dream about kissing you. Waking or sleeping, I dream about it, but there are times, like now, when kissing you is essential to my well-being.”

Her eyebrow shot up and a small smile teased her soft mouth. “Aren't you being just a tiny bit overdramatic? Needing kisses for your well-being?”

“My mental health.”

She laughed softly and the music of it played in the pit of his stomach and spread like wildfire to his groin.

“Don't you be laughing at me, woman, when I'm confiding my deepest secrets to you.” He bent his head slowly to hers, watching her eyes go wide with desire. For him. There was nothing like the feeling he got, that rush through his bloodstream, when he knew she wanted him the same way he wanted her.

He kissed her gently, tenderly, pouring his heart and soul into it. He'd upset her with his orders, but he'd kept her from doing something she would regret. He wouldn't give the deaths a second thought, but he'd think often on how he'd gotten her angry with him. He knew it was bound to
happen, but he would also analyze each time and try to figure out a better way of handling things.

Her mouth was still shy beneath his, but so responsive, kissing him, following his lead, giving him her heart in the way she did. He kissed her over and over until neither could breathe and they had to come up for air.

They smiled at each other like a couple of fools, but he'd never been so happy. He caught her around the waist and lifted her to set her on the very edge of the appliance. “All that work tonight made me hungrier than ever.”

Lexi burst out laughing again. “Seriously, Gavriil? On a washing machine?”

“Why not? It might feel good when it starts vibrating.”

“Because it's cold on my butt, you crazy man.”

Her laughter was contagious. She made his life fun.

“You're such a complainer.” He yanked a towel from the dryer, folded it in half and arched an eyebrow at her. “Lift up, this should work.”

“You aren't kidding, are you?” Obediently she lifted her bottom so he could slide the towel under her.

“When the machine starts vibrating and the towel starts slipping, don't blame me,” he teased.

Lexi stared down at him with her cool green eyes. He knew he would be lost there forever—and he wanted to be. Once, she'd told him he was safe with her. She'd offered to guard him while he slept and she'd meant it. She had given him so much more than she even realized.

Lexi thought she needed him, but it was the other way around. Unrelenting darkness had been his world. He hadn't been able to see the light let alone find his way to it. She had shone the bright light on him and opened him up. She really was his sun.

She stroked her hand down the side of his face. “What is it, Gavriil?”

“I didn't expect to love you so damn much,” he said. “I didn't even know this kind of emotion was possible, let alone that I could feel it.”

He hadn't known a woman could change a man inside.
She made life worth living. More, she'd made him a believer in humanity.

Her smile was soft, a gentle reflection of who she was inside. He tipped her backward by placing a hand on the flat of her stomach and forcing her to stretch out. Wedging himself between her thighs he bent his head to her breasts, swirling his tongue around her nipples and teasing with the edge of his teeth.

He kissed a trail down to her navel and dipped his tongue, swirling it around and then nipping at her belly. The washing machine suddenly went silent. Her gaze jumped to his. The machine beneath her began to shake. She burst out laughing. That sound was pure music.

Gavriil had seduced women and allowed them to seduce him. The sex act, while enjoyable, had always been sober, a following of a step-by-step manual. Being with Lexi was spontaneous and fun, a magical journey he could never predict.

He found himself laughing along with her, teasing her by blowing raspberries over her skin and nipping his way down her tummy to the vee of curls at the junction of her legs.

Lexi clutched the edges of the washing machine, her laughter stroking at his body like fingers. He loved that sweet music. The joy in her. The joy it brought to him. Who knew sex could be both emotional and fun. Sweet and sexy. Just plain sensual.

He tipped her back farther by pulling both legs over his shoulders. “I have to say,
sladkaya moya
, you look good enough to eat.”

“You're so crazy,” she said. “On the washing machine? I think we've unbalanced the load or something. It's shaking me all over the place.”

Gavriil grinned at her. “That's me shaking you up.”

He dipped his head to that hot, sweet center, swiping his tongue through soft folds to get to the honey he knew was waiting there.

Her laughter turned to ragged gasps and little pants. He
feasted, taking his time, enjoying the way her hips bucked and her hands fisted in his hair. He especially enjoyed the cries rising to a crescendo as he used his tongue and mouth and teeth to drive her up hard and fast.

The machine switched cycles again, and he pulled her legs back down, toed a blue plastic crate to him and stood on it. With one arm he dragged her even closer so that he could press the head of his cock into her slick, hot entrance.

“Really? You're really going to do this on the washing machine? I'm going to fall.” But her voice was husky and her eyes had that soft dazed look. She was flushed from head to toe.

“You'll never fall, Lexi, because I'm always here to catch you,” he said, and thrust deep into her body.

Her eyes went wide with shock. Her mouth formed a perfect
O
. The air rushed from her lungs and her body clamped down around his like a vise. He could feel the vibrations of the machine running through her body to his. It was crazy, just as she'd said. Sexy. Unexpectedly so.

He plunged into her again and again while the washing machine rocked and her body rolled. Her little pants turned to a glorious symphony of chanting his name, gasping and pleading. He didn't want the moment to ever stop. He couldn't quite bring himself to slow down, the friction was too intense, her body tight and scorching hot. As he surged deep and withdrew, her muscles squeezed and dragged at him, sending streaks of fire racing to every cell in his body.

She threw back her head, her long hair flying around them like a cape. A small cry escaped and her body clamped down on his in a vicious orgasm, shocking them both with the intensity of it. There was no ripple of warning, just a series of ferocious waves that seized him and took him along.

There was no holding back for either of them. The tidal wave swept them up, tossing them into a cauldron of tumbling pleasure that had each clutching hard at the other as an anchor.

The ripples went on and on, so that they clung together,
while the washing machine went into its spin cycle, adding to the concoction of sensations pouring through and over their bodies.

“We really might not survive if this gets any better,” Lexi whispered, her green eyes drifting over his face.

Gavriil saw the trace of possession there and his cock wanted to come alive all over again while his heart pounded and his mind raced. He loved this woman with every fiber of his being. Every cell in his body.

As if reading his mind, Lexi wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight. “I'm so in love with you, Gavriil, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you,” she confessed in a soft voice—so soft it was barely audible.

Above her head, Gavriil closed his eyes and just held on to her sweet confession. Love really was pain sometimes. Physical. Emotional. Beautiful. His eyes burned and his throat was clogged and the man he'd been for so many long empty years reached for the woman who had changed his life forever. Everything in him belonged to her.

“I love you too, Lexi.” Those five words seemed so inadequate to describe the intensity of his feelings for her.

He knew they had a long way to go. They both had been broken and reformed and they would have to find their way, but he'd never been more certain of anything in his life as he was that Lexi and he belonged to each other—belonged together.

“Gavriil?” Lexi lifted her head and looked at him again.

He knew he'd be forever lost in her eyes. “Tell me.”

“I've been rethinking the whole marriage thing. Especially if I get pregnant. It's not as if I'm using birth control.” She blushed. “I never thought I'd ever have sex, let alone have a chance of getting pregnant. I have to admit, it did occur to me that having your baby would be absolutely a gift. I should have told you I wasn't on birth control.”

“It never occurred to me that you were on birth control,” Gavriil admitted. “A man like me thinks of these things before he ever touches a woman. It's very necessary in my career to protect myself as well as my partner. I want you
to have my baby. I'll admit, when I worried that you would leave me, I hoped you'd be pregnant and not want to go.”

Lexi shook her head. “I want
you
, Gavriil. You make me feel alive and happy and very, very safe. I would have been terrified of bringing a child into the world with anyone else, but with you, I know absolutely, no one will ever have the chance to harm us.”