Gabrielle did what she always did—she stepped between the two of them. She knew what was coming. She’d relived this moment a thousand times and still, she couldn’t prevent herself from stepping in front of Barstow. In one more second she would feel the first slice of his knife into her kidney. Three. Four. Then he would stab her chest repeatedly. Over and over. The agony would begin all over again.
She felt heat at her back and she swung around because that had never happened. She’d always been ice-cold. It was her nightmare, reliving the attack over and over, and the scenario never deviated because it had happened. Now, when she turned, there was Aleksei standing between her and the knife. She knew he took the blade, those repeated slices into his body. His eyes were on her face. His hand came up and he gently swept the hair back from her face.
She could feel pain radiating through him, but he didn’t flinch. He didn’t look away from her. She felt him then, in her mind, filling her with his strength. He gathered her into his arms and lifted her, cradling her against his chest, and he took her right out of there, out of the horrible little room where she couldn’t breathe. Where she couldn’t stop the stupid, stupid action of stepping in front of a killer. Of the terrible agony of the knife going into her flesh.
You are safe, Gabrielle. Open your eyes. You are here with me and I will never allow harm to come to you.
She took a breath of fresh air. Still, she didn’t open her eyes. She wanted to feel his arms around her. He made her feel safe. She’d never felt safer than when she was with him, which was insane, because he could terrify her with one look. Still, she snuggled closer to him. To his rock solid chest and his arms of steel. She wanted to stay right there and just dream sweet dreams of him.
She felt his mouth brush her temple. I have a mind to turn sweet to erotic.
That made her smile. She couldn’t help it. Why am I not surprised? Still, she lifted her long lashes and stared into his brilliant green eyes. So piercing. So beautiful. So expressive. Right now, he looked at her almost tenderly, and she’d never seen that particular look on his face. Her stomach did a slow somersault and her heart shifted in her chest.
“How did you do that? How did you stop the nightmare?” She reached up to touch his face. It was daring; she’d never touched him on her own unless they were being fiercely intimate, and she couldn’t help herself. Now she wanted to shape his face with her hands, to push the stubborn silky strand of hair falling around his face back.
“I told you, kessake, my woman cannot have nightmares. Not now. Not ever. Whatever upsets you must go away immediately.”
She swept his hair back, loving the feel of the silken strands against her fingers. “Thank you. I know you felt the blade of the knife.” She shuddered and snuggled closer to him. “I didn’t want that for you.”
“I know, but I am your lifemate, Gabrielle, and you are always in my care. No harm touches you, not even in your dreams.” He turned his head and pulled her finger into his mouth. His eyes held hers. “No one makes you afraid, not ever again, not even your own mother. I will always stand between you and anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
Her heart beat wildly. Everything he said held a ring of truth, a stark, raw honesty that couldn’t be denied. He meant what he said. She made a mental note to keep him away from her mother. Gabrielle loved her mother, but there was no doubt she was the queen of drama and tantrums. Her family had always allowed her to get away with it, but Gabrielle knew immediately, Aleksei wouldn’t.
Looking into his eyes, her breasts suddenly ached and she felt a damp heat between her legs. His eyes were hooded. Sexy. Filled with hunger for her. She loved that. Everything he did seemed entirely sensual. Erotic just came natural to him. She touched her tongue to her lips.
Hunger beat at her. She wanted to lean forward and sink her teeth right into the pulse that beat so strongly in his neck. More, she wanted to crawl over him and taste every inch of his body. She wished she were brave enough to do it, but she could only look at him a little helplessly.
His hand stroked down the length of her hair. His fingers sifted through the strands. He scraped his teeth against the pad of her finger, sending little sparks shooting through her bloodstream.
“Gabrielle, do you have any idea how much you please me? I have claimed you, every single inch of you, for my own. When I want to kiss you, or touch you, or eat you, or be inside you, however, whenever I want that, I expect to have it. Why should your needs be any less than mine? I belong to you. That means you claim every single inch of me for your own. Not just my body, kessake, but my mind and heart and soul. If I expect you to give me those things, you should have those same expectations.”