“Lana is part of the throwaways, isn’t she? Just like Kasimir. That makes it probable that she didn’t just happen to have seen me at the college or to have rescued me from Billows at the bus stop. You had her watching me.”

He listened carefully to her tone. There was hurt but no condemnation. He stroked one finger down her face, traced her cheekbone and then her ear. His fingers settled over her pulse. A little too fast, but steady.

“She was at that horrible school with you, wasn’t she? If it was a school for assassins, she’s most likely lethal, just as you are.”

“I refuse to take chances that Billows is going to hurt you. Or that the maniac he has watching you decides to act on his impulses.”

That wasn’t exactly answering her, and yet it was.

“Why didn’t you just tell me the truth, Andrii? I don’t like being made a fool of. I believed Lana had befriended me because she liked me.”

“She does like you. How could she not? You’re genuine, Azelie. We don’t get a lot of genuine.”

“The probability is extremely high that Kir, Lazar and Gedeon are part of your family of throwaways.” She made it a statement.

“Baby, don’t be upset over Lana. That was my decision, not hers. She would have been happy to tell you the truth.”

“But you felt it necessary to keep me in the dark.”

“I don’t know how good of an actress you are.” He tugged on one of her curls. “I can read you like a book. I don’t know if that’s just our connection, or if everyone can.”

“I can’t ask you why, can I?”

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know as soon as I can. You’ll have to trust me.” Maestro found he was holding his breath. He was asking a lot of her. How would he react if the roles were reversed? He’d just admitted that he’d had Lana deceive her. Never mind that it was for a good reason. It was his reason, unknown to her. Deception hurt.

Azelie liked Lana. She believed they had become friends because they shared the college experience. She’d been grateful to Lana for her timely rescue. Now, through no fault of her own, she would be leery of the friendship, not believing it was genuine.

“There’s that word again. Trust. I seem to be the one having to give all the trust. You don’t trust me though.”

“Zelie.” He said her name like a reprimand. “You know that isn’t the truth. I trust you implicitly. I’m protecting you and a great many others. That’s the most I can give you right now, and it’s most likely more than I should.”

She pushed back the heavy fall of hair, tucking wayward strands behind her ear. The wild curls and waves simply escaped. There was no loud clock ticking, but he heard it anyway. The countdown to the bomb going off. Azelie didn’t speak for a long time. She sat still in his lap, contemplating their future. Or her next move. He thought he could read her, but she felt closed off to him.

Then she let him have her weight, her head against his chest, back pressed firmly into him. “I think I need my head examined.”

“What does that mean?” He stroked the pad of his thumb down her vulnerable neck and once more found her pulse. Beating too fast, but steady. That was his woman. She took her time thinking things through before she made a decision.

“It means I’m probably going to get my heart broken because I’m going to let you get away with not answering me.”

Relief was overwhelming. He dropped his chin on top of her head, feeling her soft curls tangling with the bristles on his jaw. “You aren’t going to ever have a broken heart, Solnyshkuh. I’m going to do everything in my power to make you happy.”

“I am happy. I made a life for myself, and I’ve been happy in it.”

“You forgot to include a future with a husband and children. Somewhere safe you can write your stories in peace. Those are important things, Zelie. I’m the man to give them to you.”

He nibbled his way down her neck, scraping his teeth gently along the way. Tasting her skin on his tongue. Savoring that faint taste of strawberries. “Want you again, Solnyshkuh. I want to go to sleep with you in my arms and wake up seeing you first thing. I love to breathe you in.”

He was making a statement. He wasn’t leaving. She might be nervous about him staying, afraid of Billows and McGrady, but he wanted her to realize he wasn’t in the least bit worried. He wanted her to have that kind of faith in him—in them as a couple. They were stronger than Billows. They always would be.

“I want those things too, Andrii. But more than anything, I need to know you’re safe.”

This woman. He tightened his hold on her. “I’m a badass, baby. You don’t want to believe it, but I am. Have a little faith in my abilities. I need to stay.”

He waited. Watching her. He saw the capitulation in her eyes and then she turned to him and lifted her face to his. Bog, her mouth. She tasted like wildfire. It was Azelie who pulled back first. She tugged at the hem of his shirt, and he complied with her silent demand, removing it one-handed. Then he tugged off her little top to give him free access to her full breasts. He loved looking at her body. All those lush, feminine curves. To him she was beautiful.

Azelie placed little butterfly kisses over the hard muscles of his chest. Her mouth kept climbing, finding his throat, and then she kissed along his jaw. Little kisses. Barely there. He shouldn’t have been able to feel them, but he did. Those featherlight kisses were like dozens of little flames leaping from nerve ending to nerve ending.

“I want to learn how to please you, but you’ll have to instruct me. And you’ll need your jeans off.”

His heart leapt. Went crazy. He cupped her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. She looked shy but determined. “Are you asking me to teach you how to suck my cock?”

That rose color he loved so much infused her skin, but she didn’t look away. She nodded.

“It’s important to me to learn how to please you. What gives you pleasure. You always give me so much, Andrii. I need to be able to do this. I want to.”

“We might not be ready for that yet, Solnyshkuh, as much as I want it. When I have my cock in your mouth, I’ll want to control the action. I like it a little on the rough side. That might scare you. It’s important that whatever we do together, you have faith that I’m going to make it good for you. That means building up to the wilder things slowly.”

Her gaze didn’t leave his. “I want this, Andrii. It’s important to me. I want you to control everything. That makes me feel safe. It also takes the burden off me of knowing what I’m supposed to do next.”

His cock was already diamond hard. He needed to strip his jeans off just to get some relief. He could see the mixture of nerves and excitement in her eyes. Deliberately, he brushed his hands down her shoulders to the full, inviting curves. He loved the sheer beauty of her breasts. Her nipples were tight buds but sensitive, reacting to his play. He’d been very gentle with her, introducing her to sex as lovingly as he could.

“You’re certain this is what you want to do?”

She nodded. “More than anything I want to learn the right way to do it, to give you pleasure.”

“Your mouth on me is going to bring me all kinds of pleasure, Zelie. There isn’t a right or wrong here.”

“There’re ways you like sex, Andrii. There are ways you might prefer to be in my mouth. I want to learn those ways. Anything you like. But you have to teach me because I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. It’s important to me.”

He didn’t wait for her to keep explaining. He could tell it was difficult for her, and he was proud of her for communicating her desire. More, his body raged at him, impatient for her mouth.

“Take your clothes off, Solnyshkuh. Strip. Fast. I don’t need a show right now; I’m not taking chances on getting any more aroused than I already am.”

She slid off the bed and dragged down the drawstring pants she was wearing, and he was grateful she’d changed from her gorgeous club clothes into the more simple ones she wore to bed. He kept his body facing hers. Without a shirt, the Torpedo Ink tattoo would be very prominent on his back. He didn’t want anything to mar this special moment.

“Lie on the bed with your head hanging over the edge. Spread your legs wide for me. I need to see how hungry you are for my cock.”

She crawled up onto the bed and lay down sideways, so her neck was over the very edge, tipping her head back. She did as he commanded, spreading her legs for him.

“Wider.” He bent over her, and without preamble worked two fingers into her hot, slick entrance. She gasped and lifted her hips. He slid his fingers out again, deliberately trailing the pad of his thumb over her clit. She made a little sound of startled pleasure. He flicked her clit hard, and he saw the answering ripple of her belly muscles as her sex contracted.

Holding her gaze, he licked his fingers, savoring the subtle strawberry flavor. “You are hungry for my cock, aren’t you?”

She nodded. Andrii shook his head. “Say it. I need to hear just what you want.”

He knew forcing her to tell him what she wanted would up the anticipation. He’d noticed from the beginning of their relationship that she responded to rough language and even cruder suggestions.

“I’m very hungry for your cock,” she admitted in a low voice. The moment she did, her entire body took on a rosy glow.