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  Sergei let go of her hand.

  Instantly, she missed his touch, but then he opened his arms. Without hesitating, she rushed against his chest.

  Strong arms enfolded her, nestling her against his chest. Tears seeped from her eyes and she burrowed deeper against his solid warmth. At the realization of what could have happened, she sobbed and her body shook. If she’d been auctioned, she never would have escaped. She owed Sergei her everything.

  His hold tightened until he crushed her. “Stop; you’re safe here, baby.”

  His hand drifted up and down her back, but she was inconsolable. There was no going back. Lucio was an Omega soldier. Maybe not one wielding weapons. His earnest seduction suddenly made much more sense.

  She pushed at Sergei’s chest. He didn’t release her but eased his hold so she could look up into his face. “I wasn’t being held for ransom. There’s no one who would pay.” Certainly not her uncle. He was in debt to the man.

  Sergei’s face turned hard as granite. “Besides drugs, they deal in prostitution and sex trafficking.”

  A knot formed in her stomach. She nodded, swallowing hard. “The man who arranged all this, he got close to me, romantically,” she added, her head dipping with shame. “He knew things about me.”

  “What kinds of things?”

  Kara bowed her head. “That I don’t have a lot of… experience.”

  “Baby, are you a virgin?” he asked, his voice soft but tense.

  She nodded, glancing up at him with teary eyes. “I know. I’m a bit of a freak, but I wanted my first time to mean something.”

  “And it should.” He throat worked up and down around a swallow. “You weren’t raped?”

  She shook her head. “No, I was only just taken. I don’t know precisely what he planned.”

  Sergei took another deep breath and eased her head against his chest. They remained like that, locked together in an embrace until she stopped shivering and her tears dried.

  When she was set away, her legs wobbled just a little. She wiped her face with her fingers, and laughed. “I’m sorry. I wet your shirt.”

  Sergei touched her elbow and led her to a bench positioned beside the garden path. He sat, and then pulled her down onto his lap.

  This time, lying against his chest with her arm around the top of his shoulders, she gave in to the need to sink against him. She was grateful for his silence, because she knew he wanted more details. But something about his embrace conveyed he was more concerned about her right this minute than the many questions that had to be banging around inside his head.

  And she needed this respite. Needed his strength. “You’ve had dealings with them before?” she asked, her voice small even to her own ears.

  “Yes, kidnappings for ransom only. Usually, they’re very businesslike. This last one, the dealings were strange. They negotiated. We paid. When they didn’t deliver…” He shook his head. “It was like they were taunting us to do something.”

  She liked the low rumble of his voice and felt it vibrate against her cheek. The action soothed. “Or maybe they thought you wouldn’t have the guts to move against them?”

  He grunted. “Maybe. Companies who work in countries ruled by criminals pay them off like business as usual. Bribes to locals, ransoms. Perhaps they are pushing to see how much more they can wring from the insurance companies.”

  “I’m glad you raided the camp. I don’t know where I’d be now.”

  Sergei trailed a finger down her cheek then curled his fingers away. He winced. “I was annoyed.”

  She tilted back her head. “Why?”

  “The operation was perfect. Smooth as silk—until Frank West mentioned a girl in the shack next to his.”

  She wrinkled her nose, glad he’d somehow managed to lighten the moment, if only a little. “Were you annoyed because I wasn’t part of your mission?”

  “I didn’t want to spend the extra time. The plan was to get in and out, back to the road before they knew what hit them.”

  “Seemed to work out just fine,” she drawled.

  “It did. But you were a complete surprise. Not your being there. But the fact you kept up with me.” A small smile quirked up one corner of his mouth.

  “I like to run. I stay in shape.”

  “You were barefoot.”

  “You give me too much credit.” She shrugged. “I didn’t notice. I was too scared to worry about briars and rocks.”

  “It was pretty brave, hitting me with your chamber pot.”

  Smiling, she ducked her head. “Not much of a plan. But I’d decided I would take my chances in the jungle, rather than wait to see what my kidnappers had in mind. You just happened to be the first person to open my door.”

  His gaze held hers. “I’m lucky like that.”

  She’d been the lucky one. Not just because he’d rescued her from some awful fate. Kara tilted her chin. “We started something, back in the room.”

  His eyes gleamed in the torchlight. “And I’d be a bastard to let it go any further.”

  She felt a soft sob begin to rise up in her throat and ruthlessly tamped it down. “Then why did you let me kiss you?”

  He opened his mouth to say something, but then clamped it closed.

  “Didn’t you want me to kiss you?”

  His eyelids slid down before he speared her with a dark look. “You’re a virgin, Kara. And you just said your first time should mean something.”

  The intensity of his gaze made her nipples tighten. “And you think that if my first time is spent with you, it wouldn’t?”

  “I’m not the one for you.”

  Because she was a virgin? She was suddenly tired of it being the reason she was in this jam, of it holding any importance in her life. A small physical barrier, insignificant in the grand scheme of things, certainly not worth her life or his hesitation. “Couldn’t you be the one… for now?” She paused, hating the pleading note in her voice.

  Again, his Adam’s apple dipped. The arm holding her tensed.

  She might have been inexperienced, but she knew what she wanted. And she sensed he wanted her every bit as much. But he was trying to do the right thing. Stubborn man. She grasped the hand he still held curled, and slowly peeled open his fingers. He barely breathed as she brought it to her breast.

  At first, his fingers lay against her, stiff, unmoving.

  Knowing she had to be the aggressor, at least for now, she pointed a finger and dug it into the underside of his jaw, urging his face closer.

  Despite the war he fought, evident in the tightening of his jaw, he inched forward. His eyes glittering, his face hardening.

  But she wasn’t afraid of that fierce look. It only made her hotter… between her legs, where her sex was swelling, moistening.

  When only an inch separated their lips, he curved his fingers around her breast, and she pushed against him, filling his palm. Turning her face, she rubbed her cheek against his, enjoying the scrape of his whiskers. “There’s only one thing Lucio was interested in,” she whispered. “One thing that made me valuable. If my virginity doesn’t exist anymore…” So she’d used a pragmatic excuse, a seemingly sensible course of action, rather than admit the truth.

  “Don’t ask me that, baby.”

  She didn’t—at least, not with words. Instead, she rubbed her bottom against his lap, against the large hard knot beneath her. Her deepening breaths pushed her breast harder against his fingers. If he couldn’t tell how turned on she was, how desperate she was for him to take her, she didn’t know what else to do.

  But finally, he cupped her fully, rubbed his thumb against the turgid peak.

  Letting her head fall back, she sighed, surrendering herself—if only he would take everything she offered. “Sergei, I’m not a baby.”

  * * *

  She spoke with conviction, her voice sure and steady. Sergei cursed himself for this lust he could barely control. Already, and despite his best intentions, his fingers were working her stiff little p
eak. His cock thickened, throbbing beneath her squirming ass.

  But she was a virgin. The last time he’d been with a virgin was Afya, and he’d been nearly as green as she’d been all those years ago. What Kara wanted from him was wrong in so many ways. She needed comfort, to know she was safe. From Las Omegas, from him.

  But her eyelids were dipping dreamily with every tug he gave her nipple. Her warm body was nestled against him, soft and wanting. Thawing the hard, cold places inside him. “This Lucio isn’t likely to let you go simply because you’ve lost your hymen. Men like that don’t let go. Ever.”

  “All the more reason why I need you, Sergei,” she said, her voice tighter, her finger tracing the back of his neck. “Give me something beautiful. Something Lucio can never give me.”

  His whole body tightened in rejection at the thought of another man taking her. “He’s not coming anywhere near you. He’ll never have you.”

  “Please.” She slid her palm along his cheek, her finger rubbing his bottom lip. “Please,” she repeated softly.

  Her pleas caused a pang inside his chest. Her soft, slender body was beginning to move restlessly. A signal his own horny libido found difficult to ignore.

  Well, there were ways to distract her from her purpose. Pleasurable ones that would give her release and help her relax. Ways that wouldn’t leave him feeling empty and like he’d failed to keep her safe. He leaned over her and kissed her mouth, groaning because he knew he’d be in blue-ball hell for what he was about to do.

  When he pulled away, he saw her breaths were shorter; her eyes were darkened with passion. Her mouth was swollen and so lushly tempting, he wished he could take it the way he was dying to, but fuck, she was a virgin—she deserved more. Should expect more. Her first time should be with a man she loved, with someone she wanted to build a life with. Still, his cock jerked at the thought of her plump lips closing around him.

  Her gray eyes were like little mirrors reflecting his desire. She stared back, her arm around him, her body pressing on his cock, which was getting fidgety beneath her bottom. Something she didn’t miss, because she slowly rubbed against him.

  He placed a hand on her thigh and gave it a squeeze, a warning to stop, but she only smiled. The temptation was there, her willingness shining in her eyes. Slowly, he moved his hand down her leg and then swept upward, smoothing up a petal of her flame-colored dress.

  Kara’s fingers bit into his shoulder and she parted her thighs, giving him permission to continue. Her inner thigh was soft and smooth. Her pussy was hot as he cupped it, his fingers spreading, two on either side of her satin-cloaked lips, one dipping in between to finger her opening. Saved from intruding by the fabric of her underwear, he applied pressure, waiting as the narrow seam grew wet, soaking his fingertip.

  Her lips parted, a ragged moan seeping from between her pursed lips. She inched her thighs wider and leaned against his arm, her breasts rising and dipping faster with each shallow breath.

  He poked at the fabric, rimming her entrance, circling around and around, and then moved upward to find her clit. The tight nub was rigid to the touch and her breath hissed when he tapped it. When he paused, preparing to withdraw, she reached between her legs and pressed against his hand. “Touch me. Please.”

  Damning himself for being weak, he slid his fingers under the band of her underwear and touched her sex directly. Moist, fragrant heat surrounded his fingertips as he slid between her folds, tracing them up and down.

  Again, her lips pursed and she ground down on his cock, her bottom squirming so deliciously he gritted his teeth against the sensations rocketing through him. He’d love nothing more than to ease open his pants and slide her onto his cock, but he was in control here—the one tasked with keeping her safe. However, her shallow pants and gently rocking hips were doing a number on his good intentions.

  Sergei continued to fondle her while he wrestled with his conscience. He tugged her lips, rimmed her opening, but never penetrated, mindful of her inexperience. But he was loath to leave her without providing a hint of the pleasure he could give. Wetting a finger in the well of her pussy, he transferred the moisture to her clit and gently rubbed it. He knew his finger was slightly callused, and by her sharp breathy gusts, she was sensitive, so he returned again and again for more lubricant, careful to keep her tiny bud wet while he swirled.

  Her eyelids dropped to half-mast, and a thin sheen of sweat sprouted on her forehead and upper lip. Her teeth bit into her lower lip, and she sucked it inside as her body grew more and more tense. One thigh pressed hard against his torso while the other widened.

  Her skirt inched higher and higher, until it swathed her hips and he was looking down at her sex, his fingers disappearing beneath a scrap of red satin. She was soaked, so was his hand, but he couldn’t stop, not until he’d given her what he could, without betraying his unspoken vow.

  When he heard a tight moan seep from between her lips, he leaned to whisper in her ear, “Let go, now, baby. Come for me. I’ve got you.”

  Her head dropped back, and she arched.

  He held her against him, while he circled faster, pressed a little harder against the hard nub. At last, she came, her eyes rolling up, her mouth opening, her thighs tensing, before finally relaxing while she hung inside his embrace, limp and replete.

  Sergei had never seen anything so beautiful. Her abandonment sent a wash of possessive heat throughout his body. His cock was unbearably tight, his balls hard as stones. But he gathered her up against his chest and held her close until she began to stir.

  Her eyes blinked open, and she stared upward, a frown drawing together her brows as her focus narrowed.

  “You’re welcome,” he drawled.

  Her eyebrows lowered. “You think you did me a favor?”

  “No, I gave you a gift.”

  “It’s not what I wanted.”

  “And yet you’ve drenched my legs.”

  “Huh.” She pushed against his chest, then slid her legs to the side, standing. She wobbled for a second, but batted away the hand he extended to steady her. “That wasn’t what I wanted at all.”

  Maybe it was because he was hard as a post, but hearing her, irritation flooded him. “You’re a virg—”

  Kara pressed a hand over his mouth and bent toward his face. “Don’t repeat that. I know very well you have no interest in fucking a virgin. That you just did this poor little virgin a huge freaking favor.”

  Sergei grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand from his mouth. “I’m protecting you,” he gritted out.

  She bent closer until her face was level with his. “I don’t need your damn protection.” Her chest was billowing around her angry breaths, but her face suddenly fell. “Don’t you want me?”

  That dejected look was more than he could take. He cursed under his breath, and reached for her, bringing her body between his open thighs while his arms encircled her. Again, she perched on a thigh, and he kissed her, hard, while he dragged her hand and cupped it against his straining cock. “Does this feel like I don’t want you?”

  “Sergei…” She frowned. “I don’t want to be something you won’t let yourself have. If you don’t take care of my virginity, I will. It’s a technicality. An excuse.”

  She was right. He felt her words resonate all the way through him. Her inexperience was just another reason for holding himself apart. To keep himself from caring too deeply.

  Her hand squeezed him again, then her fingers slowly trailed his length before falling away. “I won’t beg you.”

  Still holding her hand, he moved up, ringing her wrist. Her hand curved away and she pulled, but he refused to let her go. He couldn’t. “I’ll give you what you want,” he said softly.

  Her eyebrows lowered. “Don’t do me any more favors.”

  Sergei shook his head. “Stop with the attitude.”

  “Then don’t treat me like a child. Tell me what this is really about.”

  He framed her cheek and chin, trying to find the w
ords. “The issue’s not you. Those knife wounds on my back…”

  Her lips parted. “Just tell me.”

  “My first op in Afghanistan, I was part of a protection detail for a family that had been friendly to American forces. There was a girl. Young, like you. Innocent, like you. My job was to keep her and her family safe, but we were attacked on the street as I was bringing her to safety. When I went down, all I could do was watch while the rest of my team moved in. Her people savaged her. Because of me. Because I loved her. Her death was an honor killing. Her own brothers. They earned their own safety from the Taliban by killing her.”

  Kara’s eyes filled and she looked away. “I’m sorry.”

  With a finger under her chin, he forced her face back. “What I feel for you is wrapped up in my own failure. I want to keep you safe.”

  “This isn’t Afghanistan. I don’t have family that will retaliate against me if we make love.”

  “No, you have this Lucio bastard. And he’s every bit as dangerous because he thinks he can take what he wants. He’s been thwarted. And just because this might be only a business deal that fell apart, that doesn’t mean he won’t take out his anger on you.”

  “You’ll keep me safe.”

  Such trust. A pain stabbed his chest, and he closed his eyes. “I’ll try.” When he opened his eyes again, he watched her slender body lean into him. Again, he kissed her, their mouths fusing. He felt as though he was floating on a cloud of desire, her soft fingers fluttering against his cheeks, then thrusting into his hair, tugging him back. He broke the kiss and stared.

  “I want you, Sergei. I want you to be my first. And I don’t want to wait. You say you’ll try to keep me safe, but there are no guarantees. So why not share this with me?”

  Sergei searched her face for any hints of doubt and found none. The wall he’d tried to bolster against his own attraction crumbled. “All right, Kara. But we do this my way.”

  Chapter Seven

  Sergei rose, setting her on her feet, and grabbed up her hand. “Have you seen enough of the garden?”