Air Bound by Christine Feehan

Author:Christine Feehan [Feehan, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group, USA
Published: 2014-05-26T22:00:00+00:00

12

AIRIANA watched Maxim slam the loaded darts into the small gun before handing it to her. She could feel his anger seething just below the surface, but she knew he would never let it out. Still, she was right. The children had been through so much already, and if he stayed for a few days, even if it was to protect her, they would cling to him rather than transferring their dependence and trust to her.

“I have to do what’s best for the children,” Airiana said, slipping the gun beneath her shirt, into her belt.

“How the hell would you know what’s best for them?” he demanded. “You have no idea, you just think that you do.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Airiana admitted. “I haven’t gone through the things they have, although my mother was murdered as their parents were, but there are others living at the farm who have had nearly the same experiences. They’ll help. I also know an amazing counselor. I’ll do my best to see them through this.”

“You’d make a lifetime commitment to children you barely know?”

Airiana lifted her chin. There was disbelief in his voice. “You don’t have to believe me, Maxim. Only they do. I was willing to give you a lifetime commitment, remember? I believe I can help those children. At the very least I can give them a safe place where people will love and protect them. I may have my issues, but I’m capable of real love and real commitment.”

“Unlike me.”

“I didn’t say that. I didn’t even think it. I’m not about to second-guess your motives. You saved my life and you’ve protected and taken care of me throughout this entire ordeal. You saved those children. You could have taken the easy way out, but you didn’t. Clearly, when you give your word, it means something.”

Airiana allowed herself a brief moment just to drink him in. She was walking out the door in a couple of minutes and putting her life on the line for this man. Didn’t he see that she believed he was worth it? He didn’t know he was—but she did.

She saw beyond the scars and his rough, unsmiling face. He was beautiful in a purely masculine way, a dark, brooding man with a perpetual five-o’clock shadow and shaggy hair she always wanted to tame. Mostly, he was lost. He didn’t realize he was lost, but she saw that he was.

Maxim Prakenskii was so busy protecting everyone around him that he had given up on himself. He clearly felt he had sinned one too many times, and there was no redemption as far as he was concerned. She wanted to gather him into her arms and hold him close, just as she’d wanted to gather those children to her.

“Stop looking at me like that.” He nearly growled the order, his eyes darkening, the heralding of a turbulent storm.

She sent him a small smile. “You can’t stop me from looking at you, Maxim. You can’t control everything around you, especially me. I look at you because I enjoy it.

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