His smile was slow in coming, but when it did, her heart gave a funny flip, her stomach somersaulted and deep inside, her womb quivered. God, he was gorgeous when he smiled. When he wasn't smiling he was compelling, hot, and intense, but when he smiled, there was never going to be a way she could say no to him.
"You're welcome, Zara." His hand cupped her chin, his thumb sliding over her bare skin. All the while his eyes looked into hers. "There's never going to be a time when I won't be able to see you. Remember that for me, will you?"
She nodded. "Kiss me." She blurted her request out before she could stop herself, before she knew what she was going to ask, but it seemed to be something she was asking of him on a nightly basis now.
He didn't hesitate, but then he never did. Gino was always decisive. He leaned down and took her mouth. He didn't seem to care that her face was swollen and bruised, he looked right past that in just the same way he looked past her intellect that was supposed to be so superior but only added to her isolation.
He didn't seem to mind that she was inexperienced in the kissing department. He took command instantly. She was fairly certain her entire body ignited at his touch. His lips were firm and cool and warmed hers until she was nearly liquid. His mouth was paradise and she let herself get lost there. He kissed like he did everything else--with absolute confidence.
Excitement coursed through her. She tried to follow his lead and then just didn't care, letting him take her over because whenever she gave herself to him, however she did it, she always got more from him. His kisses were no different. He led her from gentle to rough. From tender to devouring her. She wanted to be devoured. It felt like worship and desire. And then it felt like passion and sin. She wanted that as well. She wanted everything he would give her.
He was the one who stopped first. He lifted his head a scant an inch from hers, his dark eyes searching hers. "We're getting out of hand, princess. A little more and I'm going to have you straddling me. You're not ready for that."
"I am." She was certain she was.
His smile was slow in coming again, but when it did, everything in her responded. "No, baby, I wish you were, but when you come to me, it isn't going to be because you're grateful or afraid. You're going to want me for me. That means you have to get to know me. I've told you, I'm not a good man, and you'll have to be able to live with that because once I take you, I'm not letting you go."
His warning should have made her leery. He was echoing the things Bellisia had said to her, but instead, Zara liked him all the more for giving her a warning. She especially liked that if she was with him, he wanted her for all time. She couldn't imagine having Gino for her own. She wasn't gifted in the way Bellisia or Cayenne was. She would never be a soldier, and he was a first-class warrior.
"I can't fight." Again, she just blurted it out without thinking. "I mean I can, but I'm not really any good, not like Bellisia or any of the other women. If I had to defend someone, I could do it, but ..." Now she was just babbling.
His hand swept over her head and down her back, following her thick braid. His touch was exquisitely gentle. "Zara, I don't want a woman to fight by my side. I'm better out there in the dark, alone. I fight alone. It's what I do best. If I had to worry that my woman was somewhere fighting off an army of men, I'd lose my fucking mind. That's the truth. I'm not made the way some of the other men are."
She knew that was what Bellisia had tried to warn her about. Bellisia wouldn't be able to stand it if Ezekiel wanted her stashed somewhere safe while he went out to fight. Zara wasn't Bellisia and she never would be. Whitney had detested her, calling her a coward, but she'd gone out each time he'd asked and stolen the data he needed. Bellisia and Shylah had pointed out to her over and over that she did everything Whitney required her to do, and he still called her a coward. She needed to know if her sisters had told her that out of love, or if it was the truth.
"Am I a coward because I hate pain and violence so much I don't want to fight? I want a real answer, Gino, not a platitude."
"No, of course not, Zara. I realize the world has changed into a place where everyone judges everyone else and holds them up to impossible standards. No one takes into account different personalities or things that happened in one's past. If you need someone to take the brunt of the world for you, there's nothing wrong with that. Some men prefer that trait in a woman."
He wrapped her braid around his fist and stared down at the thick mass. "Sometimes, princess, people are cruel when they don't mean to be. You're not a coward. If you were a coward, you wouldn't have gone out time after time and stole the information Whitney required. You certainly would have told Zhu about the SSD in your head. You would have given up Whitney and even the GhostWalkers. You didn't, in spite of being terrified of pain. He inflicted the worst kind of pain on someone like you. Not just physical, but psychological as well. You didn't break."
She wanted to kiss him again, but before she could act on the impulse, a knock on the door prevented her from saying anything. She reached down and tugged at the blanket she should have been covering up with all along.
Wyatt's grandmother stuck her head into the room. "I brought the poultices for her feet, Gino."
"I'll take them, Nonny." Gino stirred behind her, gently moving her forward so he could get out from behind her.
"And you might put one of your shirts on her. Tomorrow, I'll have the girls go into town and buy her a few thin's. I'm the only one tall enough to give her clothes, and I'm pretty certain she doesn't want my old lady clothes." Nonny chuckled at her own joke.
"I thought her skin would heal faster without anything between it and the air."
Nonny frowned and then nodded slowly. "If she doesn't mind, it would be best."
"I'll keep everyone out."
"You behave yourself, Gino," Nonny cautioned. "That girl is an innocent."
"I'll protect her. Even from myself."
"I believe you." Nonny handed over the poultices, patted Zara on the head and went out, leaving them alone, the way Zara preferred.
Zara couldn't help but think Nonny thought Gino was a good man.
11
"W
here are we going?" Zara asked. She desperately wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, just to get out of the house. The walls were closing in on her. Gino and Wyatt had removed the two capsules, preserving them so they could study the virus Whitney planned to infect her with.
The swelling was gone completely from her face and most of the colors had faded. The bruising from the caning had subsided, and the lacerations from the whip had mostly healed. There were one or two places on her body that Gino wasn't happy with, but even those wounds were closed and healing, although tender.
Over the last week, Gino had taken the utmost care of her. She found herself thinking of him constantly. She hadn't been alone with Bellisia, not once during the last week. She didn't know if Bellisia needed time to think things over and was avoiding her, or if she was training with Ezekiel and the team, but Zara was worried that too much time was slipping by. Whitney wasn't going to give them much longer before he came after her again. He had to be obsessing the way he did when his plans were thwarted.
"I'm going to take you on a picnic," Gino said. "It's hot and humid today. We may even get rain, but that won't really cool things down. I asked Nonny to fix us a picnic lunch. I knew you needed to get out of here and I thought I'd show you the swamp. It's beautiful. You'll appreciate the cranes and other types of birds and wildlife."
The idea of leaving the house and getting out into the swamp was so appealing she nearly leapt out of bed, until he gave her a stern look and she subsided, but she flashed him a huge smile.
"Put your hair up off your neck. I'm going to cover you in mosquito repellent."
She immediately pulled her hair up, put it in a ponytail and then added another tie in order to twist the thick mass into a knot on top of her head. Gino sat on the edge of the bed and began to rub the mosquito repellent into her sh
oulders and the back of her neck.
"We're going to have to address the problem of extracting the information from the SSD, Zara. We need a little help. Trap is unconventional. He doesn't think like a soldier. He would never tell anyone, and he's extremely smart. We could use his brain. Wyatt's a lot like him. Intelligent and a bit of a rogue. I know you haven't spent any time with them, but they would be my choices for help. What do you think?"
Zara chewed on her lower lip, thinking it over. Everyone talked about Trap as if he might be the smartest man on the planet. Wyatt too. It was possible the three men might just find a way to extract the information. "I don't know, Gino. I'd like to talk things over with Bellisia again. I know we didn't do very well the first time, but her opinion matters to me and I'm not so jealous and hurt anymore. I think I have a better understanding of relationships and what she was trying to tell me."
Gino rubbed the repellent over both arms, making certain to get the backs of her hands. "That's a good idea, princess. Let's get on that as soon as possible."
Zara nodded her head, trying not to react to the feel of his hands on her. The more she was with him, the more she found it was impossible to control the way her blood seemed to heat, moving through her veins like thick molasses. She'd never experienced deep, needy hunger that made her edgy the way she felt around him.
A sharp rap on the door had her jerking the sheet up to cover her body. She'd grown used to wearing just a T-shirt in bed and nothing else around Gino, but company was altogether different.
"Come in," Gino called out, but his hand settled around the nape of her neck as Ezekiel and Bellisia came into the room. Ezekiel closed the door, giving them privacy in the busy household.
Zara smiled at her "sister," relieved to see her. "I was just telling Gino I wanted to see you," she said. "I'm so glad you came."
Bellisia leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. "Me too. I've been training and haven't gotten the chance to do anything but peek in on you while you were sleeping."
"Gino told me. He has this thing about me taking naps." She smiled up Gino, her stomach doing a slow somersault when she found him looking down at her.
"It helps you heal faster," he said. He slipped off the bed to give Bellisia more room. Taking a position against the wall alongside Ezekiel, he continued. "Your internal organs were bruised from the beating and caning. They have to heal as well. Sleep helps."
Ezekiel smiled at Zara. "You're looking so much better. How are you feeling?"
"Whatever is in Nonny's poultices is definitely helping. I have to admit taking baths in tea water and flowers feels strange, but it seems to be working," Zara admitted.
Bellisia paced close to the bed, looking her face over and moving the sheet to look at her legs. Zara wanted to pull the sheet over her, suddenly uncomfortable. "I'm much better."
"You still have lacerations," Bellisia pointed out. "You do know, Zara, that Gino isn't the only doctor here. Ezekiel is a doctor. There are a few others. If you want more than one opinion, you could get it without stepping out of this room." She looked around the room with a small frown. "Why aren't the window shades open? It's always so dark in here." She marched over and immediately raised two of the three shades, glaring at Gino. "You're not a prisoner, honey. You need light and fresh air."
Zara blinked at the sudden change in lighting. She'd been the one to insist that Gino keep the shades pulled. The longer she was there at the Fontenot home, the more she worried that Zhu would come, or a sniper would find a way to kill Gino because he was with her.
"We were going on a picnic," she said. "Gino asked Nonny to fix us a lunch. I'm really excited about seeing the swamp."
"I came to ask if you want to go with Zeke and me to see the house we're building," Bellisia said.
Zara caught Ezekiel's frown out of the corner of her eye, and she knew Bellisia well enough to know she wasn't telling the truth. There was concern on her face, in her eyes, and her gaze kept shifting to Gino. Clearly, she was still worried about Zara's relationship with him.
"I'm sorry, hon, but we've made these plans," she said, very carefully, not wanting Bellisia's feelings to be hurt. "Nonny made the lunch ..."
"At Gino's orders," Bellisia burst out, openly glaring at him.
"Babe," Ezekiel said, his voice gentle.
"No. She has to know what's going on. Seriously, Zara, he tells Nonny what you can eat that day. He goes in every single morning and comes up with a menu. It doesn't matter what the rest of us are eating, he decides what you can and can't eat. He decides when you sleep and who can come in and visit you. That's not right."
The accusation tumbled out of her and Zara could feel her very real concern. She knew Bellisia, and right then she was close to tears. Crying was something her "sister" rarely did. She looked to Gino to clear things up, confident that he would.
"I consult with Nonny on the menus," Gino told Bellisia. "She knows local herbs and dishes that would be more conducive to healing the body. Nutrition is more her forte than mine so I follow her advice. I certainly am not the one making up the menu."
"The point is, Gino, you don't consult Zara."
"I think more to the point, I don't consult you," Gino said quietly.
Small blue rings appeared faintly under Bellisia's skin, and Zara sat up straighter, suddenly afraid for Gino. "I don't mind the menu. The food is good and if it makes Nonny and Gino feel better to have me eat a certain way right now, I'm okay with it. Nonny's an exceptional cook and everything tastes wonderful."
Bellisia threw her arms into the air. "You're missing the point. Think about it. Gino is keeping everyone from getting near you and he has to stop. I've talked to Zeke about removing him from helping with your care." She glared at Gino.
He shrugged. "You can try it, Bellisia, but it isn't going to stop me. No one is going to stop me but Zara. She has only to say she would prefer someone else and I'm gone."
Zara's heart jumped. Instantly her breathing turned ragged, so that it felt as if with every breath she took, her lungs burned. She shook her head, her gaze going to Gino's.
"Relax, princess," he drawled. "Didn't I just say I wasn't going anywhere?"
Bellisia's frown deepened. "Don't you see that you're becoming too dependent on him, Zara? This isn't you. You're the kick-ass, independent woman who's going to rock the world. You're not the one having panic attacks because your boyfriend doesn't want you making your own decisions."
"Zeke." Gino's voice was quiet, so quiet it made Zara's heart pound in alarm. "Take your woman out of here before I put her out."
"You try it," Bellisia snapped. "One bite from me and you're a dead man."
"Bellisia." Ezekiel just said her name, a warning note in his voice, and color swept up her neck into her face.
That wasn't good enough for Zara. She forced her body out from under the sheet and turned so her long legs were over the side of the bed. "Don't you dare threaten him. I mean it, Bellisia. You're my best friend. I love you, but you don't get to talk to him like that, and you better never threaten him again. Never. Do you understand me? I'm not without my own ability to kill and if it came to that, I believe in revenge. You know I do. You touch him, you dare inject him with venom, your man is just as dead."
"Someone has to protect you, Zara. You're not thinking straight."
"No one has to protect me. The virus is out of me, and I'm doing quite well. I can think for myself."
Ezekiel put his hand gently on Bellisia's arm. "Come on, baby. We all need a breather. You've been worrying yourself sick over Zara. Obviously, she doesn't feel like a prisoner, and I told you all along, Gino is a good man and will take excellent care of her. Let's go for a swim and then you can sleep for a while."
That made Zara feel like crap. Bellisia would be worried. She loved Zara and Zara wasn't acting the way Bellisia thought she should--or would. That was on her. She'd misled Bellisia and Shylah deliberately. Bellisia didn't have all the facts and Zara didn't want Gino to judge her harsh
ly. Still, it didn't make sense that Bellisia was so against Gino. She watched the two leave the room and then she raised her gaze until she met Gino's. "Why doesn't she like you?"
He shrugged. "She doesn't like Trap much either. We're not the type of man women like, Zara. Trap has Asperger's and can't read social cues. He doesn't give a damn most of the time, but it does upset him when he screws up with one of us or especially Cayenne. Draden has always interpreted for him because he's very good at reading people whether they want to be read or not, and I have that same trait." He shrugged. "Bellisia has an idea for your future. She's fierce about it. She also has very real concerns. She thinks you're my prisoner and I'm going to make you into some kind of sexual submissive."
Zara shivered, wondering what that would be like with Gino. "She regards herself as a feminist and wants me to be one as well."
"Just because you don't want to conquer the world doesn't mean you aren't a feminist. A true feminist wouldn't tell other women what they should or shouldn't do. They would support their decisions. This isn't about Bellisia being a feminist, princess, it's about her worrying herself sick about you. You'll have to find the time to talk to her without me in the room. You can be open and honest, and she'll settle down."