hear him come up behind her.
His hands slid around her waist and he tugged her into his chest. Saedra jerked but didn’t bother fighting. He’d win anyway. Her mood soured and her spirit was at an all time low which was saying something. She usually tried to follow a positive thinking mantra.
All the work she’d done, all the planning—the fear of failure, it hit her suddenly and Saedra dropped the stack of blankets. Her head lowered to stare unseeing at the floor.
Garik leaned over her shoulder to catch sight of her face. “Saedra?”
“It was so hard,” she choked out.
The hardest thing she’d ever done. Every day she’d worried her father would discover her plans. Worried someone would find the tunnel she’d dug under the bushes. Worried the hover-cycle wouldn’t be where it was supposed to be after she requested and paid for it sight unseen.
Even now, worry gnawed in her gut about the tickets for the flight. There was still a chance things could go awry with leaving.
“You did well, sesi. Ease yourself.” Garik lifted her completely off the floor, turned her around and cradled her in his arms.
Saedra leaned her face into his chest, unwilling to look at him. Unbidden tears coursed down her face. Garik lowered her on the bed then climbed in behind her as she cried silently. Garik’s arms came about her waist, the heavy weight conveying strength and security.
It was too much and her silent cries became heaving sobs she didn’t bother muffling. All the while Garik murmured soothing words and nuzzled her neck. She focused on the cadence of his voice more than the words. The tears dried first, followed by the little whimpers. When she finished, Saedra lay drained from the emotional storm. She held onto Garik’s forearm and took several deep breaths to calm down.
“Better?” he asked.
She nodded, too embarrassed to speak.
“Sesi means sweetheart,” he added. “Petti coicin is little girl.”
The breath lodge in Saedra’s chest. Sweetheart? It was an endearment. Little girl she wasn’t so sure about. More teasing? “Are you making fun of me?”
She needed to know.
He snorted. “Hardly. I’m impressed by what you’ve done.”
“Did you mean what you said when I rescued you?”
***
Garik frowned at the back of Saedra’s head. Listening to her cries had torn him apart. Unsure what to do, he’d just held her and whispered reassurances. That wasn’t something he was used to doing. Her sudden question caught him off-guard. Turning her carefully so he could see her expression, he asked, “What did I say?”
Her gaze dipped, studiously avoiding his own. “That you would make sure no one hurt me anymore?”
At the needy expression in her brown eyes, his chest clenched and his heart skipped a beat. The vow. She was referencing the bonding vow. The protective urge he’d felt upon waking with her in his arms welled inside him. He tipped her chin up and made sure she read the promise reflected in his gaze. “I meant it.”
In the short time they’d been together, Garik was fairly certain he would kill anyone who looked at her wrong. There was something about Saedra pulling at the core of him that made him want to take care of her. Bonding vow or not, he was drawn to her.
“Thank you. No ones ever wanted to look out for me.”
Garik growled and leaned up on one elbow. He wanted to make sure she understood him. “You’re my mate. I will defend you. Never doubt that.”
Her smile trembled on the edges but it was there. “Alright. I trust you.”
She scoured his soul with that statement. How could she say that so easily? Garik closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. “I am a dangerous man, Saedra.”
She laughed, the sound light and brief. “I know.”
Her agreement caused him to snort. Laughter had removed the pain from her brown eyes and they now glowed with a spark that was becoming familiar to him. The corner of Garik’s mouth curved up. “Of course, you know.”
She had no idea, no possible way of understanding what he did for the Guild. His work, his assignments, involved killing. The contract were planned meticulously, cleanly and without a trace of remorse.
An innocent woman like Saedra could never fully know that and Garik had no intention of going into detail. He’d let her believe she saw him clearly. He never wanted to frighten her with the truth.
Saedra reached up and traced her finger over his top lip. Sensations prickled from his mouth to his jaw. “Do