Free Earth Bound by Christine Feehan Page A

ensuring the weapons and ammunition in the loops inside the coat didn’t show. He folded his clothes neatly and set them on the floor beside the bed with a gun under his shirt. Another knife and gun were stashed inside his boots, positioned on the other side of the bed.
    He measured the distance across the bed, certain he could reach either side with his long arms from the center of the mattress. Before stepping into the shower, he took careful stock of the room, the exits and entrances, the visual from outside from every conceivable spot in the room. He observed everything in the room that could be used as a weapon, including the pen and paper she had on top of her bureau.
    Only when he was certain he knew every inch of the room, including where floorboards creaked, did he enter the bathroom. There was an Asian feeling to the bathroom as well. The shower stall was spacious, as was the tub. He liked that he could see anything coming at him and wondered if Lexi had drawn up the layout of the room with that in mind.
    As he allowed the hot water to pour down over him, he faced the door, left slightly open to ensure he would be aware the moment anyone entered the bedroom. His favorite holdout gun, plastic and small, was always inches from his fingers. Three throwing knives were just in reach, laid out on top of the towel.
    He realized the shower was one of the places he always felt vulnerable. He often attacked his target in a bathroom. Most people were busy relaxing there, thinking they had complete privacy. Certainly Lexi would feel vulnerable in a shower, probably whenever she was in the bathroom. He knew immediately why she lost her toothbrushes—she didn’t brush her teeth there. She probably wandered around outside where she could see anything or anyone coming near her home.
    Caine had attacked her in the bathroom, in the shower. He wanted her terrorized, afraid of him coming from any direction. He took her safety from her. He’d abducted her from her home and then went back and murdered her family years later. He sent the message that nowhere was safe and no one could keep her safe.
    â€œGavriil? I’m coming in to lay everything out,” Lexi called, warning him.
    He considered walking out naked, but after his revelations, and he was certain he was right, he shut off the water, managed a cursory drying and wrapped a towel around his hips. He slipped the gun into the small of his back, tucking it into the towel, and left the throwing knives.
    â€œI’m going to warn you,
solnyshko moya
, the front of me isn’t a pretty sight.” He had never given a damn what he looked like. The web of scars was horrendous, and that meant working out to stretch the scar tissue so he could move fast and easy when he needed to. He told himself it still didn’t matter, but he hesitated, just for one moment. No one else would have ever noticed, but he did.
    He kept his features expressionless and breezed into the room, watching her closely as she turned toward him. Her gaze jumped to his chest and she let out a small gasp. His gut tightened. Immediately she came toward him, her face a mask of concern, her eyes soft. The pads of her fingers went to the raised scars just to the right of his heart.
    â€œThe blade nicked your heart. It had to have. How in theworld did you survive this? No one could survive such a wound.”
    He nearly grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand down. Her touch sent streaks of fire racing through his bloodstream. His cock stirred in spite of the rigid control he imposed on himself, and that
never
happened. Never. Yet now it had happened twice.
    She indicated the bed, without seeming to notice he was a man. That didn’t do anything for his ego. He’d been afraid of alarming her, and she hadn’t even glanced down. Not once. He knew because he didn’t take his eyes from her. He’d made up his mind to keep everything between them absolutely platonic, but