“Get the hell out of here, Briony. You’re such a brat. We’re sleeping.”

“You’ve been sleeping for hours. I want to meet my sister.”

Mari’s heart pounded, but she couldn’t look up, didn’t dare. Her mouth went dry and her stomach rolled.

“Jack! Damn it. I’m naked in here and this is just wrong. Your woman has no sense of propriety.”

“Stop being a baby. I’m just looking at my sister, not you, so don’t flatter yourself.”

Ken laughed and the sound ripped through Mari like a tidal wave, knotting her stomach with something all too close to jealousy. She recognized the emotion although she’d never experienced it before. Ken didn’t laugh that often, but she could hear the easy affection in his voice. He genuinely cared for Briony, and Ken didn’t care for that many people. It had never occurred to Mari that she might be jealous of another woman—especially when that woman was her pregnant sister.

Ashamed, she took a deep breath to calm herself. Life was happening too fast for her. She had wanted to see Briony her entire life, yet now, faced with the reality, she was frightened. Mari forced herself to look up, to smile, to pretend her heart wasn’t thudding in her chest and that one wrong word, one look of disappointment wouldn’t crush her—destroy her.

Briony was short, with platinum and gold hair. She wore it a little longer than Mari, a little softer style. It framed her face and called attention to her large, dark eyes. She had an obviously rounded tummy, but the rest of her remained slim. Mari stared at her sister, astonished at how much they looked alike, yet how different at the same time. Briony was everything she was not. Soft. Feminine. It really showed. Even her body was subtly different, and it had nothing to do with the pregnancy. She had softer curves, where Mari’s muscles were small, but defined.

Briony seemed to be having trouble looking at her, keeping her concentration on Ken. “You’re so lazy. Get out of bed, Ken. I waited and waited.”

He threw a pillow at Briony. “You didn’t wait long enough. And look at you! Your tummy is bigger than a beach ball.”

Briony threw the pillow back at him. “That’s not what a pregnant woman wants to hear. Get up and bring my sister out to me now!” Her gaze shifted to Mari, tears swimming in her eyes. She choked back a sob and turned and ran from the room.

Ken shifted Mari so she was facing him, her breasts pressed tightly against his chest, his thigh flung carelessly over hers, pinning her beneath him. “You’re trembling, sweetheart. You didn’t say a word to her and she said nothing to you. Talk to me.”

She shook her head. “She’s perfect. You know she is. She’s so feminine.”

Ken bit back his first reaction and bent his head to her breasts. His teeth tugged and teased, tongue sliding over her creamy flesh. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, Mari. Surely you can’t think she won’t like you?”

She shivered and cradled his head to her. He made her feel beautiful and wanted. Staying in bed with him seemed her only recourse. “I’ve never been so scared of meeting anyone in my life.”

His mouth burrowed between her breasts, blazed a trail of fire up her throat and chin to the corner of her lips. “You’ll do fine. Take a quick shower and we’ll go together. I’ll be right there with you.”

Her body was deliciously sore. She stretched languidly, sliding against him, skin to skin, loving the feel of him against her. He gave her the courage she needed to take ahold of life, and this was her most important day. Briony had been so important to her. Mari had made her into a fantasy. Everything she had ever wanted to be—everything she wanted to have, to do—Mari had imagined it all for Briony. Mari had nothing but a stark, cold, much disciplined life, and she wanted the world for Briony.

Her arms slipped around Ken and she held him to her ferociously. She felt almost desperate, wanting to fit into his world but knowing she didn’t. Briony fit. Seeing her just made that clearer. Mari was a soldier. It was her way of life. Ken didn’t see her as a soldier; he saw her as soft and gentle, and the reality was so very far from that image.

Ultimately, Briony was a stranger to her. If Briony couldn’t accept her with all of her shortcomings, it was going to hurt, but it would be okay. Her sisters were the women who had been forged in fire, just as she had been. They knew discipline and duty and what it was like to be held prisoner, vulnerable and helpless. They knew her. They understood her, and they loved her. They were willing to risk everything with her. She belonged with them.

Choking on tears, heart aching, she kissed Ken, nibbled at his lips and licked the scar that split his mouth into two soft segments. She’d fallen in love with that scar. “Come with me to the shower.”

Ken made love to her, taking his time, with the water spraying down on them, doing his best to be as gentle as he could as he held her in his arms. It didn’t seem possible to have her with him in his home, that life could really be so good. In the end, no matter how he tried, the only way for him to be stimulated enough to gain relief was rough penetration. He heard the sound of their flesh meeting, like the slap of a hand, his body pounding into hers when she was already sore from a long night of his demands.

His fingers dug into her hips, taking her to the floor where there was no give, where the penetration was deep and her tight sheath gripped him the way he needed. The rougher he was, the more swollen and tight she became and the more pleasure he felt. He looked down at her, the water pouring over them, his fingerprints standing out on her soft skin, and he hated his body, hated who he was.

She wanted him, her body responded to everything he gave her, pushing her ability to accept pleasure and pain mingled together in order to accommodate his lusts, but how could she ever love him when he was so depraved and driven? When a monster lurked inside of him, one she’d caught glimpses of. Mari was not a stupid woman, and she had lived her entire lifetime with violence. She knew he was capable of making her life hell, and in spite of loving her with his body—worshiping her—he could feel her moving away from him. He turned up toward the spray, letting it pour over his face and wash away the burn of tears.

Mari said nothing as he helped her from the floor, but he noticed she looked as if she had been crying too. She pressed a kiss to his chest and stepped out of the shower to dry off. Ken stayed for a longer time, wishing the water could make him clean again. He watched it run into the drain and wished the small stream could take his sins with it.

Briony waited in the kitchen, pacing restlessly in front of Jack. He swung around as Mari and Ken entered, frowning a little in reprimand.

Ken flicked his brother a quick warning glance. So is Mari. She’s terrified. Don’t say anything to upset her.

Jack flashed him a small grin. Papa bear is getting all growly over his little cub. All the same he positioned his body so he could protect Briony should there be need.

Ken kept his hand on the nape of Mari’s neck, wanting to give her support. He could feel the tremors running through her slender body. The woman had enough courage for ten people, but facing her twin for the first time in years was traumatic.

“Briony,” Ken said softly. “Jack and I promised you we’d bring your sister to you and we have. This is Marigold—Mari.”

Briony’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry. I can’t stop crying. I’m sure it’s the pregnancy. I’m so happy you’ve come at last.”

Mari simply stared at her, drank her in, could barely believe they were in the same room. “Look at you. You look so happy.”

“I am happy.” Briony wiped at the flowing tears. “Whitney did something to my memory, and I couldn’t think about my past without feeling pain. I couldn’t remember anything, but as soon as I did, I tried to find you.” She took two steps closer but stopped again, afraid of rejection.

Mari took a step toward her. “Whitney did that to anyone leaving the compound. He liked to tell me he knew where you were, and what he could do to you if I didn’t cooperate.”

Briony ducked her head. “I’m sorry. It must have been terrible for you.”

“No,” Mari said quickly. “It wasn’t. Not really.” She took another step toward her sister. “I didn’t know any other way of life, and as a child, it was rather exciting. I missed you every single day.”

A fresh flood of tears turned Briony’s face bright red. Jack started across the room, but Mari got there first. She gathered her sister into her arms and held her. Jack stilled, halfway to his wife, his throat working convulsively. If there was one thing he couldn’t take, it was Briony’s tears.

Ken handed him a cup of coffee, and they sat at the kitchen table while their women went off together, arms around each other, into the great room.

Jack scrubbed his hand over his face. “Briony’s killing me with her tears. I’m hoping Mari can get her to stop.”

Ken flashed him a small grin. “You’re looking a little pale, bro. What are you going to do when she goes into labor?”

“I’m contemplating shooting myself.” He tapped the table restlessly. “What about you? How are things going?”

The grin faded, and for a moment Jack glimpsed pain sliding into the shadows in Ken’s eyes. “She isn’t going to stay.”

“You sure?”

“Why would she? She’s got everything going for her. I’m not exactly normal. And unlike Briony, she isn’t going to be accepting of me telling her what to do all time.”

Jack nearly snorted coffee through his nose. “Is that what you think? Briony pretty much tells me how it’s going to be, except maybe in the bedroom, and even then, she likes what I do to her or she wouldn’t be doing it. Don’t kid yourself, bro, my woman makes up the rules and yours will too.”

“Maybe.” Ken couldn’t very well tell his brother just what it took to feel with his skin sliced to pieces—although maybe Jack already had guessed. More than once he’d repaired damage when Ken had been unable to feel the blade of a saw slicing through his hand until it was too late. He didn’t want to go there and see pity in Jack’s eyes. “You hear anything about the senator?”

“He’s being guarded at an undisclosed location. No one is saying how badly he’s hurt. Nothing on the news. Not a single thing about him being shot and nothing in the media about Whitney’s laboratory. The general sent in a team, but the place is abandoned and all data appears to be destroyed. Of course they’ll take weeks to comb through everything. Whitney’s moved on.” Jack frowned. “Logan radioed last night to warn us that Sean was last seen getting off a plane in Montana. He’s heading here. You know he is.”

Ken nodded. “I was certain he’d follow her, but I didn’t think he’d come so quickly. Take the women and get out of here, Jack. I’ll deal with him.”

Jack grunted. “Like that’s going to happen. I’ve already called Logan. He’ll be here in an hour, and he’ll protect the women. I’m going to be backing you up just the way we always do it.”

“Sean isn’t going to stop until he has her or he’s dead. Whatever Whitney does to these men makes them believe they’re entitled to the women. They don’t care whether the woman wants them or not; she’s a possession.”

“We’ll get him.” Jack’s fingers drummed against the tabletop. “You realize Whitney isn’t alone in this? Senator Freeman’s father is involved, and Mari dropped the name of a banker. She’s seen at least two of the others, and that means the other women probably have as well.”

“Which increases the risk to them. Whitney and the others are going to want them back for many reasons. I should have realized when Mari didn’t really talk about them or let me see what they looked like when she was thinking about them, that they planned to strike out on their own.”

“You can’t really blame them for not trusting anyone,” Jack said.

“No, but I’m a little upset with Mari. If she’d warned me, I could have tried to persuade them that there was help out there for them.” He kept his face averted from his brother. Mari was thinking of leaving him. She was going to join her sisters and follow through with their original plan. He was desperate to cage her—but how?

“She trusted you with her life, just not with the other women’s.”

“She did at that,” Ken agreed, and stared out the window as he sipped at his coffee.

“I spotted Sean, or what I’m fairly sure was him,” he said. “He ducked into the trees and he’s too careful to make the same mistake twice. I didn’t have a clear identification so I couldn’t take him out.”

“How close is he?”

“Close, Ken. He’s moving fast. Tell me what you want and I’ll get it done.”

“You’re going to stay and protect Mari and Briony. Jack’s going to climb the mountain and let Sean get a real good look at him. Hopefully he’ll think it’s me. I’ll try to look like Mari and go for a little walk, lead him away from the house to the spring that runs along the bluff. I’m guessing he’ll make his try for Mari. If not, he’ll go after Jack. Either way, Jack will be waiting or I will.”

“And I babysit.”

“You’ve got the most important job, Logan,” Jack said, coming up behind them. “Anything happens to Briony and I’m no good to anyone anymore.”

“I feel the same way about Mari,” Ken added. “If he gets by us, you have to kill him. No matter what, he has to die.”

Logan nodded and glanced at the two women as they entered the room.

“Why the grim faces?” Briony asked.

Jack took her hand and tugged until her smaller body was up against his. “You’re going to have go down into the tunnel, Bri. We have a nasty visitor and we can’t take any chances. Get your emergency pack and go with Mari and Logan.”

Mari frowned and shook her head. “It’s Sean, isn’t it? He’s found us.”

“That’s right, honey, and you’ve got to get moving,” Ken said. “Go with your sister and Logan. We’ll take care of this.”

“What? You think I’m going to go hide while you and your brother put your lives on the line for me? Think again,” Mari snapped, her dark eyes flashing. She looked furious. “Sean is my responsibility, not yours.”

“Like hell. Get in the damned tunnel, Mari, where I don’t have to worry about you while I take care of this bastard.”

“I’m going to stay with you.”

Strobes went off in the house. A soft alarm buzzed. Jack and Ken sent Logan a quick, hard look. “An hour?” Jack said.

“I don’t have time for this,” Ken snapped, his voice icy cold. “You’ll do what I say. This is about safety, and when it comes to safety, you get in line, no arguments.”

“No one controls me. No one. Whitney couldn’t control me and I’ll be damned if you do. I’m not hiding while you take the risks.”

Ken stepped closer to her, his eyes glacier-cold. “You’ll do exactly what I say when I say it, Mari. I’m not fucking around here. I’m not about to let you get shot so that you can prove a point. This isn’t about freedom or whatever else you think it is. Sean wants you any way he can have you. He’s got to go through me to get to you. If I fail, and Jack fails and Logan fails, you’re welcome to blow him away.”

Mari’s face paled and she took a step back.

“Don’t you dare look at me like you’re afraid I’ll hit you!” Ken caught her arm and jerked her toward him.

Mari’s hands came up in a defensive fighting position. “Get off of me.”

“That was really sensitive of you,” Jack declared. “Sheesh, Ken, can you be any dumber?”

Ken ignored his brother and pulled Mari tight against his body. “Last night I was so deep inside you we were sharing the same skin. And today you’re going to look at me like I’m some kind of fucking monster.” He looked down at his fingers biting deep into her arm, abruptly let go, and looked to his brother for help.

Jack took great care not to glance at Briony. Baby, you’re the brains of the outfit. Do something fast.

Without hesitation, Briony made a small sound of distress. Instantly everyone looked at her. She wrapped her arms protectively around her large stomach. “Jack. I’m so afraid. Last time . . .” She trailed off.

Instinctively Mari went to her. “Sean isn’t going to get close to you. There’s no way that will happen.”

“They came last time, Mari, with helicopters, and we barely escaped. I can’t climb the cliff now. I can’t run. The doctor put me on bed rest because I’ve had a few contractions. I can’t fight this time.”

“Mari’s a damn good soldier, Briony,” Ken said. “She’s a hell of a shot and I’ve seen her fight. She isn’t about to allow anyone to get near you.”

Mari shot him a quelling look, but smiled with reassurance at her sister. “I won’t let anything happen to you or the babies. I promise. Why don’t you lead the way to the tunnel?”

“Mari . . .” Ken had no idea what he was going to say, but he didn’t want to leave it like this. She was wavering about her decision to stay with him, and ever since he’d brought her into the house she’d been different.

“Go. Get it done. I need another gun and a couple of clips of ammo, just to be on the safe side.”

“I can show you where everything is,” Briony said, slipping her hand into Mari’s.

Ken shook his head and followed Jack out of the house, checking his rifle and guns automatically as they cached weapons throughout the yard.

“Keep your mind on what’s going on here,” Jack said. “Otherwise you’re a dead man. She’s not going anywhere.”

“How would you know?”

“I see the way she looks at you. Any fool can see.”

“She isn’t like Briony, Jack. No matter how you cut it, in the bedroom or out of it, I’m going to be rough on her. Sooner or later she’s going to hightail it out of here fast. I don’t know what the hell I’ll do then.” And he didn’t. He couldn’t think about her leaving him because he knew she was contemplating just that. His mind went numb—blank.

“Ken.” Jack put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Sean is a trained killer. This isn’t going to be easy. You have to keep your mind on what you’re doing. Why don’t you let me switch places with you? He won’t know the difference.”

Ken shook his head. “I’ll be fine. This is my war, Jack. You just watch yourself up there. If he sees you climbing and thinks you’re me, he could very well go after you or try to take you out with a nice, well-placed shot.”

Jack shrugged. “Then you’d better be in position covering me.”

Ken nodded and went into the shop, emerging a few minutes later with a blond wig on his head. He hunched, trying to make himself smaller, staying to the thicker foliage so anyone watching would only catch glimpses of him. Sean needed to see Jack, to believe it was Ken climbing the rock face. It would further the illusion that Mari was hiking in the woods by herself. Ken took up a position, sitting on a boulder near the spring, lacy fern fronds covering most of his body as he waited for Sean to spot him. All the while his gaze searched the ridges to make certain the enemy wasn’t lying in wait to get a shot off at Jack.

Minutes passed. Fifteen. He could see Jack moving up the sheer face of the rock to his favorite lookout spot. To an outsider he appeared to be engaging in a little recreational rock climbing. Ken knew that once Jack was at the top, he would slide into the shadow of the cliff, right into a neat little depression where no one could spot him, and he would have a bird’s-eye view of the surrounding region.

Twenty minutes. Ken bent, picked up a few small pebbles, and idly tossed them into the spring. The back of his neck prickled. He felt an itch between his shoulder blades. There was the whisper of leaves brushing against clothing. It would all be on instinct now, and Ken had survival instincts honed from his childhood, when his father entered the house drunk, intent on inflicting as much pain and damage as he could on his sons. He knew when he was in danger. He was being stalked.

Ken bent down again as though picking up more pebbles. He stayed low, sweeping the area with a casual glance around. He made a great show of selecting flat stones for throwing. A twig snapped off to his left on the narrow deer trail that crisscrossed the hills. The deer had a favorite spot to lie in the shade near the spring. Ken glanced toward the area where the grasses were perpetually trampled and saw part of a pant leg. He palmed the knife in his boot as he straightened, taking care to stay in the middle of the overgrown ferns.

“Hello Mari,” Sean greeted. “If you stay very, very quiet, I might let everyone but your lover live. If you give me trouble, the first person I kill is your whoring sister.”

Ken turned slowly, concealing the knife along his wrist. “Watch your mouth when you talk about my sister-in-law.”

“You!” Sean scowled, anger flitting across his face; then his mouth pulled tight in a snarling grin. “Just the bastard I wanted to meet.”

“You’re not very smart, are you?” Ken asked, taking a step to his right to see if Sean would follow. “Did you think I wouldn’t protect her?”

Sean circled Ken, eyes restlessly searching the area around them, measuring the distance separating them. “I saw you on the mountain, climbing,” he said conversationally. “How the hell could you be up here?”

“My brother, Jack,” Ken replied without emotion. All rage had disappeared, and he felt the inevitable ice flowing in his veins, slowing down time, tunneling so that all he saw was a man with targets painted on his body.

“You can’t have her. I know you took her from me.”

“She was never yours. She’s her own person, Sean. You can’t treat her like a possession. She has her own mind and her own will.” Even as Ken said the words aloud, his heart sank. He was as bad as Sean, trying to hold her to him when he knew she needed to fly free. He couldn’t change his nature any more than Sean could undo whatever he had allowed Whitney to do to him.

Sean palmed his knife. “It’s going to be a pleasure to kill you.”

“Do you really think it’s going to be that easy? You sold out, asshole, and you didn’t even do it gracefully. You must have loved her once, loved her enough to decide you could just take her—own her.”

“Like you? I saw what you did to her.”

Ken backed away from the spring, luring Sean toward open ground where Jack could get a clear shot at him. “You loved her so much you let those bastards strip her naked and photograph her. You let the doctor stick his fingers inside her, touch her when you knew how much she hated it. You don’t deserve her.”

Sean tossed the knife back and forth between his hands, all the while circling, forcing Ken to continue to give ground. His smile never wavered, a small, evil grin, his gaze hard as he compelled Ken to back a few more feet. Ken was aware that he was close to the crumbling edge of the bluff. He shifted on the balls of his feet—waiting.

Sean feigned an attack. Ken didn’t respond. The smirk faded just a little. “She was always meant for me. Whitney promised her to me.”

“In return for betrayal? Did you report the women’s conversations? Their plans for escape? You were the one who told him Mari was going to try to talk to the senator about Whitney’s disgusting baby factory. He was really angry over that one, wasn’t he? He gave you the heavier dose of Zenith, and you injected it in her like the good little toad you are.”

Sean hissed a breath out, feigning another attack, moving forward with incredible speed and striking with a flowing roundhouse punch. Ken just managed to jerk his head out of the way and pull in his belly enough to avoid the slice of the knife.

“I had no idea it would kill her. He said if she got hurt it would heal her. I wouldn’t ever let him harm Mari.”

“No, you’d just let a perverted doctor touch her and take pictures to plaster all over his wall so he could jack off at night.” Ken glided forward, a blurring figure, his wrist flicking several times, as he moved on past Sean. He was now only a few feet from the edge of the bluff. “You’d just beat her bloody and rape her. You sick, twisted fuck.”

Sean stared down at the blood dripping from his arm, belly, and chest. Thin lines stretched across his skin. He swore and lunged again, this time, blade up, going for the softer parts of the body. At the last second Ken pivoted, allowing Sean’s forward momentum to carry him past, the wrist flicking again. This time Sean’s left cheek, neck, hip, and thigh sported long wicked-looking cuts.

Sean screamed, fury burning in his eyes. He danced in, a big man, light on his feet, snapping a quick thrust and following it with a hard forward snap kick to Ken’s thigh. The second kick took Ken in exactly the same spot, deadening his leg. Before Sean could retract the leg, Ken drove the point of his knife deep into the man’s calf, twisted, and jumped back, precariously near the edge of the cliff.

It was a particularly brutal injury. Blood sprayed in wide arcs, and Sean yelled obscenities, desperation creeping into his eyes. “You fucking freak. You really think Mari could want a man like you? Maybe if you wear a mask to cover the horror of your face.” He spat at Ken, reached down as if to pull the knife from his calf, but snapped upright, throwing his own knife at Ken’s chest.

Ken moved with blurring speed, tucking his shoulder and rolling to the side to avoid the weapon. It burned across his right bicep, shaving skin. Sean followed the knife, rushing Ken, certain his heavier body would send Ken over the edge. Ken gripped Sean with two hands, one at his throat, the other on his upper arm, superhuman strength, a vise steadily closing, crushing. Sheer terror swept through Sean. He had been counting on his own enhanced strength and his hatred of this man, but he never expected the enormous strength in Ken’s body.

Sean fought like a wild animal, desperately attempting to knock the legs out from under Ken, twice more finding the spot on the thigh he’d kicked. Ken seemed inhuman, a monster! Nothing affected him, that grip relentlessly tightening. Choking, coughing, Sean flung himself backward with all his weight, his feet scraping for a purchase as the earth crumbled and gave way beneath him.

The weight of Sean’s body suddenly was a deadweight on the end of Ken’s arm. His grip on Sean’s throat was the only thing preventing the man from falling. They stared at each other, Ken on his knees, trying to find a way to dig his toes into the soft dirt for a purchase, to prevent himself from going over the edge with his enemy. Sean gripped Ken’s arm, determined that if he went crashing to the rocks below, he would take Ken with him. Blood made his grip slippery, but desperation gave him added strength. He dug his fingers into Ken’s skin. The edge crumbled more, sent dirt skittering down the cliff face. Ken opened his hand to allow Sean to fall, but the man clamped on his wrist with both hands.

“I go, you go,” he snarled. “Pull me up, damn you.”

“Not in this lifetime, you son of bitch. You’re out of her life forever.”

“So are you then.” Sean’s teeth clenched, his grip tightening like a vise.

The edge was giving way, more dirt and rock tumbling down, Ken sliding with the weight of Sean’s body pulling him. He had no leverage to fight, nothing to hang onto, and the earth around him was shifting and sliding.

Don’t move. Jack’s voice was utterly calm.

Hell. Ken swore at his brother, trying to stay absolutely still. He was moving, sliding down the cliff while Sean hung on like a terrier.

A hole blossomed suddenly in the middle of Sean’s forehead, and then Ken heard the crack of the shot. The bullet had passed close to the top of his head, shaving off a few hairs as it whistled past. Sean’s grip loosened abruptly, his fingers sliding away as the body fell to the rocks below.

Ken threw his body backward, rolled over, and stared up at the blue sky, his arm feeling as though it had been torn out of its socket. He was drenched in perspiration, and his leg, where Sean had landed several kicks, felt as if a sledgehammer had been taken to it. He dragged air into his lungs and waited there, knowing Jack would come.

Clouds spun across the sky, casting shadows over the ground. Ken closed his eyes and felt exhaustion roll over him. He was sick inside, his body and mind fatigued. His scars throbbed painfully, too tight for his skin, reminding him that Sean was right. He could no longer hide what he was from the world. Mari knew. Mari saw him for what he was. He couldn’t hide behind a handsome face anymore.

And she would always have the contrast staring at her every morning if she did stay. How could she look at Jack and not be ashamed to be with Ken? Even so, it didn’t matter. He was as pathetic as Sean. He wanted her to stay. To love him. He needed her, when he’d never allowed himself to need anything or anyone. Ken reached out to brush his mind against hers, needing the touch almost more than he needed the air he was fighting for.

I know. Jack sent word to Briony. There was a small hesitation. You know I can’t stay. You know I can’t.

He had known, but he couldn’t accept it. His heart nearly stopped. Don’t. Don’t do this. I’m coming to you now, baby.

I don’t want you to. And then there was only a black void. Emptiness. No soft intimate brush, no echo of laughter or companionship. Simply emptiness. She was gone, shutting him out of her life. No more happiness. No more feeling alive. It was all gone.

His gut clenched, and he rolled to his knees, sick with the idea of losing her. He retched over and over, knowing absolutely that she left. He couldn’t blame her. It was the only smart thing to do, and Mari was smart. He smashed his fist into the ground. Once. Twice.

“Ken.” Jack was there, kneeling beside him. “I thought I’d lost you.”

He looked up at Jack, not really seeing him. Ken realized he was lost—he’d been lost for a long time. Mari had brought him back to life. “She’s gone.” His gaze jumped to Jack’s face; he saw a hint of guilt creep into his eyes and fade. “You knew?”

Jack sat back on his heels, his gaze watchful, wary. “Briony is crying. She told me Mari hugged her and said she couldn’t stay—that she belonged with the other women.”

“And you didn’t tell Logan to stop her?”

“Mari is a trained soldier. I didn’t want to risk Logan or Briony getting hurt. You can’t keep Mari tied up for the rest of her life; you know you can’t.”

“You son of a bitch.”

“Ken. Be reasonable.”

He didn’t feel reasonable. He felt like his world was crumbling around him. His mind felt fractured, his head roaring, thunder crashing in his ears. “How long ago?”

“Take it easy, Ken,” Jack said to soothe him.

“Damn it.” Ken’s fist slammed into the dirt, although he wanted to smash it into his brother’s face. “How long ago?”

“She left as soon as she knew Sean was dead.”

Ken surged to his feet, a sudden cold blast spreading through his body. The knots in his belly tightened to the point of pain. His mouth went dry, the air in his lungs rushing out, to leave him gasping. He had time. He had to have time to stop her.

He shoved past Jack and began to trot down the mountain. He didn’t dare run full-out; the trail was far too treacherous and his leg was on fire. His steady, ground-eating trot would get him there quickly. He tried to keep his mind a merciful blank, but her image insisted on crowding in. Her smile, her dark chocolate eyes, the way she tilted her chin. He choked back a sob, felt his heart exploding, tearing at his chest.

The mountain, the forest, his world, his sanctuary, was a hostile, unyielding place. He couldn’t see its beauty, didn’t want its beauty.

Nothing—no one—could take her from him. She was life. She was happiness. She was his only reason to keep going. He needed her desperately. Her sisters couldn’t have her. They didn’t need her the way he did. He had been so alone, so empty. Each day, he had worked, breathed, lived as an automation, and then she had come into his life and everything in him had come alive.

They couldn’t take her from him. The universe couldn’t be that cruel. He wanted to scream his denial, but he needed to save his strength. He ran through the trees, leapt over rocks, foliage tearing at his skin. His damaged leg throbbed and burned right along with his lungs, but the image of her rising up to taunt him kept him running. Why had he left her? Why had he allowed them to be separated when she was so uncertain about their future? He had known she was wavering—feeling uncomfortable and unsure of herself in a foreign environment. He shouldn’t have been so arrogant and bossy. He could have asked—not ordered—her to go into the tunnels.

He wouldn’t let anyone take her from him. She could understand his turbulent nature, his wild cravings, and he understood her need for freedom. He recognized strength in her, an iron will, the same as it was in him. He recognized her loyalty; it ran deep and pure, the same as it was in him. They fit together, two halves of the same whole. They belonged.

He burst from the forest and half ran, half slid down the trail into the yard, his chest heaving with exertion, his eyes a little wild. He ran across the uneven terrain. Dusk was falling. The house was dark, forbidding, silent. There were no lights on in the interior.

He flung open the kitchen door, his heart pounding, a raw gaping wound growing in his gut. She was gone. He knew it with such certainty he didn’t need to tear through the house, running insanely from room to room, screaming her name hoarsely, but he did it anyway.

“Mari! Damn you, Mari, come back to me.”

He heard his own scream of anguish, thought it should splinter the windows, but there was only silence.

Back in the kitchen he caught up the keys to the truck with a vague idea of going after her, but tears were blinding his vision. He stared, unseeing, at the tabletop, defeated, his broad shoulders slumped, his torn, dirt-streaked clothing clinging to his sweat-stained body.

It had to be her choice or he was just as bad as Sean and Whitney and his father. He refused to let his father’s legacy consume him. He wasn’t that man, selfish and unable to see that a woman wasn’t a possession. Mari had to choose him, want to be with him. She had to accept the flaws in him just as he would have had to accept the fact that she wasn’t Briony, with her much more submissive personality.

Love was a choice, and if Mari felt the need to be with her sisters, if the pull there was stronger than her feelings for him, he couldn’t—and wouldn’t—force her. He pressed the heel of his hand between his eyes and made no effort to stop the flow of tears because he loved her enough to let her go.

He could hear the ticking of the clock. The passage of time. He couldn’t stop the sobs tearing his chest apart, the tears that had never come for his lost face and his destroyed manhood. He could hardly bear the pain this time. He had borne so much stoically, but losing Mari was losing life and hope all over again, and his throat burned raw with choking sorrow.

“Ken?” A soft inquiry, a beautiful voice.

He stiffened, not believing, not daring to believe. He passed a hand over his face, choked down the tight lump in his throat, and turned very slowly.

Mari was standing in the doorway anxious and very disheveled. Sweat beaded on her skin; leaves and twigs were caught in her hair. There were scratches on her arms and a rip in her shirt. She was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

“I thought you were gone.” His voice was strangled.

“I ran halfway down the road and then I couldn’t run anymore. I just stopped and stood there crying. I didn’t want to go any further. I don’t care if I should be with my sisters. I love you. I know I do. I can’t leave. I have no idea how to be anything you want me to be, but I’ll try.”

He took a step toward her, gray eyes moving over her hungrily. “You’ve never said you love me before.”

She tilted her head to look up at him. “You look awful, Ken. Did you get hurt?”

He waved the subject aside, gathering her into his arms. “I don’t want you to be anything but what you are, Mari.”

“Well, that’s a good thing because I was giving you a load of crap so you’d want me to stay.” She pressed little kisses along his throat, over his rough jaw.

The adrenaline surge was gone, leaving him feeling shaky and sick. His body roared at him, calling him all kinds of names for the abuse. He didn’t care. Nothing mattered but that she was in his arms and he could stroke her body, pull her closer, fit her hips to his. And that he wanted to smile again. She made him smile again. “I knew that. You’re always going to be a handful.”

“So true.” Mari linked her hands around his neck, her body moving enticingly against his. “I’m glad you realize that.”

His mouth slanted over hers, forcing her lips apart to feed hungrily.

“What about Sean?” she murmured when he lifted his head.

“He’s dead.” He said it tersely. “Let that be the end of it.”

She nodded. “Sit down. Let me look at you.” Already her hands were sliding over his body, searching for damage. She touched his face with gentle fingers. “I was afraid for you, Ken, and I needed to be with you, not stuck down in a tunnel somewhere.”

“I’m sorry, baby.” He brought her hands to his mouth. “I know what you’re like, and I should have tried harder to see your point of view. I swear I want to see your point of view, but the thought of your life at risk . . .”

“Is how I feel when you risk yours,” she said. “You have to accept what I really am, Ken. I see you with your need to keep me close, and to protect me. I love that in you. I can even accept the fact that you’re going to be an idiot every time a man looks at me, but you have to accept me for who I am. I was raised practically since birth as a soldier. That’s who I am and you’re not going to change that. I’m not going to change that. You’re going to have to take me on as a partner. Eventually, if you do, your brother will. All three of us can protect Briony and any children our two families have.”

“What if I can’t get there, Mari? What if I don’t have that kind of courage?”

“You do,” she assured him, “or I would have kept running down that mountain. Come on.” She tugged at his hand. “You need a shower. Why don’t you let Jack take care of all the details, and let me take care of you?”

“Say it again.”

“What?” Firmly she closed their door, and began to peel the ragged shirt from his powerful shoulders.

He caught her in a hard, bruising grip, gave her a little shake. “Stop teasing me. I’ve waited a long time.”

“We could always compromise,” she offered sweetly. “You give me what I want, and I’ll give you what you want.”

He lifted her into his arms. “You’re going to say it a hundred times before we’re done here,” he warned.

And she did.