“No kid should have to go through that.” He eased back from her and looked down into her wet eyes. He bent and softly kissed away the tears. Which only brought more. Nobody had ever been comforting to her. Not even Bart, who knew that she disliked being touched, even if they were friends.

“I never had anybody to run to,” she whispered, leaning her head against him. “Cousin Rogan lived mostly in Australia. Bart was my friend, but much later.” She sighed and laid her cheek against his broad chest. “I’ve never had anyone to talk to, about what happened.”

His arms tightened. She felt his lips in her hair.

“I went to Iraq to save the world,” he whispered. “But combat isn’t like that. It’s bloody and cruel and you lose buddies who die right beside you.” His eyes closed. He’d never talked about it, either, except to his brothers. “It does something to you, inside, to go through an experience like that.”

She pulled back and looked up into his eyes. “You have nightmares, don’t you?” she asked, as if she knew.

He hesitated. Then he nodded. His face was hard and cold and taut with remembered pain.

She reached up a small hand and smoothed back a strand of cool, dark hair that had fallen onto his broad forehead. “I have nightmares, too.”

He smiled tenderly. “Life is hard.”

She smiled back. “‘The night is dark and full of terrors,’” she quoted from her favorite television series.

He chuckled. “So it is. Wolf or lion?” he added.

“Wolf. Definitely wolf. I love Ghost,” she said, referring to the direwolf who was the companion of one of the main characters of the show. She cocked her head. “And you?”

He shrugged. “Bear.”

Her eyes widened. There was only one faction that had a bear as its sigil, and it was headed by a little girl with a brave heart and a bad attitude. “You’re kidding!”

He smiled. “She’s the underdog. She doesn’t even have a hundred fighting men. Besides,” he added with a chuckle, “she’s got more guts than some of the soldiers.”

She beamed. “Yes, she does.”

He framed her face in his big hands and slid them back into her long, soft hair. He sighed. “I loved what we did,” he said after a minute. “But I’m not prepared.”

She flushed. “Excuse me?”

He grinned wickedly. “I’m all out of prophylactics,” he said bluntly, and laughed when she flushed even more. “And you probably wear a metal studded chastity belt.”

“It has spikes, actually,” she chided.

He laughed. “Just as well. I’m terrified of virgins.”

“Are you really?” she asked and seemed curious about the answer.

He drew in a long breath. “How much do you know about your own body?”

She cleared her throat. “I know enough. Health class was very specific.”

“You learned about…barriers?”

She flamed. “Well…”

He bent and brushed his mouth over hers. “That’s what terrifies me,” he concluded. “Just so you know.” He lifted his head, but his eyes were solemn. “I get hot when I touch you. Really hot. I almost lost control, before you pulled away.” His big hands rested on her shoulders, and he looked ages older than she was. “It’s been a while since I’ve indulged my base urges. So we need to cool it.”