Page 80 of Impenitent Claim

The Russian—my spectre of darkness—drove into me with a determined savagery. He stole the very breath from my lungs,cutting off the ability to laugh. Pleasure shot through me, building into something bigger.

“What will you do with my name if I give it to you?” he growled.

“Use it.”Own it.

He bent down, pressing his cheek against mine. A deep rumble vibrated through his frame. I felt every rush of that sound.

“It’s Ilya Pavlovn,” he said, the timbre of his voice making me shiver with the weight of the moment.

Such a simple name, but utterly beautiful. It fit him. Soft like the dark, hard like the man he was. But there was more to it than that. He was trusting me with a secret, letting me into the shadows to reveal who and what he was. We both knew I could destroy him with that information.

Instead, I pulled him closer.

His lips pressed against my pulse, tasting the fire in my veins. He pounded into me. Faster. Harder. Impossibly deep. “Who do you belong to?”

“To you, Ilya Pavlovn. Only you,” I mewled, unable to draw a proper breath.

The pleasure was too much. The sensation of a balloon stretching to its fullest built inside me.

“That’s right, siren, you’re mine.” Ilya’s fingers tangled in my hair, tipping my head to the side. His tongue ran over my pulse. “Now let me hear you scream.”

The pressure exploded in a kaleidoscope of colors. It was like fireworks blasted in my peripheral, my vision distorting into reality and emotion. The wave of pleasure threatened to pull me under.

Somewhere in the distance, a feral beast roared. The sound was far more terrifying than any spooky prop in this haunted ship. I opened myself to the sound, letting it wash over me. Consume me.

When reality started to conquer the bliss that was feeling, I blinked hard, trying to clear the remaining sparkles from my vision. Strands of hair were plastered to my face. Our hard breathing was the only sound in the shell of metal where we hid.

“It’s nice to officially meet you, Mr.Pavlovn.” I rolled the name over my tongue, testing and tasting it.

His nostrils flared as he blew a hard breath out. “You should go back to your friends, Izzy. Make them leave this cheap attraction.”

I sighed. I could feel his walls closing and his guard going back up. Unwrapping my legs, I dropped to the floor. Wetness dripped down my legs. Plucking my panties from the clump of jeans, I dabbed between my legs, glad the darkness hid the color that heated my cheeks.

To hide my embarrassment at the mess, I readdressed the ever-present issue.

“Whatever you think you’re doing with the mob, it’s dangerous. You should quit while you’re still ahead,” I quipped, pushing the worry out of my voice.

“I can’t.”

I huffed. “And why not?”

“You’re mine.”

“How? How can you say that? We barely know one another.” There it was. The true fear ran through me. Yes, I was worried about being caught. Sure, this crazy thing had absolutely no future. But it was the idea that this man would grow tired of me. That this game we played would end because darkness grew bored, chewed me up, and spit me out.

Ilya remained silent, continuing to study me.

“How can you risk everything for me?” I croaked.

He leaned in, brushing his lips against my pulse and making me sigh. “I know the way you taste when you come undone—no other man knows that flavor. You gave yourself to me, rusalka.You’re mine and I would rather raze this city to smoldering heaps of ash than let another man have you.”

Rusalka—a Slavic monster. That was what my spectre of darkness called me.

Twin monsters, the pair of us.

Couldn’t we survive the nightmare? It was where fearsome creatures thrived, after all.

Such a nice dream…but that was all this was. I couldn’t have him, but I could steal a few more nights with him. Allow my own obsession with this monster in the dark to play out a little longer.

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