Page 9 of Impenitent Claim

My body felt like it was going to explode.

His hot breath whispered over the too sensitive skin of my neck. “Don’t worry, rusalka, I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

But then his touch was gone. I collapsed into the wall. I blinked. Once. Twice. And turned sharply to see—

Nothing.

I was alone.

The darkness swallowed everything, including the scent. I took a deep breath, trying and failing to feel him. The air cleared quickly.

My body was alive with a thousand sparks. I lifted my fingers to my chin. I could have sworn there was residual heat left over from the contact. But that too was fast fading.

What the hell was that?Without any concrete evidence, I knew that was the same spectral presence who’d been in my room the other night.

I shook my head, trying to clear the overpowering surge. When common sense clicked on in my mind, the truth was blinding. There was a creep walking around the don’s home. The smart thing to do would be to alert the guards.

“But then I would have to admit what happened,” I huffed. That was not a conversation I wanted to have. Sneaking around the house and being cornered by a stranger as I tried to find my brother.

Gio.

I bolted. The possibility of again running into the intruder didn’t slow my steps. I tore down the long halls until I burst through the door of the media room.

Rapid gunfire greeted me. Where was the attack? I needed to save Gio!

Shit, where’s my gun?!

A scream formed on my lips. The noise suddenly stopped.

“Izzy? Are you okay?” Gio stared at me with a look of mixed horror and annoyance.

His pervy little friends fixed their gaze on the exposed skin of my legs.

I glared at them but answered my brother. “I was just making sure you were okay.”

“Yeah, just playing some Call of Duty to wind down from the dinner party.” He tugged on the back of his neck. “Um, ah…did you want to play?”

His friends groaned in protest.

“No thanks,” I panted, since my lungs still weren’t working well. “Just came down to make sure you were okay. Don’t drink too many of those.”

I nodded to the cans of soda.

That earned me an eye roll.

“I know, I’m so uncool.” I smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “But rotten teeth and unstable blood sugar aren’t cool either.”

“We’ll brush our teeth,” Gio promised.

It sucked not connecting with him. I was always saying the wrong thing. But he was safe. And he was going to stay that way.

With a wave, I turned and left. The way back to my room wasn’t haunted by the phantasmal presence. I was almost…sad.

Chapter 6 – Ilya

The distraction of a party was the perfect opportunity to take my woman without notice. The heist was perfectly planned, a simple kidnapping. No one would stop me, not her kid brother, not her adolescent fiancé. Whatever ties she had here, I would sever with sharp, decisive action. They wouldn’t discover her absence until later tomorrow morning, when we would be long gone. Whatever feelings she had for this place, whatever connections she had here, we would deal with them. In the original kidnapping plan, we would establish some terms that would be satisfactory to her regarding her old life. The kid, for instance, there was no reason she couldn’t have contact with her brother again in the distant future. I wasn’t a heartless bastard.

But the one thing that was nonnegotiable—she was coming with me.

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