Page 5 of The Mafia Bloodline
She froze under my stare, but it wasn’t fear that struck me most, it was the way her chest rose and fell like she felt it too. The bond. The spark.
“Who the hell…” her voice was like a calm break of waves on the sand.
“You’re careless,” I snap. “Spying on Malakai alone. Do you have a death wish, or are you just reckless?”
Her beautiful eyes widened in surprise. “I…I don’t even know who you are.”
“You don’t need to.” I argue. “All you need to know is that you’re mine now.” I hear Draugr surprised intake of breath from behind me.
“Yours?” Her voice shook, but not with fear which surprises me.
“Yes.” There was no hesitation, no flicker of doubt. “You don’t belong here. You don’t belong to anyoneelse. From this moment onwards…” I state. “…you are mine.”
Her lips parted, defiance and panic warring in her expression. But I barely heard her.
Because in that moment, all I could think was that Malakai was somewhere in that warehouse below. But my war had just shifted as my mate was standing on this roof, too close to danger.
Every nerve in my body screamed at once, a primal urge tearing through me. Mine. The bond snapped taut in my chest like steel wire, and the thought of her slipping even a foot closer to Malakai’s reach made my vision haze red.
“Fuck… we need to go; they’ve heard us,” Draugr grunted behind me, already snapping into action. His voice was steady, but I caught the shift in his weight, the way his hand went to his weapon. He was ready for blood.
Runa’s head turned sharply, honey-gold hair catching in the moonlight as she glanced over her shoulder to the alley below. I saw the decision in her body before she even moved, her knees flexing, her shoulders angling, that reckless instinct to bolt.
Not a chance.
I surged forward, faster than her human eyes could track, my arm wrapping around her waist. She gasped, a sound that cut straight into my chest, and then I had her slung over my shoulder, her slight weight nothing compared to the need ripping through me to get her out.
“Put me down!” she shouted, fists beating against my back, legs kicking. Every thrash of her body set my blood on fire, the fight in her only making me tighten my hold.
“Cover us,” I barked over my shoulder to Draugr, my voice low and lethal.
Already he was speaking into his comms, sharp orders slicing through the night. “Move in. Now. Breach and burn. Full sweep.” His words were followed instantly by the crackle of acknowledgement and then the low thuds of boots hitting pavement as our men descended on the warehouse like wolves loosed from their chains.
Gunfire split the air a heartbeat later. Muzzle flashes lit the shadows below, shouts rising from the Irish stationed around the doors. Draugr moved at my flank, his blade already slickas he cut down the first fool who lunged from the fire escape, keeping my path clear.
Every step off that roof felt like walking a knife’s edge. I could protect myself; that wasn’t the concern. The weight of her against me, fragile compared to the enemies swarming below, made the blood in my veins turn molten with fury. I couldn’t fight the way I wanted with her in my arms. And if one of them slipped past Draugr…if one of them touched her…
The growl clawed up my throat before I could stop it.
“Put me down!” she screamed again, twisting hard enough that for a moment her teeth grazed my shoulder through my shirt. The sting barely registered, but the sound of her voice cracked through me like a whip.
“Enough.”
My palm came down on the curve of her ass, hard, the sharp crack ringing against the night. She shrieked, stunned into stillness, her body freezing against mine.
“Still,” I snarled, my voice a guttural growl that rumbled deep in my chest. “You fight me again, and I’ll make sure you regret it.”
The warning wasn’t for her mind…it was for her bones, her blood. I felt it reverberate through both of us, that instinctual command of a predator who’d found what was his. And she must have felt it too, because though her breath came quick and hot against my back, the wild thrashing quieted.
The Escalade loomed ahead, black and armoured, doors already thrown open. Draugr’s men poured fire into the alley, cutting down anything that tried to close the distance. My brother himself dropped the last Irish at the foot of the stairwell,his blade flashing once more before he was at my side, eyes scanning, always watching.
“Go,” he ordered, voice like iron. “I’ll hold the line.”
I didn’t hesitate. I shoved into the SUV, lowering her just enough to slide inside before climbing in after, keeping my body between hers and the chaos outside. My heart hammered, not from exertion but from the gnawing fear still clawing at my insides.
Because tonight I’d come within a breath of losing her before I even had the chance to claim her.
And that thought would haunt me until every last enemy who dared get close was dead.
