Page 13 of Claim Me

“You’re safe now,” I told her. She was breathless, so fragile in my arms that all I could think about was protecting her against all evils.

Including myself.

She looked away briefly, even trying to glance over her shoulder into her brother’s room. I gently but forcefully pulled her head back to front and center.

Her sob was ripped with agony and as she tilted her chin, her soulful emerald eyes locking with mine, time ceased to exist around us.

“I don’t know you,” she said with more resilience in her voice than I believed she had.

“No, you do not. But that’s about to change.”

In my arms was the woman of my affection, a beautiful musician that had managed not only to capture my attention but also pull at something in my heart I didn’t believe existed.

The need to possess another human as mine.

CHAPTER 5

Marissa

Eyes the color of Lake Geneva, crystalline blue and so clear I could easily become lost in them. Yet as utterly mesmerizing as they were, their illumination created an air of danger.

There was an intense pulse of fire in the man, anger resonating from every move he made. With his jaw clenched, he also appeared sensual, his power in his presence.

I was immediately attracted to him, my thoughts hovering on hints of desire.

That was preposterous of me to think given my brother was lying close to death in a hospital bed. I’d barely completed my performance when the stage manager had pulled me aside, giving me the horrible news.

I didn’t remember the flight or the ride from the airport, barely managing to keep it together. Charles was my only family, theonly person in my life who cared about me. To have some stranger pull me from my brother’s hospital room infuriated me.

But there was a quiet yet strong resolve about the man, a controlling power of suggestion and force that I felt to my core. The heat resonating from one to the other was unmistakable and I had a sense of knowing him and I wasn’t certain why or how that was even possible.

Unless…

Charlie. Oh, my God, my brother. He’d been shot. He’d been targeted. By whom? The people he was working with? The shadowed monsters I’d known about, but who he’d refused to admit existed? I’d begged him to think about selling the resort. However, he considered the sprawling resort with two casinos, a highly coveted dance club, and four incredible restaurants a family legacy. Something I’d wanted nothing to do with.

Sadly, Mom and Dad were gone, unable to see either of our successes. Now he lay dying and I was staring into the eyes of a man who captivated my attention and left me tingling.

The sensations were strange and so very wrong.

“I need to see my brother,” I demanded, once again trying to break free. His hold was strong, his arm muscles straining against his suit jacket. He was much taller than me, so I was forced to tilt my head every time he spoke. That required me to look into his mesmerizing eyes.

What was wrong with me?

“Just breathe, Marissa. The doctors are highly skilled.” He made the statement as if he knew what he was talking about. I’d never seen him before…

A flash tickled my mind, a moment during the concert in Los Angeles from two nights before. A man in the front row. There’d been no way of seeing him clearly with the cascade of blue lights shimmering over the grand piano. But just like a few times before, I’d felt his presence, the desire transcending time and space. I’d allowed myself to relive the fantasy through my music, pretending that one day we’d meet and fall in love.

Only my white knight wasn’t this man.

I shoved aside the sinful thoughts, trying to pull my concentration together. My brother needed me.

“No,” I said forcefully, trying for the third or fourth time to pull away.

He refused to allow me to budge. “Yes.”

Goddamn, who did he think he was?

In less than the minute the unknown man had been holding me, I’d gathered a sense of him. He was dangerous, his dark brooding personality evident in the way he was attempting to control the moment. Even in my muddled state, I’d detected a slight accent, although I couldn’t place it. Perhaps European. He took a deep breath, allowing his gaze to fall slowly to my waist and back up.