Sea Haven 02 - Spirit Bound

what she was doing, but he should be at least considering that she might be avoiding him because she was aware he knew Levi. He obviously was more than just Thomas Vincent, the businessman. Righteous indignation glittered in her eyes as she glared at him.
    He removed his hand carefully, as if she might snap at him with her teeth. The idea did occur to her, but she figured biting him would be undignified.
    “I had the security system turned on. Apparently it’s quite useless.” Feeling suddenly very vulnerable, very aware of her body beneath her perfectly adequate and not in the least sexy pajamas, she sat up, pulling the sheet to her chin. “What is the point of a very expensive security system if it doesn’t keep everyone out?”
    She gave a little indignant sniff. Did he have to be so incredibly compelling with those amazing eyes and his rakish scars and solid muscle everywhere ? She was angry at him with good reason and worse, afraid of what he could do to her. She had to stop reacting to him. Her heart refused to obey, pounding until she could hear the beat thundering in ears. Her veins coursed with hot hunger, rushing through her like a runaway train. She hated the happiness blossoming in her no matter that she tried to squash it. He had come to her.
    “Your security system is adequate, and it’s not meant to keep me out.”
    Judith tasted passion. She knew she was drinking him in with her eyes, devouring him, when she should just push him away, scream, do something to save herself. “Leave, Thomas.”
    His eyes changed to piercing aquamarine, vivid and brilliant. She saw the darkness rush over him, obliterating every color of his aura until he was nothing but a shadow. Her breath caught in her lungs, fingers digging into the sheet for an anchor.
    “My name is Stefan. Stefan Prakenskii. Levi is my brother.”
    He made the confession in a low tone, his gaze holding hers captive. She couldn’t look away from him, mesmerized by the sheer power she saw there. This man was no businessman. The aura surrounding him pulsed with danger. For a moment she thought she hadn’t heard him right. She knew Levi’s life was shrouded in secrecy and that he was a very dangerous man. Now the glimpses into Thomas’s—no, Stefan’s memories made more sense. She shook her head, but no sound could escape her closed throat.
    “I couldn’t tell you the truth and put his life in danger. In any case, Judith, you would have shut down immediately and closed me out. There’s a retirement order out on him and an exterminator is in Sea Haven.”
    He touched the scratch on his jaw that was already healing. “I ran into the assassin the night you showed me the gallery. He’s been here awhile. I had to come to Sea Haven and find Levi. I knew he was alive and I wasn’t going to let anyone kill him. Once I realized you were the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, that my emotions were very real, I wanted to tell you the truth. But I couldn’t risk his life, not until I had talked to him first. I hope you can understand.”
    Judith pressed her lips together, afraid of saying the wrong thing. She didn’t know what to feel. She had fallen off a cliff with this man, built dreams, let go of her tight control on herself and now she had no idea who he really was. Unconsciously she shook her head.
    “Don’t do that. Don’t close down on me, Judith. You would do the same for any one of your sisters and you know it. Levi knows I’m talking to you. You can call him and confirm everything I’m saying. Ivanov hunted him once already and he’ll never stop. Never. He’ll hope I can lead him to Levi and then he’ll kill us both if he gets the chance.”
    “You have to tell Jonas.”
    Something lethal flashed in his eyes, a brief flare of emotion that frightened her. “Your solution is always this man Jonas. He’s not in Ivanov’s league, Judith. Believe me, I know killers. Jonas might be very good at what he does, but he’s hampered by rules he has no choice but to follow. He would try to take Ivanov into custody, and Ivanov would kill him.”
    “I don’t know what that means.” Judith clutched the sheet tighter to her and drew back, away from him. She was very afraid she knew exactly what that meant. It was one thing to dream of making Jean-Claude suffer and die, but that tightly coiled power so evident now in Stefan told her he was really quite capable of things she couldn’t conceive of.
    “It means you can