Heir Untamed - By Danielle Bourdon Page 0,66

the engine. Turning toward her, he grasped her around the nape and hauled her in for a devastating kiss.

Against her lips, he whispered, “Text me when you have your next day off. All right?”

Chey lingered in the kiss as long as she dared to. Shoving down disappointment, she brushed the pads of her fingers over the raspy layer of whiskers on his jaw and drew back enough to see his eyes. He stared at her with an unusual weight to his gaze. Maybe he felt the same disappointment she did at the need to observe restraint regarding their positions.

“I will. Thanks for tonight. I'd love to go back and visit the castle during the day, when I can take some better pictures. If you'll take me, that is.” She covered her camera; rain still fell beyond the windows of the Jeep.

“It's a date. Drive slow and safe back to the castle, hm?” He plucked a last kiss from her mouth.

Chey breathed him in while he was close. “I'll be fine. Talk to you soon.”

After another lingering look, she opened her door and got out. Thumping the door closed, she ran around the front of the Jeep to the waiting truck.

A minute later she drove out of the clearing, fingers tight on the wheel.

Sander Fisk was definitely under her skin.

Chapter Thirteen

After a restless night's sleep, Chey rose before her alarm and changed from her pajamas into jeans. Pulling a thin ribbed sweater of burgundy over her head, she forewent shoes and started editing the photos she'd taken the evening before. She was especially interested in the ones she'd taken of the main castle with the shadow in the window. No matter how much she zoomed in, or changed filters and lighting, she couldn't get any real detail to show up. There was only a vague outline of what could or could not be a body. It might have been anyone from a passing guard to a maid to one of the Royals en route from one part of the castle to another. There wasn't anything to indicate that she'd captured someone blatantly staring down, even if that was the sense Chey had standing in the bailey.

At eight o'clock sharp, Elise and Ingel arrived with breakfast and merry greetings. Both women examined her bruises and declared her well on the mend. The women blew through as they always did, gathering used towels and washcloths, making the bed even though Chey always made it herself, and running a duster over the furniture. One woman cleaned floors while the other did showers and sinks.

Most of the time, when Chey offered to help, she was gently turned down. The women had their routine and though they tried to clean when Chey was out of the room, they were efficient and quick when she was in residence. It always smelled fresh and new in the suite when they were done.

Once they'd departed, Chey got back to work, nibbling eggs, bacon and several pieces of fruit in between. The photos from the old castle, while beautiful and eerie, turned up nothing remotely resembling a ghost. No strange orbs, no flickers of light, no unexplained shadows within a shadow.

“I'm not sure what you were expecting, Chey,” she muttered to herself. Of course there weren't any ghosts. Ghosts didn't exist.

After lunch, Chey grabbed her camera and wandered the halls of the castle. She got several great shots of the snow out a few of the large windows and more pictures of the armor lining one entire hallway. It felt good to stretch her legs and get some exercise. Moving around also took her mind off Sander.

She wondered where he was on the property and if he'd found out any news about the paper clippings. Surely he would have texted her if so.

Returning to her room an hour before dinner, she was surprised to find a box sitting outside her door.

Immediately wary, Chey approached it with caution. Although white, and glossy, with a pretty bow of red on the top, she worried it contained something less than pleasing. Like a head. Or a pair of eyes. Picking it up off the floor, she sniffed near the edge of the lid for any strange scent. All she picked up was a vague hint of something floral.

What had the world come to for her to be checking a gift box for body parts.

Not convinced it wasn't a trap, or a trick, she hesitated before taking it inside. Locking the door behind her,