RUTHLESS POSSESSION

CHAPTER 6

The heavy scent of metallic blood and expensive bourbon hung thick in the air, but Killian didn't offer me a towel or an exit. Instead, his hand locked around my wrist, pulling me off the desk and guiding me out of the ruined study, past the silent guards standing like statues along the marble corridor.

He led me up a winding grand staircase to the top floor of the mansion, stopping outside a massive set of double doors. When he pushed them open, the dark, minimalist master suite revealed itself—dominated by a king-sized bed, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the stormy city below, and a private adjoining bathroom of black marble.

"You need to wash off the night," Killian said, his voice dropping into a low, quiet command as he stepped into the room behind me.

He didn't leave. He stood right behind me in the center of the bedroom, his chest resting against my back as his hands reached around to untie the damp, frayed silk ribbon of my dress. His calloused fingers brushed against the bare skin of my spine, sending an electric shiver through my veins that had nothing to do with the chill in the air.

"You aren't going to hide me away in a guest wing, are you?" I asked softly, my head tilting back against his chest as the fabric of my dress loosened.

"Never," Killian murmured into the side of my neck, his lips pressing a lingering, scorching kiss right over my frantic pulse point. "You stay where I can see you. Where I can reach you."

The dress pool at my feet, leaving me in nothing but my thin lace undergarments. I turned in his arms to face him, my hands pressing against the wet, blood-stained cotton of his dress shirt. I looked up into his obsidian eyes, finding no pity there—only an unyielding, possessive hunger that made my blood run hot.

"Your mother thought she sold you into a cage," Killian growled softly, his hands sliding down to frame my hips, pulling me firmly against his rigid frame until there was no mistaking the raw intent between us. "She gave me a weapon. And starting tonight, I'm going to show you exactly how dangerous we can be together."

He didn't ask. He lifted me effortlessly into his arms, carrying me toward the master bath where steam was already rising, claiming every inch of my past, my present, and the dark future waiting for us both.