RUTHLESS POSSESSION

CHAPTER 7

The steam from the black marble shower filled the air, wrapping around us like a thick, warm blanket. Killian stepped into the cascade of water with me, still fully dressed in his ruined shirt and trousers, his eyes never leaving mine.

He grabbed a bar of scented soap, lathering his large, calloused hands before reaching for me. His touch was firm yet surprisingly gentle as he washed the trace amounts of blood and rain from my shoulders, his hands gliding down the curves of my back. Every slide of his palm sent a wave of liquid heat pooling low in my gut.

"Look at me, Elena," he commanded softly, his thumbs tracing my collarbone under the running water.

I lifted my gaze to meet his, refusing to shy away from the intense, dark obsession burning in his eyes. "I'm looking."

"Good," Killian growled, stepping closer until the front of his soaked shirt pressed against my bare skin. The contrast of the rough fabric against my sensitivity was maddening. "From this moment on, you don't answer to anyone but me. Your mother, her creditors, the rivals in this city—they don't exist to you anymore. I am your protector, your master, and your only authority."

He reached down, gripping my upper thigh and pulling my leg up around his hip. The movement brought us flush together, the heavy, rigid length of him pressing against my center through his wet trousers. I gasped, my hands instinctively flying to his hair, my fingers tangling in the dark, wet locks as my breathing hitched.

"Say it," he whispered against my lips, his breath hot, his thumb pressing firmly into the soft skin of my hip. "Tell me who you belong to."

"You," I breathed out, the word escaping as a helpless, needy sigh. "I belong to you, Killian."

A dark, satisfied rumble echoed from his chest. He didn't wait any longer. His mouth claimed mine with a fierce, punishing hunger, his tongue sliding deep as he backed me against the smooth, heated tile wall of the shower.

His free hand moved down, pushing aside the last barrier between us, his fingers finding the drenched heat waiting for him. When his touch made first contact, a sharp, electric shock ran straight through my spine, making my back arch into his body.

"That's it, little mouse," Killian murmured, his pace deliberate, relentless, driving me toward a precipice I had never known existed. "Let me take everything."