Chapter 1

I shouldn’t have been at the club that night, but Sarah had practically dragged me out of our dorm room insisting that I needed to stop hiding behind textbooks and actually experience college life before senior year ended.

The bass was so loud I could feel it vibrating through my chest as I squeezed through the crowd of dancing bodies, and the air was stuffy with the smell of sweat and cheap perfume mixed with something that I couldn’t quite identify.

“Come on Adele, loosen up,” Sarah shouted over the music while thrusting a drink into my hand that was some toxic-looking blue color, “You’ve been moping around ever since winter break and I refuse to let you waste another perfectly good Friday night studying for exams that are still two months away.”

She wasn’t wrong about the moping because going home for the holidays had been more uncomfortable than usual now that my father had remarried and I was supposed to pretend like everything was normal in our newly blended family.

Killian, my stepbrother who was seven years older than me and infinitely more confident in every possible way, had barely acknowledged my existence during the entire two weeks I had been home, which somehow made me feel even more lonely than I had before my father married his mother.

I took a sip of the blue drink and immediately regretted it as the alcohol burned down my throat, but Sarah was already pulling me toward the dance floor where the crowd was pressed so close together that personal space had become a meaningless concept.

A guy with too much gel in his hair and breath that smelled like whiskey immediately moved closer and tried to put his hands on my waist, and I felt a flash of irritation and discomfort as I tried to politely extract myself from his attention.

“Not interested,” I said firmly while stepping back, but the music was too loud for him to hear, or maybe he was just choosing to ignore my rejection because his grip on my waist tightened instead of loosening.

Sarah noticed what was happening and moved to intervene, but before she could reach me I felt someone else’s hand close around my wrist with enough force to make the drunk guy immediately let go.

I turned to see who had grabbed me and felt my stomach drop when I recognized Killian standing there with an expression on his face that was equal parts angry and incensed.

“She said she’s not interested,” Killian said and his voice was low and dangerous in a way that made the drunk guy take several steps back with his hands raised defensively.

I stared at my stepbrother in shock because I had no idea what he was doing here or why he had bothered to intervene when he had made it perfectly clear during the holidays that I wasn’t worth his time or attention.

He was wearing all black including a leather jacket that made him look even more intimidating than usual, and his dark hair was slightly messy like he had been running his hands through it in frustration.

“Killian? What are you doing here?” I demanded while trying to pull my wrist free from his grip, but he held on tight enough that I couldn’t escape without making a scene.

“I could ask you the same question,” Killian said and his eyes were scanning the crowd around us like he was looking for any possible threats, “This isn’t the kind of place you should be, especially not dressed like that and drinking with strangers who clearly can’t take no for an answer.”

I looked down at my outfit which was just a short black dress that Sarah had insisted I wear, and I felt anger flaring up inside me because Killian had no right to judge my choices or tell me where I should or shouldn’t be.

“I’m nineteen years old and capable of taking care of myself,” I shot back while finally managing to yank my wrist free, “And what I wear or where I go is none of your business.”

Something flashed across Killian’s face that might have been hurt or frustration, but it was gone so quickly that I couldn’t be sure I had actually seen it.

He took a step closer and I had to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact because he was at least six inches taller than me, and being this close to him made me acutely aware of how his presence seemed to command attention from everyone around us.

“You're coming with me,” Killian said and it wasn’t a request but rather a statement of fact, “We need to talk somewhere private where we won’t be interrupted.”

I should have refused and told him to leave me alone because I had come here to forget about my complicated family situation and not to deal with more awkwardness with my stepbrother.

But something in his expression made me hesitate plus I had never seen him look at me with this kind of intensity before, and despite my better judgment I found myself nodding in agreement.

He led me through the crowd toward a back hallway and we passed several doors marked as private or staff only until he found one that was unlocked and pulled me inside.

The room appeared to be some kind of storage space with stacked chairs and cleaning supplies, and the sudden quiet after the chaos of the dance floor was almost disorienting.

“You shouldn’t be in a place like this,” Killian said again once the door was closed behind us, and I noticed that his hands had clenched into fists at his sides like he was fighting some internal battle.

“You already said that,” I replied while crossing my arms defensively, “So if you just brought me back here to lecture me about my life choices then I’m leaving.”

I moved toward the door but Killian blocked my path with his body, and suddenly the small storage room felt even smaller with both of us trapped in such close proximity.

His scent surrounded me and it was woodsy and masculine which made my head feel slightly fuzzy in a way that had nothing to do with the alcohol I had consumed.

“I brought you back here because seeing you out there with that guy’s hands on you made me want to rip his throat out,” Killian said and his voice had dropped, almost growling, “I had to get you away from him as soon as possible before I did something we would both regret.”

My heart started to race because this was not at all what I had expected him to say. “Why do you care?” I asked and my voice came out shakier than I intended, “You’ve barely spoken to me since our parents got married, and every time I try to talk to you at home you find an excuse to leave the room.”

Killian’s jaw clenched and I saw a flash in his eyes that looked almost like pain. “I stay away from you because being near you makes me feel things that I absolutely should not feel toward my stepsister,” he said roughly, “But tonight when I saw you in that dress letting some stranger touch you, I realized that staying away isn’t the best option either.”

Before I could process what he was saying or formulate any kind of response, Killian closed the distance between us and his mouth was on mine in a kiss that was fierce and desperate and completely overwhelming.

My back hit the wall and his hands were in my hair tilting my head to deepen the kiss, and I heard myself making a sound that was somewhere between a gasp and a moan as my body responded to his touch in ways that my mind knew were completely wrong.

This was my stepbrother kissing me like he wanted to fuck me right there, and instead of pushing him away I found my hands fisting in his leather jacket pulling him even closer.

Just then, I felt him suck and gently bite the sensitive skin of my neck, making me gasp as a mixture of pain and pleasure flared behind my eyelids.

Killian pulled away just as quickly, looking horrified by what he’d done. His breathing was ragged as he spoke. "Wait for me at the school gate at ten tomorrow night," he commanded, his voice shaking with a restraint I didn't understand. "Don't be late."

Without another word, he turned and stormed out of the room, leaving me trembling and nursing the love bite on my neck.