Chapter 5

KILLIAN’S POV

I stood on the edge of the crowded living room, a red cup of liquor in my hand that I hadn't tasted once.

My teammates were laughing loudly around me, puck bunnies pressing their bodies against my side, trying to get my attention after the national championship win. I didn’t hear a single word they said. My eyes were locked entirely on the grand staircase.

I was losing my fucking mind.

For the past week, Maya had completely cut me out. She stopped looking at me. She vanished from the kitchen before I could even wake up. She locked herself in her room the second she got home.

I had told her she was an inconvenience, told her she wasn't my type, and called her my stepsister just to force a wedge between us and the little ghost had actually listened.

She had given me exactly what I asked for, and it was driving me insane. She didn't know it, but I had been stalking her for days. Every single day on campus, I kept my distance, but my eyes never left her.

I watched her from across the courtyards, tracked her through the hallways, and shadowed her steps just to make sure she was safe. I knew her routine better than she did.

I knew the exact moment she left the design studio, and I knew how her face looked when she was stressed over a project.

I was obsessed. I loved her. I had loved her long before our parents ever met, long before this fucked-up marriage branded her with a title that felt like a curse.

The first day I saw her, she was in the front row seat of class and when she answered a question, it blew my mind away. Beneath the sweatshirts and the baggy clothes she wore was a beautiful girl that plagued my thoughts from that moment.

She was so different from all the cheerleaders that wanted me for fame. That's what caught my attention. But now, it was too late because she was my stepsister.

Every time that word crossed my mind, it tasted like acid. She was the one girl I couldn’t have, the one girl who could ruin my father’s reputation and destroy my hockey career if the media got a whiff of a scandal.

I had to push her away. I had to protect her from myself. But my restraint shattered the moment I saw Carter Blackwood enter my house.

Blackwood and I had been bitter rivals since our freshman year. His family owned half the sports media in the country, and he carried himself like a polished prince who could buy anything he wanted.

He was everything I wasn’t, calm, calculating, and clean. And lately, I had watched him hovering around Maya on campus like a predator circling prey.

Every time he waved at her, every time he smiled that fake, gentlemanly smile, I wanted to smash his jaw into the pavement. Then, Maya walked down the stairs.

My breath completely left my lungs. She was wearing an emerald green dress that hugged every single curve of her body, her hair falling in soft waves over her bare shoulders.

She looked so breathtakingly beautiful it felt like a physical blow to my chest. But she didn't even glance my way. She headed straight for the upper hallway, slipping away from the crowd.

Five minutes later, I saw Blackwood slip away in the exact same direction. A dark, violent fury exploded in my chest.

I dropped my cup, ignoring my friends calling my name, and marched up the stairs, my heavy footsteps vibrating with pure rage. I followed his scent out onto the upper balcony.

When I stepped into the shadows, the sight before me made my blood boil. Blackwood was standing right in her space, looking at her like she belonged to him, whispering that she looked like an angel.

I didn't think. The years of suppressed jealousy, the agony of watching her from afar, and the sheer possessiveness over the girl I loved completely took over.

"Get the hell away from her, Blackwood," I growled, stepping out into the moonlight.

Both of them jumped, turning to look at me.

Maya’s eyes widened with shock, her lips parting as she took in the raw anger on my face.

Blackwood’s smile instantly vanished, his blue eyes hardening as he stepped slightly in front of her. "Yates. This is a party. Calm down."

I didn't give him a second glance. I stepped right past him, grabbed Maya’s wrist in a tight, unyielding grip, and yanked her toward me.

"Killian. Let go of me. What are you doing?" she cried out, struggling against my hold.

"We're done here," I hissed. Without letting her go, I aggressively dragged her off the balcony, ignoring Blackwood’s shout behind us.

I pulled her down the back staircase, out of the main house, and straight across the dark lawn toward the secluded pool house.

The music from the party faded into a distant thumping, replaced by the sound of her heavy breathing and my own ragged gasps.

I slammed the pool house door shut behind us, locking it, and shoved her gently against the wall. The space was dark, illuminated only by the moonlight reflecting off the water.

"What is wrong with you?" Maya screamed, tears of frustration shining in her eyes as she pushed against my chest. "You told me to stay away from you. So why can't you just leave me alone?”

"Because I'm losing my fucking mind, Maya," I roared, my voice trembling with an emotion I couldn't control anymore. I slammed my hands on the wall on either side of her head, pinning her beneath me.

My chest rose and fell heavily as I stared down into her eyes. "You think I want to feel like this? You think I want my body to want you?" She froze, her breath hitching as she stared up at me.

"I lied to you," I whispered, my voice breaking as the truth tore out of my throat. "I’ve been watching you for days. I see the way Blackwood looks at you, and it makes me want to burn this whole place down. I don't see you as a sister, Maya. I love you. I’ve loved you for years, and watching you stay away from me this week was absolute torture."

Maya stared at me, completely struck dumb. The tears finally spilled over her cheeks, but the anger in her eyes dissolved into something soft, desperate, and beautiful. "You... Do you love me?" she whispered, her voice cracking.

"More than my own life," I groaned, leaning down until my forehead rested against hers. "It’s wrong, it’s fucked up, but I can't stop."

"Killian..." She reached up, her small, warm hands coming up to cup my jaw, her thumbs wiping away the tension in my face. "I love you too. I’ve loved you for seven years. I never wanted to stay away."

Hearing those words out of her mouth completely shattered the last of my restraint. I bent down and captured her lips in a rough, desperate kiss. It wasn't gentle.

It was the kiss of a man who had been thirsty for years, pouring all my hidden love, my dark obsession, and my protective fury into her mouth.

Maya let out a soft gasp against my lips, her arms instantly wrapping tightly around my neck, pulling me closer until there was no space left between us.

She tasted like sweetness and absolute ruin, and as I deepened the kiss, tangling my fingers in her soft hair, I knew there was no going back. She was mine. Stepsister or not, I was never letting her go.