Page 110 of Rejected By My Shifter Billionaire

“And this is my house,” he replied, stepping closer. The water streamed down his face, darkening his hair until it looked almost black against his skin. “My rules.”

I backed up until I hit the cold tile wall, my heart hammering so hard it felt like it was trying to escape through my rib cage. This couldn’t be happening. This absolutely couldn’t be happening.

But it was.

My smpossibly gorgeous, impossibly forbidden stepbrother was standing in my shower, fully clothed and looking at me like I was a rabbit and he was a very, very hungry beast.

Or, if we had to be accurate...a once-thought-extinct black tiger, which was what his “other” form was.

“You can’t just—”

“Tell me about your meeting with Prince Alexei.”

The words cut through the steam between us, sharp and demanding. His voice was quiet, controlled, but there was something underneath it that made my skin prickle with goosebumps that had nothing to do with the water temperature.

“I can’t,” I whispered, crossing my arms over my chest in a pathetic attempt at modesty that was approximately seven minutes too late. “I signed an NDA.” My voice cracked embarrassingly. “I legally cannot discuss it. Like, actual blood-binding magic was involved.”

He stepped closer, close enough that I could see the water droplets clinging to his eyelashes, making his green eyes look even more intense.

“You really think I’m buying that?”

The scathing tone of his voice made my chest ache like someone had reached inside and squeezed my heart with icy fingers. He thought I was lying. He thought I was hiding some torrid romance with Prince Alexei, and I couldn’t tell him the truth because of a stupid piece of paper I’d been magically coerced into signing.

“Nicolo, please,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady even though my insides felt like they were having their own private earthquake. “It’s not what you think. It’s not romantic. It’s just business.”

“Business.” He repeated the word like it was coated in something bitter. Like it personally offended him. “What kind of business requires that level of secrecy?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Can’t...or won’t?”

“Can’t!”

My voice echoed off the tiles, bouncing around us like it was trying to escape the tension that made the air feel thick enoughto cut with a knife. For a moment we just stared at each other through the steam and spray, neither of us backing down, both of us breathing harder than we should have been.

Then his expression shifted, becoming something darker and more dangerous that made my stomach drop to somewhere around my ankles.

“You have a choice, Maryah,” he said softly, taking another step closer until I was completely trapped between him and the wall. I could feel the heat radiating off his body, even through his soaked clothes. “You can tell me what you talked about with Prince Alexei...”

His voice dropped to a rough whisper that sent shivers racing down my spine.

“Or I’ll make use of your mouth in another way.”

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

My breath caught, my pulse spiking so fast I got dizzy. This should have terrified me. Should have made me angry, should have made me fight back or slap him or demand he leave immediately.

Instead, something deep inside me clenched with a want so intense it was almost painful.

I’d read about moments like this in books. Moments where your body makes decisions your brain hasn’t caught up to yet. Moments where all your common sense gets crushed under the weight of desire so strong it feels like drowning.

Like, seriously.

What was happening to me?