He doesn’t speak, and his grip slacks on the back of my neck. This is the first time I’ve seen Draco speechless. Utterly speechless.
“What I saw—what he did to you—it was unacceptable and he has paid for it…and so will they,” he says, and it sounds like cheap words to me.
“How?” I demand. “Tell me how!”
He drops his chin, his hot gaze holding mine. “You are the woman I want and I am probably the most wanted man in the fucking world. I am being chased, watched, and hunted by people I don’t even know. And you know what? I don’t give a single fuck. Because that makes people afraid of me. So afraid that even you, Gianna, should be afraid of what I am going to do to them. Pico was only the beginning. He got out of it way too easily, and that is only because I was too furious to hold back.”
“What will you do to them?” I demand again, jutting my chin out.
“You’ll find out soon. But you have to promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“Accept your fate. You are not weak. You are strong, and I can tell by the way you stand here, facing me after what just happened, that you are a lot stronger than you’d like to believe. You are a powerful, bold, and relentless woman, and you are right. You are mine.” He cups my ass in his hands. I don’t wince, even though I feel raw and exposed there. I let him do this, and I burn inside with some sort of passion I haven’t felt in ages.
“Accept me, and I will accept you,” he murmurs. “Devote yourself to me, and I will be sure that this never fucking happens again. I will make that vow to you. I will swear it on my father’s grave and my mother’s soul. As long as you say you are mine, I will do whatever your heart desires.”
“Did you let him do that to me just so I could accept this—whatever this is?” I’m still angry, and untrusting, shoving his hand away.
He’s pissed.
He pushes me against the wall and his forehead presses down hard on mine. “I cut him to fucking pieces and I will do it again in a heartbeat to anyone that tries to fuck the woman I want.”
I swallow hard, the pit of my belly fluttering.
He lowers his gaze to my lips, grabbing my shoulders. “It was too quiet when I walked through that door, Gianna. I didn’t see him or you. There was only one place he’d hide. He was lingering around the den. He had this planned—they had this planned. But what they’ve failed to realize is that they have fucked with the wrong man. They all did…and they know it. And now they will fucking pay.”
“I want them gone—I don’t care how,” my voice trembles.
He catches my quivering bottom lip. “And that will happen. You’ll see.”
I nod, dropping my gaze.
“Accept,” he whispers against my lips. “Let me truly make you mine.”
I pick my head up, locking eyes with him. Something swirls inside them. Something hot and desirable. I’ve never seen this look on him before. It’s desperate—almost hopeful.
My teeth clamp into my bottom lip, but without any hesitation at all, I run my hands down his forearms and then entwine our fingers.
“I accept, Draco.”
His sculpted lips incline at the corners. Instead of taking me victoriously like a savage would, he squeezes my hand and leads the way back to the tub.
“Get in.” I step forward, looking up at him. I guide my body into the warm water. It’s not as hot as before.
He walks towards a small cabinet and takes down a body sponge. When he comes back, he squats down beside the tub and then reaches across me to pick up the bar of soap.
After lathering the soap on the sponge, he reaches forward and starts to wash me. I watch the suds surround me and then look up.
His face is concentrated. Stern. I can’t read his expression. He runs the sponge from my neck to my breasts, scrubbing me gently around them, and then under my arms. He continues down to my sacred area, but then he pauses, eyes flashing up to me.
“Did he touch you right here?” He asks this in Spanish.
I shake my head. “He tried,” I respond. “I fought.”
He swallows thickly, and then continues down, running over the mound. His hand disappears into the water, but I feel him there, his fingers. The sponge.
His eyes flicker up to mine as he washes me around the sensitive area.
“Lift up,” he commands, and I rest my elbows on the edge of the tub to lift my hips. He runs the sponge over my plump cheeks and when he lowers down to the crease and runs it through my raw bottom, I wince. “It’s okay, niñita. Let me take care of you.”