The word stops her cold. She stares at me like I've grown a second head.
"You can’t claim me."
I stand slowly, carefully. The movement pulls at my wounds, but I ignore it as I cross the small distance to where she's standing. I back her against the wall without touching her. Just presence and proximity.
"Yes," I say quietly. "I can."
"I should throw you out right now."
"But you won't."
"Why shouldn’t I?" The words are high-pitched and breathy all at once and go straight to my cock.
I lean in, close enough that my breath moves her hair. "Because you like it. The way I look at you. The way I give you orders, and you follow them even when you don't want to. The way I make you feel."
"That's not—"
"It is."
Her hands come up, pressing against my chest. Not pushing me away. Just there, feeling my heartbeat through the bandages.
"This is crazy," she whispers.
"Yes."
"We barely know each other."
"We know enough."
"I can't just—" She stops, breathes. "I can't just give up everything for someone I met a week ago."
"You're not giving up anything. You're gaining everything."
"Like what?"
I cup her jaw, gentle but firm, tilting her face up to mine. "Protection. Security. Someone who will make sure you never struggle alone again. Someone who will take care of you the way you deserve."
"And what do you get?"
My thumb brushes her lower lip. "You."
Her breath stutters. "Why me?"
"Because you opened the door. Because you didn't flinch. Because you're exactly what I've been looking for without ever knowing I was looking."
The confession hangs between us. I see the moment it hits her, the way her eyes widen, the way her body softens despite her best efforts to resist. I step back, giving her space. She needs it. Needs time to process, to accept what's already inevitable.
"One more day," she says, voice unsteady. "That was the deal."
"The deal's changed."
"Zakhar—"
"One more day to decide. But you already know what you're going to choose."
She doesn't deny it. Can't. She knows I'm right.
She's already mine. It's just a matter of time before she admits it.
