Claimed by My Fiancé's Dangerous Brother

Fay's POV

I lay in the hospital bed, staring blankly at the white ceiling. I didn't know why I was here. I didn't know what had happened.

A doctor stood beside me with my chart in his hands. He was probably the only one who could give me any answers.

A moment later, he spoke.

"You've lost your short-term memory because of a concussion, Miss Fay. You're missing about a year of it."

My fingers curled in on themselves before I could stop them.

"Relax, dear."

He tapped his pen against the chart and said, in a soothing voice, "Your fiancé has been taking very good care of you these past few days while you were unconscious. There's no need to panic."

Fiancé?

Wasn't I just out of school and starting my first job, and single? In a single year I'd gotten engaged to someone — had a fiancé?

My mind went entirely blank.

God, that was too sudden. What on earth had I been doing this past year?

"He'll be here soon."

The doctor left the room on those words, cutting my thoughts short.

I bit down lightly on my lower lip and picked up my phone with a trembling hand.

A delicate face was reflected back at me at once.

A pair of blue eyes, clear as ice water just beginning to melt; loose black hair lying against thin cheeks; soft, and with no trace of threat in it.

Was this me?

I pressed my lips together and opened the phone hesitantly. Pinned at the top was a single conversation, its contact name completely blank.

I tapped into it.

[It's colder today. Wear an extra coat.]

[The meeting's over. I miss you.]

[Little brat, can't sleep again? Pick up the phone and I'll talk you to sleep.]

[Your stomach medicine is in the second layer of your bag. Don't make me worry.]

I scrolled upward one message at a time, and even through the screen I could feel the tenderness in them.

No ambiguous push and pull, only the steady everyday life of two people in love.

It left my heart aching with a fine, sour softness.

I was certain of it: whoever had sent these was the fiancé the doctor had mentioned, and my only support in the world.

Just then the door was suddenly pushed open.

I flinched and instinctively looked toward the doorway, and the moment I saw who had come in, my breath caught.

The man was tall and straight, his features deep and sharply defined, a pair of gray-blue eyes going down with no bottom to them. A black tailored suit wrapped a frame with something wild in its bones, and he carried a distinction I couldn't put into words.

"Awake?"

His voice was low and dark, as pleasant as a cello.

I looked at him and gripped the bedsheet under me hard.

Mature, steady, gentle... he matched the person in my phone exactly.

"Baby?"

My voice came out soft as I tried the word on him.

The instant it landed, I clearly saw the man's hand at his side clench tight, and right behind it a dangerous restlessness pressed down on me.

But it lasted only an instant. Then his expression turned gentle and he walked toward me.

He stopped by my bed, bent down, and touched my cheek lightly with his long, knuckled fingers.

"Fay." His voice was hoarse, and something dark churned in his eyes that I couldn't read. "What did you just... call me?"

"I saw the messages on my phone."

I bit my lower lip and ventured, "You're my... fiancé, aren't you?"

The fingertips on my cheek were trembling faintly.

My heart pounded like a drum, and just as I decided I must have guessed wrong, he laughed quietly.

"Yes."

He stared into my eyes, and the feeling in them was so deep it nearly spilled over.

"I'm Kai. I'm your fiancé."

Kai sat down on the edge of the bed and gathered me, blanket and all, into his arms.

A crisp scent of cedar slipped into my nose.

Through the thin hospital gown I could clearly feel his heartbeat speeding up in his chest.

He nuzzled his nose through my hair and drew a long breath.

"Baby..." Leaning against him, I couldn't help asking again, "When I called you that just now, you seemed surprised."

"Because it's been too long, Fay."

Kai's long fingers tidied my loose hair. "You haven't called me that in a very long time."

Not in a long time?

Puzzled, I tilted my head up. "Did we have a fight?"

"No. We never fight, because I can't bear to."

Hearing him coax me like that, I was almost sure the man in front of me was my fiancé.

I pulled back out of his arms. "Then how did I end up in a car accident?"

A shadow passed through Kai's eyes. He took my hand and held it tight, his gaze lingering on me.

"It was my fault. I didn't watch you closely enough. It won't happen again."

He was gripping my hand so hard that I couldn't easily pull free. I had lost my memory, after all, and this unfamiliar feeling still frightened me a little.

I shrank back slightly. "You look... scary."

"Afraid of me?"

Kai tipped my chin up, his hot breath spilling across my face.

"Afraid or not, you'll have to endure it. You're the one who came after me first, Fay. You want to cut yourself loose now? Too late."

My heart skipped a beat, and I was embarrassed by how blunt and forceful he had suddenly become.

Then he thoughtfully handed me a glass of water.

As the warm water went down my throat, the calloused pad of his thumb brushed the corner of my mouth, and his eyes darkened.

"More?"

I shook my head. "Aren't you... don't you have work today?"

"Nothing is more important than you."

Kai set the glass down and suddenly unfastened the buttons of his jacket.

I watched him drape it over the foot of the bed. Under the white shirt his muscles were firm and strong, with a heavy male presence to them.

He braced both hands on either side of my bed and shut me completely inside his shadow.

"You've lost your memory, Fay." His voice was hoarse. "You forgot how we came together. You forgot how I... took you for myself, piece by piece."

"I..."

My breathing quickened. I opened my mouth, but I didn't know what to say.

"But that's all right." Kai leaned in to my ear with a low, rough laugh in his voice. "Forgetting is fine. We can start over. This time I'll make sure you can never leave me."

The words sent a shiver through my whole body, and by instinct I wanted to shrink back — but he suddenly seized my chin and forced me to look up at him.

"Don't hide from me." Kai stared down at me. "You never used to hide from me."

"I wasn't..." I explained, flustered. "I'm just not used to it."

"Not used to it?"

Kai narrowed his eyes, and the air around him turned dangerously heavy.

How long passed, I don't know. Then he reached out and pulled me into his arms, a little carefully.

"Sorry," Kai said suddenly, his voice gentle again. "I'm only so afraid of losing you, Fay. While you were unconscious, I nearly went out of my mind."

I let out a breath.

Well, of course. Something like that would frighten anyone.

Taking it as the reaction of a frightened man, I pressed close to him and soothed him quietly, "I'm all right now. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

Kai said nothing, only held me tighter.

So tight that even my bones ached.

"Kai."

"Hm?"

"Do you love me?"

It was a silly question.

But with no memory, I really needed reassurance to hold on to.

Kai was quiet for a long while, and then he said a few words, low.

"I do. More than my own life."

At that answer, I smiled, satisfied.

I curled up in his arms, and before long my head went heavy and muddled.

"Sleep." Kai patted my back gently. "I'm here. Don't think about anything."

Drowsiness came.

I leaned against him, my breathing gradually evening out.

In my sleep, I seemed to feel something lightly tracing my collarbone, and the man's hoarse voice by my ear was like something half dreamt.

"Finally... mine."