Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Paetyn
I know he’s watching me.
Every day for the past two weeks, I’ve felt his intense gaze no matter where I am. The gym, leaving work, visiting Liam’s parents, whenever I’m at the hospital visiting my mom, or even sitting in the living room with Liam by my side.
He texts me every day, too. Sometimes it’s flirty messages or simple ones asking how my day was. I haven’t replied since Liam caught me texting him during dinner after he threatened to burst into the house and fuck me in front of my fiancé. I could barely look Liam in the eye when he asked who I was texting. I had to play it off that it was Raya.
I couldn’t deny the adrenaline rush coursing through me at the moment, wondering if my captor was crazed enough to make good on his threat. I mean, he kidnapped me, so I’m sure breaking and entering is nothing to him.
Either way, I couldn’t bring myself to respond to any of his text messages. The more I engage with him, as Raya said, the more danger I’m putting myself in. I thought it would be easy to ignore him, but it’s a little hard when I feel his intense blue eyes on me or my heart skips a beat whenever he texts me.
What the hell is wrong with me? This Stockholm Syndrome shit is working overtime right now.
What I want to know is why he hasn’t approached me. He follows every move I make, yet he hasn’t shown his face.
Why?
What is he planning?
Whatever he’s doing has me on edge. I’m constantly looking over my shoulder, wondering if he’s going to be standing there, watching me with his intense gaze. Or will he pop out from the shadows of the trees around my house and break in to tell Liam what happened while he had me held captive? This man is capable of anything.
Not knowing his next move has consumed my mind for weeks. I think Liam is starting to notice something is going on because he has asked multiple times if I need to speak to someone about what happened to me. Each time I tell him I’m fine, but I think we both know I’m not.
He thinks I’m distressed and anxious about my kidnapping, but little does he know I’m on edge because I can’t stop thinking about my captor.
Who is he? And what does he want from me?
All the unanswered questions I have swirling in my mind are slowly but surely driving me crazy.
With a huff, I step out onto the street after a long day at work. I’m finally caught up on all the appointments I missed with clients and am now back on my regular schedule, but I haven’t been sleeping well. Which is understandable given my kidnapper is now stalking me. I can feel the bags under my eyes, and I know they’re more than visible to those around me. But there is nothing I can do about it.
I wrap my coat tighter around my waist and merge with the rush of New Yorkers ready to get home. Liam has finally agreed to let me drive myself to work again, so I’m back to parking in the same lot I normally do, much to his concern, given what happened last time. I managed to ease his mind by reassuring him that if I ever feel unsafe, I will stop driving myself and go back to having a driver.
What Liam doesn’t know is I have felt my stalker's presence behind me for the past seven days I’ve walked to my car. Every time I’ve entered the same alleyway he kidnapped me from, I expect him to come from behind and snatch me away again. But each time he doesn’t, I get the sense kidnapping me isn’t part of his agenda anymore.
So, what is? What does he get out of stalking me? If it’s not to kidnap me, then what?
I don’t understand.
A puff of air swirls around my head as I turn left, beginning the long, tortuous walk down the alleyway. I hold my breath, waiting to feel his presence like I have the past week.
And just like clockwork, I feel him. His eyes burn holes in the back of my head, sending a chill racing down my spine.
I don’t tend to look behind me when I know he’s there because I don’t want to be part of whatever game he’s playing. But today, a buzz hums in my veins, desperate for answers. It’s killing me that I have no idea who this man is, what his name is, or why he’s stalking me. The string holding my sanity and rational thoughts together is a thin thread.
If I don’t say something now, this could go on forever. And I don’t want that. I don’t want to be his prey every night. I don’t want to sit around and wait for him to make the first move.
I’m tired of this goddamn game.
At that moment, the string snaps in half.
With a huff, I whirl around with so much power a rush of air whips around me. He stops walking, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Even in the darkness of the concealed alleyway, the blue in his irises is stark, sending an icy chill down my spine.
For once, he has a jacket over his shoulders, unlike every other time I’ve seen him in nothing but a T-shirt and jeans. The shadows lining the alleyway make it hard to get a good look at his features, but I can make out the shape of his mouth and see his blue eyes glowing as they stare back at me.
If I didn’t know any better, I would assume he was a stranger who happened to be going the same direction as me to get to his car. But I know better. Behind his casual outfit and unassuming stance, I know the intensity lurking in the depths of his eyes. A darkness licks at his sides that should have me running as fast as I can in the opposite direction. He’s a monster hiding in plain sight.
But I don’t run. Not in the opposite direction, at least.
Like a crazy person with a death wish, I clutch my handbag against my side and march toward him, my jaw ticking with determination and the need to get some goddamn answers.
His eyes hold my gaze as he watches me stalk toward him. He makes no move to leave or hide the fact that I caught him watching me. If anything, I see the corner of his mouth turn up in a smirk that has my vision blurring red at the corners.
Who the hell does this guy think he is?
“You,” I start, barely containing the rage simmering beneath my skin. “Who the hell are you, and why are you following me?”
I stop in front of him, adrenaline igniting the blood in my veins as if I am high on drugs, and crane my neck back slightly to look him in the eye. The amused smirk he wears doesn’t waver as he glances down at me, his large mass as still as a statue. I’m by no means trying to intimidate him, which would be impossible given his size, but I’m not leaving until I learn why he’s doing this.
A deep chuckle rumbles in his chest. “Was that supposed to scare me?”
I frown, my teeth gritting together painfully. The fucking audacity of this guy. “If you don’t tell me your name, I will scream.”
The smirk touching his lips deepens. “Don’t tempt me, little bird. Hearing you scream is like music to my ears. It would be better if it were my name tumbling from that pretty mouth of yours.”
“That’s a little difficult when I don’t fucking know what it is.”
Frustration gnaws at my side. Not only because of his stubborn ass making it difficult to get any sliver of information out of him, but because his words have gone straight to my core like a raging fire.
What the fuck is wrong with me? This man kidnapped me and held me captive. I should be afraid of him, not turned on.
“Ace.”
“Ace?” I repeat, my heart thumping harshly at the base of my throat. “That’s your name?”
He nods, his tongue darting out to glide over his bottom lip. “Happy now, little bird?”
I fold my arms over my chest, holding his gaze. “It still doesn’t answer my question of why you’re following me.”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes,” I reply, my frustration growing. It’s like pulling teeth with this guy. “Why have you been stalking me since I was rescued?”
Ace steps forward, his body now inches away from mine. Light streams out from one of the windows in the building beside us, casting his features in a soft glow, nearly knocking the air from my lungs.
I haven’t seen his face since the day I ripped off his mask, desperate to see the man behind my kidnapping. Back then, I couldn’t deny how devastatingly handsome he was. But now, standing toe to toe with him in the darkness of the alleyway, those same feelings of attraction I felt at that moment come rushing back to me like a tidal wave.
My heart slams into my ribcage as he tilts his head to the side, his gaze roaming over the details of my face. “Because I want to, little bird. Ever since the night I took you to that cabin, I haven’t been the same. I tried to tell myself it was nothing, that I would lose interest and move on, but the more I spent time with you, the more I realized I couldn’t stay away from you even if I tried.”
My eyes widen. “Wh-what?”
Ace straightens his spine. “Your innocent eyes drove me fucking crazy. To the point they were all I could see when I closed my eyes. It made me wonder if your body was as innocent, but when you were all but begging me to fuck you with those same eyes, I realized you were anything but innocent.”
“I didn’t beg you to fuck me,” I spit, my blood boiling.
Even as I speak the words, my underwear is damp with desire. It’s fucked up how turned on I am by his words, but I will never admit that to him. I don’t want to feed into his already inflated ego. If anything, I would rather tell him I hated every second I spent with him, but we both know I’d be lying.
Instead, my plan is to ride the denial train until the cows come home.
Ace raises a brow at me. “I would beg to differ. I know what I saw. Your tight little body begged to have me touch it and to fill you with my cock. It’s insulting that you would try to deny it.”
Before I can even open my mouth to respond, I’m forced back against the wall to my right. A gasp explodes from my throat when something thick presses against it. I claw at it as I try to force air into my lungs, but it’s no use.
My eyes clash with the depths of the ocean as they stare back at me. Ace’s warm breath fans across my lips, his face inches from mine. My head is fuzzy from the lack of air but also the woodsy cologne I now associate with him.
Being in his position with his body pressed against mine and his forearm digging into my throat is far too much for me to handle. The fire in my core ignites in a ball of flames, and my lungs burn for air.
If someone were to turn the corner and make their way down the alleyway, they would be in for a shock when they stumble upon us. But even as people rush by the entrance to the alleyway, no one can see us hidden away in the shadows, out of sight. The thought deflates the tension in my shoulders.
The ache in my core is now a throbbing sensation, reminding me of how messed up I am for being turned on by this man pinning me against the wall and restricting my airway. I hate myself for the way I react to him, but I also can’t deny the sense of thrill he gives me.
“Tell me, little bird. Does your fiancé know you fantasize about me when you’re with him?”
My heart slams into my throat. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Ace grins, the sight menacing. “Oh, I think you do.” The back of his fingers graze over the curve of my jaw, sending a tingling sensation across my entire body. “I’ve been watching you for a long time. Every conversation, every kiss, and every goddamn time you let him fuck you, I see it all. But I could see the vacant look in your eyes and sense your lack of interest in that loser.”
He drops his forearm from my throat, allowing me one second to suck air into my lungs before his hand covers my mouth, pinning me against the wall again.
“I knew you were thinking about me, and how my touch lights your skin on fire. When you were bouncing on his cock, you wished it were me instead, didn’t you?”
“You’re sick,” I manage to bite out. But what’s sick is how fucking wet I am.
“I’ll show you how sick I can be, little bird.”
Just when I think he’s going to let me go, his grip around my throat tightens, and our lips clash in a fiery inferno. The moment his lips graze mine, his tongue swiping over my bottom lip, demanding entrance into my mouth, I lose all self-respect. Why? Because I open my goddamn mouth like an obedient dog, relishing in the feel of his tongue sliding against mine.
Maybe I’m the sick one.
The kiss takes me by surprise. When we had sex, Ace never once kissed me or made a move to do so. He mentioned that he doesn’t kiss and tell, so why has he all of a sudden changed his mind?
I come back to the same question I’ve been asking myself since the moment I woke up on that shitty bed in the room I was confined to: why me?
I’m defenseless as I submit to this man, my tongue eagerly tangling with his as he dominates my mouth. I clench my thighs together to ease the throbbing, but it’s a useless effort. My arms hang by my side, unwilling to touch Ace. If I do, then I’m admitting defeat, and I’m far too stubborn to do that.
Ace sucks my bottom lip between his teeth before releasing it, his eyes finding mine in the darkness. A smug grin slips across his face, knowing damn well I enjoyed that kiss far more than I should’ve.
His free hand comes up to my face to rub a thumb over my swollen lips. “You can’t hide from me any longer, little bird. Soon enough, you will be mine. And I’m a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.”
He releases his grip on my throat, leaving me gasping for air. When I lift my head, Ace’s back is to me with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jacket as he walks down the alleyway, joining the unsuspecting crowd of New Yorkers walking by.
With my heart hammering in my throat, I slide my back down the wall until I’m sitting on the ground, my knees pressed against my chest. My head drops into my hands, and I release a frustrated groan.
What the hell is happening? And why am I not scared of the man who kidnapped me?