Chapter 22
Emerson
“I’ve reinforced the windows, doors, locks. Anything you can think of has been reinforced,” he assures me as he sits in the chair, staring at me. The same way he’s been staring at me for hours. This is the first time he’s spoken to me in those hours.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“So you know you can’t escape.”
“And if I try?” I ask.
“You won’t succeed, and I’ll be forced to chain you to the bed again,” he responds calmly.
“So I’m your prisoner?” I sneer at him. A dark smirk crosses his face as he nods his head.
“Exactly like that.”
“What do you plan on doing with me?”
“That’s a loaded question, Em. A part of me wants to make you fall in love with me.”
“And the other part?”
“I don’t want you to see that part,” he says.
“You think I could love you? After what you’ve done to me?”
“What exactly have I done to you, Em? I saved you.”
“So you’re my hero now?” I snap at him. He shakes his head.
“I’m not your hero.”
“Then what are you?”
“I’m the man who is so fucked up by his past he can never see a future, and yet, when he saw you, that’s all he wanted. He wants a future, and he wants it with you.”
“But you drugged me instead of getting to know me,” I remind him. He doesn’t make any sense. If he wanted to get to know me he could have just spoken to me like any other man.
“I drugged you for the sex,” he tells me.
“Then how is that getting to know me?”
“It isn’t. It’s getting a chance to be with you without you seeing the real me.”
“You keep saying that, but you don’t elaborate. Who is the real you, Gannix?” His eyes flash when I say his name for the first time. His hands tighten around the comforter on his bed until his knuckles turn white. Do I really have this effect on him? How is that possible?
“And for now, I can’t.”
“Why?”
“I just can’t, Emerson!” He snaps, shoving to his feet and walking across the room and back to the chair. He sits down and watches me but doesn’t say anything, and I can’t seem to think of anything else to ask him. I want to know what’s so wrong with him. I want to know why he thinks the way he does or why he feels that way and what those women did to him who hurt him so badly. Because he’s hurt, wounded, and I can see that. Someone has hurt him badly.
“What do you do? Can you tell me that?”
“I have companies, security companies. I also own nightclubs,” he tells me.
“Charlie’s,” I whisper. He nods his head, and it all makes sense. That’s how he drugged me. He owns the fucking club. He could have done anything he wanted to me.
“You’re understanding,” he adds.
“Yeah. I am. But I don’t understand why. Why me?”
“Why not you? I see you, and I see a future, Emerson. I see happiness I’ve never had before.”
“With me?” I ask, confused by all of this.
“Yes, with you.”
“And your brother? What’s going to happen with him?” I shiver at the thought of him coming near me again, but judging by the look in Gannix’s eyes right now, there’s no way he’d let him.
“He’ll be dealt with when the time comes.”
“You would kill him for me?” I ask, needing to know just how deep in this shit I am with him.
“Without a second thought.” That shuts me up. I sit back against the wall and just stare at him. It doesn’t make any sense. He’d kill his brother for me? A girl he hardly knows? How does that make any sense?
“How long have you watched me?”
“Years.”
“Years?” I blanch.
“Yes, years.”
“Then why have you never come to me before?”
“The time wasn’t right. At first, I thought you were happy with Brandon. I was going to leave it at that and let you live your life, but then, I saw the sadness in your eyes, the longing, the yearning, and I knew you deserved more.”
“He was a prick who only really cared about himself,” I mumble as I think about our relationship. He wasn’t the best boyfriend, but he didn’t deserve to die, either.
“The last time he made you cry, I lost it. In fact, I tore this very room apart.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t want to see you hurting. Your pain was my pain, Emerson.”
This is all too much. I run my hand through my hair and try to make it all make sense. It doesn’t. None of it. He’s been watching me for years? How have I never noticed? How did I never see it?
“What happens now?”
“I told you already.”
“You’re a murderer. You kill women, kill people in general, and you think I’d fall for someone like you?” I almost laugh in his face, but I see how he looks at me, and he truly believes he can make me fall in love with him.
“Killed women. I don’t plan on doing that anymore,” he adds.
“And that should make me feel better?”
“Yes. You’re the reason I don’t plan on doing it, Emerson.”
“Okay. Say I go along with this fucked up plan of yours. How do you plan on making me fall for you?” I ask this time, needing to hear what he has to say about it. I’ve never fallen in love with anyone before him so I’m curious how he plans on doing that.
“You get to know me. The real me. You spend time with me,” he explains as if that’s the easiest thing in the world.
“But you won’t tell me why you need to drug me to sleep with me?” he shakes his head.
“Not right now. I can’t do that.”
“In time?”
“Possibly.”
“So what if I want to sleep with you?” I ask, curious what he’ll say.
“Do you want to sleep with me?”
“No. I’m just asking what would happen,” I answer Gannix as he shoves to his feet and walks toward me. Maybe I shouldn’t have said shit to him because now I can see the darkness in his eyes as he stalks across the room. I tip my head back so I can look up at him as he looms over me. He reaches out and runs his fingers along my lips as my breathing picks up a little.
“What would happen is this. I would have to drug you. Not a lot. Just enough so you don’t see what I don’t want you to see. Then I’d take you and fuck you just the way you like. I’d make you come, make you tremble, and beg for more. I’d give into every dark fantasy I have, and I’d make you love every minute of it.” My eyes are locked with his as my lips part, and he slowly slips two fingers into my mouth. Without thinking about it, I close my mouth and suck his fingers.
Gannix bites his lip as he watches me and I don’t think I’ve seen anything sexier than that in my life. I keep sucking as I see his cock growing harder in his jeans. With my free hand, I reach over and place my hand on it, slightly squeezing. Gannix groans loudly, his cock jerking in my hand.
“You have to be careful, baby. I might think you really want me,” he warns huskily. He’s right. I do want him, but not in the way he wants. He wants me to love him, but all I want is the sex. So I suck his fingers harder before he pulls them free and leans down quickly, taking my lips with his.
He kisses me like I’ve never been kissed before. My insides tremble, and heat builds in my core. My pussy begs for more, but as quickly as he is there, he pulls away from me.
I stare up at him as my chest rises and falls rapidly. Gannix reaches into his pocket and pulls out a key, reaching across me and unlocking the cuff, freeing my arm. He’s already removed the IV yesterday since the antibiotics worked like they were supposed to.
“There’s clothing in the bathroom as well as female products for you to use,” he says before stepping back and giving me space.
“I can get up?”
“You’re free to roam, but as I said, don’t try to escape because I’ll know.” I nod my head, just happy to be able to get off this damn bed. I shove to the edge and attempt to stand, but my legs nearly give out. Gannix catches me easily and steadies me on my feet. “Take it slow. You’ve been down for a while.” I nod my head, my hand resting on his shoulder as I steady myself. When I feel okay, I let go and make my way naked to the bathroom. He’s seen me naked before, so why be shy about it now?