Chapter 17
ROMEO
> Trigger: fucking her relentlessly.
> Status: system destabilizing.
> Data: extracted vocalization of my name.
> Risk: exposure imminent.
> Action: scale claiming parameters.
It’s not like I didn’t already know I was deranged, but this is a new level of twisted, even for me. Fucking Gabi is one thing. Torturing confessions out of her is another.
I’m leaving her breadcrumbs like it’s a full-time job and she’s clocking in overtime, talking herself out of the truth. She’s made the connections, but she’s still clinging to the illusion like armor.
Letting her have that alternate reality was always the plan, as if it makes this situation any less fucked up. But as I toss her over my shoulder and carry her off as my cum-filled captive, I’m living in my own delusion—one in which I don’t have to stop this insanity.
We pass through a staged cemetery, and Gabi’s head swivels as I carry her past a couple fucking over one of the headstones.
“Where are we going?” Her voice jostles as she bounces with every step.
“Somewhere I can finish you off.”
She shivers against me, getting off on my threat like the little deviant she is. I’m convinced that if there is a higher power, he created her to test me. First, he cursed me with an incurable attraction for this singular woman. Then he gave her desires custom-made to appeal to my depraved nature.
Hunting her: check.
Scaring her: check.
Marking her: triple check.
Throw in the portable girlfriend factor and my inability to stop dragging her around like a caveman, and I’m fucked.
Statistically speaking, I have a 99.9% chance of being annoyed by almost everyone I encounter. She’s the anomaly—someone I actually want to spend time with. She’s also the one person I shouldn’t be spending time with.
A thought I conveniently choose to ignore as I haul her toward the track-guided water taxis that will take us through the man-made canal to the other side of the property.
Before we get on, I set Gabi on her feet and tug my hoodie off, leaving me in a long-sleeve Henley as I pull the hoodie over her. She’s practically drowning in it, which is good, because it will keep her warm for a while.
The attendant greets us, holding the vessel steady as I step inside with Gabi and take a seat, settling her onto my lap. She shifts her legs so they’re dangling over one of mine, peering into the dark tunnel ahead of us.
“Where does it go?”
“Guess you’ll find out.”
She nods, unbothered as she settles back against me and the taxi glides forward, beginning our journey.
We drift into the tunnel, water sloshing against the sides of the boat as darkness entombs us. I warm Gabi’s thighs with my hands before taking hers in mine. It’s getting cool out, and after the adrenaline crash, she’ll notice it soon.
“Cold yet?” My lips brush against her ear.
“I’m okay for now.” She snuggles deeper into me with a happy sigh. “I’ll just wear you like a sweater.”
“Now who’s the creep?”
She huffs out a laugh. “Takes one to know one.”
“Fair point.”
She closes her eyes for a rest, and I let her have her cat nap until we reach the other side of the tunnel. I don’t know what time it is, but I’m not planning to leave here until I’ve made good on my promise. When she wakes up tomorrow, I want to know she’s been thoroughly fucked and marked by me.
We exit the water taxi, and Gabi’s eyes light up as her attention snags on the rides and games.
She’s already drifting that direction before I stop her and take her into one of the couple’s bathrooms to get us both cleaned up.
As I do, I catch her studying my jawline and painted neck, and I don’t have to guess what she’s wondering.
I distract her with a kiss that turns me feral again before I force myself to break away. I need to pace myself before I work her over too much.
I’ve wanted her for so long, now that I’ve had her, the primal part of my brain insists I need to make up for lost time and fuck her until there’s nothing left inside me.
But that isn’t the only purpose for tonight.
I wanted her to have this experience, as if in some fucked up way, it could erase the last one we had together the day of the lightning strike.
She used to love going to the fair, and I know she hasn’t been back since.
This one might be a slightly more deranged version, but it appeals to her love of Halloween and horror without dredging up too many of the similarities she’d rather forget.
When we walk out of the bathroom, she casts a longing look at the rides again.
“Which one first?” I ask.
“You’re really going to go on them with me?”
“Someone has to keep you from falling off.”
She laughs and acknowledges it with a shrug. “I am highly uncoordinated.”
I take her hand in mine and lead her over to the small coaster. There aren’t many rides, so we make the rounds fairly quickly before Gabi pauses to glance at the big wheel with cages hanging from each arm.
“What about that one?”
“That one’s for later.”
A tremor of excitement zips down her arm and into the hand I’m holding as she nods. “So what now?”
“Sustenance.”
I lead her to the food hall and order one of everything sweet, holding the cotton candy hostage as I lay the rest out for her at one of the tables.
“We can’t possibly eat all this,” she muses.
“No, but you can try.”
I sit back and watch as she bites into the caramel apple first, licking her lips in a way that makes my cock uncomfortably hard all over again.
I still remember the first time I watched her do that, and I silently vowed that I would buy her caramel apples every chance I got.
I was a teenager with raging hormones then, but not much has changed in that regard.
“Aren’t you going to have any?” Gabi rips off a piece of funnel cake and pops it into her mouth. “Or are you just going to stare at me like a serial killer all night?”
“I like staring at you.” I smirk. “Can’t help that I look like a serial killer when I do it.”
A blush colors her cheeks as she shakes her head and shoves the basket of mini donuts in my direction. When I don’t touch them, she sighs.
“Let me guess. You live off the blood of humans?”
“Something like that.”
“Well, you’re giving me a complex.”
I eat one to appease her, and eventually she fills up, and we toss the rest except for the cotton candy.
When I take her to the row of games, she pauses in front of the shooting gallery, a distant expression in her eyes as she swallows hard.
It’s a safe bet she’s remembering when I won her that threadbare stuffed animal on her bed.
I squeeze her hand in mine, and she offers me a nervous smile as I drag her up to the booth.
“Ready for a game?”
“I’ll watch,” she says.
I nod, and the attendant hands me the air-powered pellet gun, then flips a switch to initiate the game. I fire off shots, pellets rattling into the trough beneath the counter as I methodically take down each moving target. The bell rings with every hit until there are none left.
“Wow,” Gabi hums.
The female attendant looks me over like I’m her next meal as she leans over the counter, showing off the tits in her corset.
“That was really impressive. I don’t think anybody’s ever taken them down that fast.”
I turn to face Gabi, stifling my amusement when I catch her shooting the attendant an irritated look.
Pressing my fingers to her jaw, I tilt her face until her attention’s on me.
“Which one do you want?”
“What?”
“The prizes.”
“Oh.” She blinks, glancing up at the giant stuffed animals hanging overhead. She bites her lip as she considers it, then her gaze settles on the shark. “That one.”
I jerk my head at the attendant, and she hesitates like she doesn’t want to give it to her. It pisses me off, so I reach up and yank it down myself, handing it over to her.
“Thank you,” Gabi says primly, casting an icy smile at the attendant. “My boyfriend is so thoughtful, isn’t he?”
The attendant doesn’t answer, and I laugh at my possessive little monster as we head off to the next booth.
“Boyfriend, huh?”
“Well, honestly, it’s annoying. How many women just stare at you like that? I mean, I get it, you’re super hot, but I’m literally standing right next to you.”
“Super hot, hmm?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know it,” she huffs. “You’re like a walking advertisement for bad decisions.”
I give her a look, and she rushes to overexplain like she usually does, which only pleases me more. I like seeing her all twisted up in knots over me.
“I mean, in the 'oh, look there’s a bad boy who’s definitely going to break my heart,' kind of way. Not that you’re going to break my heart, because we’re casual, obviously. I just mean—”
She gets flustered, and I stop to kiss her as she lets out a grunt of frustration.
“If it comes so easy to you, why haven’t you been with anyone else before?” she asks.
“Because I never wanted anyone else.”
She seems to have trouble accepting that answer, but it’s not a lie. I could have left the island and found a meaningless fuck, but there was nothing about that option that appealed to me.
They wouldn’t be her.
“It’s just hard to believe you could have your pick of anyone, and you’d choose me,” she says. “I’m nothing special.”
“Hey.” My thumb grazes her chin. “Don’t talk about my girlfriend like that. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty protective of her.”
A hint of a smile tugs at her lips. “Girlfriend, hmm?”
“There was never a competition, Praeda. Nobody else could ever compare.”
She swallows and forces a nod.
“Okay…well, I’ll try not to get worked up when other women throw themselves at you.”
“Get as worked up as you like,” I murmur the words against her lips. “Lay claim to me then and there.”
A quiet laugh escapes her. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“You have no idea.”