Chapter 21 #3
It takes a moment for his words to sink in.
I blink at Jed, confused, and run our conversations through my head.
“Why would I be here…if I didn’t want to be?
” I ask, eyes narrowed. “I could’ve told the cops.
Or not stalked Wren to his work. Or not come here.
Or, hell, I could’ve chickened out and gone home.
I surprised you. You didn’t have those options.
If anyone here is in a place to reject someone, it’s—”
He doesn’t let me finish. Jed grabs my hips, pulling me round until he can shove me against the side of his Jeep as his lips slam into mine with all the finesse of a badly tuned piano crashing down from a fifth story roof.
I gasp at the contact, and Jed takes the opportunity to slip his tongue between my teeth, tasting every part of me like he doesn’t know what I had for dinner.
“Fuck, princess,” he purrs, finally pulling away. “Fuck. I just don’t want to force you, or make you think—”
This time I’m the one who closes the distance between us, with my hands looped around his shoulders to yank him back to me. I kiss him hard, nipping at his lower lip in a way I know will make him moan. He does, of course, and I swallow the sound happily.
“I missed you,” I tell him, glad the darkness hides my blush. “I feel crazy, because I’ve only known you for, what, a week? Like, I shouldn’t feel this way about you, right?”
His laugh is low and grating. “Don’t ask me that, Saylor,” the serial killer growls against my jaw.
“Because I’ve wanted to keep you since the moment I laid eyes on you.
I don’t know if it’s love. Maybe I’ve always been too fucked up for that.
But whatever this is? I’ve known it since the moment I met you. And it’s forever.”
“You say that,” I murmur, hating how unsure I feel. “But you don’t know—”
“I know,” he assures me. “Trust me, okay? I know.” When he talks like that, I have no choice but to believe him. Not with the certainty that laces his tone.
When I pull away, however, whatever I was going to say is lost in my shriek.
That’s the only thing that saves Jed from getting smacked by the baseball bat being swung in his direction.
He whirls, one hand out, and somehow catches the bat, then wrestles it away from the man.
His other hand grabs mine, pushing me behind him so I’m up against the wall.
“You did it.” The man wavers, looking drunk and unsteady on his feet. His voice is somewhere between a whine and a growl, and I can see him bare his teeth in the low light. “You fucking killed him.”
The smell of alcohol hits me and I recoil, nose scrunched in disgust, but Jed doesn’t move.
“Get lost,” he states, one hand still on me as if he needs to know where I am at all times. “I don’t know who you are, but you’re drunk and lost. So keep moving, okay? Before I make this the worst night of your fucking life.”
The man sways harder, his eyes unfocused.
He’s drunk as hell, and the bat seems forgotten, now that it’s no longer in his flexing hands.
“Fuck you, man,” he growls. “I know what you did. I know how fucked up you…monsters are.” He spits the word at Jed, who doesn’t flinch.
“If Tyson were here…” Jed stiffens at that, but the man takes that opportunity to stagger into a brighter part of the parking lot, away from the two of us.
“The police told me about him,” I whisper, my fingers wrapped around Jed’s wrist. “I think that’s the guy’s brother. From the preserve.”
“Yeah,” Jed agrees, his eyes trained on the drunk man. “Yeah, I think it is, too. They certainly smell the same.” He bares his teeth like a dog, then shakes his head as if to clear it. “Come on. I’ll take you back to your car, and—”
“Actually.” I have no idea what I’m doing. Especially now, with my heart racing and adrenaline pumping through my veins. “I was thinking, uh. My apartment kind of…is awful. And my upstairs neighbors are loud.”
Jed spares me a glance, one brow raised as the drunk man continues on his way. “Are you asking what I think you are?” he murmurs, and I swear I see the hint of a smile on his lips.
“Depends,” I reply. “Can we call it kidnapping again? Only, maybe don’t put me with the bleeding body this time. If I’m allowed to make that request.”
A snort of a chuckle meets my ears, Jed shakes his head. “Tell you what,” he says, eyes trained on the man who’s now making his way back in our direction. “Why don’t I pick you up? Give me just a few minutes. I want to uh, discourage Mr. Miller here from ever darkening our doorstep again.”
I hesitate, my fingers still on his wrist, before I get the courage to ask, “Are you going to kill him?”
Slowly, Jed shrugs, and only gives me a look before saying, “Only if I have to.” But I don’t get anything better from him.
In the next second he’s urging me toward the well lit customer parking lot, and the last thing I see is him slowly stalking closer to the brother of Tyson Miller, just like the version of him that hunts through my darkest fears.