Chapter 6
Six
Rook
Fuck, Briana’s precious. I’m kind of surprised by how easily she went back to sleep. Probably because of those damn pills she takes. By the time I get home and open the app to see her through the camera, she’s asleep again.
Even more shocking, I also sleep well. I rarely sleep through the night. Most of the time, I end up pacing, my mind running in every direction. There’s something about the dark that brings out another side of me. A restless side. Thoughtful.
I know I’m a bit warped. It’s a result of my upbringing. It molded me into the man I am today.
When the sun is up, I think I’m fairly normal to most people. I do all of the things regular folks do. I do my job. I’m friendly and personable. I get along with people, even though I rarely feel the desire to befriend them.
I have all the friends I need. My roommates and I are close.
We’re like brothers. We call each other brothers.
We met through circumstances none of us cares to speak of, but that experience caused us to bond as a family.
We understand each other. Our quirks. Our odd needs.
There are five of us, and in numbers there is strength.
After getting up earlier than Briana, I’m dressed, caffeinated, and fed before sitting at my desk to watch her.
Maybe I’m a pervert for doing this. I’ve never put a camera in anyone’s home before.
This is a first. I also haven’t told my friends.
They don’t know I’m stalking this girl. I can’t tell them yet. I’m breaking the rules.
When her alarm goes off, she slaps snooze and rolls over.
I’m not fond of this practice. She should learn to get up the first time it goes off.
In fact, if she managed her time better and went to bed earlier every night, she wouldn’t need an alarm at all.
I rarely use one. I can’t even remember the last time my alarm went off before I woke up.
I need to pick my battles, though. Her wake-up routine isn’t my primary concern yet. I need to focus on more pressing things like her slovenliness and eating habits. I’ve watched her eat chips and cookies at her desk. I’m not sure she always has actual meals.
About twenty seconds after hitting the snooze, Briana shocks me by sitting upright as if jolted awake. She looks around the room in a panic. That’s when it occurs to me that she’s just remembered our chat in the night.
Good. I’m glad I’m the first person she’s thinking of this morning.
She pushes the covers back and swings out of bed to rush over to her desk. After grabbing the piece of paper I left, she holds it in front of her face for a long time. Reading, of course.
Finally, she slowly sets it back down and continues to stare at it. Is she memorizing it? I want to know what she’s thinking, but I don’t want to start bombarding her with texts and calls just yet. I don’t want to scare her off.
I really like this girl.
A lot.
I wasn’t kidding her when I said I think we have potential. I felt even stronger about that after spending time with her last night.
When she turns around, she pauses again before slowly picking up the pile of clothes I stacked neatly on her desk chair. She brings it to her nose next, and my heart skips a beat. Is she trying to scent me?
Fuck, that’s hot.
I hate how long she’s in the bathroom. I also hate that she takes the clothes with her and changes where I can’t see her.
I’ve already seen her naked body plenty of times.
I get a hard-on every time. Her tits are fucking perfection.
Small, high, and perky with little rose-colored nipples.
I’ve dreamed of suckling them, of her writhing in my arms while I do so.
I hope I get the opportunity soon, but first, she needs to learn to obey me and accept that she’s mine.
Is she? I draw in a deep breath. Fuck, I hope so. I hope this works out because I’m already thinking of Briana as mine.
When she comes out of the bathroom, she’s dressed in exactly what I left out for her.
Her hair is in a high ponytail. “Good girl.” I really like ponytails.
Every time I see her hair that way, I think of fisting it in my hand to pull her head back.
Not in anger. In lust. Will she like that? I’m not sure yet.
I wish the camera I installed had sound.
Maybe I can install something else to pick up noises.
It didn’t really occur to me that it would be necessary.
After all, she’s alone in her room. Who would she be talking to?
But she is talking. To herself. It’s adorable.
I think she’s grumbling as she sits at her desk and leans over my list again.
She looks around the room for a long time. Suddenly, she picks up her phone—the one I plugged into her charger last night. The naughty girl would have gone to class with a dead battery if I hadn’t helped her out.
It seems she’s reading a text, and then she types out a reply. My chest tightens. Who’s texting my girl? It doesn’t sit well with me. I need to chill. I can’t totally isolate her. I’ll end up smothering her and ruin our bourgeoning relationship.
Next, she makes the terrible mistake of ignoring my order to tidy up her room before heading to class. I gave her an extra half hour to do so. She’s blatantly defying me by grabbing her bookbag and rushing out of the room.
I’m not mad, though. I’m perfectly calm.
It’s understandable that she’s going to test me.
Girls need to test their Daddies sometimes.
She’s new to this concept. I’m actually rather pleased that she’s chosen to misbehave about one of the first instructions I’ve given her. I doubt she’ll do so again tomorrow.
My confidence that I’m right about her needing a firm hand is growing. She just made a decision she will pay for with her bottom.
I should have cloned her phone last night. If I had, I would be able to know who she’s talking to. I will tonight. It will ease my mind in the future. I’ll also add a GPS locator so I can always see where she is. For safety reasons.
Ha.
I can call it safety if I want, but as far as she’s concerned, right now I’m simply her stalker. To a certain extent, she’s right. I’m jealous of whoever she just texted. I want to consume her so much that all her time is mine.
Itching to text her myself, I refrain. She might not remember that I told her I programmed myself into her phone. I’ll wait a while and text her between classes. Lord knows I’m well aware of her class schedule.
After checking my email, I shove back from my desk and grab my leather satchel. I need to get to campus soon, too. I have a computer science class to TA in an hour.
First, I stop at the kitchen to put my coffee mug in the dishwasher.
I’m pleased to see that the room is spotless.
The best thing about living with the four friends who occupy this house is that we all agree about cleanliness.
There’s a reason for that. And we’re not just roommates who happened upon each other recently.
We go way back. We have secrets no one would want to know.
Secrets we share that don’t begin to compare with our silly freshman prank game. That’s child’s play.
As I turn to head for the front door, I hear voices. One of them is my roommate Silver. The other is a woman. And then I stop dead. It’s not just any woman. It’s Briana. I’m certain of it.
Heart racing, I can’t move. Did she find me? How the fuck is that possible? What is she doing here? Eventually, I manage to shuffle in that direction, my intention to hear what she’s saying better.
A thought goes through my mind. I wonder if there’s any chance one of my roommates also happened to prank the same girl. I can see why. She’s stunning. But this campus is huge. The chances of that are slim to none.
The last thing I saw her do was look at her incoming texts and respond. She didn’t look shocked. She simply left her house. I need to chill. She can’t have found me.
Plastered to the wall around the corner from the front room that would have been a parlor a hundred years ago, I listen.
“Shit, Silver. This place is nice. Do you have a cleaning service or something?” She giggles, the sound making my cock hard. What the fuck is she talking to Silver for? Does she know him?
Silver laughs. “No. I’m tidy.”
“Do you live here alone? Your place is huge.”
“Nope. I live with four other guys. Want to sit? I can make you some coffee, or maybe you like tea?”
“I’ll have coffee, but only if you make it half cream and sugar.” Her voice dances around, bouncing off the walls, seeming to fill the entire house with joy.
I can’t stand not knowing why she’s here, so I take a chance and step around the corner, shrugging my satchel higher on my shoulder as if I’m ready to leave the house. Which I am.
Silver turns at the sound of my entrance. He smiles. “Hey. I don’t think you’ve met my sister yet, right? You weren’t here when she came by the other day.”
All the breath leaves my lungs.
His sister…
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I pull myself together. “Nope. Haven’t had the pleasure.
” I close the distance, holding out a hand, a socially appropriate thing to do.
For me, it’s a learned gesture. I wasn’t born understanding social norms like other people, but I’ve adapted.
I blend in well now. Years of training. So much training.
“Hi,” she says, her tone friendly. “Briana. Everyone calls me Bri. Nice to meet you.”
“Rook. Nice to meet you, too, Briana.” I fucking hate the nickname Bri, but inside I’m smirking at the fact that she’s wearing the clothes I set out for her and that she has no fucking idea I’m her stalker. Her expression is blank. Her pulse is normal.
Silver mumbles something about going to get coffee and leaves me alone with his sister.
I admit, it’s only a vague memory in the back of my head that Silver told us he had a sister who would be attending the university this fall.
I let that information slide right by me because why would I care?
I hadn’t expected her to come to the house, though I suppose I probably should have.
But more importantly, what the hell are the chances that I would have picked her for the freshman prank?
Fuck.
This is a messy problem. Granted, it wouldn’t be if I hadn’t broken the rules and continued to stalk my girl. But I did, and I have no intention of stopping. Until I determine there’s some reason we aren’t compatible, she’s mine.
Do I think I’ll be able to keep her forever? No. I’m not relationship material. I barely understand the human mind. I certainly can’t get into the head of a woman. The idea is ludicrous.
And yet, I’m intrigued by Briana. She’s the first woman to ever catch my attention in a lasting way. I want to own her. Make her fully mine.
I’m a smart guy. They say I’m a genius. My IQ is off the charts.
I can do anything related to math without writing it down.
If I hadn’t needed to learn other subjects to satisfy high school and college requirements, I could have been working for the government or any number of high-end, math-related jobs by the time I was six.
But the world doesn’t work that way. It insists that people be well-rounded. So here I am, finally having satisfied the education gods, working on my PhD in computer science.
I’m not delusional. I will never acquire enough life skills to marry and have kids. No one will be able to tolerate me in the long run. I’m kidding myself to think that I could convince Briana to be my girl forever.
But I can’t resist the urge to try. A relationship has never been on my radar before. I’m too intrigued not to attempt to possess her. If nothing else, I will learn more about female humans through this experience.
“Are you a student like my brother?” she asks.
“Yes. Computer science.” I don’t elaborate about the specifics of my PhD. Few people understand.
“Ah, so that’s not the same department as engineering.”
My brows rise. Uh, not even close. “No.” I want to step closer. I want to smell her vanilla-scented hair. I want to lift her shirt and make sure she’s wearing the bra I set out for her.
I search her face. She has no idea who I am. I use a lower, deeper whisper when I’m with her. She’s never heard me speak in my normal voice. If we ever talk on the phone, I’m going to have to disguise my tone. Noted. I’ll work on that. I can do it.
It’s my turn to speak. I have this memorized. I search my mind for appropriate conversational topics in this situation. Ah. “What are you studying, Briana?”
She gives me a slow smile. “Just Bri. No one calls me Briana. And I don’t know yet.”
Internally, I cringe. For one thing, I’m never fucking calling her Bri. For another thing, how the hell does someone go to college not knowing what they want to study? I mean, intellectually I know this is true of most freshmen. I’ve learned that. But it makes no sense to me at all.
Silver returns.
I cringe yet again when I see the nasty substance he hands Briana. She’ll die before she’s fifty if she swallows that much cream and sugar every day. I want to smack it out of her hand so that it spills, but I restrain myself.
She moans as she takes a sip. “This is perfect. Thanks. I hadn’t made it to the kitchen to grab a cup before you texted.”
Her moan makes my cock jump to attention.
I’m mesmerized as she swallows a few more sips.
It’s almost worth letting her have that nasty concoction just to watch her enjoy it.
I want her to make that same sound while doing other activities.
Maybe she could replace the coffee with something less dangerous to her health.
Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I realize I’m just standing here. “I should get going. I have a class.” She does, too, but I can’t point that out, so I give them both a wave and head for the front door.
“Bye. Nice to meet you, Rook,” Briana calls out cheerfully.
I turn back to smile awkwardly. “Nice to meet you, too.”
Well, fuck. That development adds a giant layer of complication I was not anticipating.
I figured there might come a day when I would have to tell my roommates I broke the rules and continued to torment my freshman prank, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect to find out my girl was Silver’s sister.
Fuck.