Chapter 33
Kennedy
“Mmm,” I moan in contentment as I lay back against Dae’s strong chest. We’re in his bathtub, soaking after that insane romp in his office.
We left before I got the opportunity to formally introduce Dae to my brother and cousin.
The tension in my muscles begins to dissolve when Dae wraps his arms around me. Steam from the water rises around us.
“You ripped my dress,” I tell him with my eyes closed.
“So?”
I elbow him, making him grunt, but he doesn’t loosen his hold on me.
“What color do you want your new dress to be?” he asks.
“Lavender,” I reply without thinking.
“Done.”
“Make it a summer dress,” I add.
“As long as you don’t wear panties with it.”
As soon as he says the word panties, my mind flashes back to him ripping the pair I wore earlier.
“I still can’t believe you wear my freaking underwear like they’re damn handkerchiefs.”
He dips his head and nips my earlobe with his teeth before saying, “It’s how I keep you close to me at all times.”
A shiver runs down my spine. His voice is so possessive and full of ownership. A part of me wants to buck against it, to rebel against being owned by anyone, but the words won’t come out. It’s as if every part of me already knows that I belong to him. I’ve told him as much during sex. Screamed it from the top of my lungs.
I peer over my shoulder at him. His eyes are closed, and his head is leaning against the wall. He looks content and satisfied, but not completely relaxed.
“You know that’s strange, right?”
He opens one eye and raises an eyebrow.
“Wanting me with you at all times. It’s a little … obsessive,” I tell him.
Both eyes open. He takes my chin in his hands. “You haven’t figured it out by now?”
“Figured what out?”
“I’m utterly, irrevocably, and completely obsessed with you, Kennedy.”
The ferocity with which he says the words steal the air from my lungs. The intensity in his eyes mirrors the tone in his voice. I tuck my bottom lip between my teeth when it dawns on me.
Dae looks at me like I’m the center of his world. Like he would place the world at my feet if I even hinted that’s what I wanted.
That type of intensity is heady. I release a shaky breath.
“How long have you been obsessed with me?” My voice comes out so low.
His already dark eyes darken even more. “Longer than you’re ready to hear.”
I swallow. I don’t know what that answer means, but I believe him. For once, I’m unsure, but I want to know the answers to the questions swirling around in my head.
We remain silent for a long while, staring at one another.
Dae finally breaks the silence, saying, “Read me something.”
I wrinkle my forehead.
“What?”
“Read to me.”
“What do you want me to read?” I ask, thrown off by the question.
“One of your favorite articles. Written by you,” he adds. “You have some saved on your phone.”
He juts his head toward the counter where both of our phones sit. He reaches a long arm out for my phone and hands it to me.
“How did you know?”
“Lucky guess.”
I open the file where I keep a few articles and scroll through them. A smile touches my lips when I come to one in particular.
“Are you sure you want me to read this?” I glance back at him.
He gives me a deadpan expression with lifted eyebrows. Of course he’s serious.
He moves his hands from my waist to my breasts and begins kneading them. A sigh spills from my lips. He pinches one of my nipples.
“Read,” he instructs.
I lay my head back against his chest and open the article. “This one is a favorite,” I explain. “I was on a team of reporters. We came to find out about the principal of a school a couple of counties away, who was actually running a drug ring.”
I shake my head in disgust.
“The Real Life Walter White,” I read the headline aloud. Then I snort. “I always disliked this headline.”
“Why?” Dae asks.
“Because, at least in the beginning, Walter White had a reason to start making and selling drugs. This guy was just greedy.” I shake my head. I start reading the article. “The hallways of Lincoln Hill High look a lot different than they did a year ago …”
I pause as I remember interviewing the school’s parents, students, and teachers. It took months to gather the information and proof that a highly respected principal, who was touted as zero-tolerance when it came to bullying and drugs, was the biggest criminal in the school.
“What remains to be seen is how the adolescents who fell into Meyers’ twisted trap …” I trail off when I hear Dae reading the words from behind me.
“I thought you wanted me to read to—” I stop when I turn around and see his eyes are closed.
He continues to state the article word for word, with his eyes closed. I read as he speaks.
“H-How are you doing that with your eyes closed?”
His hands move from my breasts to my waist. Dae slowly peels his eyes open. “I told you I’ve read everything you’ve ever written.” A smile crests on his ridiculously handsome face. “And I have an excellent memory.”
I glance down at my phone and back up at him. “You couldn’t have possibly memorized every word of this article.”
That would be impossible.
“This one and every other article you’ve written, baby.” He plucks the phone out of my hand.
I’m too stunned to move as he places my phone back on the counter. “How is that possible?”
I fully turn to him, sitting on my knees between his splayed legs. I do my best to ignore his erection.
“How could you have memorized all of my articles? My mom, who reads and collects my articles, hasn’t done that.”
My mom has a paper file where she stores all of my articles.
He leans forward, taking my waist in his hands before kissing my neck. “I told you, I’m obsessed with you.”
My eyelids slowly fall closed. He’s not just saying it, either. Dae is not referring to the cute obsession one refers to when discovering a new favorite music artist or a new restaurant you just have to order from once a week.
No.
This is a real type of obsession. The kind that drives men to do insane things.
I pull back to look him in his eyes. He meets my stare, allowing me to see the wide range of emotions running through them. There’s a fire that burns so damn hot in those dark pools that, not for the first time, fear of being burned alive by this man rises inside of me.
Run!
The sane part of my mind screams at me to get the hell out of this now. To get out of this bathtub, put my clothes on, and run back to the safety of my apartment.
Yet, another part of me knows that he’ll still find me even if I do that. The look in Dae’s eyes tells me everything I need to know. I can’t get rid of him or his obsession that easily.
Do I want to?
“Does that scare you?” he asks, his lips right next to my ear before he runs his teeth against that vein in my neck that throbs whenever he’s close.
“Yes,” I hiss out, and a full-body shudder runs through me. Then I think better of it. “No … it should s-scare me,” I stutter out.
He cups my face. “You don’t ever have to be afraid of me, baby. I told you that.” His eyes don’t move. He keeps my gaze paralyzed on him. “You’re going to be my wife one day soon, Kennedy. You have nothing to fear with me.”
He crushes his lips to mine. Not that I had any response ready. Words stick in my throat. My logical mind wants to protest against his declarative statements.
But that stupid muscle in my chest melts. At this moment, I start to realize that Dae has stolen my heart—not a piece, not a part, not even half.
All of it.
My heart belongs to him.
I don’t know when it happened. If the robbery occurred all at once or little by little. Nor does he give me time to contemplate it when he lifts me by the waist, forcing my legs apart to straddle him. Then he slams me down onto his shaft.
I throw my head back and let out a low moan. My hips move on their own, grinding against him. Dae moves his thumb to provide my clit with the stimulation it needs.
“Say you belong to me,” he demands through clenched teeth.
I press my lips tightly together to prevent the words from coming out. I’ve said them already tonight. Why does he need me to repeat them?
“Say it, Kennedy!” he orders. He moves his hands from my hips to my ass, squeezing my cheeks and moving my hips in a rhythm he wants. He balances his arms on either side of the bathtub to give himself leverage to raise his hips to meet mine on every downstroke.
“Dae,” I whisper before clenching my lips again.
“That’s it,” he coos. “You want to say it, but that fucking stubbornness is getting in your way.”
My breath is stolen when he surges upward. He pushes so deeply inside of me that I swear I feel him everywhere.
“Say it!” he growls.
“I’m …” I bite my lower lip.
“Finish the fucking sentence.”
“Y-Yours,” I rattle out when he surges into me. At the same time, his thumb pushes against my clit again.
I splinter apart. Sensations of pleasure shoot everywhere in my body. It almost becomes too much. A loud noise reverberates in my ears, and it takes too long to realize that it’s the sound of my own screams.
I yell so much that when I finally come down from my orgasm, my throat is sore, and my voice hoarse.
“That’s my little warrior,” Dae says as he pulls me against his chest.
My body is spent and completely satiated after he’s fucked me ruthlessly for the second time tonight. As I willingly lay against his hard, sweaty chest, the last feeling I should have invades my body.
Safety.
With his strong arms tightly holding me to him, I feel utterly and completely protected.
I know my heart is in danger.
Yet, I’m too far gone to do anything about it.