And God, I wanted things from him I never let myself want. I didn’t have time for boys, didn’t want the sleazy men who thought maybe they could get me at the hotel, but he definitely wasn’t a boy and I got the sense he’d break more than fingers if anyone tried to touch me the way those businessmen did.
I should have looked away. I should have stopped staring. Should have walked on, but my feet were rooted to the spot.
The sudden slippery wetness dampening my knickers told me that I didn’t want to fight him and I was halfway appalled that my body was so ready for a total stranger to take me. But I couldn’t deny it. I’d have spread my legs for him in an instant. I could practically feel myself ovulate on sight.
I had never seen anyone I’d been so instantly attracted to. It was like we were two halves of the same whole, and the force pulling us together was stronger than an electromagnetic wave.
Whoever he was, that man was no builder. He moved with too much purpose. Like some kind of big cat stalking its prey. If I was it, I was totally done for. But what the hell did he want with me?
I swallowed hard. No doubt, he was trouble. He had it written all over him. I should have been petrified, but I wasn’t.
The hiss of the bus doors opening right in front of me nearly gave me a heart attack, and I stepped back, trying not to let it show on my face how rattled I was. Mentally I shook myself as I got on board, swiping my Oyster Card, giving the driver a tight smile as the reader beeped to deduct my fare.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I never fancied anyone. Didn’t let myself. But that man made me want to do things I’d never even let myself think about before. His eyes were dangerous, but I didn’t care. Some stupid part of me was suddenly thinking about what it would be like to have a family of my own again, to be with someone who’d never let anyone in this world hurt me.
Ridiculous, when I’d spent the last three years of my life proving I didn’t need anybody at all. Maybe that was just because until I’d seen him, there wasn’t anyone I trusted to keep me safe except myself. One look from him, and I had no doubts he’d do whatever it would take.
Maxim
It was a stupid risk to show myself outside her home. Especially after shooting through her window.
I’d been on edge all night, barely getting any sleep on the narrow cot bed I folded out in the middle of the building site in the mansion block opposite her home. I kept waking up, thinking she’d called the police, that I could hear sirens, or worse, the careful tiptoeing of a CO19 team or an anti-terror squad moving into place, armed to the eyeballs and ready to take me down.
They’d be so lucky. I was ready for whatever came and I always was. I wasn’t planning on going down, and they’d have a fight on their hands while I made my exit.
The only worry I had was that I’d spooked Elizabeth.
But come morning there was no sign of any of that and my worries about what she thought seemed unfounded.
She must have had a plan for that bullet, an idea of what she was going to do, but I was still none the wiser.
Professionally, I knew that showing my face only gave her a suspect to ID. It should have been the most stupid move to make, but as soon as I saw her, face to face, I knew she wasn’t going to do that.
She’d felt the spark between us, I was sure of it. And that chemistry had power. There was no denying it. The way she let her eyes linger, and the tint to her skin, soft and pale, made my cock harden even though I was doing my best to keep my cool.
As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t march on over and snatch her up, steal her away from everything. Not without her going ballistic.
But God it was good to know it wasn’t all one sided. She looked at me like she wanted me to do my worst and I’d gladly have taken her up on that. I couldn’t wrap my head around how she could be so innocent, yet so fierce. She was devastatingly curious and I was more than fascinated. I’d been at her mercy for weeks, it didn’t matter that now she had a reason to call the police if she was going to. That wasn’t going to hold me back.
Nothing could have.
Whatever happened, I needed to meet her. I needed to know for sure that this was more than an obsession stemming from watching her day in and day out.