Yates Carter
Obsession was a funny thing.
The more obsessed and focused you became over something, the more you normalized it. Which was why watching Dahlia’s reaction to my insanity was so damn euphoric. Not only because of the high of exposing this type of secret to her, but also because of the array of intense emotions flashing across her face, surprising me with what it inspired in her. The most shocking and the one that put her in the most danger?
Lust.
Dahlia should have been trying to get out the door behind us. It would be the normal thing to do. Not that I would let her, but I would still commend her efforts. Then again, Dahlia was far from being normal, mundane, or anything that could ever be considered average. No, Dahlia, my bunny, was extraordinary and fascinating, two things she no doubt didn’t consider herself. That was fine. I had more than enough time and ability to focus my attention on proving otherwise. Besides, who else would be the best to convince her than the man who watched her literal every move?
Like a fucking stalker.
I nearly ran a hand over my face and groaned at that thought because there was nothinglikeabout it. I very much stalked Dahlia, and she was no doubt going to think I was absolutely psychotic after this. Did I think she would still love me? That she would say the words I had seen on her lips downstairs? Honestly, I didn’t know.
There was caution and fear I felt towards the notion of her rejecting me, but it was a risk I was taking because I needed her to know what she was committing to. This obsession wasn’t going away, and if anything, it would get worse now that she knew. By telling me that she loved me, it was essentially handing me a free pass, and the woman was smart enough to realize that.
My eyes ran over the way she stood, her hands grabbing my arm that was wrapped around her as her breath caught at my words. I could see a flush on her skin, and I was all too tempted to rip that robe from her body and fuck her over all the surfaces in here. I had imagined it far too many times, and the times that I’d stroked my cock to the video feed of her floating around her house in practically nothing only made the fantasy all that much more real. I wanted to fuck her in here, badly. But I needed to make sure she wasn’t about to lose it after the day she’d had.
Hell, after theweekshe’d had.
Fury threatened to take over my lust for a minute but I shut that down, instead focusing on the way her lips parted as she focused in on a mug that sat on the table.
“That is…”
“Your mug from yesterday,” I hummed knowingly.
“And these cameras…” she whispered.
“All over your house, the rest of Wildberry, as well and pretty much wherever else in town you would go,” I admitted, my lips tracing her neck. “Convenient that everyone trusts me to install security equipment.”
Dahlia blinked up at me and stepped forward out of my grasp as she tilted her head at the screen that was currently set to the guard house. I had all of it transmitted to my phone and other devices, but this was the main hub.
“And what’s this?” she asked, her tongue darting out to touch her lips as she moved to a different screen. I inhaled sharply, trying to not focus on the action or think about how her mouth would feel wrapped around other parts of me. How her lips and tongue would feel against my skin.
“The tracker I have on your car and purse, although you don’t use either as much as I assumed when I put them there,” I admitted.
“Which was when?” she demanded, her eyes darkening with heat.
Fuck.Mad or turned on, it didn’t matter to me. I loved Dahlia worked up, especially if it was because of me.
“These? Replaced the old ones a few months ago.”
“How long have you been…”
“Stalking you?” I chuckled, sitting down at one of the many tables that contained an assortment of Dahlia’s belongings. There were a lot more on the shelves along the walls, right next to the obsessive amount of photos I had of her that I liked to have just for when I was working in here. Somehow made it feel like she was with me.
I tilted my head, trying to remember how and when it had started.
“Honestly, I don’t know.” I watched as she walked the perimeter of the room, looking over everything. “It started with just wanting to make sure that you were safe around freshman year after that one asshole tried to convince you to go to Homecoming and wouldn’t let it go, so I convinced the school to let us pay for a new security system… which I had access to. Then it sort of escalated because I would watch you all day long, going class to class, wanting to make sure no one bothered you.”
“Yates,” she mumbled, seeming to process all of it before turning to look at me. “You acted like you hated me.”
I barked out a laugh and then offered my hand as she hesitantly walked over, relief filling me that she’d still touch me. I spoke in a soothing tone as if I wasn’t showing her what a goddamn psycho I was. “I never hated you, Dahlia. It’s impossible for me to hate you. I’m obsessed with you.”
I stated it casually enough that you would almost not believe that it completely consumed every waking moment of my life. Thatsheconsumed every moment of my life.
“Obsessed with me?” She seemed to try the phrase out on her lips.
I pulled her down on my lap and kissed her neck, speaking softly. “Absolutely consumed. I would take any reaction from you, from happiness to anger, because anything is better than nothing. So if arguing with you got your attention, then we would argue all the fucking time. I love watching how heated you get as it is; you’re fucking stunning when you’re upset or turned on.”