“Was yesterday the first time you came into my house?” I whisper when my breathing is steady, and my world has stopped spinning. “Now that I think about it, you seemed to know the way to my bedroom last night, and I don’t recall showing you the way.”
He stills at my words. His silence is very telling. Does that mean that he has broken into my house before?
This is crazy.It’s not okay!
I wince at the fact that I’ve not only let Maddox get away with stalking me, but I’ve just rewarded him with my virginity.
Maddox lifts his head and looks into my eyes. “I’m sorry, but… I love you, April. Maybe this isn’t the most ideal way for us to start seeing each other, and I tried to stay away, to be normal, but I failed every time. I would never hurt you. Please give me a chance to prove it.”
He leans down, and I am helpless to resist when his lips capture mine in a hungry kiss. My hands find their way around his neck, pulling him closer to me.
“Please, let me love you,” he whispers against my lips. “I just need a chance to prove it to you, okay?”
“I… I need time to think about this.”
“Take all the time you need. I’ll respect your decision, whatever it is.”
He takes my lips back into his. I am too weak to resist him. While my body begs for more and my heart cries out for the love he is offering, part of me knows that this is not healthy.
Maddox is obsessed with me.
CHAPTER NINE
April
It’s unnerving, the strange looks Bella keeps sending my way. Like someone who wants to say something but keeps holding back. It’s quite obvious she wants to know about my date with Maddox, except there’s nothing to tell.
The date in question didn’t happen. At least not the way I’d imagined it. Funny how after the orgasm-triggered tremors in your body have calmed down, logic slips in.
“You’ve been quiet all day. Did the date not go as expected?” That’s one way of putting it.
Her eyes burn a hole in the side of my head, but I don’t look up. What can I tell her? That the man I’ve had a crush on for weeks is actually a stalker?
She would tell me to run as fast and as far away as I could, and, I mean, I would say the same thing, so why is it such a hard decision for me to make?
Why does the thought of not being with Maddox shoot a stabbing ache into my chest?
“We had sex.” I blurt out. “And not just any kind of sex. It was great, and I just…”
My words trail off as I try to make sense of what it is, exactly, I’m feeling. It’s not enough that we had sex or that he cuddled me right after that. Or the fact that he made me breakfast right before I came to work.
None of that takes away from the fact that he is obsessed with me, enough to stalk me and break into my house.
“I just found out that he is not the person I thought him to be.”
“Why, is he a creep?” I would laugh if it wasn’t the truth. “Or did he say something rude? Did he not tip the waiter, or do you just…”
I tune her out as she tries to come up with probable reasons why I don’t look like someone who just lost their virginity and had the best morning sex known to mankind. Just the memory of everything that happened between us is a turn-on. The thought of not being able to experience that with him is unsettling. But there is more to him beyond how he makes me feel in bed. The way he protected me from David, and how he goes out of his way to make sure I am comfortable makes my heart clench with love.
My gentle giant.
Can I overlook his one flaw for a chance to feel loved, protected, and cherished? Except his obsession is more than a simpleflaw.
My mind is still in turmoil, even when it’s time to lock up, and maybe that’s the reason I don’t hear him come in. Bella just left a few minutes ago, and I am getting ready to leave as well when I hear a voice that makes my blood chill in my veins.
“Do you know what I hate the most?”
My eyes shoot up, standing just inside the store is David. My lips fall open when I get a clear look at him. He looks like he got run over by a truck and barely escaped what with all the bruises that mar his face. The large purple bruise under his left eye and the bleeding cut on his cheek are too scary to look at, but I can’t make myself look away.