Page 42 of Bound To Me

I sighed happily with a smile. “Amazing. It was perfect, Daddy. So fucking perfect.” I may have added in thefuckto see if Elliott would want to punish me.

He shook his head and eyed me with a smile. “Such a dirty fucking mouth. I love it.” Then he pressed his lips fervently against mine, holding my cheek and pulling me closer. Somehow, we ended up fucking again as he bent me over the bathroom counter, and then he gently washed me in the tub, providing me with the aftercare I needed—and deserved.

* * *

I slept soundly that night. For once, my thoughts weren’t racing with worries about the future because I knew what it held: a lifewith Elliott, who would always take care of me. And I wanted to take care of him too.

However, that feeling didn’t last long.

I was awoken by my phone vibrating violently on the nightstand. I grabbed it, and my heart dropped—it was from an unknown number. I glanced at the clock on Elliott’s nightstand: it read 2:30 a.m.What. The. Fuck.I almost began to hyperventilate until Elliott flicked on his lamp and quickly sat up.

“What’s wrong? What is it?”

“I think…” I began with shaky breath. “I think it’s Michael.”

The call went to voicemail, but then a text popped up from a number I didn’t recognize. My heart dropped to my stomach, and bile rose in my throat. It was a picture of me and Elliott, walking hand in hand into his house. It had been taken a few hours earlier when we had just gotten home, seemingly from across the street.

“Oh my God…it’s him,” I muttered, somehow out of breath.

“God fucking damnit,” Elliott hissed as he looked over my shoulder at the picture. He threw the blankets off and stood up. “Enough is enough.” He turned on the light in his closet and began rifling through things.

I didn’t pay any attention; my mind raced over the fact that Michael was watching us. He was in LA. And he was taunting me. What was he trying to do? What was hegoingto do? I gasped when Elliott walked out of the closet with a gun in his hand, eyeing me with the intensity and fierceness I had seen earlier.

“Holy shit, Elliott! What are you doing?” I jumped out of bed, shaking on my unsteady feet.

“I’m stopping Michael. I don’t fucking care. If he’s here, I’m going to fucking kill him.” He walked out of the room and stomped down the hallway, putting the gun into the waistbandof his gray joggers. I followed, my heart pounding out of my chest, my palms sweaty and shaky. Elliott flung the front door open and stood on the steps, looking around as if Michael would just be standing there, waiting for us.

“Elliott, please, come inside,” I begged him. I was afraid Michael was actually out there, set up with a rifle, ready to shoot anyone who stepped outside.

“Stop being a fucking coward!” Elliott yelled into the darkness.

I heard myself breathing rapidly as I waited for a response, poking my head out the door while hiding behind the wall.

“Please, Elliott. Come inside!” I whispered loudly.

Elliott looked around for another moment before marching back inside, closing the door behind us, and locking it. His chest heaved up and down quickly, and his eyes were wide with anger.

“Jacqueline, I need to tell you something.” He took my hand and pulled me into the kitchen, flicking on the light.

We stood on the cold tile as his expression shifted from anger to something else I hadn’t seen before: fear. He licked his lips and gulped, taking my other hand and holding both of them gently, shaking his head.

“Baby, I need you to believe me. I need you to know that I love you, that I genuinely love you, and I never thought this would happen.” His breath was shaky—he seemed nervous to continue.

“What?” I asked, confused.

He shook his head again. “Michael hired me to follow you.”

My whole world began to spin, swirling dizzily around me. I gripped the nearest surface for support, feeling lightheaded and on the brink of losing consciousness. The taste of bile surged in my throat again, threatening to overwhelm me.

“What?” I didn’t believe him—he must have been joking. But why would he joke about something so terrible?

“I didn’t know he had done those things to you. He called me because I work as a private investigator on the side. I have my license and everything. I boarded that flight from New York to LA with the intention of only following you to see what you were up to. I never intended to fall in love with you. I had no idea what he did, baby. I need you to believe me.”

Tears welled in his eyes, and my knees buckled from underneath me. I landed straight on my ass and began to hyperventilate.This can’t be happening. This isn’t true. This can’t be fucking true.Elliott leaned down and took my hands again, now too close for comfort.

“No, no, no.” I shook my head, pulling my hands away, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Please, baby. Everything about us is real. I’m real, everything you know about me is real, and you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

---