Page 80 of Creep

“Good. Because… you don’t deserve it.”

I felt a small, amused smile tugging on my lips. “Oh. I don’t?”

I felt her shaking her head. “No.”

I laughed. I was sure she could feel that from my chest that was pressed up close against her back. I placed the flat of my palm over her stomach and felt her suck in a sharp breath. Interesting. She was reacting to me as herstalkerthe same way she would with me asMael.

Did she recognize me in some way? Perhaps not consciously, but her body…

I ran my fingers up and down soothingly there, trying to ignore the fact that those phenomenal tits of hers were within touching distance.

Perhaps I should test out the theory. Push her and see how much she was willing to give me.

“You don’t ever have to thank me for protecting you,” I said to her, my voice a mere whisper. “After all, it is what I was put on this earth to do.”

I felt her stomach dip as she took in a deep inhale but didn’t say anything to that. Not that I had expected her to.

I buried my face in her hair and took in a huge breath, letting her scent do what it always did—bring me comfort like nothing else in the world could.

23

LIA

For one week straight,I spent my days with Mael, falling a little more in love with him than I already had, and my nights in the arms of my stalker, wondering what the hell I was doing, not reporting him to the police or going to Leo for help like I originally planned. I could argue and say the police wasn’t much help and Leo… he looked into this already and found nothing, right? If my stalker was able to avoid Leo’s men, then what could he really do at this point?

I let out a small sigh. Even I know I was reaching with my reasoning.

Worse yet, I wasn’t fighting him as hard as I should be.

Before, I could say I truly didn’t want him there and that his being in my apartment was against my will. He was stronger than me, bigger than me, and I was helpless to stop it.

But now, even if all those things were still true—that he was stronger than me and bigger than me and that I was still helpless to stop it—there was a niggling of guilt hitting me.

There shouldn’t be any guilt if I wasn’t doing anything wrong, right?

So did that make it wrong?

I paced up and down my room, thinking. I couldn’t sleep, knowing he would show up at any moment, and a part of me dreaded that while the other part… didn’t mind.

It was because he saved me that was messing with my mind.

How fucked-up.

The villain in my story did save me, and now I was putting him on a pedestal.

The lights in my room turned off. I didn’t have to turn around to know he was here. He was still hiding his face from me.

“Are you ever going to let me see what you look like?” I asked, feeling him step up close to me.

He leaned down and kissed my neck. I froze.

“You’re uneasy. Why?”

I shook my head, trying to get away from him. But he already had his arms banded around me from behind, holding me close to his body. I already knew he was built like a linebacker, all muscles and hardness.

I closed my eyes, hating that I kept thinking about Mael while he was touching me. Sometimes, I even got them confused.

They were built almost the same, but they weren’t the same, and I really needed to remind myself of that.

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