Page 79 of This Time I'm Keeping You
The sound of footsteps had ice filling her veins.It was him.It had to be.She was alone here with a madman.Getting to her feet for no other reason than it made her taller, she watched the door open.
“Poppy.Finally, it’s just you and me.”
Malcolm Davy looked like a regular guy.Nothing was special about him.Average height, short brown hair, and what she’d once thought was a nice smile.He wore neat chinos and a polo shirt, both gray.But it was those cold eyes that sent chills through her.
“Nothing to say?”he asked, closing the door behind him.Poppy’s eyes went to the wooden crate he carried.
“Why are you doing this?”she asked, fear making the words high-pitched.What is he going to do to me?
“Because I want you.Your mind, your body, all of you, and you want me too.”He placed the crate on the table.“I know this was just a game for you, as it was for me.I thought of it as a long courtship,” he added, now facing her.“But I’m glad we are finally together.”
“You kidnapped me!”
“It was time.You’ve made me jealous and had your fun.Now is the right time for us to be together.”His voice wasn’t so calm now.“It was wrong of you to take Nick Atherton to your bed, but it is done, and now we move on.”
“I love Nick,” Poppy said.“I want to be with him, not you.”
He stopped a few feet in front of her.
“No.It’s me you love.”
“So, all this time, the torment and stalking, it was just because you love me?”Poppy scoffed.“That’s not love.You’re crazy and need to be locked away in an institution for the rest of your life.You and Denton.”
He didn’t like that, and Poppy knew she should be quiet and not antagonize him.Just do what he said until they found her.But this man had destroyed her life, and while she was terrified, she was also enraged over what he’d done to her.
“I’m not crazy.In fact, far from it.I just know what I want and am happy to wait to get it.”
She could see the madness in his eyes then.She didn’t know how he’d masked it in front of others for so long.
“I hate you,” Poppy said, trying to sound strong.“Loathe and detest you for what you have done to me.I will feel nothing but that for you forever.”
“No, you don’t.You love me.”He grabbed her shoulders, hauling her close so their mouths touched.“Finally, we are together,” he whispered.Poppy tried to bite him as his lips crushed hers.Revulsion had her gagging as she struggled to get away from him, but with her hands tied behind her back, it was impossible.
He gripped her hair hard, holding her still.
“You’re mine,” he snarled against her lips, no longer controlled.
“Nick will find me!”Poppy raised her chin, forcing her head back, and then brought it forward fast, headbutting him.Her forehead connected hard with his nose, the force sending him back several steps, and his hands released her.
“Bitch!”The hand he lowered from his nose was red with blood.
“Coward,” she spat back.“You’re insane if you think you can get away with this.”
She watched as the anger dropped and a smile that sent shivers down her spine curved his lips.His eyes were ice-cold.He pulled a cloth from his pocket and used it to wipe his nose.He then reached into the crate he’d brought and pulled out a long chain.On the end were handcuffs.
“I’m going to teach you obedience, Poppy.My future wife needs to understand what I expect from her.”
“You can try,” Poppy said with far more strength than she was feeling.“But there is only one man I want for my husband, and it will never be you.”
“Poppy,” he said in a cool voice.“When I’m finished with your education, you’ll be begging for my love.”
Nickand his family had been told to let the police do their job.They would get Poppy back.He ignored that and followed the line of police cars as they drove out of the city.
“I mean it, Nick.You stay back.If you get in our way, you could jeopardize getting your girl away from Davy without injury,” Billy said, talking through the car’s speakers.
“We’ll stay back,” Sam said from beside Nick.
“My neck is on the line here.Benowitz is not happy you’re following.”
