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“Your eyes change colors in the daylight,” he begins instead. “Right now, they're the sweetest honey brown. But at night, they turn dark and decadent, like the richest chocolate I've ever tasted.”
“When it comes to you, I can't resist. I want to know everything.” He snakes his arm across the sheet, invading the space between us before his long fingers intersect with mine, turning my hand this way and that in the light. “I'm hungry for the most menial details, and I'm willing to get them no matter the cost.”
Who is this man—truly and wholly—at his core? I don't think any version I've seen fully answers that burning question. The one that keeps insisting I allow him to come back. There's so much more to him than what he projects to the outside world. Maybe I'm guilty of the same crimes he's admitting to. “There's nothing wrong with wanting to get to know someone,” I rationalize, ignoring the small part where he's stalked and hunted me to do so. There's definitely room for improvement in his methods. “That's the problem. For you, I'll never tire. I'll never stop feeding on each and every scrap you
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“I'm stronger than you think,” I assure him. “I know. I'm addicted to your strength. But everyone has a breaking point, and finding yours has become a game to me.”
“So tell me to leave. Tell me to stop. Chase me away. I swear to fucking God, Stardust, do something other than stare at me with that look in your eyes like you aren't even afraid. You have no idea what I'm capable of—what I've already done.”
“I can handle it,” I insist again stubbornly. Whoever he is, whatever he's done, I don't care. It doesn't change how I feel. “You have no idea what you're doing,” he warns, though his voice sounds more depraved than angry.
“Maybe I'm not as good of a person as you think. Maybe we're two people cut from the same cloth.” Scoffing, he rolls his eyes away from me. “I doubt that.” “I don't.”
“I was afraid,” I admit in a low, heavy voice. “You didn't seem afraid. In fact, you stared right back at me,” he points out, lips upturned in prideful wonder as he recalls that night from his own perspective. “It took me completely off guard.” “I wasn't sure if you were real.”
“That's not true though, is it?” Leaning forward to erase what's left of the space between us, his forehead brushes against mine as he rests his head on my pillow beside me. “You knew I was real. You felt something that night. Something that electrified your bones and set fire to your soul.” “What are you getting at?” “I think you refuse to run because you've become addicted to that rush, same as me. You got a taste that night, and nothing—not even your own personal safety—can get in the way of your indulgence.”
“I feel it too, Stardust. Every fiber of my being is clawing to give in—to take the dive. And I want to… so fucking badly. But I haven't yet because I can't freefall into this feeling, only to turn back and find that you didn't take the leap with me.”
“This is your only chance to run. The only time I can guarantee I won't chase you, or burn the world down behind you. I can't tell you everything, but I can admit that I've done terrible things. Things that will damn me to an eternity in Hell. So, if you have any doubts about me, you need to run. Now.” His eyes pop open, revealing an odd, steely-green color I've never seen before. “Otherwise, I'm grabbing your hand in mine, and we're making the jump together. We're burning together.”
“If you burn, I burn,” I softly say.
And when we meet our climaxes, it’s like the entire world shakes and tilts on its axis. He falls into me and permanently fills the void that’s been present in my life for as long as I can remember. Nothing will ever be the same again, and I couldn’t be more delighted.
“Yeah, I really don't know him that well,” I try to explain, though it's no use. I've already been labeled as his pet, and I've hardly seen the building.
Before I can get out a retort to her insulting lecture, the door swings open. Bash stands in the doorway, looking as flawless as ever in a white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and black dress slacks. I assume this is his usual attire when he isn't out stalking women, though I actually prefer the dark jeans and hoodies.
First of all, I can be a tiger too, thank you very much. And second, why the hell am I jealous that my literal stalker is friendly with another, much older woman? Let me say that, again, for the people in the back of my hard, distorted head: he's. My. Stalker.
“What was that?” I hiss, crossing my arms. Bash continues walking a step ahead of me, completely unaffected. “We'll talk in my office.”
as I love my assistant, she blurs the line between employee and family far too often. But when I actually heard her threaten my little Stardust, I snapped. No one will ever hurt her. Not even in theory.
“I can handle myself,” she insists. “I have no doubt that's true,”
“How is your first day going?” I try again, a little more gently. I'm not used to tiptoeing around anyone like this. I’m not used to fucking caring.
“Well, you can’t just leave.” “Why not? Everyone expects me to be this bimbo, who only got the job because I'm sleeping with the CEO. The worst part is that they aren't even wrong.” “Yes, they are.” My lips flatten into a tight line in an attempt to stamp out my irritation. Whoever has made her feel like that is going to lose their fucking job today.
“I'm not going to demand for you to stay, but leaving would be a huge mistake.” I want to demand it. I want to tie her up and keep her here, in my city. I finally got her here, and she’s already slipping through my fingers.
How does she not see that she's better than every single person here? That she may not have the experience or education they do, but she's got more drive and hunger than all of them combined. She's invaluable.
“I know you better than anyone else,” I correct. “Stay. Give it a chance. Fuck what everyone else thinks. Fuck what I think. Do this because you want to.” Her gaze falls to the floor, head shaking. “I don't know…” “Do you think I'm afraid to get on my knees before you and beg in my own office, little Stardust?”
“No one will have to walk in here to know I'm fucking you. You'll be screaming my name so loud as I worship every inch of this beautiful body, they'll think I'm murdering you,” I promise, flashing my teeth.
“Please,” she pleads in a wanton whisper. “Tell me what you want, baby,”
“I love that smart mouth of yours, but I think it's time that you learned how you're going to speak to me.”
“Taste that, Stardust? That's you on my tongue. Your arousal… your ecstasy. It's what turns me into this primal animal,” I say against her lips, between kisses. “I can't even fathom how fucking feral it's going to make me, seeing my cum dripping down your chin in the middle of my office. Watching you take my cock like it was made for you, the same way your pussy did this weekend.”
“This thing between us… it's poetic. Sacred. We're more than just two deprived souls feeding off one another's despair. And you can threaten me all you want with the police, or HR, or whoever the fuck you can think of to give yourself a false sense of security, but we both know you're just as afraid of losing this as I am.”
“You can’t escape me. Not in this life or any one that comes after it. My soul has latched onto yours, melding us into one. I’ll always find you, Stardust.”
“Mm, that's my girl,”
Just before I turn away, I notice a smudge on the glass. Her ass was planted there so firmly, it left a perfect print behind. I smile to myself, leaning farther into my chair to admire it. I don't think I'll ever let them wash my windows again.
“You’re a devious little minx,” he growls, splaying his fingers across my abdomen to hold me closer.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Bash throws his arm across my chest to stop me from turning left, toward my hotel. “To my hotel,” I state simply, confused by the sharpness of his tone. Shaking his head once, he scowls down at me. “Yeah, that’s not happening.” “What does that mean?” His hand slides down my arm until his fingers lace with mine, completely enveloping them. With a firm, threatening squeeze that nearly cuts off my blood supply, he says, “You’re coming with me.”
“I don’t think you understand me, Stardust. There’s no way I’m going to have you sleeping anywhere but my bed while you’re in my city,”
It’s such a terrifying sight, I want to cower down before him and beg for forgiveness.
LMFAOOO
“And you give a fuck what any of them say? Come on, you’re better than that…”
I want to scream. I’d love to punch him right in the face for being such a prick over this. No matter how much I give him, he always wants to take more.
“This is my final offer, Stardust. I’m not leaving you alone in this city.” And there’s something about the way he says those words that tells me this is about more than him being a possessive asshole with no concern for my privacy. That there may be more to his story that he isn’t telling me. “Fine,” I relent. “But you can wait in the lobby for me.”
Perhaps I’m just like everyone else and I’ve fallen for his charms, forgetting how insane he truly is. Or maybe I’m just as crazy as he is, because when he releases me from his firm hold, I don’t run. I don’t call for help. I don’t even take a step away from him. Instead, I follow my predator like a good little lamb.
Being with Stardust out in the open feels like a sin. She’s self-conscious about being seen with me in public, and while one part of me wants to bend her over right in the middle of the sidewalk and show every other asshole around us who she belongs to, most of me is afraid that someone from The Order is going to find us together and use her as leverage against me.
“Just get in,” I command more harshly, my patience thin.
Bash strolls a few feet into the space before he turns back to face me, hands in his pockets. He almost seems… nervous? Is it possible that my stalker is just as anxious about having me here as I am about being here? “This is home,” he announces, leaning his shoulder against one of the wood columns, a cocky gleam in his light eyes. Nope, I was wrong before. This man is definitely showing off.
make it nearly halfway through the meal before I realize Bash has hardly touched his plate, his eyes fixated on me like some sort of animal at a zoo. Dropping my fork to grab the fabric napkin he set beside me, I delicately dab at my mouth, mortified to find that my lips were covered in red tomato sauce. What the hell just came over me? “You're truly an exquisite creature,”
“Sorry. This is delicious,” I say, as if that explains the grotesque display I just put on. “I can’t wait to taste it on your tongue later.”
“Feel free to wash up,” Bash calls to me on his way out. “I’ve got a few work emails to answer. I’ll be back for you in a little bit.” “Back for me?” Raising a brow at me like I’m the most pathetic thing he’s ever laid eyes on, he nods. “Yes, Stardust. I’ll be back.”
“Such a naughty girl, yet you can't even handle a little punishment for your smart mouth.” “I think you like me better this way.”
“You want me to let you finish, baby?”
Waking up beside Stardust feels like I’ve somehow cheated my way into Heaven and stolen a slice of it to bring back down to Earth with me.
She feels right in my arms. More right than anything I deserve in this turbulent waste of a lifetime. A good man would let her go. He would free her from the burdens she has no knowledge of by staying with me. I suppose it's for the best that I'm not a good man.
