Be With Me

by Gabrielle Sands

Was that…? Angel’s Share. My favorite cologne. Why? Just why? It was like someone had conspired to make this dangerous predator as physically attractive as possible.

She walked over to me with another shirt, clearly trying to avoid looking at my bare chest. Was she afraid I’d mesmerize her with my six-pack? I mean, fair. It’s happened before.

🤣🤣

When was the last time a woman touched you like this? a voice in the back of my mind whispered. It wasn’t sexual, just…intimate. So why the fuck was this such a turn-on?

While she wasn’t looking, I swiped her lip gloss off her desk and shoved it into my pocket. Why? Fuck if I knew. Probably because I was losing my goddamn mind.

The truth was…nothing about her disgusted me. She just stirred up a whirlwind of strange, fucked-up emotions when she proved to me, again and again, that her goodness wasn’t fake. Not even a little bit.

I leaned back, letting my head fall against his shoulder. He made a sound of satisfaction, low and deep, the kind a person makes when a puzzle piece fits.

I slid a hand into my trouser pocket and wrapped my fingers around the stolen lip gloss tube. I should’ve thrown it away earlier. Tried to. Couldn’t do it.

“Why are you smiling?” I sighed. “It happens when I look at you. Can’t explain it. Maybe you have a theory?” I didn’t mention the weird warmth in my chest that she also brought on since the night of the storm.

She’d rewired something fundamental inside me, some critical connection in my brain. The long-term effects were still unclear.

I couldn’t tell her it was because taking care of her problems gave me some sick sense of satisfaction. Because I'd derived pleasure from putting someone who'd hurt her in their place. These urges, these feelings, were all so fucking new to me, and I was still figuring out how to deal with them all.

“I’m not going anywhere. You need someone to keep an eye on you.” A smile tugged on her lips. “How noble.” Noble? I was only indulging my obsession.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Because I’d fucking eat anything she offered me just for the sheer pleasure of being fed by her. “It’s not that bad.”

I’d spent years trying not to feel, only for her to barge into my life and crack the floodgates open. I felt too fucking much when it came to her.

You’ll look around and realize, bone-deep, that you’d made a mistake choosing me. Then, you’ll want to leave.” He paused. “And here’s the thing, Mia.” His tone darkened. “Once you’re mine, I won’t let you. If we cross this line, there’ll be nothing that can save you from me.”

We were like two magnets reversed—drawn to each other with a force neither of us understood, only to be repelled every time we got too close. And still, we kept trying.

When I first met Rom, I thought we were opposites. He was rough where I was gentle. Abrasive where I was soft. Disillusioned where I was optimistic. But we were the same. Both of us were starved for the love we'd never received.

You’ve gotten under my skin and into my soul, and you didn’t even try. Somewhere along the way, I stopped being mine and became yours.”