The Bad Guy

by Celia Aaron

it only happened when the anklet was in my pocket, when she was free.

“It’s working.” Timothy’s low voice cut through my cacophony of confusion. “Is it?” I stared at him. “You think she’s accepted it?” He chuckled. “No, but I think you’re starting to.”

“Do you know how disarming that is?” “What?” I couldn’t help myself. I ran my fingers along her bare upper arm. “When you admit your flaws like that.” “Why is it disarming?” I peered into her light eyes. “Because most people spend countless hours of their lives trying to cover them up.” “I’m not most people.” “No.” She rested her palm on my cheek, her warmth flooding my veins. “You aren’t.”

Had an unhealthy obsession with One Direction? Fine. Slutted it up senior year to get back at mommy? No problem, though admittedly that wouldn’t be my favorite. Fifty bodies in the back yard? I don’t give a shit.”

My dad was the one who tried to teach me. She sort of…I don’t know. I guess when I look back on it now, she didn’t know what to do with me. Dad was patient and taught me everything I needed to know to pass in the real world.” “Pass?” “As a person, just like everyone else. With feelings and empathy, and

“I’ve never really thought about it like that, like you were disadvantaged.” “I wasn’t.” “If you say so.”

“I don’t know. I knew Dad was sad, which wasn’t a good thing. The whole thing just struck me as unbelievably odd. One minute she was there, the next she was gone. Death didn’t make sense to me. Still doesn’t, I guess.” “I think that’s a common existential issue.” “So maybe I’m not as odd as I seem?” I threaded her hair through my fingers. “Don’t get too far ahead of yourself.”

The simple truth had been there all along. I loved Camille.

When she’d talked of freedom, all I could see was her in his arms. I didn’t even care if she went to the police about me or tried to ruin my business. All I could think of what it would feel like to lose her, or to see her in someone else’s embrace.

She made me feel, but the problem inherent in that is that she made me afraid of the hurt I’d suffer if she left. Losing her would be a mortal blow.

Frustration pooled inside me until I itched to yank her into my lap and force her to talk to me, to be herself. But I had finally learned that the more I pushed against her defenses, the higher she built them. Patience and pressure were the surest ways to get to her.

“I drove you to drink?” He smoothed his hand higher up my back. “Yes.” “Good.”

I dreaded breaking what small piece of a heart he had.

There was some piece of me inexplicably tangled up in him. I’d been foolish to think I’d ever get these stolen days back, that I’d ever be able to move on as I had before. He’d changed me, and as I returned to the sink and finished rinsing my tools, I couldn’t tell if it was for the better.

“Aren’t you going to ask me what I want?” I crinkled my nose. “I’m certain it would be an exceptionally explicit sexual favor.” He kissed the back of my hand. “See? You already know me so well.”

Her eyebrows knit together. “Are you saying the only way you’d let me go was if I tried to kill you?” “Something like that, yes.”

“But why?” “Because I love you.”

Should I call the police? And tell them what? I was kidnapped by a man who kept me in a lavish mansion, never touched me until I asked, and who I had sex with of my own volition twice?

“How is it that I, a fucking psychopath, feel more for her than she feels for me?” Just saying it out loud sent a spike of pain through me. “I don’t know if that’s true. She has feelings for you. They just aren’t—” “Was she drinking?” “No.” “Being a little bitch like me?” “No.” “See?”

“No. She has a multitude of feelings. Far more than you can conceive of. You used to have none. Since you’ve met her, you’ve had exactly two. Love and despair. When you flip the switch on despair, that’s all there is. When she’s sad, or despairing, or unhappy, there’s an entire cocktail of other emotions mixed in with that feeling. It’s not as transparent as yours.”

Now that I wasn’t in his clutches, I could admit he was the sexiest man I’d ever met.

Do you remember when you said I was the villain of this story? I think you were onto something. The actions I took to get you were wrong. But I don’t regret them. I never will. I’d do them over again in a heartbeat. But the second time around, I might kill Link and whisk you away from here. Take you to the Amazon and set you free in the trees while I wait for you on the ground. Give you everything you ever wanted. Build you a school, burn down a city, design you a greenhouse, destroy an enemy—they’re all the same to me as long as they lead to you. And I think that’s why you were right. I think that’s what makes me the bad guy—that I’d kill or build, destroy or create for you. If you wished it, I’d do it. All that would matter to me is that you wanted it.

“You didn’t do anything about it, either.” He grimaced. “No, I didn’t.” “Why not?” “I hoped he’d come around to the correct conclusion on his own.” His eyes brightened. “And he did.” “I don’t appreciate being a teachable moment for your son.” I sort of liked my pointed tone, though it surprised me, perhaps even more than it did Bill.

“With a situation like we had, everyone reacts differently. She supported me, and I supported Sebastian. When I’d have a breakdown about something he’d done—and there were several times—she’d put me back on my feet. All the encouragement she used to give him, she gave it to me instead. Now, I realize that was the only way it could have worked. I needed her. He needed me.”

I swallowed thickly, unsure if I should storm out or crawl into his lap.

“Love,” he said it as if it was the simplest answer. What’s two plus two? Four. Why are you holding me against a wall while I’m losing my mind? Love.

“This is the obsession thing your dad mentioned.” He grinned, giving him an even more villainous air. “Precisely.” Running his fingertips down my throat, he leaned closer, his lips at my ear. “Your heart is racing.” “I-I was running from my kidnapper.” I held onto his shoulders. “Right.” He kissed my throat, his teeth grazing my jugular. “That’s the only reason.” A shudder shot through me and ended between my legs. I wasn’t falling anymore; I was at the bottom, his arms around me as we sank into the deepest pit of hell, welcoming the damnation together.

“How about this?” He ran his hand along my thigh. “I give you what you need right here, right now in this dark alley. Then I let you run a little more, if that’s what you want. I’ll let you go. I don’t want to.” His fingers edged higher to the lace of my panties between my thighs. “I want to take you home and fuck you all night. Leave my marks all over you. Watch you suck my cock. Eat your pussy until you beg me to stop. I won’t, though.” His fingers skirted past the fabric and slid down my wet folds. “Fuck. Just tell me what you want. I’ll do it. You want me to walk away right now? I will. You’re in control. Tell me.” My eyes rolled back as he sank a finger inside me. “Don’t stop.”

“I love you.” His voice in my ear took my breath away. I felt it. At that moment, if I’d said it back, there would have been nothing truer in the world. But I didn’t. I locked the feeling away to examine later. Scientifically. Without the haze of lust coloring my thoughts.

“Unless you’re into the chloroform play after all.” I glared at him. “Leave it to you to make jokes about kidnapping someone.” “It wasn’t a joke.” He helped up his hand to signal Anton, who was parked twenty feet down the block. “No, psycho. I’m not into ‘chloroform play.’” He smiled. “Okay, it was a joke, but I rather like it when you get all riled up.” I slapped his arm as Anton pulled to the curb in front of us. “There is something really wrong with you.” “I know.”

He leaned down and kissed me, gently this time. “Until the next time I catch you.” With that, he closed the door and I could finally take a breath.

I clapped him on the back. “All is not lost.” “How’s that?” “Let’s just say that she’s going to keep running, but she’s fine with letting me catch her every so often.”

Did you two talk it out? She say she forgave you?” I took another drink. “Not in so many words.” “The how do you know she—” “Dad, I just know. Okay?” I gave him what I hoped was a knowing look. “Oh.” He seemed to catch on, because his cheeks pinked. “Oh, I see.”

“But she’ll see you again?” “Dad. Calm down. Yes. She didn’t say no. That’s the same as a blatant yes.” He nodded. “And she knows that. Knows you even better than I do.” “I agree.” “You did it.” He motioned for another drink. “Or at least it’s a start. She didn’t run away screaming. Always a good sign.”

“Sebastian!” I ran up behind him and grabbed his arm. “You’ll kill him!” “Yes.” He didn’t swing again once I put my hands on him. “I will. Stand back so I can finish the job.”

Scooping me into his arms, he stepped over Link and carried me to the living room. “Wait.” I pointed to the floor. “Set me down.” He quirked a brow but put me on my feet. I reared back and kicked Link in the ribs. He grunted and curled onto his side. “Okay.” I reached for Sebastian.

“Have I mentioned how much I love you?” He smirked and took me in his arms again. “A few times, but feel free to tell me again.” “I love you more than anything else in this world.”

“Needless to say, you’re fired. If I ever see your face again, I’ll kill you with my bare hands and bury you in the woods on my estate. Your body will never be found. And it will never be traced to me.”

“I thought I was the bad guy in your story?” “I was wrong.” I propped my chin on his chest and stared into his eyes. “You aren’t the bad guy after all. Psycho? Yes. But you’re the hero of my story.” “I’ve never been someone’s hero before.” “You’re mine.” “So I’m the good guy?” I stretched up and kissed his chin. “Let’s not get carried away.”

“Sebastian?” “Yes, my damsel?” His warmth infused my heart. “I love you.”

“I know.” “Oh, really?” I cocked my head. “Your expression. The one I could never figure out. I’ve collected enough data to decide that it’s love.” “You can’t robot your way into my emotions like that.” “But I did.” He pulled me up his body and placed gentle kisses on my lips. “It was the one missing element. The part I couldn’t figure out no matter how hard I tried. Not until I realized how much I loved you. And then it all clicked, like the missing piece of the puzzle.” He smirked. “I didn’t even have to force it, though I certainly tried.” “You did.” I cupped his face in my hands. “Psycho stalker.” “You loved it.” “No.” I kissed him, slow and sweet. “Just you.”

He kissed my throat and ran his hand into the waistband of my shorts, cupping my ass. “Keep talking that science stuff to me.” I sighed. “It’s a poison dart frog. One touch would make you violently ill, and depending on what the frog has been eating lately—usually toxic insects—could potentially kill you.” “You’d save me.” He kissed to my mouth. “Again.” I laughed against his lips. “If I recall correctly, you’re the one who saved me.” “You recall wrong.”

“Not again.” Mint shook his head. “Keep it down or you’ll scare the students.” I blushed and pounded on Sebastian’s back. “Let me down. This looks terrible.” “Mrs. Lindstrom fell.” Sebastian half-yelled in a transparent attempt to cover. “No one worry. I’ll doctor her right up in our tent.” Jenna snickered,

Sebastian smacked my ass. “I’m focused on one thing and one thing only.” “Brute.”

“Now, I’ll need you to strip so I can inspect your injuries.” “I’m pretty sure you don’t need to continue the ruse.” I set my pack to the side as Sebastian knelt between my legs. He unbuttoned my shorts and slid them and my panties down my legs and over my boots. “Tell me where it hurts.” He kissed up my thighs. I ran my hands through his hair. “You’re almost there, doctor.” He smiled. “I knew it. You need treatment.”

He smirked. “I can’t make you do anything. I think the day I realized that is the day you finally started loving me back.”

“Never.” I kissed his nose. “I’m yours, and so is the baby.” He froze, his eyes wide. “You mean you’re…right now…you’re…” He lifted off me, but I grabbed on tighter and pulled him back.

Pulling back, he stared down at me, tears glimmering in his eyes. “But what if—” His voice cracked with emotion. “What if they’re born like me?” How could my heart threaten to break when it was so full of love? I pulled his face to mine and pressed our foreheads together. “Then they’ll be perfect, as far as I’m concerned.” His tears met my own, and he kissed me. Our souls melded and once again danced in the dark…and the light.