Unhinged Desires : A Dark Romance (Sick Love Duet Book 1)
Unhinged Desires: Chapter 19

I’ve left her alone for the past week. Well, at least I’ve given her the impression that I’ve left her alone. As much as I’ve tried not to watch her, some impulses just can’t be kept under wraps. So I’ve been helping myself into her apartment, standing in front of her bed, and watching her sleep for hours. She’d wake from nightmares, and I burned to ask her what she was so afraid of. I wanted to assure her that nothing was ever going to hurt her. I couldn’t do that though, because if anything was going to hurt her, it’d be me.

Was I the monster plaguing her dreams?

The thought makes my dick hard. I’ve accepted it for what it is. My obsession. My need to have her trembling from both fear and pleasure.

She’s so close. Within arm’s reach. Sitting across from me at her parents’ dining table. And the death glare she keeps sending my way lets me know she’s just as affected by me as I am by her. I understand why she might not be thrilled about that. I wouldn’t want to be mixed up with me either. It won’t end well.

“May I use the bathroom?” I ask Mr Christianson.

“Of course. Lucy, show Dominic where the bathroom is,” he directs to his daughter.

Which is exactly what I was hoping for. A chance to get her alone while she’s awake and aware of my presence.

“It’s down the hall to the left. You can’t miss it,” she says, trying to avoid me at all costs.

“Lucy…” Her mother gives her a warning.

I watch as she rolls her eyes and pushes to her feet with a visible pout on her lips. “This way,” Lucy grunts at me.

I smile. My eyes land on the curve of her ass as I follow her out.

“You know, you could always take a photo,” she says.

“I already have,” I admit under my breath. I might have a hundred photos of her… that I frequently look at. For some reason, just the sight of her brings a calmness over me. It’s something I’ve never felt before and I’m getting addicted to it. I need it.

“I’m sure you do, creeper,” she huffs in reply. When she opens the door to the bathroom, I take hold of her elbow and drag her inside, closing the door behind us. I position my body in front of the only exit. “What the hell?” she hisses.

If she really wanted out of this room, she could scream and staff would come running. The fact she’s whispering tells me she wants to be in here. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” I ask her.

“What?”

“You heard me. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“How the hell do you know I’m not sleeping? On second thought, don’t bother answering that. I really don’t want to know.”

“So, what’s wrong?” I raise an eyebrow, urging her to continue.

“Other than the fact I have a crazed stalker? Gee, Dominic, I have no idea why I’m not sleeping.”

“Are you afraid of me?” I tilt my head, my gaze peering deep into hers.

“No.” She folds her arms across her chest. It’s a defensive posture, meaning either she’s lying or she doesn’t like the truth. Maybe a mixture of both.

“You should be,” I tell her. “But I’m not sure I want you to be.”

“You’re a walking contradiction.”

“I know.”

“What is it that you want here?” she asks.

“I want to make you come.” I step into her. My hand reaches out and wraps around her hair, tilting her head back. “I want to kiss the breath out of your lungs. I want to feel your body tremble for me. I want to taste your tears when everything gets to be too much for you to hold in any longer. I want to fucking consume you whole. I want to own you, Little Bee.”

Her chest rises and falls with each heavy breath. Her pupils dilate and her mouth parts. My eyes hone in on her lips. I’ve never craved a taste of something so bad in my life. Without hesitation, I slam my mouth onto hers. I tug on her hair harder, causing her jaw to drop as I shove my tongue between her parted lips. Her body softens, sinking into mine, and her tongue starts to duel for control. I watch her eyelids flutter as I do my best to kiss the life out of her. I swallow her little moans, slowly guiding her backwards against the basin.

My hands go to her waist and I pick her up and sit her ass on the edge of the counter. Then I step between her thighs, my mouth never leaving hers. Her hands curl into the front of my tee. I cup her cheeks, tilting her face and granting myself better access to her mouth. She tastes like chocolate and honey. Sweet, just like I knew she would.

I pull myself away from her lips, force the smallest space between us. “Fucking perfect,” I groan.

“This isn’t meant to happen,” she whispers, her fingers brushing her bottom lip.

“This is abso-fucking-lutely meant to be happening,” I tell her.

She shakes her head from side to side.

“Why aren’t you sleeping, Little Bee? What are you so afraid of?” I ask her.

“Besides being kidnapped and kept in a glass jar?” Her eyebrows lift to her hairline.

“Besides that.”

“You.”

I take in her answer. I run it over and over in my head as I continue to watch her. She’s afraid of me. She’s admitting it. And, oddly enough, it doesn’t make me feel as good as I thought it would.

“As much as I want your pain, I think I want your pleasure more. I want to watch you sleep peacefully. I don’t like your nightmares,” I tell her.

“What if I want to give you my pain? What if I want to use you to escape a life I’ve felt trapped inside for as long as I can remember? What if you’re the one who should be afraid here?”

“I’m fucking petrified of you, Little Bee. That’s why I’ve stayed away. But now that I’m pretty fucking sure we’re not going to kill each other, I don’t think I can do that anymore. I don’t think I can keep my distance or continue to watch you from afar.” My thumb brushes down her cheek.

“You have to. This isn’t good for me.” She jumps off the counter and I let her step around me and walk out the door. I let her get away.

For now. But I won’t be far. I’ll always be one step behind her. Wherever she goes.

STANDING in the darkness of Lucy’s bedroom, I watch her head turn from side to side. Whispered cries coming out of her mouth. I’m itching to wake her, to wrap her in my arms and tell her that it’s going to be okay. Promise her things I can’t promise, just to give her some peace of mind. I turn to walk away when she calls out my name. I crane my neck, glancing over my shoulder and expecting to replace her sound asleep, only to see two glassy eyes staring back at me. She’s sitting up in bed, with the sheet clutched in one hand while the other attempts to cover her chest.

“What are you doing?” she asks, though she doesn’t sound as shocked as I would have thought.

“Checking up on you. Go back to sleep,” I tell her.

“When do you sleep?” she asks.

“When I can’t stay awake any longer.” Sleep isn’t something that comes easy to me. Insomnia is a bastard but one I’ve learnt to live with.

Lucy blinks her eyes at me. “Stay. Come on, you need to sleep too.” She lifts the blankets on the empty side of the bed and gestures for me to climb in.

My eyes widen. “Either you’re still trapped in your nightmare and sleep talking right now. Or I’m the one dreaming here.” Even as I say this, my feet seem to have a mind of their own as they approach the bed.

“Get in before I come to my senses,” she says.

I pull my shirt over the back of my head and toe off my shoes and socks. I don’t dare remove my jeans. If I’m this close to her cunt, have this much access to her body, I don’t trust myself not to slam my cock into her while she sleeps. Whether she wants me to or not.

I lie on her bed—something I thought about doing many times but never dared to follow through on. Rolling over, I face Lucy. She stares right back at me.

“Why don’t you sleep?” she asks again.

“Because my brain doesn’t know how to shut down.”

“Mmm, you just have to close your eyes,” she says while demonstrating. Her breaths are soft and even as her eyelashes flutter just slightly.

My fingers brush the hair off her face, tucking it behind her ear. “I’d rather spend my time looking at you than staring at the blackness behind my lids,” I tell her.

“That’s creepy but also somehow sweet,” she murmurs, shifting her body closer to mine. I stiffen when she’s right up against me. Her face right next to mine. “Dominic?”

“Yeah?”

“This is the part where you wrap your arms around me and whisper sweet nothings in my ear until I fall asleep.”

“Sorry… this isn’t exactly my wheelhouse—or something I’ve ever done before,” I admit, before tugging her body even closer to mine as I hold her tight.

Lucy snorts. “You’re way too talented with that tongue and those fingers for me to believe you’ve never been with a girl before.”

“I’ve fucked plenty, Little Bee. I’ve just never slept next to anyone. Never whispered sweet nothings in anyone’s ear.”

“Tell me something no one else knows,” she says suddenly.

“I think you’re either my saving grace or my greatest demise. I’m not sure which yet.”

“I’m no one’s saving grace, Dom. That much I know for sure.” She snuggles her face down into the crook of my neck.

“You are now.” My hand absently runs through her hair. I close my eyes, my tense muscles settling in alongside hers. I hear her faint snores, her body completely relaxed and at peace as she rests in my arms. This is something I never thought possible. Never considered myself capable of. It’s a scenario I never imagined would become a reality.

She’s so vulnerable right now. At my mercy. I could do anything I wanted and there would be nothing she could do to stop me. I could really hurt her. End this game. My misery. My obsession. But even as I realize all this, I realize something else…

Those thoughts are not nearly as enticing as they once were.