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They trumped over the pride I felt. She broke free from her shackles, and I admired her for it.

Too bad I couldn’t get over of the fact that she didn’t want me.

It was a weakness.

One that persisted until I reached my den.

Where Ophelia has been snooping.

She’s here, going through my stuff.

So yes, she didn’t try to leave.

My mind gets it.

My heart is having a hard time catching up.

Every bit of self-restraint I have left has been put to the test over the last few days. Every ounce of my self-control is hanging by a thread.

“You’ve been stalking me? You?” Her fingers press into the edge of the desk, knuckles turning white. “I—When? How? How come no one knew? My roommate? Neighbors? Topher?”

His name on her lips has my jaw clenching. I pull in a sharp breath. Rearrange my expression.

A predator never puts their emotions on display. It gives away their intentions.

“Simple. I didn’t want them to.” I push myself off the doorway. I’m a live wire beneath my harsh exterior and relaxed shoulders. I feeleverything. I let none of it show. “I wasn’t lying before. I’ve been obsessed with you. Irrationally. Illogically so. Stalking you went against everything I believed in, just like owning you. It was a risk. I did it anyway.”

I took plenty of risks, not just one. Like driving from court to her apartment one afternoon. Like watching over her home after she returned from work or her dates with Topher.

“Only you?” she repeats what I told her. Her features harden the closer I get.

“Only me. And guess what? I’m not sorry that I stalked you.”

Her expression is shuttered. I can’t read her anymore. Maybe I’m too far, standing here, on the other side of the desk.

I have to be near her, to touch her.

I shrug off my jacket and place it over the chair behind me. Roll my sleeves up and get off on the way her eyes are drawn to the movement.

Ophelia turns around, her ass perched on my desk. She parts her legs. The tiniest shift of her body.

One she isn’t aware of.

I am. Prowling toward her, I tip her chin up and look her in the eye.

“You’re not?” Her energy wraps around me like a vise. A venomous snake. “Sorry?”

“Is that an apology you’re looking for?” Choking her would feel so good. Binding her so she’ll never leave me would be better. “You can forget about that.”

“From you?” Ophelia shakes her head, the brat. “I would never.”

Needing her like this is insufferable. I can’t hold back, and she can’t refuse me as I lean into her. As I slam both hands on my desk.

I trail my lips along the soft skin of her neck. Graze my teeth along the sensitive flesh, coaxing another wave of shivers out of her.

She fears me. Good. Fucking great.

Fear puts you on high alert. The threats are closing in on us.