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22

MAEL

I pushed the stupid fucker down on the dirty concrete ground at the back of the apartment building. He shook, trying to make himself as small as he could.

“You think that’s going to help you?” I asked. What would he think if he knew the sight of him like this did nothing but disgust me? My fists clenched.

“I’m s-sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know what?” I asked, walking closer to him and kicking an empty soda can away with my foot. “That she’s mine? What did you say to her when you pushed her into the apartment? Go ahead and scream? That you like it when they scream?”

I pulled on his hair until he was facing me. He screamed, his hand coming up and trying to lessen my grip. I pulled harder.

“I like it when useless fuckers like you scream,” I said with a smile, letting go of the fucker’s hair and watching him fall back to the ground.

He shook harder, the strong scent of urine hitting my nose.

I scrunched my face in disgust.

“Really? Are we pissing ourselves?”

He whimpered. “Please, just let me go. I promise I will never do this again. I’ll be good.”

I laughed. The lie was fucking ridiculous. He would do this over and over and over again if given the chance. But that wasn’t what mattered here. The world was filled with fuckers like this. It wasn’t up to me to try to save it. But he fucking touched Lia.

He touched what was mine. He scared her. And who knew if he hurt her or not? I couldn’t tell, not in the fucking dark.

I should have gone out and looked for her when I realized she wasn’t coming home. Fuck, I had been planning on doing just that when I heard the door click open.

It was my fucking mistake, and Lia paid the price. Anger scorched through me. Unlucky for the fucker, he was going to be the thing I worked this anger out on.

I pulled out the knife I had tucked into my boot. The silver gleamed in the moonlight, and the fucker tried to move back when he noticed.

“Please.”

I moved my foot down and stomped on his kneecap. He let out a bloodcurdling scream, his back bowing from the pain.

I pulled him back and did the same with the other knee.

He bent sideways and puked onto the concrete. I shook my head, my nose twitching at the scent.

“What a little bitch. Can’t you take a few hits?”

He cried, no longer able to say anything.

I bent down and slapped the blade on his face. He flinched when he felt the cool metal on his skin.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to make this hurt. Then I’m going to burn your body. I’m sure you won’t be missed.”

He shook his head. “I have kids! Three of them. Please, they need their father.”

I laughed. “No, they don’t.”

Then I got to work.

* * *

It was pushing four in the morning when I finally returned to Lia’s apartment. I hadn’t slept. Hadn’t rested. I couldn’t. Not until I saw with my own eyes that she wasn’t hurt or injured.

She was asleep in her bed when I got in, her movements restless.

I placed my hand on her shoulder, taking in her warmth.

“Don’t worry, baby,” I whispered. “I made sure it hurt.”

I made sure the fucker knew what it really meant to be tortured just before he took his last breath.

I kicked off my boots and crawled into bed with her.

She startled awake when I pulled her into my body, savoring her warmth.

“Stalker?” she whispered.

I grinned. How would she react if she realized she already knew my name? I shook away the thought. I already knew how she would react.

“Who else? Were you expecting another man to come to you?”

“No,” she grumbled. “Who else would be creepy enough to sneak into my bedroom in the middle of the night?”

Fuck, but she was amusing. How fucking great was it that I not only love the way she looks but her personality as well? My girl really was the whole package, wasn’t she?

“Did he hurt you?” I asked, moving my hand around her body as if I could somehow assess her injuries that way.

She slapped my hand away. “Stop it.”

“Be a good girl and hold still so I can check,” I said, working hard not to let my real voice come through… especially when I was feeling like this.

“What is that, the starter line to a porno? No, I’m not going to hold still for you to check .”

“I really was just going to check,” I answered seriously.

“I’m fine,” she said, the tone of her voice indicating that she didn’t want to get into this with me.

I would have to get a better look at her as Mael. Surely, she would be more receptive to getting naked with me and letting me check.

“Then tell me, did he hurt you?”

She let out a sigh. “No. He didn’t hurt me. You came out just in time.”

The last part was said quietly.

I took in a deep breath at that. Thank fuck.

“What happened to the guy, anyway?” she asked.

“Nothing you need to worry about. He won’t ever get near you again.”

After all, a dead man was a useless man.

The silence that followed was deafening. I waited for her to ask me, wondering if she was brave enough to do so. If she was brave enough for the answers. I already decided there would be no secrets between us. Eventually, she would know all there was to know about me, even the ugly parts.

But for now, if she asked me if I had killed the man or not, I would tell the truth, whether she could handle the answer or not.

But surprisingly, she didn’t ask.

Instead, she let out a small sigh and lay back down on the bed, offering no resistance when I pulled her into my arms.

“I’m too tired to fight you tonight.”

“Is that what you’re calling it? When you were lying frozen in my arms before a part of that fight?” I teased.

She elbowed me in the stomach. My smile widened. She was getting comfortable with me—as both her stalker and as Mael.

Which was good.

After all, once she finds out her stalker and her lover are the same person, I would have to take her away from here. She would be spending a hell of a lot more time with me then.

“I won’t thank you for saving me,” she said, and I wondered about that odd note in her voice.

“I didn’t ask you to.”

She didn’t have to thank me, not for something like this. Never for something like this.

“Good. Because… you don’t deserve it.”

I felt a small, amused smile tugging on my lips. “Oh. I don’t?”

I felt her shaking her head. “No.”

I laughed. I was sure she could feel that from my chest that was pressed up close against her back. I placed the flat of my palm over her stomach and felt her suck in a sharp breath. Interesting. She was reacting to me as her stalker the same way she would with me as Mael.

Did she recognize me in some way? Perhaps not consciously, but her body…

I ran my fingers up and down soothingly there, trying to ignore the fact that those phenomenal tits of hers were within touching distance.

Perhaps I should test out the theory. Push her and see how much she was willing to give me.

“You don’t ever have to thank me for protecting you,” I said to her, my voice a mere whisper. “After all, it is what I was put on this earth to do.”

I felt her stomach dip as she took in a deep inhale but didn’t say anything to that. Not that I had expected her to.

I buried my face in her hair and took in a huge breath, letting her scent do what it always did—bring me comfort like nothing else in the world could.