Follow Me Always (Follow Me 3)

Time passed in a trance. Minutes ticked by like hours. After five minutes had passed, he grabbed his phone. Yeah, he’d probably go to prison, but he couldn’t let her die.

He was ready to push in the numbers, when—

“Sir?”

Addie’s voice. Soft and raspy, but still her voice. He heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank God!” He touched her cheek. “Are you okay? Can you breathe?”

“Yeah.” She sucked in a breath and then let it out in a squeaky wheeze. “What happened?”

“You lost consciousness for a few minutes. Fuck. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” Her voice was still a mess. “It was amazing, sir. Amazing.”

“Amazing? You pass out and call it amazing?”

“Isn’t that the point?”

“For fuck’s sake, Addie, you could have died!”

“No, that’s the point. Lose consciousness and the orgasm. God, sir, the orgasm…”

“I don’t give a shit if it was the most amazing orgasm in the world and you flew to fucking Jupiter. We’re never doing that again.”

“But sir, I want—”

Braden’s relief morphed into anger. “You’re forgetting something. This has never been about what you want. It’s about what I want. And I say we’re done with this.”

“Sir, if you only knew how it felt.”

“I think I just said I don’t care. I’m taking you to the ER to get you checked out.”

“I’m fine.”

“Your voice doesn’t sound right.”

“So I’m slightly hoarse. It’ll heal.”

“We’re going to the ER.”

Braden stood over her as she got dressed and then they drove to the nearest emergency room. Braden was honest with the doctor and told him exactly what happened.

“You’re a lucky woman,” the doctor said to Addie. “I recommend you never engage in this behavior again.”

Afterward, Braden drove Addie home in his truck. “I think we need some time apart,” he said to her.

“Time apart? Why, sir?”

“Because I’m not comfortable with what happened. I need to think about what we’ve been doing. Think about whether I want to be a part of it anymore.”

“But, sir—”

“Do I need to remind you again? This has never been about what you want.”

“Will you call me?” she asked.

“No,” he said adamantly. “I won’t.”

A week went by, and then another.

Braden was relieved that she was out of his life. He’d discovered a lot that he liked in the bedroom, and one thing that he hated. Something he’d never do again, no matter what. No matter how careful you were with breath control, there was always a risk.

Braden was a risk taker. He always had been.

But he was not willing to risk a person’s life.

He was relieved the relationship—if you could call it that—was over.

Turned out it wasn’t.

The stalking began again.

Addie waited by his truck after work, this time wearing a black jumpsuit and a choker made of braided black velvet.

“Please, sir,” she begged. “I need it. I need you.”

“I’ve told you it’s over,” he said. “This isn’t about what you want.”

“You miss me. You must. We were so in sync.”

“We were in over our heads.”

“But we’ve learned. We can do better.”

“No,” he said flatly. “It’s over.”

When the stalking didn’t stop, he finally had no choice. He called the police.

…

“So you didn’t dump her because she wouldn’t get kinky.”

“Of course I didn’t. I was frightened, Skye. Wouldn’t you be?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I would be. I can’t believe she wanted to try it again.”

“Apparently the climax was that good,” he says.

“More likely she just didn’t want to let you go. Did you consider getting back with her and just doing the other stuff?”

“Yeah, I considered it. But after she continued stalking me, I realized I wasn’t dealing with a rational person. She was so used to getting what she wanted that she couldn’t handle not having me. That wasn’t a person I wanted any long-term involvement with.”

“So you were never in love with her?”

“How can you ask me that?”

“It’s a valid question.”

“Valid, yes, but unnecessary. You already know the answer. I’ve told you I never loved a woman until you, Skye.”

Chapter Fifty

My body warms all over and my heart nearly melts from the heat of his words.

Braden is a man who says so much by saying nothing. It’s easy to forget that, but I promise myself that from now on I’ll remember.

He never loved Addie.

“Was she in love with you?”

“She thought she was.”

“She said that?”

“A couple of times, while she was stalking me after the incident. Contrary to popular belief, I do have feelings. I just don’t wear them on my sleeve. I felt bad for her, but I wasn’t in love with her. Besides, what she wanted to do was dangerous. It was easier for me to just nip it in the bud.”

“Lesser men might have stayed with her for the money.”

“Lesser men might have. I won’t say it didn’t occur to me, but if I was ever going to be rich, I wanted it to be on my own terms.”

“And it is.”