He sneers at me. “I watched her from the moment she started working for the company. I wanted her, but then I saw your interest. I waited and waited for you to make a move, but you never did. All you did was send her those fucking flowers every week. Such a fucking pussy. Then one day, I was in your office after hours looking for a file on your laptop. You’ll never guess what I found?” His sneer turns heated and he leans down and runs his nose along Poppy’s cheek. Bile rises in my throat.
“Why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you tell me you wanted her?”
His laugh is humorless. “Would you have let me have her?”
“No.” It comes out harsh. The thought of his hands on her has my blood boiling. My eyes go to his hand that’s slowly inching its way up her thigh, my black button up shirt she’s wearing sliding away with the motion, revealing more of her flesh.
He chuckles. “That’s what I thought.” He sighs wistfully, his eyes f
illing with desire again. “Anyway, there she was in all her naked glory, there for my viewing pleasure. I sat in your chair and jacked off to the sight of her and it was fucking delicious.”
A growl rumbles in the back of my throat. The arms of the chair strain as I force my hands to stay glued to them instead of pouncing on the bastard.
“I broke into the video feed and linked it to my computer so I could see her anytime I wanted.” He leans forward, causing Poppy to cry out when the knife pierces deeper into her skin, but he just ignores her pain. “Fuck, man. You have no idea how much fun I had watching her. It’s fucking hot that she sleeps naked.” He smirks again. “But you already know this.”
“Watch the fucking knife, Eric,” I warn through gritted teeth.
I feel sick when I realize Eric hasn’t done anything I haven’t done myself. However, the difference between me and him is I know when I’ve lost. I may have been relentless in my pursuit of Poppy the last few weeks, and it would have killed me to give her up, but had she truly not been interested in me, I would have. I would have because seeing Poppy happy, even if that was with another man, is all I want. Eric on the other hand has no remorse. He’d rather kill her than see her with someone else.
While he looks down at the knife, I inch closer to the edge of the chair. “What?” he asks, like it’s no big deal he’s damn near slicing her neck. “She’s going to be dead in a few minutes anyway.”
Poppy cries softly and my gaze briefly flickers to hers. I try to communicate with my eyes that everything is going to be okay.
“I’m going to kill you.” My voice, even to my own ears, sounds eerily menacing.
He shrugs. “I know.”
Fuck. This man is twisted.
“How in the hell did you get past the ping reports? I put security on those feeds. I should have been alerted that you broke into them.”
The motherfucker laughs, spit flying and landing on Poppy’s cheek. “I know you, Asher. Do you really think I’m stupid enough not to know you put your own security on them? Give me some damn credit. Hacking the reports and changing them was easy enough, since I helped you design them.”
Fucking motherfucking bastard!
“Let her go, Eric. You don’t want to do this.” I try to reason with him, hoping there’s still some form of good in him. What in the hell set him off to flip like this?
“Actually, I want to do this very much. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Why? Why do you want to hurt her? She never did anything to you.”
His eyes turn hard and the hand holding the knife shakes slightly with his anger. Fear makes its way down my spine when Poppy winces in pain.
“Because she chose you,” he snarls, losing some of his control. This is bad. I can’t let him lose control. “I tried,” he continues, “when you started contacting her. I tried doing it the right way. I asked her out on date, but I knew, I knew, she didn’t want me. You were already under her skin.”
“Why didn’t you just try to pursue her before then?” I ask to keep him talking.
He shrugs again. “I enjoyed watching her too much. It was exhilarating and felt so fucking good, knowing I was violating her. When I broke into her house at night, I knew just where the cameras were so you couldn’t see my face. I even knew when you were watching yourself, so I always avoided those times.” He laughs, and the sound has my blood turning to fire. “You wanna know something else, Asher? There were a few times I rigged the camera so it played the same scene repeatedly. It was during those times I had some real fun with her. I touched her,” he whispers. “I’d stripped down the covers and touched her soft pussy. I’d slide just the tip of my fingers inside her. She’d moan a pretty little sound, but never woke up. She tasted so good against my tongue.”
He stops talking and pulls something from his pocket. It’s a piece of lavender silk that I recognize right away.
“Do you know how many times I’ve jacked off in these, knowing they are her favorite pair, knowing they’ve touch her pussy over and over again. Knowing she’s creamed in them while thinking about you?” He brings them to his nose and sniffs loudly, before putting his hand on her lower stomach. Poppy whimpers in his lap, the sound sending shards of glass to my heart.
All of a sudden, Poppy gives a loud cry. Eric’s hand yanks the shirt apart, the buttons going every which way. She scrambles to try to close it, but the knife in her neck keeps her from moving too much. I’m helpless to do anything, just as much as she is. Rage clouds my vision of all reason and before I know it, I’m on my feet, stepping forward.
“Eric!” I bellow. Every vein in my body feels like it’s going to explode from the furious lava flowing through them.
“Sit the fuck down, Asher!” he yells, his eyes looking wild. “We fucking finish this now. You can do whatever the fuck you want with me afterwards.”