The Psycho (The Soldiers of Anarchy 1)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Liv

It was hard to focus on entertaining two boys when all I could think about was him. Him and that kiss. My mind was a scrambled mess and my plan to play him at his own game; lure him in, chew him up and spit him out, was feeling weaker by the second. So much for me being some kind of Black Widow. I felt like fucking Bambi at the end of the hunter’s rifle. I didn’t know which way was up and which was down.

I was clearing away the dinner plates, after making the boys lasagne. Earlier, we’d endured the most pointless facetime with my parents, who thought it was more important to show us footage of the ship and their cabin than to ask us how we all were. It’d left me feeling a little deflated and a lot pissed off, but when my mind wondered back to him, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. I found that unnerving. If I was going to come out of this unscathed, I needed to wise up–and fast.

I scraped the food off the dinner plates, placed them into the dishwasher, then I yanked the bin bag out of the bin, ready to take it outside. I tied a knot at the top and dragged it across to the back door. I could hear the boys racing upstairs, arguing over some computer game they were playing up there.

“Keep it down or no X-Box,” I shouted as I unlocked the door and stepped out into the cool night air to dump the bin bag into the wheelie bin outside.

As I turned towards the bins, I squealed as a dark figure emerged from the shadows and came towards me.

“It’s me,” Adam said, holding his hand up like he came in peace and was trying to calm me.

I was gasping for breath, the bin bag discarded on the floor to the side of me, and my hand clutched at my chest as if that’d help ward off the impending heart attack he’d almost given me.

“What the actual fuck, Adam? Have you been hiding out here all this time?” I asked, because quite frankly, I wouldn’t put it past him.

“No. I’ve been home, done some business. But I had to come back and see you.”

“And you thought the best way to do that was to jump out of the bushes and scare me half to death?”

“I didn’t realise you’d be so jumpy.”

I huffed out a laugh at his naivety.

“Of course you wouldn’t. You’re a stalker and you kill people for a living. Why would you ever feel jumpy?”

“I’m not a stalker,” he reprimanded, but there was no malice in his tone.

“So what would you call this then?”

“Long distance admiration. Well, until last night… and this morning.” I could hear the smugness in his voice. I didn’t need to see his face to prove it.

“Look, Adam… about this morning…”

He didn’t give me chance to finish. Instead, he stalked forward, pushing me up against the wall and he kissed me. But this time, it wasn’t urgent and frantic, it was still demanding, but it was seductive, sensual and gorgeously toe-curling. His lips felt perfect, his tongue sliding over mine, taking control. Instinctively, I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck, and he groaned as I pulled him closer to me. Hearing him make that noise did things to me. He made my body yearn for more. He made me feel alive.

I closed my eyes, lost in the moment and never wanting it to end. He kissed me like I was the most precious thing he’d ever held in his arms. Like he wanted to get as lost in me as I was in him. In this moment, he wasn’t Adam the stalker, or Adam the psycho, he was just a guy who’d chosen me, who wanted me. And I couldn’t deny it anymore. I wanted him too. That thought gave me chills, but it also scared me a little. Was I going to be strong enough to survive him? I hoped so, because I didn’t think I could fight this anymore. That primal urge to be loved–and to love–was bubbling to the surface and I was embracing it.

He started to trail kisses down my neck as his hands grabbed my ass, pulling me to him as he ground his hips against me. It was almost too much to bear, but I managed to summon the last shred of dignity that I had, and I gasped.

“Not here, Adam. I can’t do this here.”

He buried his head in my neck, taking a deep breath and then he whispered in my ear, “Come back to mine. Not the club, come to me.”

“I can’t,” I replied breathlessly.

“Why not? It won’t be like last time.”

“I can’t leave the boys. They need me.”

He gave another sigh and then he lifted his head to look at me.

“Come to the club. You don’t have to come through the front door, there’s a side entrance. It’ll be different than before. It’ll just be me. You and me.”

“I’ll think about it.” I bit my lip, ignoring the warnings and encouragement my angel and devil on my shoulders were giving me.

“I won’t give up. You know that,” he stated, giving me a pointed stare.

I nodded and watched as he picked up the bin bag from the floor and took it to the bin, lifting the lid and throwing it inside. Then he came back over to me, leant down to give me a gentle peck on the lips and then turned and walked away, taking my heart and my breath with him.

Did I say I was screwed? Yeah, it was worse than that. I was gone.

Later that night, after tucking Hayden and Ollie up in bed and kissing them goodnight, I saw a message waiting on my phone.

My Stalker: Friday, seven o’clock. Come to the side entrance. Please. Give me a chance.

My fingers hovered over the letters, but it was pointless. The rules of the game had changed. I didn’t even know what they were anymore. But I had to see this through for my own sanity.

Me: Okay.