“What?” Confusion floods me. “But you…married my mother.”
“I married her so she’d have the benefit of my insurance. But she never had me, London. Not once. I’d never lay a fucking finger on her. There’s only you.” He advances on me further, but I take several steps back, unable to breathe, trying to get a handle on what he’s telling me. Trying to puzzle my way through. Is this real? Or a dream? “We had an understanding, she and I. She gets medical coverage and some money to occupy her…and I get to be the one who welcomes you home. Feeds you and puts a roof over your head. She wasn’t supposed to come back so soon. Not before you and I had trust between us. Not before I could explain—and I was planning on telling you everything tonight.”
Rain is dripping unchecked down my face now. I’m in too much shock to wipe it away. Since yesterday, I’ve been living in an alternate reality. None of my beliefs were based in fact. “Did she know you would…sleep with me?”
“We never said it out loud,” he says hoarsely.
“But it was understood.”
His throat works with a swallow. “I suppose so. It was very hard to keep my feelings hidden. And eventually, one of the administrators called her and she discovered by accident that I’d been…”
“What?”
“Going to watch you. On the surveillance cameras at the facility.” He wets his lips and I can’t subdue a flare of excitement at the sight. “Every day. Sometimes more than once. I abused my badge as badly as I abused my cock…and I couldn’t help it. Being without you turned me hollow. I walked around starved for months, just waiting for your release. Counting the seconds.”
Oh my God.
I should be screaming. Running.
Sprinting as far and fast as I can. For a very different reason than the first time I ran tonight. This man, Brody, my stepfather, has been stalking me. He coordinated our meeting, our living situation, everything. He planned on making me his before I ever knew who he was.
Watched me when I was unaware.
That is terrifying.
At least…it should be.
Why is there a coil of heat in my tummy? Pleasurable goose bumps on my arms?
Why am I relieved? It’s as though I’ve been wrapped in a blanket fresh from the dryer.
There has to be something wrong with me.
“I will make her leave again.” He comes toward me with measured steps, eyes steady and watchful and dark. “And you’ll sleep in my bed tonight.”
“I can’t,” I whisper, retreating. Can I?
A touch of madness flares in his expression. “You will.”
Wetness spreads between my legs, despite my mind telling me this is wrong. My body is disagreeing, insisting that being with Brody is right. That it’s okay to feel relief and happiness that he’s wanted me all along. Even obsessed over me. Stalked me. For once, something in my life was planned and not another mishap or kick in the rear from fate. This man is offering me a home—himself—and it’s a home I want to live in. Desperately.
Gravity seems to stop me in my tracks, allowing my stepfather to reach me, hauling me up against his chest, pulling me onto my toes and groaning into the crook of my neck. “The way I want and need you isn’t natural, I know that. It’s fucked up. But it’s real and it will never, ever go away. I’m permanent. I’ll never move a fucking inch, London. Just give in to it.”
My neck falls back as if a string has been cut. “I want to, but…”
He holds his head. “But what?”
“You’re married to someone else.”
“Ah, London.” His hand slides up the back of my skirt to massage my backside. “I needed a way to get close. And I needed to be as close as possible. My obsession with you doesn’t allow for anything less than the same house.” His fingers bite hard into my flesh. “I want to devour you, do you fucking get it?”
More and more heat swamps me, a current carrying away my reservations. What feels right is obvious. It’s this man. It’s his devotion…and yes, even his obsession. It’s calling forth my own and making it expand, whispering, you will be obsessed with him, too. Maybe you already are. “Yes. I get it.”
His exhale of relief stirs my hair. “You will be my wife. Now that I don’t have to hide this goddamn sickness, now that I can set it loose, there’s no need to pretend anymore just to get close. I’ll have a ring on your finger…” His teeth close around my earlobe and bite down. “And a baby in that little belly of yours so fast, your head will spin.”
“Your wife…” I breathe, the permanence of that stealing my breath. Filling something inside me that has been empty my whole life. “Yes, I want that.”