dissolves when we’re together.
It’s just Ari and me as my body sinks down over his cock, our eyes locked together, the horn beeping when I lean back against the steering wheel. The sound echoes through the garage, but it feels too good to care, my hips rolling as I bounce on his lap, his eyes darkening with pleasure as his hand cups my breast.
“Always such an eager girl,” he whispers before pulling me forward, our mouths colliding while our bodies move in tandem.
Every part of me trembles as an orgasm tears through me, his teeth biting down on my lip as he finds his own release.
As we’re catching our breath, I look around the parking lot and laugh. “How the hell did you get us here so quick?”
“Like I said: excellent driver. Now hop off, I have a surprise upstairs for you.”
My brows tug together. “Is that where you were all day?”
He stares at me thoughtfully, his fingers softly brushing down the nape of my neck. “I couldn’t bring you home without giving you something I know you’ll need.”
Surprised by the statement, I blink. “What more can I possibly need?”
“You’ll see,” he says as he taps my thigh.
We both fix our clothes and get out of the car, his hand locking protectively over mine as he leads us to the elevator and types in the code.
After we step in, it shoots up fast enough to sink my stomach to my feet, the doors dinging open to the penthouse, a bank of windows to our left revealing the lights of the city beyond.
Ari walks me past the piano, all my photographs adorning the walls with small lights above them to reveal the images.
Guided down the hall, I think we’re going to the master bedroom, but Ari stops at a guest room door and opens it to reveal a space that takes my fucking breath away.
I step inside, unable to speak while looking at the tapestries on the walls, the statues, and different paintings. Photographs hang on a string that lines one wall, clothespins clipping them in place.
Absolutely stunned, I know by now not to ask, but I turn to him anyway. “How did you do this? This is everything from my old bedroom.”
His mouth crooks at the corner. “I believe we’ve discussed my secrets and the fact I won’t discuss them. Must I always remind you?”
Throwing my arms around him, I breathe out as he holds me. Still, I don’t understand why he did this.
“Why?”
“We’re not always going to see eye to eye. We’re too stubborn for that. But I’ll never accept you running off. Not where I can’t get to you. Never again. So, when I piss you off, which I will because I enjoy doing it, you have this door to slam in my face.”
I laugh and look at the door. “Why is the lock on the outside?”
He glances at it and back to me. “That’s for when you piss me off. Keeping you prisoner had its benefits.”
A shake of my head. “Just don’t lock me in alone for too long. I can’t sleep without you.”
He smiles. The real one this time. An expression that is so rare, yet blinding when it occurs.
“You’ll never have to worry about that again. Your shadow is real, Adeline. And now that he has you, he’ll never let you go.”
It’s strange, this new reality, this place where we’ve ended up. In so many ways, it should have never led to this, for him or for me, but yet it’s the only place that’s right.
Ari, for all his screwed up acts, has proven he’s the man I’d written about when I was younger. The man who couldn’t exist, yet was always nearby.
Watching.
Waiting.
Protecting me even when I didn’t know he was there.
Speaking of which...
“Let me guess, you also installed cameras today?”
Another wicked grin. “I’m Ari. I’m sure you remember me. I’m kind of hard to forget.”
As if that’s the only explanation needed.
In the end, it is.
He will always be a damn stalker.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Ari
Two years later...
I’m going to go broke if Adeline keeps doing these gallery shows. Every couple of months, she comes up with a new set that Rebecca can’t help but show off immediately, the images sometimes dark as fuck, but others so hopeful it makes my heart bleed.
How we’re making this work, I’m not sure. It’s not like our lives go together. I still kill people for a living, and she keeps living in a happy little