Chapter Four

Madelyn

Madelyn stepped out of the shower, exhausted and ready for bed. She had been busy at the station the last few days, and it was starting to get to her. She loved her job and loved being able to help people in her own way, but lately, she had been doing almost triple the workload than she had been when she first started.

The powers that be at the station had finally decided to upgrade their system, which they had been in dire need of. However, the tech who had done the job messed up somewhere along the way and ended up deleting everything. All the files, all the electronic paperwork, the whole thing. It was complete chaos as everyone had to suddenly switch back to doing things old-school. Thankfully, they had hard copies of it all for just such an occasion, but now it was her job to re-digitize everything on top of all her usual daily tasks. She had been going to work earlier and staying later because of it. The OT was nice, but it was also becoming draining.

After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she hung her hair towel on the back of the bathroom door. She secured the towel around her body as she exited the bathroom and headed into her room in search of some pajamas.

Her queen-size bed took up the majority of the room with its old-fashioned metal bed frame, complete with a metal headboard and footboard. She had been meaning to upgrade it to something more modern, but she didn’t feel like it was much of a priority. Besides, she kind of liked the way the shiny silver glinted in the morning. She had it covered with a bright yellow comforter and gray sheets along with four fluffy pillows, giving the room a bright and cheerful look. It was a direct contrast to who she was as a person, but she loved the color.

White nightstands stood on either side of the bed, and a white dresser sat next to the bay window that overlooked the woods surrounding the property. In the bay window, she had a gray cushion and pale yellow throw blanket with a couple of throw pillows for when she had the time to sit there and read. The book she was currently working on sat on top of the throw blanket where she had left it the last time she had tried to read. Across from the window, she had an old wooden trunk that used to hold a TV, at least until it broke and she started using her laptop to watch her shows. The walk-in closet, the bathroom, and the door to the hallway were along the wall opposite the bed.

The room may not be anything special, but it was her favorite room in the house. It was where she felt safest and she spent most of her time when she was home. She was looking forward to finishing all the extra stuff at work so that she could start doing that again.

Yawning, Madelyn pulled a clean pair of underwear out of the dresser along with a sleep shirt and a pair of shorts. She had just set them both on top of the dresser so that she could get dressed when she suddenly heard the floor creak behind her. At the same time, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and she was overwhelmed by the feeling of someone else being in the room with her. The clothes she had in her hands dropped to the ground as she spun around, and that was when she saw him, standing just inside the bedroom door.

He was tall, taller than her door frame, which meant he must have had to duck to avoid hitting his head. He had a thick, muscular build hidden beneath baggy jeans and a dark, navy blue hoodie. His hands were balled into fists at his sides, the tops of which were covered with intricate tattoos. She recognized those tattoos, too, from the video she had received months ago and had saved to her phone because she was obviously demented. Her eyes widened in realization as she looked up at the face of her stalker for the first time, but the majority of it was shrouded by the hood he had pulled up over his head.

A heartbeat passed before he rushed her, and she attempted to leap over the bed to get away, but he was much faster than she was. His massive arms circled her middle, pinning her arms at her sides as she crashed back against his solid chest. The air whooshed from her lungs and her heart thudded a frantic beat as she struggled against his grasp, but he was far stronger than she was.

His hot breath tickled her ear as he chuckled. “Did you really think that fancy new security system would keep me away, little dove?”

In that moment, Madelyn wanted to slap herself because she had believed it would keep him away. While he continued to text her, she hadn”t found any more gifts or notes in the house since Melanie had it installed, so she had thought that was the end of it. Clearly, she had been wrong, and she was furious with herself for getting complacent.

Xavier leaned down and ran his nose along the column of her neck like he was smelling her and trying to memorize her scent. It sent chills down her spine and managed to knock her out of her shocked and fearful stupor. What was she doing? She wasn’t a helpless little girl anymore. She had prepared for this.

As hard as she could, Madelyn stomped on his foot. It didn’t do as much as she hoped because he was wearing boots, but it did cause him to lift his head. The moment he did, she struck. She threw her head back, slamming it into his face. She had been aiming for his nose, but because he was so tall, she only managed to hit his mouth, and she felt his teeth dig into her skull. It still had the desired effect though as he ended up releasing her in surprise.

Madelyn didn’t look back as she bolted out of the room. Her only thought was to get away and keep the towel wrapped tightly around her body. She wished she had her cell phone so that she could at least call Melanie or maybe even the actual police this time, but since she didn’t have that, her only option was to get out to the street and then run to a neighbor”s house. Surely, he wouldn’t come after her if she wasn’t alone.

She was only a foot away from the stairs, and that much closer to freedom, when Xavier managed to catch up to her. He snagged her around her waist again, causing her to scream, and then slammed her against the wall, knocking the wind out of her once more. She fought against his grasp and somehow managed to get a hand free, which she used to punch him in the side of the face. His head snapped to the side, but it didn’t seem to hurt him as much as it did her.

It felt as though she had punched a brick wall even though she knew she had used the correct form. She had practiced her punches countless times, but it seemed as though his jaw had been made out of concrete.

Before she knew what was happening, Xavier had her wrists pinned to the wall above her head with one massive hand, and all she could do was silently pray that the towel shielding her nakedness didn’t fall as he grinned at her, his blood staining his teeth from the cut on his lips. The blood was from either her headbutt or her punch, she didn’t know which.

“Well, that was fun,” he breathed, his body pressing against hers so hard she could feel his erection pressing against her belly. “Little dove’s got some bite to her.”

“Let me go, and I’ll show you just how much bite I have,” she spat bitterly. He laughed but didn’t let her go, making her growl in frustration. “What do you want, Xavier?”

It was something that she had been wanting to know the answer to ever since she found the first note. It was driving her crazy, trying to figure out what this guy wanted from her, and since she was incapable of getting away from him, she wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to find out. That was, of course, if he would even tell her.

He lifted his free hand and brushed those tattooed knuckles down her cheek. She flinched away from him but only because it was the right thing to do, not because she felt she needed to. Which was strange.

Even now, in her precarious situation, she didn’t feel like she was in any danger. If anything, she felt safe, secure, and that really threw her for a loop.

His fingers continued their gentle caress down the side of her neck to her bare shoulder. “You already know what I want. We are meant to be together, you and I.”

“Bull,” she hissed back at him, not knowing where this boldness came from. Here she was, face to face with her stalker, and she was provoking him. She had to have a death wish or something. “You don’t even know me. You can’t possibly know that we are supposed to be together.”

“I can, and I do,” he retorted, his eyes following the path of his fingers from beneath his hood. “And I know more about you than you think.”

His fingers traced a lazy path from her shoulder to her collarbone, and her chest was rising and falling with her rapid breathing as goosebumps erupted in the wake of his fingers. The fact that he felt like he had every right to touch her was unnerving, as was the fact that her body found it rather pleasant.

He pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth before continuing. “I know about your parents, Madelyn, and I know what they did to you. I know about your foster father too. I know you haven’t had any lasting relationship apart from Melanie and that you work at the police station as a receptionist. Your favorite color is yellow, your favorite animal is a platypus, and when you are concentrating really hard on something, you get this adorable little crinkle right between your eyebrows.” He smiled, lifting his eyes to hers. “See, I know you?”

“H-how?” She gasped, her voice finally breaking. “How do you know all that?”

His fingers teased the top of the towel. “I’m good at what I do. I’ve been waiting for this, you know. The chance to meet you face-to-face. I know you feel it, Madelyn. This pull between us, the connection. It’s fate. And we both know, you can’t fight fate.”

There was no way she was going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right. It made no sense to her at all, but even with him breaking in, pinning her against the wall, preventing her from leaving, and touching her as if he had every right to do so, she still didn’t feel threatened. She was angry and pissed off, sure, but she didn’t feel like she was in danger at all. She wouldn’t go so far as to say she trusted him, nor would she say that it was some kind of pull or connection, but something was going on. It was just something that she hadn’t figured out yet.

She lifted her chin to meet his eyes, which she now realized were a beautiful ice-blue color. “If you are so convinced that this is fate, then why not approach me like a normal person and ask me out? Why follow me? Why stick to the shadows?”

He chuckled, his breath caressing her face. “Because one—I’m anything but normal, sweetheart. And two—you aren’t quite ready to know the truth about what I am, about what you are to me.”

Her breath hitched when his finger dipped in between her breasts. She hated the way her body reacted to his touch and the fact that it clouded her mind so easily. If she were anyone else, she would be fighting him and trying to get away, not carrying on a conversation like they were old friends. So, why wasn’t her body getting the message?

“W-what does that even mean?” she asked, the question coming out far more breathy and aroused-sounding than angry and firm as she had intended.

“Don’t worry, little dove. You’ll find out soon enough.”

Madelyn shook her head, trying to clear her mind, and let out a nervous laugh. “You’re crazy,” she told him bluntly. Though, in all honesty, she didn’t think ‘crazy’ was a strong enough word. Delusional, completely unhinged, or maybe even psychotic would be a better fit.

“Don’t I know it,” he agreed with a laugh. “Though, a lifetime of being alone will do that to a person.”

Xavier released her wrists but didn’t step away. Instead, he placed one hand on either side of her head. If she wanted to, she could easily kick him in the balls and take off, and she had been planning on doing just that. However, the words that came out of his mouth next made her pause.

“We are a lot alike in that regard, you know. My father was abusive too, and he made me watch as he killed my mother. That happened when I was eleven, and I’ve been pretty much on my own ever since.”

Madelyn tried to ignore it, she really did, but hearing that small tidbit about his past touched something deep inside of her. His words managed to reach the small, terrified little girl she had been all those years ago, and her heart squeezed in her chest. Eleven years old. That was a very young age to find yourself all alone, and she knew exactly how that felt. She had been through that and so much more. The fact that they had something in common was not what she had expected.

Instead of responding though, Madelyn pressed her lips together and swallowed. That commonality aside, she didn’t want to engage him any further. Who knew what kind of damage she had already done by engaging this much?

The two of them stood in the hallway in a tense silence. While Madelyn was uncomfortable and unsure, Xavier seemed to be perfectly happy standing there as his eyes roamed over every inch of her. She had never felt as exposed or vulnerable as she did in that moment. Even when she told Melanie about her past, it hadn’t been as revealing as this.

As he toyed with the edge of the towel again, she squeezed her eyes closed and rested her head against the wall. That was too much, too far, and she didn’t think she could bear it. “Please, don’t.”

“Relax,” he murmured. “We aren’t doing anything tonight. Even if you are looking mighty delicious. I just wanted us to have this little introduction. I wanted you to be able to put a face to the man you are going to spend the rest of your life with.” He pressed a gentle kiss to the side of her neck, right over her rapid pulse, and then another to her cheek before finally taking a step away from her. “Get some sleep. We will talk again soon.”

When she felt him leave, her eyes snapped open, and she watched as he descended the stairs and headed right out the front door. Just before he closed it, he looked up at her and winked. Then he was gone.

Madelyn let out a breath and slid to the ground, her back still pressed against the wall. All at once, her body began trembling as she tried to figure out what just happened. She was so angry that she hadn’t fought back more, that she hadn’t told him to leave her alone. Instead of doing either of those things, she had just stood there like a scared rabbit. What good were the self-defense classes if she didn’t use what she learned against an actual attacker?