45. alessia

45

ALESSIA

"You're it for me, Alessia. There is no one else for me. It's not just this game of lust anymore."

I lay on Daegan's scarred chest in disbelief. Surely, a man like him could never commit to a girl like me. I want to say it back, but I can't find the words. I feel the same, his eyes begging for mercy. His light grey eyes are so bright with unwavering hope, and it kills me. Pure heat travels into my blood, exploding every broken piece and putting me back together when he looks at me like this.

"If I say it back, everything changes, Daegan. When I fall, I fall hard. I'm naive when it comes to these things, and if you hurt me, I don't think I'll recover. I've had this wall up purposefully to avoid falling in love and getting hurt again. I don't want to feel that again, and I don't want to feel it with you. Especially with you. Especially with a man that has made me feel and experience things I thought were dead and truant."

He looks away from me.

"So…if I honestly say those three words. Can you promise me one more thing?"

"Anything."

"No more pretending. I want honesty. I want the truth. No more secrets. No more secret relationships. I want this relationship we have behind closed doors to come to light."

He inhales long and hard, his chest rising and falling slowly, but I can't tell what's going through his head.

He nods slowly, and I can't tell, but a part of me feels like he isn't being honest—like he's hiding something.

"I'm in love with you, Daegan. Please don't break my heart. I am yours."

He climbs on top of me and grabs a condom from the nightstand. He rips the wrapper open with his teeth. His sharp canines tear it off in a second. He glides it on his massive pierced dick and strokes himself a few times, coating his tip with my wetness before entering me. His movements are slow like he's savoring every single detail of this night.

After Daegan made love to me, I felt like I was in my own world. I couldn't fall asleep, but right after he came inside me with the condom on, he kept whispering I love you in my ear, and every time he did, my heart fluttered, and my breathing stopped.

I'm so in love with this man, it's scaring me.

As soon as I stand up to go to the restroom, I feel fluids fall out of me. That's weird. I must be really wet…right?

But when I turn on the lights, more slips out, and I panic. He wore a condom. Why is his come falling out of me?

Did it fucking break?

Shit. It must have broken. Before my mind spirals out of control, I can go into town and find Plan B somewhere. It'll be okay.

After I'm done using the restroom, I'm staring at the door in front of me. The one he keeps locked at all times. I know I shouldn't do it, but something is screaming at me to check it. I remember the box of condoms by his nightstand, and I saw a key inside the drawer.

I push his bedroom door open and make sure to walk softly against the wooden floors. I open it and grab the key. My heart drops, and a cold shiver runs down my spine when I see Daegan move in his sleep.

I see his dragon tattoo and his back muscles move, but then he goes still. Holding my breath, I walk out of his room and hold the key tight in my hand to make sure it's tightly secured to the point it almost breaks my skin.

I'm praying and wishing to myself that it's the right key, and as soon as it glides in perfectly, like a missing puzzle piece, a small pop follows. I know I just unlocked something mysterious.

I push open the door, and I feel like I'm in a horror movie.

I let the door glide across the wooden floor until it softly hits the other side of the wall. I would have grabbed it before it collided, but the sight before me drained my blood until I ran cold.

There are photographs of me everywhere, pinned to every single wall. They go back to the first day I received a text message in Chrome Beans. I'm sitting there with my coffee and my book in hand. I'm at El Devine with my favorite cowgirl boots on with my friends. There are photos of me sleeping, photos of me with my ex-boyfriend, Jack, and photos of me with my mother. Photos of me everywhere. Walking to my car, at the gym, the grocery store.

Daegan? Is he? Is he the one who was stalking me?! Texting me? Leaving me black-painted flowers?

I'm trembling, shaking, the world crashing into itself like a dying star, and my soul shatters. This is insanity. This is crazy. Am I dreaming?

Are these side effects from him drugging me?

I pinch myself, rub my arms, and close my eyes over and over again to see if my horrid scenery will disappear. But when I open my eyes, nothing changes.

Something inside me decides to check his pockets. I head back to his room to check his pockets and find my hair. My curls. The same curls he texted me a photo of.

It's him. He's the one that's been watching me.

I start grabbing my clothes quickly but quietly. And just when I've put on my shoes, I'm opening the bedroom door. My heart thundering, and fear sets into every particle of my being.

I stand there, my hand on the doorknob, and I want to run.

But I'm paralyzed for some reason. The shock has caught up to me, and I feel like I'm about to fall over and faint, the nausea overpowering my movements.

"Alessia." He calls out for me.

"It's you, you've been watching me. The one who sent me those flowers. You cut a piece of my hair off."

"Alessia…don't do this. Don't run."

I elbow him in the stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs, and a loud, pained grunt follows.

I take advantage and swing the door further open, bolting out as fast as I can, and start to run for my life.