"You came back here that night when I made the speech, huh?" he guessed. "There was no viral video."
I pursed my lips and looked straight ahead as I replied, "Oh the viral video was there. I watched it like about eight times afterwards before falling asleep."
Silence again. But when he spoke a minute later, his tone was light and amused.
"Wynnie with a bear pic?" he questioned. "Really?"
I didn't want to smile so I just shrugged.
A current of electricity ran through me and I gave a start when his fingers laced through mine on the bench. I stared at his face, his downcast eyes and when he looked at me, there was sadness and regret in his expression.
"You know my story," he said in a husky voice. "You know everything about me. Tell me yours."
I tried to extricate my fingers from his but he held tight.
"Tell me your story," he pleaded with an earnest look in his eyes.
"Why?" I challenged defiantly. "Why should I? You called me a criminal, a psychopath and a liar. Why would you believe anything that comes out of my mouth now?"
Jude ran his gaze over my face and then lifted his other hand and caressed my cheek softly with the backs of his fingers. My eyelids grew heavy as he did that and I wanted to lean into his touch so bad, to take that comfort.
"I should run in the opposite direction," he murmured, his breath whispering over my mouth. "But turns out, I like the idea of having a stalker in my life. Having someone want me to the point of obsession. Smother me with her possessiveness. Burn me. Ruin me. Own me."
With a huge effort, I pulled away from his touch and turned my back to him, not daring to believe that he was sincere.
"Sir…this is a church," I reminded him, trying to sound unbothered when every vein in my body was starting to sing with pleasure. He was using his magical ability again to weave words like spells and entice me.
"Tell me what happened back in Wisconsin," he insisted firmly.
I closed my eyes, wondering if I could bring myself to talk about any of it, to relive those ugly moments.
"Wynnie," he continued when I didn't answer. "I'm sorry for everything I said. I should've given you a chance to explain. But you would've freaked out too if you were in my position." He let out a sigh. "I want to help you. I'm going to help you but you need to tell me the truth. Every detail. We'll do this the right way. No running away from the law."
"You want me to turn myself in, huh?" I questioned bitterly.
"Yes. And as soon as that happens, I'm going to pull some strings and bail you out. You'll stay with me while I handle your case. Please trust me."
I wrapped my arms around myself and chewed on my lip. "What if I am guilty?" I asked him quietly. "Will you still fight for me?"
Jude chose not to answer that directly and I grimaced at what his evasion meant.
"I don’t think you attempted to kill Joshua without probable cause and I need you to give me a chance to prove that in court," was his careful and practical response.
I stared off into space then. I did trust Jude and knew he wouldn't promise me this if he wasn't serious about helping me but that wasn’t what tempted me to confide in him. It was the hope that he would finally know all there was to know about me and maybe, just maybe…he would grow to love me too.
So I dragged in a steadying breath and forced myself to open my mouth and get the words out. To tell him everything about my past. Noah. Mom. Joshua. My escape and how I came to be his assistant. How I started to hang on to the idea of him as a lifeline. I even told him I had suicidal thoughts sometimes and that jumping off a cliff would be my preferred method of ending my life. I left nothing out except the part where I touched him without his consent when he was passed out. That was next level creepy and I didn't think he needed to know that. Not that it would shock him much after learning the rest of it. The trauma and pain I had suffered all came to the surface in that church where only God and this man were my witnesses.
“I was scared,” I finished in a small voice. “Mom wouldn’t believe me and I didn’t want to be arrested or questioned by the police. Who knew what Joshua would do afterwards? To her. To me. I thought running away would help keep us both safe.”
At last I heard him blow out a breath and then he shifted towards me and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Wynter,” he said and squeezed slightly. “I’m so sorry for what you went through. I’ll do everything in my power to sort this out if you turn yourself in and testify against Joshua. Against Noah too. We can solve this together. You don’t have to be afraid.”
I shook my head at that. “I left that life behind, Jude. Those people, those memories. You became everything for me. I don’t want to go through the ugliness. I just want to forget about it,” I told him wearily.
“Wynter, the only way I can help you-“
“Is to be there for me,” I interrupted and turned around. “It’s enough that you want to try. That you’re on my side. I don’t need justice. I need you.”
He looked at me gravely, his blue eyes shining with tears. Tears for me? For my pain?
“We’ll go home tonight,” he said to me gently. “Sleep this off. And we’ll work on a solution tomorrow, okay?”
I smiled at him gratefully and nodded, feeling lighter and happier. Jude reached for my hand once more and we sat in that church for another five minutes or so, my head resting on his shoulder as I breathed a little easier than I had when I had left his house today.
“Thank you for changing your mind,” I whispered in his ear and nipped his neck playfully.
He smirked at that and then cleared his throat before assuming a serious tone. “Um, ma’am…this is a church.”
That made me laugh and I wanted to climb on his lap and fuck him right there, church or not but he got up and tugged on my hand, leading me out of that place between heaven and hell and taking me home.
Chapter 29
Jude
Part of me was so afraid. I hadn’t fought a case in my life but here I was planning on doing so for Wynter. And this was extremely personal so it complicated things even more. We holed up at my house for a week instead of the one night which I had intended because she wouldn’t stop touching me every damn minute we were free. She was like a drug seeping into my bloodstreams. Now that there were no reservations, no secrets and lies between us, Wynnie let her true personality shine through and it was fucking beautiful. A little scary but still beautiful.
The way she looked at me was both captivating and terrifying. Like I was the very air she breathed but she wouldn’t hesitate to cut off my own oxygen if I ever betrayed her.
I dived into that well of emotion and obsession like it was my mission in life. I wrote like a maniac, fucked her like a maniac and then spent hours poring through my law books and her case file to find a way to help her without her having to testify. But it wasn’t looking good.
One afternoon, she got me to fuck her against the bookshelves in my office until my cum was leaking down her thighs and when I tried to talk to her about her case, she kissed me on the mouth fiercely before walking out and closing the door behind her. Her response was the same each time. Kiss me to shut me up and tell me that I was enough for her and that she could stay locked up in this house with me forever.
“I’ll even come back to haunt you after I die if you want,” she proclaimed one night when we were lying in bed after a thorough sex-session. “You’ll hear my voice every time you are alone in a room. And every time you so much as look at another woman with lust, I’ll cause her to turn into this horrific creature before your eyes. Except it’d be just a hallucination but enough to turn you off completely.” She frowned and thought about it some more. “Or I could somehow become this tangible ghoul thingy where I come and give you a blowjob every night and touch you and fuck you-“
I placed a hand over her mouth to shut her up. “I get it,” I responded in amusement. “Sex with a ghost has never been my kink but I could make e
xceptions for you.”
Wynter removed my hand and shot me a dangerous smile. “You will make exceptions for me, Mr. Knight.”
Lazily, I bent my head to suck on her nipples as she lay naked and sated beside me. “Please stop talking about dying, Wynnie,” I said to her, feeling sad for some reason. “You have me now. I’m not going to give up on you.”
She hummed something as she ran her hands through my hair and replied, “I like the idea of a ride or die relationship. I don’t want a mediocre love.”
I lifted my head and pinned her with an intense look. “This isn’t mediocre,” I growled in protest. “Nothing about us is mediocre. And it is ride or die.”
Wynnie appeared to be insanely pleased with the idea of dying together or dying before we gave up on each other.
“How would you prefer to die, Jude?” she asked me casually as if she was asking me to go shopping with her or something.
I let out a sigh. “I’d rather not die willingly,” I informed her in a careful tone. “Unlike you, if I ever find myself standing at the edge of a cliff, I’d prefer you to come and save me.”
She made a face as if the idea was boring. “I’d rather jump with you,” she quipped.
Widening my eyes at her, I shook my head slowly. “Okay. I am never asking you to come and save me in that case.”
Wynnie burst out laughing at the wariness in my tone and l ended up laughing as well while holding her close. It just went to show how crazy I was about her now when this kind of eerie conversation seemed normal to me.
The next afternoon at around four, Wynnie popped her head inside the door of my office and said, “Hi. Sorry I’ve been MIA, boss. Did you need anything?”
I was studying her file again with my hands buried in my hair and muttered, “Yeah. My sanity.”
She out a giggle and then disappeared again, not showing up till it was almost sunset.
“Jude,” she said softly as she entered my office. “I need you.”
And just like that, my fingers stopped moving over the keyboard and I lifted my head to give her a burning look. That sexy voice saying such things to me and the pleading, longing expression on her face were my undoing. I pushed everything in front of me aside and nodded to her.
Shutting the door behind her, she ran her tongue seductively over her lips. Again, her only attire was a shirt of mine and she crossed those curvy thighs in front of her in a deliberately enticing gesture. Fuck me, I was a goner. This girl had me in all the ways that counted.
“I was going through some of your emails and…I noticed a P. Sylvia reaching out,” she informed me in a low voice. “She wants to do a collab, apparently. Sent in a pitch and everything.”
P. Sylvia was another author friend of mine who lived in Kansas. She was a bestseller as well and we wrote in the same genre. I had never co-written anything before so it did pique my interest.
“All right. I’ll have a look and get back to her tomorrow. Just mark it on my calendar.”
Wynter responded by narrowing those smoky eyes at me and I frowned. We looked at each other for a long moment before I finally realized the reason behind her displeasure.
I laughed at her then and said, “My God. You’re so sexy when you’re jealous.”
Her lips curved as well but in an uncompromising and cool manner. “I’m also lethal,” she declared calmly. “Very, very lethal.”
And damned if her attitude didn’t turn me on. I wanted every part of her, even the dark and questionable ones. My cock stiffened in my pants and my fingers went to the buttons of my shirt, working on them slowly as I studied her with lust tightening my features.
“Come here, Wynnie,” I ordered her in a no-nonsense tone. “Show me some of that lethality.”
She walked over slowly and climbed on to my desk in a sensuous manner, shifting over to me and spreading those sexy legs of hers by placing each foot on either side of me on the chair. I licked my lips when I discovered she was naked below the waist, her pussy gleaming at me and making my mouth water.
“Stick your fingers in me, Jude,” she told me and already her hands were clutching my hair and dragging me closer to her sweet, hot core. “Lick up all my wetness and tell me you love the taste.”
“Yes, baby,” I replied huskily and leaned forward but then paused when my eyes caught on the bit of pink skin on her inner thigh.
Where my name was tattooed boldly in black ink.
I stared at it for a good long minute and then looked up at her in surprise. “Is that real?” I whispered in astonishment.
Wynter cocked her head to the side. “Yeah, I just got it today. Do you like it?”
Rage began to fill me up at her confession. She had marked herself with my name permanently and had gone out to do it without even informing me about it.
“Shit, Wynter, what if someone had seen you?” I snapped at her and pushed back my chair to stand up. “You know what your situation is right now. Ella thinks you escaped! If she finds out-“
“I don’t give a fuck what Ella thinks,” Wynnie snapped back, anger causing her cheeks to appear flushed.
“Well, I do!” I yelled at her. “She is my friend and I lied to her when she tried to help me. This is obstruction of justice, damn it! I could get arrested as well.”
“Ella isn’t trying to help you, Jude. She was trying to help herself. To you. Learn the fucking difference. Don’t fight with me over her.”
I snorted and turned away even as the kiss Ella had given me in the office that day came to mind. I knew Wynnie was partially correct. But still, someone else was aware of her real identity and her connection to me. She had to have realized that she was taking such a huge risk by going out today.
“Why do I even bother reasoning with a teenager?” I said tightly and huffed out a breath. “Sometimes, you can be so immature. So foolish. You know we can’t live like this forever, Wynnie. You have to face the music soon and let me help you for fuck’s sake. We’ve had our fun and reality isn’t just going to go away if you ignore it. We need to talk to the police about your-“
I stopped when I turned around and found her gone. Gritting my teeth, I walked out of the office as well, slamming the door behind me and going off to the kitchen to get myself something to eat. At least one of my hungers would be satisfied for the time being. I wished she would stop being so damn unreasonable.
Chapter 30
Wynter
I sulked in bed for most of the evening, leaving my…boyfriend to fend for his own dinner. Usually when he was busy, I liked to cook for us or order take-out but I was pissed off at him right now and not in the mood to care about his needs.
I’d thought he’d be happy to see my tattoo. I’d sat there and endured that burning, stinging pain just to have his mark on me and symbolize my devotion to this guy and he totally overreacted. Nobody had seen me. I’d been hiding in plain sight for months now and I was an expert at it.
Jude came upstairs at around eight and brought me dinner. Steaming, aromatic food was piled on to a plate and there was even some desert.
“Because I know how much my girl loves to eat,” he said to me indulgently, his anger, apparently forgotten.
I shot him a fierce look. “Are you calling me fat?” I demanded to know.
He widened his eyes at me. “Baby, I would never,” he replied in a hushed tone and leaned forward to brush his lips against my cheek. “Now about that pussy-”
“Sorry. Not happening, tonight,” I announced and took the tray from him to place it in front of me on the bed and begin eating.
Jude watched me for a while and when I looked up, he asked, “Is it good?”
I shrugged, playing at being nonchalant but he had made me some delicious lamb stew and my heart was already melting at his thoughtfulness. At how much he kept in mind that I liked my meat. With a sigh, he went off to the bathroom and I knew he was going to have one of those showers he took when he was feeling stressed or needed to sort things out in his head.
>
I finished eating, took the tray downstairs and busied myself with cleaning up the mess he had made in the kitchen. I knew he was worried about me. About our situation. When Jude had found me in church, I had been so hopeful that we could be together properly as a couple. But…I couldn’t go through with what he wanted. I couldn’t testify against Joshua. Not because I was weak but because I was no longer interested in letting that ugliness taint the beautiful little world I had created here. Joshua wouldn’t come nicely. He would retaliate. He might even hurt my lover when my back was turned. And the scandal that would erupt would affect Jude deeply because even if, by some miracle, he managed to get all the charges against me cleared, there was nothing that could be done regarding the porn video.
I was fine hiding out and assuming a false identity for the public as long as I could be myself with Jude. He hardly went anywhere anyway, preferring to spend his days writing in his office and then his nights on the couch watching TV. He did have a treadmill upstairs which was his only form of exercise during the afternoons. As for his life outdoors, there were the occasional public appearances and the regular bi-monthly dinner with his parents. I could work around his schedule.
Yeah but for how long, Wynnie? I questioned myself, knowing I was being idealistic. Sooner or later, the bubble would burst. I had to make a decision and I had to do it quickly so that he wouldn’t be implicated in this crime.
God. I buried my face in my hands and wished that things could be easier. That my mother had never met Joshua and brought him into our lives. That I had simply bumped into Jude at a book signing or something and he would have noticed me enough to ask me out properly. That all of this wasn’t some huge, ugly mess. Was this happening to me because I deserved it? Because deep down, I wasn’t a good person and had done so many deceitful things. Why, why did I have to put myself through the ordeal of a trial and be forced to prove my innocence to strangers? Why couldn’t I just live a normal and happy life with the guy I loved?
Girl Obsessed: A Dark Romance Page 18
