Page 120 of Save Me

“Read,” he instructs.

I lay my head back against his chest and open the article. “This one is a favorite,” I explain. “I was on a team of reporters. We came to find out about the principal of a school a couple of counties away, who was actually running a drug ring.”

I shake my head in disgust.

“The Real Life Walter White,” I read the headline aloud. Then I snort. “I always disliked this headline.”

“Why?” Dae asks.

“Because, at least in the beginning, Walter White had a reason to start making and selling drugs. This guy was just greedy.” I shake my head. I start reading the article. “The hallways of Lincoln Hill High look a lot different than they did a year ago …”

I pause as I remember interviewing the school’s parents, students, and teachers. It took months to gather the information and proof that a highly respected principal, who was touted as zero-tolerance when it came to bullying and drugs, was the biggest criminal in the school.

“What remains to be seen is how the adolescents who fell into Meyers’ twisted trap …” I trail off when I hear Dae reading the words from behind me.

“I thought you wanted me to read to—” I stop when I turn around and see his eyes are closed.

He continues to state the article word for word, with his eyes closed. I read as he speaks.

“H-How are you doing that with your eyes closed?”

His hands move from my breasts to my waist. Dae slowly peels his eyes open. “I told you I’ve read everything you’ve ever written.” A smile crests on his ridiculously handsome face. “And I have an excellent memory.”

I glance down at my phone and back up at him. “You couldn’t have possibly memorized every word of this article.”

That would be impossible.

“This one and every other article you’ve written, baby.” He plucks the phone out of my hand.

I’m too stunned to move as he places my phone back on the counter. “How is that possible?”

I fully turn to him, sitting on my knees between his splayed legs. I do my best to ignore his erection.

“How could you have memorized all of my articles? My mom, who reads and collects my articles, hasn’t done that.”

My mom has a paper file where she stores all of my articles.

He leans forward, taking my waist in his hands before kissing my neck. “I told you, I’m obsessed with you.”

My eyelids slowly fall closed. He’s not just saying it, either. Dae is not referring to the cute obsession one refers to when discovering a new favorite music artist or a new restaurant you just have to order from once a week.

No.

This is a real type of obsession. The kind that drives men to do insane things.

I pull back to look him in his eyes. He meets my stare, allowing me to see the wide range of emotions running through them. There’s a fire that burns so damn hot in those dark pools that, not for the first time, fear of being burned alive by this man rises inside of me.

Run!

The sane part of my mind screams at me to get the hell out of this now. To get out of this bathtub, put my clothes on, and run back to the safety of my apartment.

Yet, another part of me knows that he’ll still find me even if I do that. The look in Dae’s eyes tells me everything I need to know. I can’t get rid of him or his obsession that easily.

Do I want to?

“Does that scare you?” he asks, his lips right next to my ear before he runs his teeth against that vein in my neck that throbs whenever he’s close.

“Yes,” I hiss out, and a full-body shudder runs through me. Then I think better of it. “No … it should s-scare me,” I stutter out.

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