Page 24 of Under Your Care

Greyson may have been a psychopath with the relationship experience of a middle schooler, but at least he had great taste. I softly smiled as I continued through the apartment. I hesitated briefly before entering the hallway that contained Greyson’s office and - I assumed - his bedroom. I could see a sliver of light coming from beneath one of the doors. Stopping outside of it, I pressed my ear to the door in an attempt to hear what Greyson was up to. The only sound I heard was the distinct click-clack of him typing on a keyboard. Gritting my teeth, I knocked on the door, hoping he wasn’t going to slit my throat for bothering him. The noise ceased.

“Lane? Come in,” he said huskily.

I quickly glanced down at what I was wearing, hoping he wouldn’t take this late-night visit as a seduction attempt. I was covered enough, wearing a very oversized shirt that hung just above my knees. I took a deep breath andopened the door, eyes downcast. I looked up as I crossed into the room. My eyes immediately caught on Greyson, my brain stuttering as I realized it was definitely me that was in danger of being seduced.

His golden hair was ever-so-slightly messy, like he’d been running his fingers through it. His stunning honey eyes shone through a pair of reading glasses, as he looked at me with radiant warmth. To my chagrin, he was shirtless, leaving a mouth-watering expanse of skin and taut muscles on display. To top it all off, because of course, he had on a pair of grey sweatpants.

I wasn’t sure if he’d done his research and was doing this all on purpose, or if he was just naturally oozing pure sexual energy. Either way, I gulped and reminded myself that he was holding me captive, had murdered at least one person, and was crazy. He smirked, catching onto the fact that I was practically salivating at his appearance. He chuckled, gesturing to the spot next to him on the small leather couch he was seated on. I walked over to join him, sitting down with hardly two inches of empty space between us. He shifted towards me, closing his laptop and placing it on the side table beside him.

“What are you doing up?” He asked, throwing his arm over the top of the couch.

I shrugged, trying my hardest to not stare at his bulge. “Just haven’t been able to fall asleep. I wanted to look around a bit,” I said. I wiggled a bit before deciding to pull my legs up and sit cross-legged. “What about you?”

“Honestly, I was looking up recipes you might like,” he shyly chuckled, a slight blush across his cheeks.

“What? Really?”

He grinned, “Yes, really. You’re my responsibility now, so I need to take care of you properly.”

My face flushed, wondering how he could just casually say that.

Biting my lower lip, I said, “I would say you didn’t have to do so much for me, but you’re also the one who kidnapped me,so.”

He shook his head in laughter. I smiled at the sound.

“Did you need anything? Hot chocolate?”

My eyes widened. “Hot chocolate does sound really good,” I murmured.

Greyson smiled, “Good. Do you want to accompany me to the kitchen or stay here? It shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.”

“I’ll stay here–” I paused for a second, “Do you have marshmallows and whipped cream?”

“I do,” he stated, standing up from the couch. Ruffling my hair, he said, “I’ll be back soon, princess.”

As he left the room, my eyes began to wander around. If he had left me alone in here, he must’ve been okay with me looking around. I stood up, walking over to his desk and trailing my fingers over it as I listened to the sounds of him in the kitchen. I couldn’t help the laugh that burst out from me as I saw the framed picture next to his desktop computer.

God save me, because laughing at a picture he’d obviously taken while in my apartment without my knowledge wasnota sane thing to do. But there I was, deep asleep, hair tousled on my pillow, Chloe in my arms as the little spoon.

Greyson returned with two mugs as I was reading the titles of the books he had on one of the four bookshelves. He handed me one of the mugs as we both sat back down on the couch.

“Find anything interesting in here?”

I playfully pouted, “No. I was really hoping to find a body or something.”

“Well, you’re out of luck. I never keep the bodies,” he replied with a smirk.

I took a sip of my cocoa as I thought for a moment. “Um… I’m supposed to ask you questions when I have them, right? That was a rule.”

He raised one of his eyebrows, tilting his head. “Yes, you can always askme anything.”

I tapped my fingers against my mug as I decided. “How did you kill Tate?” I asked hesitantly. Greyson looked at my face, searching for something.

“I cut off his penis and made him choke on it.”

“Oh. I guess that’s fitting,” I muttered. Greyson set his mug down. He moved closer to me on the couch, placing a hand on my bare thigh.

He quietly asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

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