Page 25 of Oblivion

Sammy’s not usually fidgety, but today, she’s been agitatedly crossing and uncrossing her legs and toying with her boots. Each time she does it, I can’t help but smile, knowing that she’s thinking about the anklet and my initials that are dangling from it.

Even though we lived in the same house for almost a year, we weren’t close. Starling is her bestie. Bastian was like her protective older brother. January, Clay, Hunter, and even Bunny were her friends, and I was…nothing. I was a one-night glitch that I pretended never happened. I was the angry, guilt-filled watcher, always at a distance, always different than the others. But I doubt she ever realized that watching her from afar is comforting to me. Wanting her and not allowing myself to pursue her has been my penance for so long that somewhere along the line, I started enjoying loving her from a distance.

No matter how much I wanted to, I’ve never crossed a line and become like the brothers. Until yesterday, I’ve never had access to her security team. I’ve never monitored her location or controlled her from a distance, corralling her in the direction I want her to go. I haven’t taken a tip out of Clay’s bag of tricks and put cameras in her bedroom or hacked into her cell phone, and I definitely haven’t emulated Hunter and blackmailed her.

Instead, I’ve simply forced myself to stay on the periphery of her life, close enough to see, but far enough away that wanting her is a constant torture I’d assumed I’d never be freed from.

Finally allowing myself to do all the things I’ve dreamed about doing for these long months is exhilarating. I feel six inches taller, my shoulders feel straighter, and my dick feels bigger, thicker, and harder. All in all, I feel like an animal finally released from its too-small cage, and it’s magnificent.

The only thing that will make all of this even better is when Sammy is finally mine.

I’ve parked my rental in a far corner of the country club parking lot, far enough away that she won’t know she’s being watched, but close enough that I see the moment Sammy slips behind the wheel of her dad’s BMW that she’s been driving while she’s been home.

I shamelessly watch as Sammy drives past me on her way out, then I stare at the tracking app, watching the dot that represents her get further and further away. When I’m confident that I’m far enough behind to stay hidden, I finally start my car and discretely follow them, never getting close enough for them to notice. Not that she’d know it was me in the car, even if she realized she was being followed. The car I hired has a privacy film over the windows that’s just see-through enough not to be illegal but still ensures that most people who look at the car will think the sunlight is reflecting off the glass and obscuring the view of the person inside.

Soon, I won’t bother hiding from my wild one. I’ll enjoy watching her search for me, but not yet. Instead of dropping Drew’s mother at her house, they all return to Sammy’s parents’ house. Once they’re all safely inside, I pull onto the driveway of the house opposite theirs, hit the button to open the garage door and drive straight inside.

Killing the engine of the car, I wait until the garage door closes before I climb out and enter the house. The refrigerator was full when the owners left, so I help myself to a beer, carrying it into the front room where I can watch the neighbors come and go.

When my cell beeps, I pull it from my pocket and glance at the screen.

Starling

How’s it going? Sammy texted me this morning and told me about the anklet??? She said she woke up wearing it. Why didn’t you wake her up and talk to her?

Sighing, I contemplate how to reply. I think this may be the first time Starling has ever texted me outside of a group chat. I’ve desperately wanted her to want to talk to me for years, and now that she does, I don’t even know what to say.

Me

Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.

Starling

What’s the plan?

Clicking into the box to type a reply, I exhale, then hit call instead, wondering if she’ll pick up.

“Evan?” she says as she accepts the call.

“You answered.”

“You called,” she says, like she hasn’t ignored every call I’ve ever made to her before.

“Look, I know that you want me to bring Sammy back, and that’s exactly what I’m planning to do. But that won’t be tomorrow. It won’t be in a week. It might not even be in a month, but unless she truly is lost to me, I promise I’ll bring her back to us.” Then, before she has a chance to say a word, I end the call.

Exhaling, I stare down at my cell and wonder how much I just pissed her off and realize, right now, I don’t care. Starling might be my sister. The things I helped do to her might be the reason why I’ve been punishing myself, and her offer of forgiveness and her willingness to allow me to do whatever I need to do to bring her friend home might have been the catalystto me finally pursuing Sammy, but Starling isn’t my priority right now.

I love her, and I want a sibling relationship with her, but my wild one needs all of my focus and attention, and I refuse to split my concentration between my sister and my woman.

Dropping my cell phone to the couch beside me, I prop my feet up on the coffee table and consider my next move.

It’s late, or I guess early depending on your perception of time, when I push out of my seat. The sun will start to rise in the next half an hour, so I slip from the back door of the house I’m staying in and keep to the shadows as I jump through several of the neighbors’ yards, eventually crossing the street and reversing my journey until I land in Sammy’s parents’ backyard. Slipping into the house through the mudroom window that I left unlocked just for this purpose, I leave my shoes beneath the window and pad barefoot up the stairs.

Holding my breath, I let myself into her room and close the distance between the door and her bed. Instead of silk pajamas, tonight she’s wearing a huge T-shirt that’s ridden up on her thigh, showing the simple cotton panties she has on beneath. Her one leg is hooked over the comforter, and the anklet I attached to her body is still in place, my initials dangling from the chain.

By the time she’s mine, I’ll have claimed her and branded her in a much more permanent way than a simple piece of jewelry that could be removed, but for now, I like seeing her wearing my name.

My eyes drop to the panties that are hiding her pussy from me, and my dick pulses, the ache of longing to be inside of hermaking my balls throb with need. It wouldn’t take much effort to pull my dick out and cover her in my release. If I was quiet, I doubt she’d wake up. She wouldn’t even know I’d been here until she woke up with my dried cum on her skin. But that feels like too much right now. Soon, there will be a time when I don’t hold back, but a single chain won’t be enough to bind her to me just yet.

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