Chapter One: The First Glimpse

She didn’t see me.

Not when she stepped onto the subway with her hair damp from the rain, not when she brushed past me to grab the metal pole, and certainly not when she tugged her coat tighter over her curves like it wasn’t driving me absolutely insane.

But I saw her.

I always saw her.

Emily.

Her name tasted like sin in my mouth, sweet and dangerous. I had memorized the way her fingers curled when she was cold, how her nose crinkled when she read something that made her think. The way her laugh bubbled out unexpectedly when she thought no one was listening. I had collected her like pieces of a puzzle, each day a new edge fitting into place.

She was perfect, and she was mine. She just didn’t know it yet.

The train jolted and she stumbled. My hand shot out, steadying her. Her eyes lifted to mine—those soft hazel eyes that had haunted me every night since the first time I saw her three months ago.

“Oh—thank you,” she said, her voice delicate, unsure.

I smiled. “You should be more careful.”

“I usually am,” she laughed nervously. “Guess the city’s out to get me today.”

I let my fingers linger on her elbow a second too long. She noticed. I saw the subtle shift in her body, not pulling away, but aware.

Good.

“Do you always take this train?” I asked casually, though I already knew the answer. Knew she caught it at 8:12 a.m. every Monday through Friday, knew which car she preferred, knew that she liked to stand instead of sit because she didn’t want to fall asleep and miss her stop.

She tilted her head. “Sometimes.”

Liar. She was being cautious. Smart girl.

“You should let me buy you coffee sometime. As a thank-you for not falling into me.”

That made her smile, her lips pulling up in a way that made my chest tighten. “Isn’t it usually the other way around?”

“Not when it comes to you.”

I saw the faint blush rise in her cheeks, saw the way she bit her lip. She was curious now. Interested. Just a crack—but that was all I needed.

She got off two stops later. I didn’t follow. Not yet.

I watched her go.

I always did.

Back in my apartment, the walls were covered in her. Photographs, sketches, pieces of her life like breadcrumbs in a forest I knew better than my own. Her favorite perfume—floral and soft—lingered on the sweater she’d once left in the laundromat by mistake. I hadn’t given it back. I never intended to.

I sat in the chair by the window, the one with the perfect view of the street she lived on. She hadn’t closed her curtains again.

Sloppy.

But lucky for me.

She moved through her apartment like she always did after work—first the kettle, then her journal. Sometimes she danced in the kitchen with bare feet and a glass of wine. That was my favorite version of her. Carefree. Unaware.

Soon she wouldn’t be unaware.

Soon, I’d make her see me.

The way I saw her.

Obsessed wasn’t the right word. No, what I felt ran deeper. It was need. Hunger. Possession. She was the light in a life that had gone too dark, too fast. And if anyone tried to take that from me—if anyone tried to touch her, have her, kiss her—

They wouldn’t survive it.

She was mine.

And soon, I’d make sure the whole world knew it.

Chapter 2

Julian’s eyes never left Emily. Even as she sat across from him in the cozy café, laughing softly at a joke, the world around him seemed to fall away. Everything else blurred—his thoughts, the background noise, the clink of cups and saucers. It was only her.

His hand curled around his coffee cup, the heat grounding him, but the hunger he felt inside only seemed to grow. He wanted her—wanted her in a way that made everything else seem irrelevant. His every glance, his every word, was designed to keep her within his reach.

It wasn’t obsession anymore. It was something deeper, darker. He could see it in the way her lips curved when she smiled, in the way her fingers brushed against her hair when she grew nervous. Every little detail about her was etched into his memory, a map he could trace with his eyes closed.

But Emily didn’t know. She couldn’t. Not yet.

He leaned in closer, his voice low but steady, “I don’t want you to be afraid of me, Emily. I only want to understand you.”

Her eyes flickered, uncertainty flashing across her face. She was still holding back, and it irritated him. She should be past the games by now. They had both crossed a line, one she refused to acknowledge. He could see it in the way she looked at him sometimes, like she was wondering whether he could ever truly be trusted. But he wasn’t interested in trust—not the way she thought of it.

It wasn’t love, not in the typical sense. But it was everything to him.

Her voice was quiet when she finally spoke. “I know you care, Julian. But I don’t know what you want from me.”

She didn’t get it, not yet. “I want you, Emily,” he said, leaning in a little further. His tone was almost too smooth, calculated. “In every way possible.”

A shiver passed through her, but she didn’t pull away. That was progress, he told himself. Small steps.

But he needed more than this.

“I don’t want you to just give in to me,” Julian said softly, his fingers tracing the edge of the table. “I want you to want me. To need me. Because I’ll never let you go.”

Her breath hitched, and for a moment, her guard slipped. He caught the glimmer of something—something that wasn’t fear, but something more complicated. Curiosity. Desire.

And that was the moment.

Julian reached out, his fingers brushing hers for the briefest of moments. He watched as she froze, the subtle tension in her posture telling him everything he needed to know. She was as drawn to him as he was to her, but she was afraid.

Afraid of how far this could go.

Afraid of how far he was willing to push her.

But she didn’t pull away. And that was enough for now.

His voice dropped to a whisper. “Emily, I’ll make you see that there’s no escaping me.”

Chapter

Emily sat in silence, her fingers tracing the rim of her coffee cup, as Julian’s words echoed in her mind. I’ll make you see that there’s no escaping me. The intensity in his voice, the way his gaze never wavered, made her heart race.

She had always known there was something different about Julian. There was an edge to him, a darkness that lurked just beneath the surface. It was in the way he looked at her, like he could see through her defenses, stripping her bare with nothing but his eyes. She could feel him pressing against her, even when they were apart. His presence lingered in her thoughts long after their conversations had ended.

But this… this was something else.

She thought she understood what attraction was, what desire meant. But Julian had introduced her to a new kind of longing. His touch, though light, felt like it had the power to shatter everything in its path. The way he leaned in, the way he spoke—there was an undeniable pull that she couldn’t resist.

And that terrified her.

“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered, looking up to meet his eyes.

Julian smiled, but there was something possessive in it, something that sent a chill down her spine. “You don’t have to say anything, Emily. I already know how you feel.”

He was right. She had felt the spark between them from the moment they’d met. At first, it had been innocent, almost playful. But now, there was no denying the intensity that simmered beneath the surface. It was as if they were standing on the edge of something dangerous, something neither of them could walk away from.

“I can’t do this,” she whispered, more to herself than to him. “I don’t know what this is, but it’s too much.”

His expression darkened, and for a split second, Emily felt the air in the room shift. The warmth of the café, the gentle hum of conversations around them, all seemed to fade into the background. It was just her and Julian, and his gaze was like a force she couldn’t escape.

“You think you can walk away from this?” His voice was calm, but there was an undercurrent of something fierce, something primal in it.

She swallowed hard, the weight of his words pressing against her chest. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” she admitted, her voice shaking. “I can’t keep playing with fire, Julian. It’ll burn us both.”

His fingers brushed against hers again, this time lingering a little longer. The touch sent a jolt through her, and she fought the urge to lean into him. Don’t give in. Don’t let him have this hold on you. But it was too late. He already had her, whether she was ready to admit it or not.

“You’re not playing with fire, Emily,” Julian said softly. “You’re already burning, whether you like it or not.” His thumb caressed the back of her hand, the simple act both comforting and terrifying at the same time. “And you’re not alone in this. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

Her heart raced. The words were meant to reassure her, but all they did was make her feel more trapped. She had always prided herself on her independence, her ability to make her own choices. But Julian… Julian was a force she couldn’t control.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She didn’t even recognize herself anymore, the person she was becoming in his presence. Someone who couldn’t resist him, someone who was slowly losing herself in the storm he was creating around them.

Julian’s eyes softened, but there was still something dark in them, something that made her feel like she was standing on the edge of a cliff. She couldn’t see where it would end, and that uncertainty made her pulse race.

“You’re not going to hurt me, Emily,” he said, his voice low and soothing. “You’re the one who’s afraid of what this could mean. But I’ll be right here, holding you steady. I won’t let you fall.”

She wanted to pull away, to distance herself from the intensity of his words, but her body refused to cooperate. There was no escaping him. Not now. Not when he had already woven himself so deeply into the fabric of her life.

And, deep down, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to escape at all.