Shackled by the Psychopath

A cold, silver chain tethered my ankle to the foot of the bed. The untouchable man tore the haute couture silk dress right off my body.

His fingers dug brutally into my jaw, forcing my head up.

His eyes, dark and suffocating with possession, locked onto mine as he ground out a warning—I was never to let another man even cross my mind.

But the moment he crashed his mouth against mine, devouring my lips like a feral beast, the stench hit me.

Clinging to the fabric of his bespoke suit was the cheap, sickeningly sweet scent of vanilla perfume. Another woman's perfume.

He actually thought he had successfully caged me, reducing me to his exclusive little plaything. He had no idea this entire imprisonment was a trap I built myself.

It was the perfect bait. As for the trash who dared to touch my prey? I hope she already picked out a nice coffin.

Chapter 1 My first encounter with Kael happened inside an exclusive, membersonly Michelin threestar restaurant in Manhattan.

Back then, Asher was still chasing me like some naive frat boy. Asher would have been the perfect boyfriend.

But a guy like him had friends, family, and a genuine love for the world. I would never be his one and only. But Kael?

The second my eyes landed on him, I knew we were the exact same breed. Isolated. Starving to be loved. Not a single crease marred his bespoke Tom Ford suit.

The silver tie clip caught the dim light, and his cuffs hugged his solid forearms tightly.

Deepset eyes lurked behind goldrimmed glasses, flashing a predatory gleam that could strip away any disguise.

I had zero immunity to a man with slickedback hair and gold rims, and Kael checked every box. He had those sharp, upturned eyes that gave off an unapologetically ruthless aura.

A strict "do not approach" warning radiated off his skin.

With that straight nose and those pale, tight lips, I couldn't help but wonder what he would look like if that mouth actually softened into a smile.

Staring at him, I tuned out Asher. Asher didn't even notice.

He just squeezed his hands together, too nervous to meet my gaze. "Sloane, will you be my girlfriend?" Asher clutched his cloth napkin, his knuckles white.

A flicker of boredom crossed my eyes, but I instantly pasted on a mask of innocent guilt. I forced a layer of tears to pool in my eyes. "I'm so sorry, Asher.

But I already have feelings for someone else." Asher froze. He blinked, stunned. "Wait, really?

I've never seen you with…" I dipped my chin, playing the part of a girl tumbling head over heels. "We just made it official.

He's already a working professional." The light drained out of Asher's face. He forced a pathetic, tight smile and wished me the best.

I curled my lips up. "Thank you." The second Asher walked away, I dropped the pathetic, fragile act.

I picked up my obscenely expensive glass of Pinot Noir and strutted across the room in my heels, homing in on Kael like a black widow locking onto her prey.

I tilted the glass and deliberately spilled the dark red wine straight onto his suit.

Then, I grabbed a napkin, frantically dabbing at his chest with a face full of manufactured panic. A microscopic curve tugged at the corner of Kael's mouth.

His gaze looked gentle, but his voice was a low, magnetic rumble. "You were sitting all the way over there, miss.

Why walk across the entire restaurant just to spill wine on me?" He had been watching me. That realization sent a thrill shooting down my spine. My hands shook.

It felt like dying of thirst in the desert and finally finding an oasis. "You're gorgeous," I said. "I had to introduce myself. But a regular pickup line?

You'd forget me by tomorrow." "Even so…" Kael let out a dry laugh. "Did you really have to douse me in wine?" "I aimed for the empty space next to you." I crinkled my forehead. "My hand slipped." I leaned in a fraction closer.

The neckline of my dress dipped, exposing just enough skin to be dangerous.

I didn't break eye contact for a single second. "Interesting." He snapped his laptop shut. "Good thing I don't have any more meetings today, or you would have caused a real disaster." I ducked my head, slipping right back into the role of a wronged, clumsy girl. "I'm so sorry.

If I pay for the suit… can I get your number?" Kael didn't answer immediately. He just stared at my face for a long, quiet moment.

Finally, his lips parted, flashing a sharp canine. "Sure." Chapter 2 I couldn't afford Kael's bespoke suit, but that didn't matter. All I needed was for him to remember me.

He led me into a private VIP fitting room on Fifth Avenue, and the sight of those haute couture pieces—none of which even had price tags—sent a quiet shock through my chest.

I had to adapt to the rules of this elite game, and fast.

Otherwise, I wouldn't even qualify as bait. "What's wrong?" I pulled my expression taut, looking at him with total seriousness. "I'm sorry, Mr. Kael.

I can't afford anything in here." A flicker of surprise crossed his face. "How do you know my name?" "I heard the waiter addressing you back at the restaurant." I let the syllables roll off my tongue deliberately. "Mr.

Kael." "Fair enough." Later, settling into the driver's seat of his car, he rested one hand lazily on the steering wheel. "And what's your name?" "Sloane." "Since you gave me your name, I'll let you off the hook for the suit." He threw a slow wink in my direction. "I'm not that petty.

Where do you live? I'll drop you off." "Tribeca." On the drive, he kept his eyes on the road, tossing the question out casually. "That boy from earlier—your boyfriend?" "No.

Just a guy trying his luck." When we pulled up to my building, Kael leaned his arm against the open car window, a teasing glint in his eye. "Not going to invite me up for a drink?" When a predator hunts, they rigorously filter out the weak, kicking aside the rejects until only the perfect prey remains.

During the selection phase, they always play the perfect gentleman.

They sheath their claws and hide their lethal edges, waiting patiently for the flawless, unsuspecting prey to swan dive straight into the trap.

I pulled out my phone and brought up my social media handle, flashing the screen at him. "Let's skip the drink.

Adding me is enough for tonight." Kael's smirk deepened. "You're a tricky little thing, aren't you?" "How old are you even?" I shot back, keeping my tone light and playful. "Calling me a little thing." "Not that old.

Twentynine." We didn't drag it out. He rolled up the window, and his sleek car quickly disappeared down the avenue. That night, the distant hum of city traffic grated on my nerves.

I tossed and turned in bed, waiting. Finally, just past ten, my screen lit up. "Hello." "Where do you want to go?" I stared at the glowing screen and let out a cold laugh.

Powerful, controlling men like him always had a sickness for pure, innocent girls they could easily crush in the palm of their hands.

So, I deliberately typed back two words. "The carnival." They say that when adrenaline spikes your heart rate, your brain tricks you into thinking you're falling in love with the person next to you.

I was fully prepared to become the phantom rib he could never rip out. Kael beat me there. The slickedback corporate look was gone.

Soft, dark hair fell naturally around his ears, with a few stubborn strands kicking up at the ends. Paired with a crisp white buttondown, it shaved years off his face.

He almost looked like a college kid fresh off campus. He still wore those thin goldrimmed glasses.

His skin carried a pale, almost porcelain hue, the kind that screamed he spent his life locked away in climatecontrolled corner offices, untouched by actual sunlight.

Kael scanned the crowded grounds before finally stepping back into the shade of a nearby tent. Chapter 3 I bought two ice cream cones.

When I handed one over, a flash of surprise crossed his face before he shook his head. "Too sweet." "Once in a while won't kill you," I said. "Consider it an apology for making you wait." He didn't say a word.

His eyes locked onto mine as he leaned in and took a bite right out of my hand. Sickly sweet white cream clung to his cold, thin lips. Kael's eyes darkened, pinning me in place.

He flicked his tongue out, dragging it over his bottom lip in a slow, obscenely erotic motion, pulling the cream into his mouth.

The sheer aggression radiating from that single movement made my breath hitch. It felt like he wasn't tasting the ice cream. He was tasting me.

The contrast of his pale skin and the sudden, wet flush of his mouth painted a dangerous picture. I could almost feel the scalding heat radiating from those lips.

If that mouth ever touched bare skin, it would burn away every last shred of sanity. I lowered my lashes, letting out a soft laugh.

I shoved the cone into his hand and strolled ahead, licking my own ice cream. I let my free hand dangle behind my back, practically begging someone to grab it.

Kael's steady footsteps echoed right behind me. But instead of grabbing my fingers, his large hand clamped over the top of my head, ruffling my hair before he stepped up beside me.

He held the cone, looking thoroughly entertained. He tilted his head, flashing a smirk. "Rollercoaster or the log flume?" "Which one do you want?" "Rollercoaster.

It's been a while." I raised an eyebrow, baiting him. "Don't tell me the last time you came to a carnival was in college." "It was." Kael's jaw clenched.

A sudden, vicious shadow fell over his face. "With my ex." He whipped his head around, snapping his gaze to mine. Behind the gold rims, his eyes looked like poisoned blades.

A twisted, cruel smile ripped across his face. "That stupid bitch betrayed me." The look he gave me was heavy with scrutiny and pure contempt.

He stared at me like I was some pathetic, microscopic bug on the pavement.

Like one twitch of a muscle would broadcast every single thought in my head. "Huh." I nodded slowly, putting on a thoughtful face. "Her loss.

If she could turn back time, she'd definitely regret walking away from a man like you." I tilted my head up, flooding my eyes with manufactured adoration. "You're incredible, Kael.

You're miles above anyone your age." A perfectly timed stroke to the ego never failed. Especially for a paranoid control freak like Kael, who had his pride shredded by an ex.

A girl who looked at him like he was the only god in the sky would drag him straight into a flawless, delusional fantasy. Right on cue, the toxic cloud suffocating him dissolved.

He patted my shoulder. "Let's go. Time for the rollercoaster." He was such a gentleman.

He was gentle when he locked that custom platinum chain around my ankle later, and he was just as gentle strapping me into that ride.

Kael methodically emptied our pockets, storing every loose item in the locker.

He doublechecked my harness, pulling on the heavy metal restraints to ensure they locked dead in place.

He even caught my gaze, using his own chilling calm to ground me. "Ready?" Only then did he lean back in his own seat, waiting for the brutal drop. The carriage plummeted.

Wind ripped past my ears as I screamed my lungs out, instinctively grabbing onto his hand. Beside me, Kael didn't even flinch.

He didn't act like a guy who hadn't been on a ride in years. The wind messed up his hair, but not a single sound slipped past his lips. His psychological armor was bulletproof.

Chapter 4 I patted my chest, clinging to Kael’s arm as I stumbled out of the seat. My legs felt like absolute jelly. Two steps in, I nearly faceplanted.

A pathetic little tear of genuine terror leaked out of the corner of my eye. Kael watched my pathetic display, a flicker of sadistic amusement dancing in his eyes.

He stood there holding a bottle of water, waiting for my breathing to finally steady. "I thought you had guts." I pouted, throwing him a resentful glare. "I thought you’d be the one scared!" I snatched the water bottle, chugging half of it in one go.

My pulse finally leveled out. I looked ahead at the massive pendulum ride swinging violently through the air, and a reckless thought hit me.

I locked my hands onto Kael’s arm and yanked him forward, desperate to make the cut for the next round. His expression didn't shift.

Not a single trace of impatience crossed his face. He just let me drag him along, breaking into an easy jog to keep up.

We spent the entire day burning through the carnival until I was thoroughly satisfied. By now, hooking my arm through Kael’s felt natural. He didn't pull away.

He just let me lean my weight against his side like it was an unspoken agreement. "Hungry?" I nodded. "I want to go to that old diner on the corner and get a cheeseburger." "Alright." He ruffled my hair, the motion casual, almost disgustingly affectionate.

I didn't know the exact details of Kael's past.

But the way he effortlessly navigated his car through the narrow streets of the rundown neighborhood told me everything I needed to know. This was his old turf.

He and his ex definitely used to come here all the time. That theory was instantly confirmed the second we walked through the diner doors.

A plump waitress beamed at him, flashing a bright, sunflowersandsunshine grin. "Good lord, Kael, you haven't been here in ages!" Kael offered a tight, polite smile.

For a split second, I could picture it. A shy college kid in a cheap hoodie, sitting in this exact greasy spoon, splitting fries with his girlfriend.

It must have been his golden era.

The waitress shifted her gaze to me, her grin widening until it nearly split her face. "Is this your girlfriend?" "Not yet." She practically squealed with delight. "Well, she will be!

Let me tell you, honey, Kael is one of the good ones.

Back in college, he used to drive his girlfriend to and from classes every single day…" "We’re pretty hungry, Brenda," Kael interrupted, his voice dropping low, clipping her sentence dead. "Oh, right, right!

Take a seat, I’ll get your menus!" Watching the older woman scurry back to the kitchen, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

I sat across from Kael, resting my chin on my hands, staring dead into his eyes without blinking.

But the second he looked back, I dropped my gaze, playing a maddening game of hideandseek. "What is it?" "You treated your ex really well, didn't you?" He gave a noncommittal hum, his eyes darting uncomfortably toward the cheap neon beer sign on the wall, practically waiting for me to throw the next punch.

I never liked to disappoint.

I reached across the sticky table and lightly tapped the tips of his fingers. "I don't have a boyfriend yet." "Sloane, we met two days ago." "Time doesn't matter.

Age doesn't matter." He stared at me, dead serious. The silence stretched between us for a suffocating thirty seconds. Then, Kael leaned back against the cheap vinyl booth.

He spread his arms out lazily, his eyes halflidded. He tapped his finger against the table, a slow, methodical rhythm that demanded my undivided attention. "You don't know me.

Do you really think two days is enough to jump into a relationship?" His interrogation didn't make me flinch.

Instead, I leaned halfway across the table, closing the gap until we were perfectly eyetoeye.

I made sure he could see every ounce of unwavering conviction burning in my pupils. "That depends entirely on whether you let me in." Kael froze.

A long time passed before he finally lifted that elegant hand of his and lightly flicked me on the forehead. "Sloane, I really hope you aren't playing with me." Chapter 5 I became Kael's girlfriend.

Just as that waitress at the diner predicted, no matter how late it was or how busy his schedule got, he always picked me up and dropped me off on time.

It didn't matter what I was doing when he arrived.

The second I spotted him, I had to sprint over to that black Maybach, pull open the heavy door, and sit inside like an obedient pet. Only then would Kael crack a smile.

He would ruffle my hair, press a kiss to my forehead, and turn back to the steering wheel, casually asking how my classes went while navigating the traffic.

But a college girl constantly getting picked up in a luxury car was bound to spark rumors. Plus, any normal girl stepping out of the honeymoon phase would eventually cool off.

Sprinting to him like a desperate puppy every single time and abruptly tearing my arm away from my friends—it looked unnatural.

More importantly, I needed to test exactly how obsessed Kael was. So, the next time he pulled up to get me, I rejected him. Kael tilted his head.

He looked genuinely puzzled. "Why?" But he was a gentleman. After a brief pause, his gaze shifted to the girl standing next to me.

A knowing smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth before his eyes locked back onto the steering wheel. "Going out with your friend?" I nodded. "Is that okay?" "Of course," Kael said, unlocking the doors so Maya and I could slide into the back.

He handed me a sleek gold card, rubbed my head, and told me to have fun. Buy whatever I wanted.

He told me to call him if I was heading home late—it wasn't safe for a girl to be out alone at night.

He directed his next words to Maya. "You're Sloane's friend, which means you're my friend.

Don't feel like you're being a burden." There was not a single trace of displeasure on his face. His supposed controlling nature felt like a total joke in that moment.

I knit my brows. Maya nudged my arm. "Your boyfriend is seriously… He's literally a billionaire CEO straight out of a movie! Introduce me to his friends sometime, will you?

I want a gold card too." I carefully slipped the heavy metal card into my bag and tapped Maya's forehead. "Keep dreaming." I hadn't hung out with her in ages.

Maya dragged me all over the city until eleventhirty at night. After dropping her off, I had my usual driver take me back to Kael's place. The apartment was pitch black.

I pushed the door open, barely making out a tall silhouette in the dark. Click. Kael sat on the sofa.

He dropped the remote, and the room flooded with blinding light. "Waiting for me?" He was a man of extreme discipline. His bedtime was rigidly locked at ten o'clock.

Since we started dating, that rule hadn't wavered once. Maybe because he was past his window, Kael looked slightly exhausted.

But the matching panda pajama set he wore offered nothing but a lethal illusion.

His eyes remained razorsharp, staring me down like a leopard tracking its prey. "Why didn't you let me pick you up?" He closed the distance between us.

The sheer, suffocating pressure radiating off his body forced me to back up instinctively until my knees hit the edge of the sofa and I collapsed into the cushions.

Kael planted one hand flush against the leather right next to my ear.

He drove one knee onto the cushion between my legs, locking me inside his territory. "I didn't want to wake you up." I kept my voice low, scanning the microexpressions on his face to gauge his temper.

Kael lowered his head, pressing his lips firmly against my cheek. "What are you so afraid of? I was just worried about you." He straightened up and unlocked his phone.

He tapped an app on the home screen, turning the glowing display toward me. Every single stop I made tonight was mapped out in pinpoint detail. "First, you hit the shopping mall.

Then you caught a movie. After that, you grabbed drinks at a bar, and finally, you finished the night with tacos. You really have quite the appetite, Sloane." Chapter 6