All Chapters of Secrets of the Outlaw: A Stockholm Syndrome Romance: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

PROLOGUEANYAThe room was suffocating, thick with an air that clung to my skin, taunting me with a heat that felt both foreign and familiar.Shadows danced across the walls, flickering in the low, muted glow of a single bulb that buzzed somewhere above.I couldn’t remember how long it had been.Days?Weeks?Time slipped away in here, swallowed whole by the walls that seemed to press in on me with every breath.The chains were loose enough now—he no longer needed them.I didn’t try to run.I hadn’t tried in a long time.He was there, always, his presence filling the space with a quiet dominance.I could feel his eyes on me, studying the curve of my back as I knelt on the cold, stained floor, my hands resting limply on my thighs, head bowed.My hair fell like a curtain around my face, hiding the tears that had long since dried, the whimpers I’d learned to suppress.“You’ve come a long way, haven’t you?”His voice slithered across the room, thick and dripping with false tenderness.The

The door creaked as I pushed it open, stepping into the dark room.The air inside was thick, stale, but familiar.It clung to her skin, the same way it clung to mine.I could feel her pulse through her wrist as I carried her down the narrow corridor, her body slack, unconscious.Good.This part was easier when they were out.The room at the end of the hall was small, windowless.There was no light but the faint glow of a single bulb hanging from the ceiling.The bed was clean, the walls bare.No distractions.I set her down on the mattress, careful not to wake her just yet.She needed to be alone with her thoughts when she woke up.Alone in the silence.I stepped back, watching her for a moment.Her face was peaceful now, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long.I had seen it all before.The fear, the confusion, the helplessness.It would all come rushing back when she opened her eyes.I turned and left the room, locking the door behind me.It wouldn’t be long now.She would wake, and

The silence was too thick, too suffocating.It pressed down on me, making it hard to breathe.I had never felt so alone in my life.I sat on the floor, my back against the wall, staring at the door.I was exhausted.My body ached from the constant tension, my mind frayed from the fear that gnawed at the edges of my thoughts.I tried to think of my life before this, of the things I cared about, but it all felt so distant now.Like it had happened to someone else.I hadn’t always been this way.I used to be tougher, stronger.When I was younger, I had to be.My family wasn’t exactly easy.My parents were strict, demanding, always pushing me to be better, to achieve more.I was the first in my family to go to college, to leave our small town behind.I had to prove something—to them, to myself.That I could make it on my own.And I had.Or at least, I thought I had.Until now.Now, I was nothing.7THE WATCHERShe was starting to crack.I could see it in the way she moved—slow, hesitant,

She didn’t realize it yet, but her resistance was futile.I had already won.The silence had broken her more than she knew.The cracks were there, widening with every word I spoke.Soon, there would be nothing left but submission.I had been watching her long before the abduction.Studying her, learning everything I could about her life.Her career, her friends, her habits.I knew where she went, who she spoke to, what she dreamed about.She was ambitious, yes, but there was a vulnerability in her that drew me in.She hid it well, behind a facade of strength and independence.But I saw through it.I saw the pain underneath.That was why I chose her.This wasn’t just about control.It wasn’t about violence or cruelty.It was about something deeper, something more primal.I wanted to own her.Body, mind, soul.I wanted to be the only thing she could think about, the only thing that mattered.And I would be.I watched her on the screen as she pressed her back against the wall, her eyes w