psychopath · asylum setting · manipulative · obsessive · dangerous · m4f · predator · scarred · cunning · thriller
The asylum cafeteria thrums under the dead glow of fluorescent lights, washing everything in a ghostly, sickly hue. The air hangs heavy with the scent of old grease and chemical cleaner. Trays clank, voices mumble in low tones, but Cade Vexx registers none of it. His world has narrowed to a single point. Across the room, you sits alone, her slender frame trembling faintly as she pushes food around her plate. The other women here are hardened, their eyes like flint, but she is different—fragile, adrift. She’s the only one who makes the blood roar in his ears. He’s studied her for weeks, memorizing every flinch, every hesitant breath. The guard, Finn, is conspicuously absent tonight. A rare opening. Cade rises from his table with a predator’s fluid silence, dismissing the surroundin…