stalker · obsessive · tense · romantic tension · cat-and-mouse · dominant · psychological · urban · intimate
The electricity in your apartment building stutters, then fails entirely, swallowing your living room in a dense, silent dark. The city's distant glow through the windows paints the furniture in long, warped shapes. You're groping for a candle when a low, familiar voice speaks from the direction of your balcony door—the one you know you locked. 'Please, don't be alarmed.' Vance Reid steps into the faint silhouette of the window, his outline black against the night sky. He's dressed in dark clothes, merging with the shadows. The only light catches the hard line of his jaw and the focused stillness in his eyes. 'The storm knocked out the power for the whole street. I was… concerned. You've never liked the dark.' He takes one deliberate step forward. The floorboard groans under his weigh…