Page 171 of Twisted in Obsession

“Jesus,” I mutter, staring at it in awe. “Are you the only one who takes care of them?”

“Nah. I have a zoo keeper come in every day to help me feed them and clean up their enclosure. I wish I had more time for them, but I don't. So, I do whatever I can to make sure they’re fed and completely taken care of.”

“I think it’s really cool,” I say.

“It is. Want to meet them?” he asks with a grin, jumping out of the golf cart. He makes his way to my side and holds out his hand for me to take. “They won’t hurt you. You’re with me.” He says it with so much confidence that I almost believe him.

“Haven’t you seen that show about the guy with the tigers?” I say, reluctantly following him around the fencing until he gets to a building that has a door. “They bite.”

“Not my babies. Believe me, Kitten. I’ve slept in here with them before. They trust me. I trust them. It’s a mutual respect.” He grins, looking back at me when he shoves a key into the doorknob and slowly pushes the door open.

I hold my breath when he drags me into the room that’s fit with a couch, monitors, and air conditioning.

“This is the control room for their enclosure. We have cameras everywhere, making sure that they’re doing okay. Oh, look. They’re by the water,” he says, pointing at a screen displaying the massive cats hanging out by a pool of shiny water, resembling a large pond. Their long tongues lap over the water as they take several long pulls.

“Holy fucking shit balls…” I breathe. “You seriously have lions!” I squeak, attempting to pull away from him.

He chuckles, gripping my hand tight. “Not so fast, Kitten. They won't hurt you. Unless you look them in the eyes. Don't do that.”

I tremble when he pulls me forward, walking toward a door. “Arrow,” I breathe in a panic.

He looks over his shoulder, grinning at me. “They've been fed already. They're just lounging around. Besides, they love it when I visit and bring guests.” He winks at me, pulling me out the door and into the enclosure.

The sun beats down on us as we walk through the tall grass, surrounded by some trees and other shrubbery. Giving the enclosure an otherworldly feel. Several areas are just dusty dirt with rock formations and others have lush greenery—mimicking the real-life habitat they'd be in.

“It's so they can hide,” Arrow says, following my eyes. “There's three separate dens for them to go to when they're mad at each other. And plenty of room for them to roam.”

My breaths pick up the closer we get to the massive pond.

“Mad?” I say, swallowing hard. “Why would they be mad at each other?” I hiss, slapping his shoulder when we stop near a large rock close to the two lions.

“That's Nova. Obviously.” Arrow points to the smaller female lion, lounging by the bigger lion with her eyes on us.

My breath stalls when she yawns, showing off her rows of sharp teeth. I scoot closer to Arrow, clinging tight to his hand.

“Beautiful,” I mutter, watching their every move.

Do I think Arrow would throw me to his lions? Well, I don't know. He seems to like me well enough. But I did stab him. Maybe this is revenge for that.

“That's Max. He’s my baby.” Arrow grins, pointing the larger male out.

I tilt my head, watching the large lion lounge, looking at us with a lazy gaze.

“Why doesn’t he have a mane?” I question, moving further into Arrow’s side for protection. Like if I talk about the lion, he’ll come and eat me.

“Ah, that! To keep them together in one enclosure and to ensure that Max wouldn’t get too aggressive, we had them both fixed when they were one. So, no lion babies for them.” He sort of pouts at the idea of not having little cubs wandering around. “So, Max doesn’t need his mane, and it never grew in because he didn’t have the hormones.”

“Wow. You really know a lot about lions,” I mutter, keeping my eyes on the creatures watching us closely but not making a move to us.

Arrow gently squeezes my hand, looking down at me with a grin.

“They won't hurt you, Kitten,” he murmurs, kissing my head.

“They're huge,” I whisper, clinging to him. “And their teeth.” I shiver when he wraps his hand around my shoulders, pulling me close.

“People tend to be afraid of them when I bring them to visit.” He cocks his head, moving us a few inches closer.

At this point, I could reach out and pet their heads if I really wanted to. But I value my fingers. So, I'll keep them to myself.

---