Page 16 of Obsession

“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“Like I’m more than this. I’m not going to give you flowers. Take you out on dates. Give you some fantasy happy ever after.”

“Maybe you are more.” Her fingers flexed and I could tell she wanted to reach for me. If she touched me right now, I wasn’t sure what would happen.

“Enough! Remember your place,” I snarled, every muscle coiled tight.

“Riot --” she started, but I cut her off with a glare that could freeze hell over.

“Don’t say my name like it means something to you,” I warned, steel lacing my words.

“Understood,” she whispered, her defiance bleeding out, and leaving vulnerability in its wake.

“Good.” I got off the bed and took a step back, my eyes never leaving hers. Setting her free, I pointed to the bathroom, allowing her to relieve herself. Once she came back, I secured her again. She hadn’t earned the right to roam free.

“Tomorrow, we start again. I can’t trust you to roam freely in this room until I’m certain you know you’re mine.”

With one last look, I turned on my heel and strode to the door.

I didn’t look back. I never did.

The door shut with a definitive click, echoing through the silent house. I stood outside, chest heaving slightly, the rush of exerting power still coursing through my veins. But it was always followed by the quiet, by the whispers of doubt that crept in like fog.

She was strong. Stronger than she had any right to be under my grip. Every time I left her, every time I turned my back, I felt it -- the pull, the Goddamn connection that shouldn’t have been there. Was she getting under my skin? Or was I finally seeing myself in someone else’s eyes?

“Fuck,” I cursed under my breath, shaking off the thoughts.

But they clung to me, persistent as shadows at dusk. I stalked down the hallway, needing to put some distance between us.

The air felt heavier. My thoughts were a battleground, a war between what I wanted and what I needed to do.

I stopped dead in my tracks, slamming my fist into the wall beside me. The plaster cracked under the impact, a spiderweb of destruction that mirrored the fractures in my composure.

Get it together. You’re letting a woman get under your skin.

She was supposed to be nothing more than a pawn, a plaything to amuse me until I killed her like all the others. But when she looked at me, those eyes didn’t just see the blood on my hands -- they saw through the red, into the blackened heart I wasn’t sure I possessed anymore.

A laugh, dark and humorless, scraped its way out of my throat. What a fucking joke. Me, Riot Tredway, “The Butcher” of Raven’s Vale, caught in a snare of his own making -- with threads as fine as her hair and as strong as her spirit.

“Tomorrow everything changes,” I muttered to myself.

With that, I walked away, needing as much distance between us as possible.

Chapter Six

Hollis

There were days when time passed slowly, and other times it flew by. Thanks to the TV in the room, I was able to at least keep up with the dates. The day of the next sacrifice loomed like a dark cloud over Raven’s Vale, casting a shadow over the whole damn town. I felt it in my bones, that icy dread creeping up my spine as the day inched closer. I didn’t have to walk around town to know everyone was on edge, glancing over their shoulders, Killing Day breathing down our necks like an omen of doom.

I didn’t sleep a wink the night before, just staring at the filthy ceiling above me, waiting for the inevitable moment Riot would arrive. I didn’t even hear him come. He was so damn quiet for such a big bastard. One moment I was shivering in bed, and the next, Riot had his hands on me, dragging me out of the room. At least I’d been able to dress the last time he’d been in the room. Although, as possessive as he seemed to be of me, I didn’t think he’d let anyone else see me naked.

“No! No, please!” It was no use. He had me, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

Riot was silent as the grave, save for his harsh breathing, as he hauled me into town. My heart was about to beat its way out of my chest, my mind a frenzy of terror-fueled thoughts. Is this it? Is this finally the end of the line for me?

We stumbled down the darkened alley, garbage and God knows what else squishing under our feet. My stomach churned, and I swallowed back bile, focusing on anything but the bloody end I was sure awaited me. Had I not played by his rules? I didn’t know what was happening, or why.

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