Page 47 of Obsession

I want to kiss her, blood and sweat and tears and all. I want to haul her up into my arms and carry her away from this shitty apartment, bring her to my place, and treat her to the lap of luxury. I want her body to soften underneath me, to yield to everything and anything I want to do to her. But I can’t do that to her. I can’t do thatforher. She’s the type of woman who’d feel belittled if I treated her that way.

We’ll get there.

I need to make her feel safe. I need her to trust me.

“Alright, woman.” I reach for the box of tissues and place it beside her. “Tell me everything.”

CHAPTER TEN

Violet

I’m soangry with myself I could cry. Hell, I realize when I swipe my hand across my eyes and find my fingers covered in blood and tears… Iamcrying.

Arrggh.I do not cry.

The only time Idocry is when my anger doesn’t have an outlet. I ball up the tissues he hands me, desperate for some sort of release.

He’s gone off to the bathroom to fetch a first aid kit and returns with a frown and the tiny plastic generic kit I got at a discount store. “You call this a first aid kit?”

I roll my eyes at him. “I don’t usually get into a knife fight with intruders, Mr. Master. I get bruises from training and things likepaper cuts.Like normal people.”

His eyes gentle as he kneels in front of me again, and I’m momentarily struck by the enormity of this. He’s so huge, evenwhen he kneels, his head nearly comes to my shoulders. But something tells me he isn’t a guy that kneels very often.

“Normal? Violet, you’re anything but normal.”

I like my name on his lips, like spiced honey. I snort out loud to cover the way my heart speeds up. “Asif.”

He quirks a brow at me and doesn’t take the bait.

“So let’s hear it.”

“Okay, so I came home and I did inspect the place. Promise. Everywhere. And yes, Mr. Master, like a good girl I checked every room to make sure no one was here, and the coast was clear.”

“Very good. And call me Cain.”

I want to reach to his chin and run my finger along the stubble. Make him look at me. Instead, he’s fumbling through the kit and pulling things out.

“Cain.” I like the feel of his name in my mouth. “You’re named after the world’s first murderer.”

A wry smile ghosts across his lips before he sobers again. “Something my mother never let me forget.”

“It was intentional, then?”

“Yes.” A flicker crosses his gaze before he shutters it again. “Now back to the story, Miss Price.”

I want to hear him say my name, the word like a seductive caress.

“No more Miss Price either, please.”

“Alright, Violet.” Such a small thing, hearing my name from him, but the way he says it sounds like a poem. He lines up gauze, antibacterial wipes, and bandages. “Now. Everything.”

I speak quickly. We need to move. I know more about who might have his sister, and I don’t want to waste any more time.

“After I knew no one was here, I used the bathroom, when I heard a crash.” Those eyes of his are fixed on me with an intensity that I feel straight to my belly. “I came in here to check, but there was no one here. The window was open, and a curtain was kinda blowing with the wind, but the room was empty.”

“Did you open the window?”

“No. I looked out the window and saw no one. Nothing at all. I assumed I’d forgotten to close it and went out to the kitchen.”

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