Page 114 of Blades of Obsession

He hums, and a few moments later, her voice comes on the line, but something’s off. She sounds different. Nervous, jittery, her voice thin. “Hey, sweetie.”

“Hey, how’ve you been?”

“Oh, good. I’ve been getting back into designing.”

“That’s so good, mom. When can I, uh, see you?”

“I–I…” She clears her throat.

“Hello? Mom, are you okay? You’re acting strange. Are you sure this was the best decision to get back with him?”

In a swift one-eighty turn, her voice turns cold and sharp. “Stay in a child’s place, Amelia. This is none of your business.”

Blade walks through the door, fully dressed now.

I flinch, recoiling at her words. “I was just asking—”

She cuts me off abruptly. “I said to stay out of it. This is between your father and me.”

The line goes dead, leaving me with a hole in the middle of my chest. I hand Blade’s phone back to him, unable to find words. As I turn away, tears prick in my eyes and I gulp to soothe the dry lump in my throat.

Blade sits on the bed. “Hey, hey, hey. What’s wrong?” He reaches out and wipes my tear with his thumb, his touch gentle.

“It’s my mom,” I choke out. “She’s just so different now. Sometimes it’s hard to get adjusted to this new her.”

He sighs, his expression growing serious. “Don’t blame your mom. She’s dealing with some… personal stuff.”

“Like what?”

He hesitates before speaking. “She has some mental health issues. And one condition that I’m not even gonna attempt to pronounce that affects the emotions center of her brain, that’s why sometimes she switches so suddenly.”

I gasp. “And how do you know that? Why didn’t you tell me?” I’ve never known my mom to have mental healthproblems. Then again, when she left I was probably too young to understand the complexities of mental health disorders.

He grabs my shoulders. “Don’t go on another tirade of calling me a liar and leaving. I just found out when I was looking through the papers at John’s house. He keeps meticulous records of all members, including everyone who has any connection to any member.”

“What kind of records are there for me?”

“Hospital records, school records, one hospital record of your ex, that job you had in high school—”

“Wait,” I interrupt. “One hospital record of my ex? I’ve only had one ex besides Jacob, why would you have a hospital record of—oh my God, don’t tell me you tracked down my ex and put him in the hospital.”

He shrugs, but I see a ghost of a smirk playing on his lips. “Eh, maybe three or four months ago.”

I shake my head in disbelief, still trying to come to terms with his batshit crazy, over-the-top possessiveness that seems almost too outrageous to handle. As I process his antics, my thoughts inevitably drift back to my mother. “I’m shocked about all this. But I’m glad there’s an explanation for her behavior. Maybe we can work on rebuilding our relationship. If I can just get her away from my dad. I just know she’s in trouble, she was acting so weird.”

Blade cups my head on either side and kisses my forehead. “We’ll help her. As long as you stop worrying your pretty little head about it, I’ll do anything you need me to help her.”

“Well, aren’t you just the perfect boyfriend.”

“For you, yes.”

A weight lifts from my chest at his words. For so long, I was alone, figuring everything out on my own. It feels nice tohave someone in your corner rooting for you as much as you root for yourself.

My eyes slowly drift down to his chest, and I catch myself biting my bottom lip, imagining him back in the towel. His tattooed chest and arms, the way the ink stands out against his slightly tanned skin. His chiseled back, and that silver chain sticking to his perfectly sculpted chest, water droplets everywhere. “You know, when you came in here in that towel over your waist, it took major self-control not to tear it off of you.”

Seeing him like that made my mind drift back to a few nights ago when we took that long drive. I should’ve been embarrassed, and I was slightly, but him punishing me in front of someone else like that made me feel things I never thought I could. It satisfied a part of my brain that I never even knew existed.

With him, I’m constantly discovering new things about my sexual desires and delving into new kinks, finding out what I do and don’t like—and I absolutely love it. I guess I can check exhibitionism off the list. I wonder how many more kinks we could finish off. No pun intended.

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