Page 17 of Blades of Obsession

I take the left one into my mouth, sucking softly before laying my tongue flat against it and giving a flick. She stirs, letting out a soft moan, the sexiest fucking noise I’ve ever heard in my life. Goddamn, I didn’t know I could be this turned on until I met her.

It takes everything, and I mean every bone of restraint left in my body, to stop myself from going any further. I pull her shirt back into place and go to stand up.

Wait a minute.

There’s a bottle of liquid cough medicine lying on the floor between her bed and nightstand, mostly empty, with some of it spilled on the floor. Her arm is stretched out above it like she dropped it while falling asleep.

Panic surges through me as I shake her. “Amelia!”

She makes a small noise but doesn’t budge. I shake her harder—nothing. Grunting in frustration, I grab the cup of water from her nightstand and drip some onto her face. She jerks awake, looking startled and confused.

I hold up the medicine bottle. “Did you just take this?”

“I… Huh?”

“How much was in here when you took this?” I demand, my voice getting rough.

“Maybe like, a third of the bottle?” She rubs her eyes, still groggy.

“A third—” I let out a deep, strained breath, trying to calm down. I could’ve come back here to her not fucking breathing. “Why?” She looks down, so I gently lift her chin, forcing her to look back up. “Why?”

“Sometimes after he yells at me, I just want to sleep and forget about it,” she whispers.

I half-sigh and sit on the bed, cupping her cheek. My voice softens, even though it doesn’t come naturally to me. I’ve never really had to comfort someone before, mostly because I nevercared about anyone’s feelings enough to try. “Promise me you’re not going to do this anymore. And you’ll come to me when you feel like you want to sleep.”

She hesitates, her lip caught between her teeth, but finally, she nods.

“Say it out loud.”

“I promise,” she murmurs.

“Good girl.” I brush my hand gently down her arm, feeling the goosebumps rise under my touch. “I’m proud of you for agreeing. You’re strong, you know? You don’t deserve him to treat you like that, and you don’t have to handle it on your own anymore.”

She sucks in a breath and a soft hum escapes her lips, almost like the remnants of a whimper.

“How long have you been doing this?” I ask.

Before she can open her mouth to answer, my phone rings. I glance at the screen, see the caller ID, and stand, walking over to the dresser before answering. “Hello?”

“I have a package that needs to be permanently removed from circulation tonight,” John’s gruff voice cuts through the static.

“Tonight? You gotta be fucking kidding me.”

Tonight. When Ijustlaid a claim on Amelia and made her mine. This is the worst possible timing.

“It’s just one night, you’ll be back by tomorrow night at the latest. The location of the package is already secured.”

“Fine,” I spit out before abruptly hanging up. Did I mention I fucking hate this job?

My clenched jaw loosens when I turn back around to Amelia. Her hair is tousled, framing her face, and her eyes, though clouded from sleep, shine with concern.

Concern forme.

And that makes my frustration dissipate, melting away like ice caps under the sun. How does she manage to calm me down with just one look?

“Do you want to go back to the dorms or stay here?” I ask her.

“Um, I’ll go to the dorms.”

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