Page 14 of Sinful Obsession

“I’m not,” my words are far from convincing as I sag back against the wall. “Fuck, I’m just curious. I need to understand her and nothing makes sense. She came in here with a smile. Determination. Who does that? Finding out where she was going and then the ride over couldn’t have been pleasant but she… there…”

Kaua presses his forehead against mine, quieting my anxieties. “You don’t have to understand everything in the world, regardless if she becomes your next project.” He waits for me to give in, his fingers digging into my waist until my lips part in silent agony.

I relish in the pain he offers, Kaua grinning just before he kisses me. It brings me back to the present, away from the chaos in my head even if I won’t let this curiosity rest. “Kaua—”

“Shh,” he murmurs, his lips ghosting over my jawline. “Stop thinking for once.”

Easier said than done. My thoughts are a storm, a chaotic mess of curiosity, frustration, and something I don’t want to name.But Kaua doesn’t give me the chance to overthink. His hands are firm as they grip my waist tighter, the man pressing against me until I feel the outline of his cock against my upper thigh.

The contrast of the cold against my skin and the heat of Kaua’s body is dizzying. His lips capture mine again, his kisses a strange mix of tenderness and hunger, like he’s trying to remind me that I’m not alone while also claiming me as his.

“You’re always in your head,” Kaua mutters against my lips, his voice low and teasing. “Always thinking, always analyzing.”

He continues to taste me, both of us content in this embrace as we wait for the rest of our quad to show. My mind is still on that girl but I can breathe again for the first time in a few hours, heavy footsteps causing me to glance at the entrance to our room.

A wild smile is plastered on Vito’s face, his blonde hair mussed and hanging over his eyes as Nevan dangles from his shoulder. I laugh at their boyish antics, both of them sharing a love far different than mine and Kaua’s. Nevan’s a brat through and through, Vito enjoying the chase. After all, he is conquest. Nevan—famine—enjoys egging people until they crack and fall apart, his constant games pushing Vito over the edge. It isn’t uncommon to find them lip locked in the hallways, Vito enjoying the spoils of his win.

Nevan easily slides to the ground, patting Vito’s chest before turning to us and wiggling his eyebrows at me in jest. “Got lost in your head again, didn’t you? What’s the new curiosity? The girl still?”

I nod, Kaua stepping away from me to sit on the edge of the bed. He pulls me down to sit beside him, placing a firm hand on my back to ground me. Vito takes up the bed across from us, Nevan staying perched by the door, a smirk tugging at his lips, drinking in the tension like it’s some kind of delicacy.

“It’s not just us, right?” Vito mutters, glaring at me. “You all feel it too. I mean, you don’t get distracted by new patients unless something’s off. Unless something is different.”

I nod, rubbing the back of my neck as the unease settles deeper into my bones. “They’re setting her up today so no one’s seen her just yet.”

Nevan chuckles, a low, unsettling sound that reminds me just how strange his gift is. “Maybe the new girl is the source of it. A little disruption in the precious order of Briarwood would be nice..”

Vito, however, isn’t as sure. “Ewan mentioned she was just a mere human. She can’t do anything to disrupt the balance but I’m nearly as curious as Death here to find out what it is.”

“They wouldn’t have brought her here if it wasn’t something important,” I say. “Human or not, she believes in something or believes sheissomeone that the doctors want to keep locked up. Whatever that belief is has caused everything to shift. Everyone’s been on edge all day.”

A dark smile spreads across Nevan’s face as he leans back against the edge of the bed. “It smells like fear.”

Intrigued by that, I push myself to my feet, needing to explore. Staying any longer in our room will only agitate me further until Kaua or Vito fucks me to sleep. Hell, at this point, I would be open to fucking Nevan until I can’t move any longer. Unfortunately, even if I wear out my body, the chaos in my mind will continue to churn. The other three don’t even question me as we step out into the hallway, each of us instinctively taking our roles in the silent formation.

I lead, with Kaua flanking me, his imposing presence like a shield, while Vito prowls beside him, and Nevan takes up the rear, his gaze shifting from shadow to shadow, watching for any sign of movement.

The dimly lit corridors and the heavy silence that follows our footsteps is only broken by the quiet hum hidden deep within the walls. Each step deeper into the darkness brings us closer to a foreign sensation, the air thick and charged as if the darkness is more of athingand less of an idea. And then I hear it. At first, it’s soft, almost nonexistent and then it happens again.

An almost playful giggle that sends a shiver down my spine.

Vito’s eyes gleam with a dangerous excitement. “That’s her, isn’t it?” he says, his voice barely a whisper. “The new girl.”

I nod, feeling the strange energy intensify with each step.

The sound of her laughter grows louder as I push through the darkness, heading toward a corridor that has been off limits since I first stepped inside Briarwood. It isn’t like I haven’t tried to venture down here but there’s always someone guarding the door at the end, a door I soon found out guards an entrance to hell.

The walls here seem to press in around us, as if they’re alive, breathing, pulsing with an energy that feels both ancient and malevolent. And then I see it—the door at the end of the hall, the heavy wood almost vibrating from the darkness within.

A door that shouldn’t be open.

Each of us stand inches from it, caught in a mixture of awe and confusion. We’ve heard the stories over the years, whispered tales from other patients about how the door has never been opened. How the portal has been locked away with several fail safes that everyone has been caught at least once trying to undo.

Every attempt has ended the same way—solitary confinement, locked away for days, maybe weeks, as a reminder of our limits. Patients, including ourselves, stopped trying after a while, content to let the door remain a mystery.

But now, here it is, cracked open, a faint heat radiating from the darkness beyond.

And that adorable giggle coming from inside.

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