Page 18 of Obsession

Hans rises from the bed and moves to Xander. He doesn’t say a word as he falls to his knees. I watch in fascination as he lifts his hands to Xander’s belt.

Xander looks at me. “You want to watch this, Princess? Or would you like to leave?”

A strange mix of curiosity, lust, and shame overshadows my anger. And immense confusion. I don’t understand what made Hans fall to his knees. It’s almost as if he left one prison to become enslaved elsewhere. “He delivered your father’s hand. What are you doing?”

Xander bangs his fist against the wall. I fear he’ll alert Azadeh and the others to our sick games in this room. “This is who he is, Margarete. This is who he is. Maybe you should figure out who you are.”

Maybe it’s my curiosity that keeps me from demanding he leave. Perhaps my life of forced servitude to men doesn’t allow me to challenge the words spilling from his lips.

“Show me,” I whisper.

Hans’ head shoots up. I gaze into his eyes, unable to discern what I see in their depths. I know it’s not anger. Maybe, like me, he’s a conundrum filled with emotions he doesn’t have words to convey. Maybe, like me, he wants to see the possibilities of a world without limitations. To explore those paths, we were told they were unattainable abominations because they would causeour demise. But unlike me, Hans has already disregarded the subjugating lies that limited his natural animalistic tendencies. He’s gnawed off part of the leash. And now, I want to break it completely. I want to see exactly what kind of gluttonous spree he’ll partake in.

My gaze moves to the severed hand on the bed. The skin is pale from lack of blood. The ring is a reminder of who Gabriel was and what he represented.

I brush my fingers over the brand on my ribs.

Xander chuckles. “I burned his dick for the brand on your flesh.”

“Don’t you have remorse for taking a life?” I ask. “It’s a sin.”

Xander shakes his head. “Nah. I don’t feel bad about a single thing I did tonight. Not a single fucking thing. If Hell is real and I’ll burn for my actions, I’d still do it again. You see, angel, some men are so vile that the only way to defeat them is to ensure they’re buried six feet under.”

Hearing Xander’s icy words tossed like daggers should repulse me. He cheerfully pronounces his pride at taking a life as if he’s God. Yet even knowing that his actions are laced with sin, I find myself morbidly curious about him.

The Covenant preached that all women were inherently sinful. A hereditary gene passed down by Eve. Perhaps Eve was tired of being forced to live a life she didn’t want. Free will is a fallacy when you’re constantly told that choosing incorrectly has a devastating result. Famines come in many forms. Though they fed my belly, they starved another part of me. Now that I have a feast before me, I’m going to gorge until I’m full.

Xander is the Devil, and I want to burn in his hell.

Xander’s booming laugh breaks into my thoughts as he abandons Hans on the floor. “What’s it going to be, baby girl?” He steps toward me, leaning down, his muscular arms flexing as he places his palms on the edge of the bed. “Will you sin with me?”

I take a deep breath and respond with the truth. “Yes.”

CHAPTER 13

Hans

Maggie’s words linger in the air between us. That she took my revelation about my sexuality so well was astounding, but the words she just uttered seemed beyond the realm of possibility.

I walk up to her, cup her face, and force her eyes to mine.

“Why didn’t it upset you that he killed your father?”

Her question takes me off guard because she’s right. I wasn’t upset. I was relieved. That man was a monster. I might have shouldered the evils he dealt me, but when I saw the mark on Maggie, I wanted to slit his throat. I’m grateful to Xander for killing him; otherwise, I would’ve been forced to. “That man hurt you. I’ll never shed a tear when someone like that is taken from this earth. Baby, you don’t have to do this for me.”

Maggie pushes back the strands of hair on my forehead. “I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for us, but most of all, I’m doing it for me. There’s so much more than what they told me. A part of me feels like I’ve been living in the dark. I need you to show me what being in the light looks like, Hans. Show me what it all looks like. Allow me to understand the magnitude of love.Demonstrate to me that messy can be beautiful. Lift the veil and expose all their lies. I want to know the two of you and where my place is. Let me experience choices and allow me the freedom to make them.”

“You heard her, pretty boy,” Xander says as he lowers his pants and kicks them off his feet.

My mouth goes dry as he strokes his dick. I pull away from Maggie and fall to my knees, crawling on the floor until I’m in front of Xander.

Xander laughs. “What are you, boy?”

I glance at Maggie before casting my head down. “Your pretty little fuck toy.”

“That’s right. And what are pretty little fuck toys good for?”

Humiliation floods me as I answer. “Being little bitches who do as they’re told.”

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