Page 28 of Unholy Obsession

“They’re about control.” His voice is low. Steady. He’s followed me into the living room. “About setting order to chaos.”

I hum, considering this.

“You know what’s funny about dominos?” I muse, tapping a finger against my chin. “They look so perfectly aligned, all neat and controlled, but really, they exist for one reason and one reason only.”

I grin. And before he can stop me?—

Boop.

I flick the first domino.

Bane exhales sharply through his nose as the dominos collapse in a perfect wave, the softclick-click-clickof their downfall filling the space between us.

I gasp, bringing a hand to my mouth in mock horror. “Oh no,” I whisper, eyes wide. “Idefinitelydidn’t mean to do that.”

His breath leaves him in a slow, measured exhale. He places his coffee down with the kind of restraint that suggests he’s resisting the urge to throttle me.

I grin. “Well, at least now you have something to do while we drink the rest of our coffee.”

He doesn’t move. Just watches me, long and slow, until my smirk falters slightly under the weight of his stare. Until my pulse stumbles. Until I realize I might’ve started a game I didn’t fully understand.

Then, he speaks, his voice like a low rumble of distant thunder.

“Moira.”

I swallow. “Mm-hmm?”

“You’re going to regret that. You need order in your life.”

I roll my eyes. “And you think you can give it to me?”

His gaze burns into me. “Yes.”

A slow, magnificent shiver runs down my spine.

Oh dear. I have the horrible, no good, absolutely deliciously delightful feeling that I’m about to be in trouble.

And Idoso love trouble.

TWELVE

BANE

“Yes,”she whispers, big Bambi eyes blinking up in a way that has me wanting to toss her up against the wall right now and reach under the flimsy skirt of her dress to thumb her cunt and see if my offer has her wet already.

She’s not as vulnerable as last night, and after a good night’s sleep, I know she’s sober. She’s admitted she’s a sex addict, so she’d probably be game. I could get verbal consent and be balls-deep in the cunt I’ve been obsessing about in less than sixty seconds.

Do it. Take what’s yours.

“Good,” I snap, the word overly crisp. “We begin today.”

I turn away from the coffee table of fallen dominos. “Training starts with breakfast.”

I ignore her huff of protest, heading towards the kitchen because if I’m going to model discipline, I better start exerting some right fucking now over my own beast.

This is no spur-of-the-moment decision.

I stayed awake all night, turning it over in my mind. At two a.m., I got out the dominos. The precision and control calmed my thoughts and helped me think. Again and again, I dissected every angle, every possibility, and every risk. And every single time, I arrived at the same conclusion.

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