Page 50 of Unholy Obsession

“Haveyouseen him without the mask?” I turn the question back on her.

Her eyes narrow on me, but she glances over at the bar quickly before leaning in. “If you’ve really seen him, tell me why I call him Saint.”

Oh. My mouth drops open a little.

She really has seen him without the mask.

I lean in even further, looking around to make sure no one’s listening in. “Did you accidentally walk into his church, too?”

Her loud laughter has me yanking back.

“Go to his—” She literally slaps her knee. “Fuck no! Girl, I haven’t been in one of those since they dragged us as foster kids when I was nine.”

She waves a hand. “No, no. I just ran into him while he was in”—she breaks off, checking around as if also seeing who might be in hearing range—“you know,uniform, when I was sitting in a coffee shop. I was in my domme gear, which I try not to wear out in public, but I just really needed a fucking cup of coffee that day and didn’t have time to change.”

She waves a hand. “I just saw it in his eyes. Out of all people, someone in that—uniform—you’d expect to be judgy about what I was wearing, but he just had a normal conversation with mewhile we were standing in line, and when he casually asked me which dungeon I went to, I knew.”

She smirks. “I told him aboutCarnaland said he should drop by. He about choked when he realized I’d also clocked him as part of the community. But he showed up, didn’t he?”

“Thank you!” I throw my arms around her.

It’s because of her I have my Bane. If they hadn’t run into each other that day, would I have ever met him?

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

I give her a big kiss on the cheek.

She chuckles low and pulls away from me.

“Get off me, you freak.”

“Mwah, mwah, mwah, I give you kisses.” I mock giving her big, sloppy kisses.

“Oh my god, you’re worse than a puppy!” She laughs and wrestles me until I finally let her go.

“Hey, hey,” Caleb jokes from across the coffee table. “Keep it consensual.”

“Fine,” I sigh, then grin with all my teeth. “But I don’t know how sane I’ll be tonight. Bane’s been edging me like a motherfucker lately, and tonight, I finally get to unleash.”

Marcus takes another sip of his whiskey. “Where exactly will you be scening? Because that sounds like it’d be fun to watch.”

“Jesus, Marcus.” Quinn gives a heavy eye roll.

“What?” he shrugs. “What’s better than friends who fuck? And who watch each other fuck?”

“I can’t think of a thing,” Caleb says, lifting his glass to toast Marcus. Theclinkof their glasses makes me giggle. I’m usually more in their camp than Quinn’s, but my eyes drift to Bane, who’s walking back our way with our sparkling waters.

As we all sit together and chat, I’m curled up beside Bane in a deep leather lounger around a coffee table cluttered with glasses, and for the first time in a long, long time, I don’t feel so… broken.

Kira and Isaak show up fifteen minutes later, and again, for the first time in forever, it feels like the whole gang’s back together. Well, minus my brother and Anna, but I’m not letting anything dim my glow tonight.

Kira doesn’t chat long—she’s still doing research—so she wanders off to watch an intense scene happening in the corner. Isaak stays seated with us, but every other moment, his eyes lift to clock her with an intensity I’m not used to seeing on his face. Has the great and stoic Isaak finally actually fallen for someone? I didn’t know he could be so human. It makes me happy for him.

The low golden glow of Carnal’s lounge casts soft shadows over our group, and the air hums with warmth, familiar voices overlapping. I stretch out, drumming my fingers against Bane’s thigh, stealing a glance up at him. He’s relaxing next to me, all composed power, hand draped over the armrest like a king surveying his court.

He glances my way, dark eyes heavy. It takes everything in me not to squirm in anticipation. I know that look. He has plans for me tonight. Plans I’m dying to uncover.

I know he’s drawing this part out, and it feels so good to be completely at ease and able to follow his lead. I allow myself to enjoy the anticipation while I catch up with my crew.

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