Page 31 of Lord of Obsession

Satisfaction snakes through me, vicious and sweet. He's always been a fighter, even when he's fighting his true nature. It's what drew me to him in the first place, that fractured dichotomy. The perfect veneer hiding a core of pure violence.

I'm close enough to feel heat rolling off him now, to taste iron and fury in each shared breath. Close enough to see the pulse hammering at the base of his throat, his body already bracing for impact before a single blow lands.

"Good boy."

The words unleash him. He explodes into motion, launching himself at me with a snarl erupting from that always tightly-leashed control. Fists fly and feet lash out, each strike precise and devastating. I respond in kind, savage elation surging through my veins as we clash in a blur of sweat-slicked skin and unleashed brutality.

This is what I've been craving. This pure collision of what we both are under the polish and pretense. Rafael's mask splinters further with every punch, every counter, every move and countermove. He's a force of nature, wild and lethal and so goddamn beautiful it steals my breath.

We hit the ground hard, grappling for dominance. Concrete scrapes my back raw, but the pain barely registers. All that matters is the heat of him above me, the weight of him pinning me down. His hands wrap around my throat, those elegant ink-stained fingers squeezing with the perfect pressure to make dark spots dance across my vision.

I buck my hips, breaking his grip and reversing our positions. Now it's my turn to loom over him, one hand pressed against his sternum to feel the frantic drum of his heart.His chest rises and falls rapidly, breath coming in sharp bursts. I want to taste the exertion on his skin, lick away the sweat and blood until he's stripped down to his most fundamental core.

"Finally." The word comes out guttural, almost unrecognizable. "You unleashed your true self. Not the good little law student. Not the dutiful nephew." I lean in closer until our lips almost brush. "The true Rafael Valenti."

Something flashes across his face, there and gone too quick to name. His eyes are black in the low light, pupils swallowing the irises until only a thin ring of amber remains. I feel more than hear his sharp inhale, watch his nostrils flare as he sucks air between bared teeth.

Then he's moving again, a blur of furious grace. An elbow cracks against my jaw. A knee digs into my ribs. The strikes flow like water, unstoppable and devastating. I give it back as good as I get, tasting copper and triumph as we roll across the filthy cement.

The crowd screams, baying for blood. But they fade to insignificance compared to the firestorm raging between us. This moment is ours and ours alone, an inferno of pent-upneed and denied truths and the purest fucking recognition.

We end up against the far wall, Rafael's back pressed to rough brick. My fingers anchor in his sweat-dampened hair, holding him still as we pant into the charged space between our mouths. Every ragged exhale mingles, tasting of salt and iron and the inevitable.

"Say it." My grip tightens, arching his neck back. "Say you want this. Say you want me." Because I need to hear it. I need him to admit it out loud instead of just with the raw hunger darkening his gaze.

He stares at me, chest heaving. A war rages behind his eyes, denial grappling with dark desire. I can practically hear the cogs turning, all that sharp intelligence wrestling with baser instinct.

"Fuck you," he finally snarls, but there's no real heat. No true rejection.

I laugh, the sound coming out jagged. "Oh, baby. We'll get to that."

And then I'm kissing him, a brutal clash of lips and teeth and tongues. He responds instantly, just as wild, just as desperate. Fingers fist in my hair, blunt nailsraking down my neck. I groan into his mouth, licking away the coppery tang of split lips.

It's heaven and hell, agony and ecstasy. The culmination of every heated glance, every loaded threat, every electric point of contact. I want to crawl inside him, pry him open, and live within the twisted gorgeous wreckage. I want to resurrect every violent impulse he's ever repressed and make him embrace the darkness.

A bottle shatters nearby, jolting us back to the present. I pull away slowly, reluctantly. Rafael's eyes are glazed, his lips bruised and slick with my blood. He looks debauched, stripped down to his rawest foundations.

Shatteringly perfect.

"We're not done." My tone is rougher than gravel. A promise and a vow. "Not even close."

I step back, putting distance between us before I do something truly unforgivable, like drop to my knees and worship him right here in front of everyone. The crowd slowly filters back in, their raucous cheers washing over me like static.

Rafael straightens, a dazed sort of awareness returning. He swipes at his mouth with the back of one hand, smearing the evidenceof our explosive collision. I track the movement, hunger a living thing inside my chest.

"This doesn't change anything." But the words lack conviction. It’s just an empty platitude that can't hide the seismic shift in his eyes.

My answering smile cuts like a blade. "You keep telling yourself that, killer."

I turn away, already calculating my next move. The game has changed, the stakes ratcheting up to dizzying heights. There's no going back now. No pretending the fragile boundaries between us haven't been obliterated.

Rafael Valenti may have walked into this underground temple to violence as a law student playing dress-up. But he'll leave as something else entirely.

Something infinitely more dangerous.

Something that's finally ready to accept the brutal inheritance carved into his very bones.

My blood sings with savage anticipation. Because this dark victory is only the beginning. Soon, very soon, I'll tear down every last one of his defenses.

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