Page 74 of The Dark Obsession

It’s better that way.

There’s no one I want in my personal space besides the little plant-obsessed fairy who’s now dragging me along to get a cart.

Malory is almost skipping down the rows of plants, mindlessly brushing her fingers over the leaves we pass and I find the muscles around my mouth twitching at the view.

“What can we get?” She asks over her shoulder as I watch her perky ass sway in front of me.

“Anything you want. If it doesn’t fit in the car in one go, I can always return after dropping you off at home.” I’d rather gnawn my own arm off then spend a minute without her but as long as it makes her happy…

At that she whirls around, confusion written all over her beautiful face. “Huh?”

Walking up to her, I press her small body to mine, looping an arm around her waist protectively.

“I’m not your parents, Malory.” I tilt her chin up to make sure she understands. “You’ll fill this cart with all the plants you want and then some. Don’t think about money or whether I’ll like it. This is your thing, little one.” I murmur into her ear.

Her slender arms wrap around my middle, squeezing me in a tight hug, as she buries her face in my chest.

My dead heart swelling as she looks up at me with teary eyes before coming up on her tiptoes, gently pecking my lips.

I grunt with the need to deepen the kiss but as if reading my mind, Malory untangles herself from my embrace before dashing off.

It’s fascinating to watch her sort through all varieties of plants that don’t mean anything to me.

Her passion is what’s truly captivating. Lost in her own world as she looks for the plants that have the highest chance of survival in our conditions, checking their requirements for watering and sun exposure.

I even let her use my phone for research while standing behind her with a possessive hand on her hip, her back flush against my front while I keep an eye on the screen.

And to my surprise, she doesn’t try using the bit of faith I’m putting into her against me.That’s my girl.

By the time we make another round through the store, the cart is overflowing with greenery.

With the brightest smile that knocks the breath out of me, Malory holds up a different kind of succulent in each hand.

“Which one do you want?”

“Your choice.”

“I choose the one you like best.” She insists, making my eyebrows rise as I cock my head at her.

“I know you want me to be myself and you have no idea how much that means to me. But as you like to remind me all the time, you’re now part of me too. Your opinion matters to me.” Something within me breaks a little at hearing those words.

“You’re not trying to restrict or control me like my parents did. I see that now.” Then she adds with a teasing grin. “At least not when it comes to decorating.”

With a kiss to her forehead, I take both plants out of her hands, placing them into the only available space left.

If this matters to her, it’s important to me as well.

And that she’d want my opinion, seek my approval no matter how small, causes a wave of warmth to spread to my very core.

Beaming up at me from below her long lashes, the top of her head barely reaches my chin.

Malory is objectively small in relation to the average human but compared to me, she’s the tiniest little thing, fitting perfectly in the grove of my body.

Trapping her against the cart, I drop my head, capturing her lips in a hungry kiss that leaves her breathless, her small fists tangling in the fabric of my shirt.

“You’re so fucking adorable.” I groan through clenched teeth, the ability to contain my want for her hanging on by a thread.

Unable to stop myself, I grab her by the throat for another deep kiss, swallowing the needy moan that escapes her.Fucking hell.

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