Page 55 of Scent Of Obsession
I felt the woods were trapping me, narrowing behind me. They formed a gloomy cage with no way out. Radcliff was pitiless, making me face my nightmare to win his.
“He was the perfect rich churchman, a loving father and husband from the outside. On the inside, he made me his experiment. His guinea pig.”
“W-What?” My voice edged.
The hooting cry of an owl echoed across the trees. My heart lurched, terror mounting in me with every step. Radcliff loomed closer as I bumped into an underbrush that tangled me, and twigs snagged at my hair. My hands were cold, and dread twisted in my gut.
“He believed I was possessed by a demon.” Radcliff’s words stuck in his jaw like inky venom spreading in his veins. “I was a normal boy, but everything I did was subject to punishment. He noted each of them in journals. Beating me wasn’t enough, so in his insanity, he burned my fucking face, unable to stand the view of me anymore after my mother ended her life.”
I was mute. A buzzing sound vibrated in my ears, as if a bomb had just landed next to me. My legs were wobbly, tingling, and goose bumps spreading.
“That day, I had made the mistake to believe in humanity for the last time.” Anger rose inside Radcliff’s eyes. “He played God and made me a monster. So, don’t lecture me on human nature, Lily. You don’t know a thing about life.”
My body finally responded, racking with an onslaught of tears. Chills pierced me like needles. I was facing the cruelty Radcliff had suffered. His father had devoured his soul alive with all its wickedness, cutting and peeling him to destroy his own legacy.
“Radcliff, I—”I’m sorry.
That wasn’t enough. Nothing I could say would give him back what he had lost. For the first time in my entire life, I was experiencing true fury. I wished I could make his father pay. I wish I could burn him the same way he burnt Radcliff.
“And here are the tears,” Radcliff said with bitterness.
“I’m not crying out of pity.” I wiped my eyes. “I’m angry.”
His brows furrowed, and I snapped the dark thoughts out of my mind. I tamped down the pulsing anger thrumming through my veins. Pain couldn’t fight pain. Water eased fire, not the opposite.
“You’re beautiful,” I murmured, my last tear tickling my cheek.
Radcliff’s eyes drifted to me, and his pupils widened as if he had never heard that word before.
“You deserve better,” I continued. “You can’t make your father right by being the monster he wanted you to be—you’re not him.No one can take your soul away.”
Once upon a time, someone had told me those exact same words.
It saved me.
“I don’t have a soul left.” He gritted his teeth. “Nor a heart. I don’t feel. If you get closer, I’ll destroy you.”
Radcliff was towering on top of me. I craned my neck to stare into the purple calla lily of his eyes in a battle for power. The smoke of our breathing intertwined in a gloomy gray, while the heat of our lips was a few inches from meeting. Yet, no part of our bodies was touching.
I wouldn’t let go of him after hearing the horror of his past. I was convinced I hadn’t lost my sanity believing in Radcliff’s redemption. Even if the price to pay was to be a prisoner, entrapped in my own body by my craving for him. He generated dark dreams inside my head. Most importantly, I couldn’t head back.
I had fallen too hard to the abyss of my own hell.
Captured in the moment, I let the goose bumps conquer my skin. I let my lips dry. I let myself ache for the impossible.
“You’re wrong. I know you feel it.” I referred to the chemical attraction uniting us. That bond neither of us could have predicted. The impossibility. “You want me, Radcliff.”
He didn’t deny it. There was no point in it. His eyes, vibrant with arousal, and massive erection betrayed all the dark things he wanted to do to me.
Hurt me.
Trap me.
Sink me deeper.
The demon inside of me craved it.
All I wanted was one action for us to be set free. Sweet Lily wanted hell. Somber Radcliff had to show his humanity.
