Page 80 of Twisted Obsession

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Ansel

I’d spent most of yesterday evening with Aaron and the crew. Me and the gang, including D remotely, caught him up on everything we’d gathered on the group that had attempted to snatch Regina.

Aaron had come up empty, and even D hadn’t been able to pull any tricks from his digital magic hat to give us any new leads. I’d even sat Regina in front of the surveillance we’d gathered to see if she could clue something in. For now, sharp eyes and trigger fingers were our first-line of defense against an enemy we couldn’t yet identify.

Lately, work had been getting my middle finger. I’d show up and not get shit done. My heart wasn’t in it.

Like now, instead of going over boring ass accounting reports, my mind lingered on Regina. After I backed away from my desk and took out my phone, I pulled up the camera feeds. I needed to see her face to ensure she was okay. She sat in her second favorite spot near the pool, letting her feet drag through the water. For a moment all I could concentrate on was how fucking sexy she looked in that green bathing suit until my scanning eyes landed on her face.

Usually, the pool and the view of the city enticed her to smile, but my face drew into a tight frown at the level of sadness her slumped body carried. I zoomed the camera in for a better view.

Why are you so sad, Regina?

The longer I stared at her, the more concerned I became. This was how she’d been when I’d first met her, stressed and sad-faced all the time. Now that I knew the reason behind her sadness, I sought to shelter her from it. The torture she’d suffered at the hands of her cousin haunted her. I certainly understood why.

“What are you watching, boss?” came a voice that had my head snapping up from my phone.

I’d been concentrating so hard on Regina that I’d let Franklin, one of my managers, sneak in on me.

“This is grown folks’ shit, Franklin,” I informed, giving him a stern eye, even though the man was nearly a decade older than me. “Shouldn’t you be somewhere getting this place freak-fly for tonight?”

“I just stepped in to say hello. We haven’t been seeing you much around here lately, and when we do, you stop in and jet out like the place is on fire.”

I stood. “Well, call the fucking fire department. I gotta go.” I pointed at my laptop. “Check these accounting reports. There’s something I need to do.”

Franklin jerked his head back like my request was shocking. His ass knew I was like an elephant when it came to remembering shit. Before he protested, I pointed out, “Don’t feed me shit about you not knowing how to do this either. You have a fucking business degree from Berkeley, and you did accounting for your wife’s father before you came here. Why in the hell you think you were hired in the first place?”

“Okay, boss,” he relented with a deep smile. “I’ll get right on it and text you if something’s off.”

I was already out of the door walking at a brisk pace. When I’d left this morning, Regina had been tired as hell. I’d ensured she would be. I’d also left her with a wide grin on her face. Now, it appeared she’d lost a kidney to a non-licensed doctor.

She’d revealed that she’d been seeing images of her cousin again. Was it time I got her professional help? I’d studied the fuck out of psychology in an attempt to figure out my own fractured mind and had barely scratched the surface. If Regina and I were both legit crazy, it was a recipe for disaster. One of us needed to hold the key to sanity, and that someone damn sure wasn’t me.

By the time I stepped into the apartment, Regina was stretched out on the couch, asleep. This wasn’t unusual since she didn’t sleep well throughout the night unless I got ahold of her. I sat on the arm of the couch and watched her sleep. There was a lot of shit I vowed I’d never do, but when it came to Regina, a lot of nevers had been going up in flames.

My jacket and tie came off before I kicked off my shoes. I stopped at the notion of taking my pants off too. It would lead to us fucking, and I didn’t think fucking was what Regina needed. She needed to know that I had her back, even if it was just me being there with her.

I eased down onto the couch, making her stir. A lazy groan escaped as she turned her body blindly with my help. She automatically knew what to do as her leg fell over mine and her hand slid across the top of my chest. My arm tightened around her back, drawing her in closer, allowing her warmth to cover me and her scent to invigorate my senses. The movements caused her to stir awake before she lifted her head. Her sleep-heavy gaze found mine.

“Ansel?”

“Yep, unless you’re expecting another good-looking, sexy as hell motherfucker. And if you did, his ass would be deader than a rusty doornail.”

My reply had her giggling as she kept her gaze pinned on mine. This was the Regina I liked seeing. Most of her body was snuggled into mine with the rest of her pinned against the back of the couch. I relaxed my head against the arm of the couch.

There was no use resisting the pull. The hand I’d placed under and around her back slid lower and rested on her ass. My other sat on the hip of the leg draped across mine. I didn’t acknowledge her staring at me even though our faces were inches apart. I already knew what she was thinking.

“I thought you said there’d be no snuggling. This feels like snuggling to me,” she sang in a cute, teasing tone. The big smile on her face was all I’d needed to see, even if I broke every rule I’d established to make it happen.

“Go back to sleep before I give you something to talk about,” I replied playfully.

After a low giggle, she nestled her head into my chest and squeezed her arm around me a bit tighter. I lowered my head and rested my mouth to the top of her hair. My chest rose and fell in quick movements that I couldn’t control as my heart pounded under her cheek.

An emotion I’d ignored since the moment I’d met Regina decided to surface. It was at this moment, with her, that I accepted that fighting it made it worse. I was arrogant, never wanting to admit to any type of defeat. But this, this thing between Regina and me, was slaying my ass whether I wanted to accept it or not.

My lips found the top of her hair before a deep inhale lifted my chest. A light cherry-almond scent came from it. When mixed with her natural vanilla-cocoa aroma, the mixture was damn near irresistible.

I slid my hand up her hip until I reached her chin and lifted. As soon as her gaze met mine, she inched her head up higher, and I inched mine down. Our lips met, and we kept them together for a paused moment, enjoying the connection. She danced her fingers over my cheek and lured my gaze back to hers when I eased our lips apart. I stifled a gasp when our eyes locked, and I swear, a strong force flew from her and knocked me in my chest.

My lips crashed into hers and delved deeper into another kiss while wrestling with the overpowering sensation that rode me hard and wouldn’t let go. The kiss amplified the emotions swirling between us. The amount of passion from this simple kiss sent sharp jolts through my body and raised goosebumps on my arms before it settled into my bloodstream.

This was some powerful shit that caused my entire body to catch a chill. I’m not going to lie, I was no punk, but the shit stirring between us scared the shit out of me. Enough that I stopped the kiss and pulled back. I knew Regina felt it too. My gaze found the telling details in the goosebumps that covered the bare skin of her arms. Her harsh breathing was fast and warm against my body as it swept over the material of my shirt.

My lips met the top of her hair again when she snuggled back into my chest. My face remained buried in her hair as I fought to keep my mind from overloading.

I was bad, damaged, fucked up in more ways than I could count. Did I deserve to have this connection with Regina? Did I deserve to experience this type of emotional purity? This was the type of blessing reserved for the good guys. The people that made the world a better place. Not for a demon like me. This couldn’t have been something meant for me. I was stealing—taking something that didn’t belong to me.

There was no use in attempting to settle my mind. No matter how many times I sequenced the logical aspects of us in my head, it never added up. My ideas hovered until I felt myself drifting.

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