Page 19 of Deadly Obsession

FIFTEEN

SERA

I’d just regained the ability to breathe. I didn’t think my hearing was affected, but clearly it was.

Did James just say what I think he said?

I raised my head, about to ask him to repeat himself until I saw his eyes.

He’d said it. It was all over his face. His gaze was soft with subtle hints of fear.

Fear of rejection. This fire-and-brimstone warrior…

This tattooed, muscular, mountain of a man…

This living, breathing example of the shadow daddies in the dark romance books we both enjoyed had just dropped all his defenses with those three words.

He looked up at me, and I knew I could destroy him if I wanted to.

But I didn’t want to. This man had been my bedrock practically since we’d met.

It’d almost been a year since we’d started talking. A year since my online masked man crush followed me back, and I was bold enough to sneak into his DMs—after two glasses of pinot grigio to help steel my nerves. I never actually thought he’d respond, though.

Since then , we’d chatted every day. We’d been each other’s therapist, cheerleader, best friend, and lover.

He’d randomly send me flowers and coffee when I was having a bad day, but in most instances, it was just because he felt like it.

Our friends all suspected there was something growing between us but we never confirmed it.

I had enough going on, and we’d agreed to meet in person before taking whatever this was to the next level.

It was always clear, though. The strongest feelings were the ones we’d never said.

Every good morning and every good night was accompanied by an unspoken I love you .

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been staring, lost in his eyes, before I replied with, “I love you too, James,” leaned forward and pressed my lips to his.

We eventually made our way back to the cabin, a bit earlier than I would have liked, but James had pointed out the fast-moving clouds that were approaching from the north and stated that it was going to rain.

Then we went straight to our room and took a much-needed shower, which resulted in round two when James fucked me up against the tiled wall. When we went downstairs to join the others, we found all four of them in the living room.

Brian was setting up a laptop on the mantle with a ring light camera attached to the top of the screen.

The others had moved the couch a little closer and set up some of their own ring lights on the sides to increase the light quality of the room.

We’d all brought a few of our favorite books as well as a few we thought we might use for a livestream buddy-read session.

“Well, there you are. Thought perhaps you two had abandoned us too,” Brian said, stepping away from the laptop and looking over the rest of the room.

“Don’t worry, Brian. I’m sure they’ve just been off fucking.

Don’t pretend we couldn’t hear them in the shower.

” Lola laughed from where she was standing off to the side, a wide selection of liquor bottles lined up on a decorative table beside her.

She plucked up the bottle of Fireball and filled six shot glasses before grabbing the silver serving platter beneath them.

“Lola! I said not to comment on that. You’re going to make them uncomfortable!” Jade said somewhat louder than her usual speaking voice.

“I doubt they’re surprised we heard them, and if I know Mustang, he wanted us to hear them,” Danielle replied, letting out a laugh.

“Sera and James, you two are perfectly fine. I’m glad you’re enjoying yourselves.

Next time, invite a girl.” She winked at me before adding, “We have been waiting on you, though.”

“I’m so sorry, everyone. We definitely did not intend for you to hear anything.” I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks and glanced up at James, while the smirk on his face told me he had in fact intended for them to hear us.

He didn’t verbalize it. He didn’t need to. His body language said it all as his hand reached down to pat me on the ass.

I quickly looked back to the rest of the group, my eyes lingering on Danielle as I pretended I wasn’t aroused by his possessiveness. “What are we setting up for?”

Lola stepped forward, presenting us with the tray of shots.

“Name the male character. We take turns pulling a piece of paper out of a jar and reading the quote out loud. Everyone then writes their answer on their whiteboard, and when the timer goes off, you flip it over. Get it wrong, you take a shot.” She worked her way around the room.

“Now, since we can’t very well risk doing shots on camera, you’ll have to step out of view to take your shot, refill it, and sit back down. ”

“You sure I can’t just take a sip of White Claw?” Jade said, hesitantly taking her shot glass.

“Fuck no,” Lola was quick to respond.

“You read more than any of us put together. You have nothing to worry about.” Danielle gave Jade a reassuring pat on the back as she took her own glass.

Brian was the last to receive his glass.

“Thanks, Lola,” he said, grinning from ear-to-ear like a love sick puppy.

The poor golden that he was. “Well, how about we all do one to lubricate the gears before we mask up—those of us who need to anyway?” He was clearly trying to sound more macho all while attempting to not look at Lola.

“Now you’re talking, golden boy!” Lola said, smacking Brian on the ass and nearly causing him to drop his drink. With that, everyone stood and gathered in front of the fireplace.

“Oh, wait! Let’s get this on video. We’ve barely taken any photos yet!” Danielle called out as she scrambled over to the mantle, propping her phone up on Brian’s laptop and hitting the record button.

James’s hand gripped my waist tighter. “Good idea. I want to capture as many memories as possible.”

Once we were all assembled so that the phone’s camera had us all in sight, Lola took it upon herself to utter a toast. “Here’s to courage. Here’s to honor. If you can’t come in her, come on her!”

With that, everyone kicked back their shots, Brian and Jade both coughing as the whiskey made its way down their throats.

On the other hand, the only noise that escaped James was a rumbling laughter. “I haven’t heard that one in a while. Good job, Lola.”

She winked before she went to fetch the bottle for refills. A twinge of anger flashed through me, but I felt James’s hand tighten on my side as if holding me back.

“Come on, Harps. Let’s mask up. To the Batcave, Batgirl,” he said in a low whisper, turning me towards the stairs.

“Keep it in your pants for at least a few hours, you two!” Lola called after us .

I looked back over a shoulder to see her sculling another shot before Brian’s figure blocked her from view as he made his way to his room to get ready for the live.

James and I took our positions in front of the double sinks, each pulling out our own makeup bag. I laughed at the sight of us applying our signature looks in the mirror. James with his easy block of black grease paint from the nose up, versus my elegant eye shadow and cat eye.

“What?” he asked, appearing puzzled by my sudden outburst.

“Oh, just imagining us living together and having to have our own makeup stations.”

“Oh yeah, my Mehron and your Kat Von Dee or whatever.” He chuckled as he grabbed a liner and cleaned up the area around his eyes, breaking off the tip as he did so.

“Sir, if I ever catch you using my makeup like that, I’ll beat you with the dull end of your own axe,” I replied as he began packing up his supplies and washing the black from his palms.

“Hah, don’t worry, sweetheart. I know better than to mess with any of your cursed war paint.

” He dried off his hands on a towel and kissed the side of my head before stepping back into the bedroom.

“Harps, have you seen my helmet anywhere? I thought I left it on the top shelf of the closet but it’s not there? ”

“No, I haven’t. But shouldn’t you stick with the cloth skull face one?

It’ll make taking shots easier. We both know you’re going to be taking a lot of them,” I teased, leaning back to glance out the bathroom door.

“I’m sure it’s somewhere around here. We’ll find it after the live.

Perhaps it fell and rolled under the bed or something.

” I stepped out of the bathroom with my mask on and my hair curled into nice, thick, dark waves.

“Yeah right, you wish. Reckon I won’t be taking a single one.

Really, though, I don’t see it anywhere,” he called back as I watched him pull his fabric mask down over his face, adjusting it to sit properly before he returned his cowboy hat to the top of his head.

“How do I look?” James held out his arms, presenting himself for inspection.

“Hmm, how does that one song go? Save a horse, ride a cowboy?” I walked over, raised myself up on my tiptoes, and kissed him through the fabric of our masks as I reached around to give his ass a squeeze.

Damn, he had a nice one. I wasn’t really sure if guys knew this, but there was just something about a man with a nice ass that was damn sexy.

His body tensed and his arms moved in to grab me. The look in his eyes telling me if I let him, he was going to throw me down on the bed and fuck me all over again.

Having been ready for it, though, I put my hand on his chest and took a step back. “The live first, Mr. Mustang. Then I’ll find out if I make much of a bronco rider.” I winked and lightly grabbed the already apparent bulge in his jeans before turning on my heels. “Put your gun away, cowboy.”

Then I darted out the door with the sound of his boots and spurs close behind me, knowing I was playing with fire.