Page 42 of Merciless Obsession (The Bloodline #2)

EZRA

“ Y our movements have gotten faster since we first started working together,” I told Carson, Cashlynn’s younger brother.

“Soon I’m going to be able to beat you.”

I chuckled. “Not even Nazai can beat me one-on-one.”

“Don’t lie to the kid,” Nazai called out from the sidelines. He was sitting down with his eyes locked on his sketchbook. The charcoal pencil moving swiftly back and forth across it.

“C’mon, big bro, no need to be embarrassed.”

Nazai laughed and shook his head.

We were at his second house, in the basement.

I had been working on hand-to-hand combat with Carson for a while now.

He started off as a timid kid, but since he’d been around us, he’d been gaining more confidence.

He usually was with Emmet, since he was good with computers, but today Nazai wanted him to get some training in.

I put my hands up. “A’right let me see that combo I showed you last time.” He nodded, getting into a fighting stance then moving his hands.

We went on for a little longer before finally calling it quits.

“Go grab something from the kitchen and wait for me. We’re gonna go to the shooting range next.”

Even though Carson wasn’t in love with shooting and preferred to use a knife like his sister, it was still good for him to know how to shoot and have decent aim. He never knew when he might need to use one.

Carson nodded. We slapped hands and I ruffled his hair. “Good job, kid.”

He walked off, grabbing his Switch before heading upstairs.

“Let’s go a round, big bro,” I offered, referring to sparring.

Nazai lifted his head and stared at me with a smirk. He stood, placing the sketchpad on the chair and grabbed a pair of gloves.

“Don’t be mad when I kick your ass,” he said, strapping his head gear.

I snorted.

With everything that’d been going on, we hadn’t been able to just take some time to ourselves.

Nazai had jumped in headfirst as the head of the family, that along with his club and starting a family kept him busy.

My caseloads and keeping an eye on Ziora kept me occupied.

It felt good being able to kick back with my brother like old times.

Out of all my brothers, Nazai was the one I typically used to follow around when we were kids.

“You been good, Ez?” Nazai asked, blocking a jab and taking one of his own.

“Yeah, why you ask that?”

“Just making sure. You been different since Ziora and this whole Veil thing came into the picture. I wanna make sure you’re not in over your head.”

Faking a head punch, I threw one at his stomach instead. “Fuck, that was a good one,” Nazai choked out with a laugh.

I stood straight. “I’m good.”

“You haven’t been to The District in a while either. Normally I can’t keep yo’ ass out.”

I smirked, blocking my face. “Yeah, well something else became more appealing to watch.”

Nazai stood straight, assessing me penetratingly.

“I admit I was hesitant when you decided to pursue her. Then bringing her in and doing business with her was a risky move.” I went to speak but Nazai continued.

“She knows her shit though. She’s passionate and doesn’t back down.

I don’t know what you two have going on, but I can tell she’s having an impact on you.

You’re more impulsive and distant. At the same time, it’s been a long time since I saw you have this much drive and passion for something other than the courtroom. You really care about her?”

I stood straight and rolled my shoulders back.

Care about her?

I wasn’t even sure if I could put how I felt about Ziora into words to make it make sense to others.

“Ziora has become the main attraction in my life. She’s a hard ass and doesn’t let people close to her easily, but that only makes my pursuit of her even better. She’s a puzzle that I have to figure out and put together to get the perfect picture.”

Understanding passed through my brother’s face.

He glanced in the direction of his sketchpad.

“Normally I don’t try to get inside your head and understand you because you’ve always had a way of processing outside the box.

But this time I get it. The second I laid eyes on Cashlynn, she became my muse.

No one else after that mattered.” He paused for a second.

“I know I’ve been riding you hard, but that’s just because I don’t want you to go off track and lose focus. I trust you, I know you’re smart, and at the end of the day you would always have the family’s back, but sometimes I worry you’re too engulfed in Ziora that your judgement becomes clouded.”

Nazai turned his attention back to me. I released a small breath and kicked one side of my mouth up. His observation was valid, and I understood his concern, however…there was one small difference between me and Nazai. Ziora was more than just my muse. She had become my greatest masterpiece.

____

It was after nine and I was leaving my firm.

I had been there with my investigator going over what he’d come up with so far for my trial next week.

Instead of heading home, I used my key to open Ziora’s door.

I had tried calling and texting her with no response.

Her location said she was home. After how she left the meeting house yesterday, I gave her the rest of the day to calm down, but now I was done with that.

I deactivated her alarm and looked around.

The house was quiet. All lights were turned off downstairs.

Going to the steps, I started up and went directly to her room.

Turning the light on, I saw Ziora laid out on her stomach with one leg up, asleep.

I approached the bed quietly and ran my eyes over her.

The covers were kicked off, showing off her naked frame.

Her mass of curls were secure in a flower printed silk bonnet.

I searched around until I located her phone on the other pillow.

Reaching forward, I ran my hand over her cheek. She barely flinched.

“I don’t know how it’s possible for someone to be just as beautiful asleep as she is awake.

” Licking my lips, I brought my bottom one into my mouth.

She looked younger when she slept and at peace.

When she was woke, she was so high strung and always on the move.

It was like she didn’t know how to take time and just be.

Pushing my sweatpants down, I stripped down to my briefs and tossed them off to the side. It had been too long since I’d fallen asleep next to Ziora. I wanted her body next to mine tonight.

With my phone in hand, I headed for the bed but paused when the orange pill bottle on the nightstand next to her bed caught my attention.

I grabbed the medication bottle and read the label.

It was Valium. Good, Ziora looked like she could use sleep.

It bothered me that she needed medication for it though.

I wasn’t aware sleep was that hard for her to get at times.

I shifted my eyes back to her. It made sense why she hadn’t budged. Reaching over her, I grabbed her phone and put it on the nightstand along with her pill bottle. Me and Ziora would be talking about this later. It made me wonder what exactly kept her up at night.

On the other side of the bed, I pulled the covers back and climbed into the bed next to her.

Reaching out, I pulled her into me. She mumbled something incoherent and fidgeted some before calming back down.

Dipping my head, I inhaled her, loving whatever she used in her hair.

It was fruity and minty. Her naked body against mine had my dick threatening to rise.

Her body was warm, her skin soft as silk against my hand as I ran it down her bare back.

A small whimper left Ziora’s mouth and she muttered something I couldn’t make out.

I wrapped my arms around her and tightened my hold, which seemed to ease whatever she was dreaming about.

Her body relaxed and her breaths evened back out.

I closed my eyes and allowed the rhythm of her heart beating against my chest to lull me to sleep.

____

The sound of whimpering and Ziora tossing and turning, caused my eyes to snap open. I sat up and looked over. Ziora was thrashing and muttering in her sleep. This was a new development. I wasn’t aware my Bumblebee suffered from sleeping problems along with nightmares.

“Charlie. No!” she cried out.

Quickly, I reached over and grabbed her shoulders. “Bumblebee!” I shook her shoulders.

“Charlie. No! Don’t go!” Tears ran down her cheeks, her body was coated in sweat.

“Ziora!” This time I slapped her cheeks a few times. “Wake up, baby. Nothing’s going to happen to you with me around.”

Her body twitched and her eyes moved under her lids.

“Stop, no!” she thrashed again. Her arm went flying and her fist connected with the bottom of my chin before I could move.

“Ziora!” I slapped her cheek a little harder. “Wake up!”

Her eyes suddenly popped open. She blinked rapidly, looking confused. Her brows scrunched. When she looked over and found me, her eyes grew larger.

“What? Why? What are you doing here? What happened?” Her voice was raspy and laced with sleep.

Ignoring her, I ran my eyes down her body. “You were having a nightmare. You got me good in the chin too.” I stroked my chin and worked my jaw.

“Ezra, what are you doing here? What time is it?” Slowly, she sat up and looked around her room. The streetlights from outside made the room lightly lit. It was still dark out and it felt like I had just fallen asleep.

A yawn left my mouth. “I don’t know, but if you can lay down so we can go back to sleep that would be appreciated.” I went to grab her but she dodged my touch.

“What are you doing here? When did you get here?”

“You weren’t answering your phone, so being the caring and thoughtful guy I am, I came to see why. You were asleep and I was trying to do the same.”

“You can’t just invite yourself into my bed.”

A lazy smile formed on my face. “So say you.” Another yawn left my mouth.

“We can talk more later, lay down so we can go back to sleep.” I scooted over and lowered myself.

Ziora stared at me for a long moment before huffing.

She yanked the covers off herself and climbed out of the bed.

She stilled and looked down, remembering she was naked.

Her eyes shot to me and narrowed. I watched her make her way to her bathroom.

I found my phone and saw it was going on four.

I had only been asleep for three hours. Yawning again, I tucked my phone away.

Ziora eventually came out of the bathroom and back to the bed.

She climbed back in and when she laid down I reached over to pull her back to me.

At first I thought she was going to fight me, but she surprised me when she came willingly.

Her body tensed for a microsecond then melted against me.

She laid her head on my chest, lifted one of her legs, and curled her body into mine.

After a couple seconds. I broke the silence. “What was your nightmare about?”

“I don’t remember,” she whispered.

I wasn’t sure if I believed her. Looked like there was still so much I needed to learn about my Bumblebee and I had every intention of doing so.

The next time I woke up, the sun was shining through the window. Ziora was still sleeping, snoring peacefully next to me. Running my hands down my face, I sat up and tossed the covers off me. Throwing my feet off the bed, I grabbed my phone and headed to the bathroom to relieve myself.

Once finished, I washed my hands and looked around for a toothbrush.

When I checked inside the medicine cabinet and came up empty, I was about to close it and use the mouthwash on the countertop until I got home, making note to bring a toothbrush over here, but stopped, noticing more orange pill bottles.

I grabbed one and was surprised to see it was Xanax. The bottle was nearly empty.

The sleeping pills along with the Xanax let me know my Bumblebee was struggling and that didn’t sit right with me.

Emmet had gotten the basic details about her but never did I think to have him do a deep dive into her medical records.

Her sexual panel was as far as I’d seen, it looked like I needed to go further.

Picking my phone up, I unlocked it and went to my baby brother’s contact. He would be able to find out exactly what was going on with Ziora and just how deep what she was dealing with went.