Page 15 of Only Everything (The Obsession #1)

REID

For four days I waited for Tauren to come around.

We picked up her car. She went back to work.

I even sat in the truck for an hour while she went in and saw her therapist. I had been trained too well to let the facts become overshadowed by optimistic delusions.

It didn't matter whether I wanted to see them or not. Actions were hints. Expressions were clues. Even Tauren’s silence provided signs that there were things she wasn’t telling me.

And not just little things like what happened at her appointment, but something big.

I was watching the collapse of the woman I loved, and although she had been through a lot, I couldn't shake the mystery.

It was in the way her eyes squinted when she stole glances my way.

How her mouth opened to talk, but how she didn't speak. It was in the way she couldn’t sit still once it got silent.

The nightmares… they were getting worse.

What was happening with Tauren was taking its toll.

My sister had secrets. As I sat in the dim room watching her sleep, I was determined to get to the bottom of every single one.

“Mmm-mmm.” Tauren’s face shot to the opposite side, and her lips parted.

Her breathing increased through the unrecognizable mumble, but she grew still again, once again going silent.

Minutes passed, and again she whimpered.

It wasn’t out of pleasure. It was fear. Her lip trembled, and I stood, hating how distressed she was, even in sleep. “Pl…se.”

Heading around the bed, I kneeled, staring at her, not a foot from her face.

More sounds. Again, her lips parted. When the tear raced over the bridge of her nose, falling to the bed, I couldn’t take it anymore.

I stood, pulling back the covers. Tauren was sleeping so hard, she didn’t even wake when I eased her over and then pulled her in my arms.

The way she wrapped around me was heaven.

With her cheek against my chest and shoulder, I was complete.

I was whole. But I wouldn’t be if she didn’t recover.

Something was destroying her on the inside, and it all went back to that stupid belief she held to.

Tauren wasn’t cursed; she’d been prey. But how would I get her to see that?

She had to know; she just didn’t believe.

Time passed as I went over our lives together.

Our beginning as brother and sister had been great.

We’d been close. We’d wake up, eat breakfast, go to school.

Afterward, I had practice—football, basketball—but then I went home.

We’d have dinner when my mom got off work.

Watch tv. We even snuck into each other’s rooms at night and either talked or read books.

It was fantastic…until it wasn’t. Until the shed.

I was still so busy in those days with sports or girls or some side job to earn extra money.

I was doing my own thing, but I was still home by dinner.

I never stayed the night anywhere. Unless…

this happened after I left. Or maybe Emmett had done things Tauren didn’t want me to know about.

“No.”

My arms tightened as Tauren’s breath caught. For a moment, I thought she’d say more, but she didn’t. Her body shook and she mumbled incoherently.

“Shh. It’s okay.”

“Reid?”

My name was whispered, barely even audible.

“I’m here, baby. You’re safe.”

“I don’t want to go.”

My brow drew in. “Go where?”

“With daddy.” She sobbed. “I…I?—”

Tauren stopped, not able to hold in the cry as she seemed to wake. Her head lifted, and her lids fluttered as confusion took over.

“Reid?”

“You were having a bad dream again. I heard you and came in.”

“Oh…I was?” Her head came back to rest in the crook of my arm, and her eyes closed again. “I’m crying. Obviously, I must have been.” Her lids immediately shot back up. “I didn’t…say anything, did I?”

“You didn’t want me to let you go.”

“Go?”

“With Frank.”

Tauren stiffened. “Oh.”

“Where were you going? Do you remember? ”

Silence surrounded us as she snuggled in, and I pulled her higher onto my chest. Closer . “Probably the basement.”

“The basement? Why would he take you to the basement?”

“It’s just a nightmare, Reid. I’m tired.”

Wetness pooled on my chest as she sniffled.

That comment wasn’t for nothing. It was a bread crumb to anyone with half a brain.

To me, it was so much more. My stomach twisted, and my pulse spiked.

I glared up at the ceiling praying to all that was holy that I could keep my voice calm enough to interrogate Tauren without spooking her or making it worse.

“We weren’t allowed down there, but I always hated that basement anyway. It was so dark and cluttered. And it smelled like mold.” Again, Tauren’s body trembled. “Maybe it’ll help the nightmares if you tell me what it was about the basement that you didn’t like.”

She sniffled again. “It did smell really bad.”

“Yeah. What else?”

Fingertips pressed into my chest. “It was dark and…cold. I was always so cold.”

I lifted my hand, stroking down her hair. Always…She said always , and I couldn’t remember a single time I’d ever seen her come from there or even mention the basement. She’d avoided it like the plague.

“It was cold. One more thing. What part of the basement did you hate the most? For me, it was the front with all the records and boxes. I saw a spider there once. You know how I feel about those. What about you, Taur?”

She turned her face more into my chest and shoulder. I could feel her holding her breath before she rolled back out to face me.

“The back room.”

“The old bedroom?”

“…Yeah. I didn’t like that room.”

I forced myself forward to place my forehead to the side of hers.

“It was secluded. Enclosed. It was scary. I can see why you’d have nightmares about it. I bet there were a lot of spiders back there.”

“I did see one there before.”

I shook my head, biting against my tongue. Blood washed through, and I swallowed it down, feeding the monster coming alive inside me.

“Reid?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For trying to help me. For being here.”

“Thank me when the nightmares are gone.”

“Reid?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

I turned to my side, pulling her in closer as I held around her tightly.

“I love you too. I’m here now. Get some sleep. You have to be up for work in a few hours.”

“Yeah.” She sniffled again, holding around me so tight, it almost seemed she was afraid I’d disappear. “Do you want to have an early dinner with me tomorrow? I.” She stopped. “I usually eat in the break room, but I don’t want to be there.”

“I thought you were enjoying being back at work?”

“I am. I was. Nancy, my therapist, thinks that I'm just being paranoid, but I feel like everybody's looking at me differently.

Day after day, they're always watching. And then they whisper. It doesn’t feel the same.

I know it has to be about what happened with Emmett.

I can't stand it. I thought going back to something normal would help, but now I'm not so sure that I want to go back at all. I'm so confused.”

“I'll get a job. I'll work. You can stay here.”

Tauren’s head lifted, moving back as she stared over at me.

“I couldn't let you do that. I have to work.

Just maybe not there. I've been thinking.

.. Is there anything really left here for me anymore?

I thought there was. I thought—Do you think the looks will stop?

The blame? The pity? That's all I see. It's like everybody at work is walking around on eggshells just looking at me. Talking about me. I feel...”

“Exposed?”

“Yeah. That, and fifty other things.”

“It's just new, and this is a small town.

Give it another week. If it doesn't change, put in your notice or don't go back at all.

I said I would take care of you, and I meant it.

I don't bring in a lot of money from the VA, but it's enough for us to survive until I find something else. If you want to move, you already know where I stand on that.”

“Yeah.”

“Just go to sleep and let’s see how you feel in a few days. No matter what you decide, everything is going to be okay. I promise.”

And it would. I would do whatever it took to make sure that Tauren was happy.

If she didn't want to work, I would. If she needed peace of mind, I’d scour the earth to find it for her.

If she needed the nightmares to stop, I'd burn that fucking house to the ground so it couldn't show up in her dreams anymore.

There was nothing I wouldn't do for her.

“Reid.”

Her fingers traveled up my chest, moving along my neck as she cupped my jaw.

She didn't have to ask. My lips met hers, and I rolled her onto her back.

The T-shirt was up around her waist, and Tauren pulled it over her head as I grabbed the lining of her panties, removing them.

The moment my tongue connected against her pussy, she moaned, pushing her fingers through my hair as she held on.

“Can't we just stay in this moment right here? I don't want to sleep. I don't want to wake up. I don't want tomorrow to come.”

I didn't answer as I eased a finger inside of her. With how deep I was analyzing her every word, her tone, her every move, I didn't like what I was hearing.

“Spread your legs wide for me, baby.”

I sucked against her clit as Tauren obeyed. I added another finger, thrusting as I continued to flick my tongue. But I watched her . I felt my possessiveness grow. No one was going to hurt what was mine. Not a person. Not a location. Not even a fucking dream .

Was she really hiding what I already knew; what I suspected?

“God, I want…” She cried out, wiggling. “You keep doing that to me. I want to taste you too. Lie down.”

Her words were enough to have my head lifting, but I didn't move immediately.

When I did, I felt like I was going in slow motion.

Tauren always said she'd never do that. She was weird about the act.

Had she lost the affliction over the years?

Was it the nightmare or her past guilting her? She did appear to be in a rush.

I lowered to my back, watching as she came to sit beside me.

I knew she just wanted to pleasure me, but I grabbed her leg, lifting to pull her on top of me so I could continue to lick her pussy as she went down on me.

The act had Tauren jerking and almost falling off the bed.

More, the molten pressure inside me grew, blistering every inch.

“I-I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant. I’ll—Just you. I’ll do that to you."

But that was impossible. There was no arousal left, and I wasn't getting it back any time soon.

My mind was working, and my body couldn't take the betrayal to her at knowing what I suspected.

I wasn't going to use her that way. Not while my mind was here.

I felt too sick to even attempt to think about going further.

“You're still rattled from your dream.” I pulled her back over, anchoring her at my side protectively. “Lie down by me. Let me hold you. We'll try again tomorrow. …You'll feel better... tomorrow .”