Page 23 of The Love Obsession (Bloody Desires #11)

All I received in response was a laugh as I stalked away.

I didn’t know what to do with this number.

The stupid side of me wanted to call Goldie and demand to know what he’d done with Mom, but as much as Roger claimed I was dumb, I wasn’t.

I knew that’d get me nowhere. I had Ginny to think about, and if I ended up dead, too, she’d have no one.

Zayn wouldn’t be her guardian, no matter what he said.

I’d never been in love and I didn’t think I was now, either. I liked being with him and letting him fuck me. He made me feel all warm inside and his strong arms came with a safe sensation that I didn’t want to enjoy—but did. So, I had no fucking idea what this was. What we were.

I’d taken care of myself and Ginny for years. How was I supposed to let another person into my life when Ginny’s happiness was also on the line?

All the confusing thoughts made my stomach queasy.

I forced my shaking legs to walk as I headed back out of the park, but not before I got one more look at our trailer.

Some of our belongings were thrown out onto the ground, which told me the owner had already been through to trash our stuff.

He’d either seen or heard about the cops visiting.

This really was the end of this stage of my life.

This park was no longer home.

Bile rose in my throat and I swallowed around it, ignoring the tears that welled in my eyes. I blinked them away and took a deep breath before pushing myself to move again. I walked out the gate and down the road, then booked another Uber.

It took twenty minutes before someone was brave enough to come pick me up, and when I got back to Zayn’s, his car was in the driveway.

My heart hammered against my ribs as I stumbled through the front door and into the house. Clearing my throat, I took timid steps inside until I heard youthful laughter upstairs. I followed the sound to Ginny’s room and the sight stole my breath.

She and Bernadette were sitting on the floor at the end of the bed, watching with rapt attention as Zayn worked a screw into a piece of wood I assumed was Bernadette’s new bed.

He nearly had it together by the looks of it, and when he finished, Ginny whooped and clapped her hands, while Bernadette whoofed in agreement, bouncing on her paws.

Scattered around Ginny were paper bags filled to the top, and a few toys peeked out of one, making me think that Zayn had been true to his word about buying her new ones.

“What’s going on here?” I teased.

Ginny was the first one to jerk her head up. She jumped to her feet, rushing to me so I could swing her into my arms.

“Bubba! Where were you?” She poked me in the chest, then giggled.

Bernadette barked, dancing on her paws around my legs excitedly.

Zayn was a little slower to react, and when he turned to me, I stilled at the darkness in his eyes.

There was a warning in his gaze, and it sent a shiver down my spine, awakening a desire I didn’t want to experience around Ginny.

I placed her back on the floor as Zayn stood and turned over the dog bed.

Once he had the soft mattress for Bernadette placed in the wooden frame, he gave Ginny a sweet small smile.

“How about you and Bernadette go through your new toys, pumpkin? I need to talk to your brother.”

Ginny nodded eagerly and raced past him, Bernadette bounding after her as she dropped to the floor to rifle through the paper bags.

Zayn stepped toward me, his pace confident but dangerous—a predator stalking his prey—and I’d never felt more like a man about to be eaten than I did now. I shuffled back, but he was right on me, shoving me on the chest and out the door before closing it with a snap .

He seized my elbow and dragged me toward his bedroom, and I let him because my insides had turned to liquid. My dick twitched, hungry for whatever the look in Zayn’s eyes promised. I was in trouble, and my Daddy was going to teach me a lesson.

Or at least, I hoped so.

As soon as he had me in his bedroom, he shut his door and turned the lock.

When he faced me, any reasonable thoughts I had went out the window.

I was at his mercy, my knees turning to jelly under me.

I would’ve crashed to the floor if he hadn’t taken steps toward me and looped an arm around my waist. His face drifted close to mine and his herbal scent invaded my nose.

My dick raged where it was trapped in my pants and my heart banged against my ribs in a fast, unsteady beat.

“Where were you, boy?” His lips pressed together tight, those green eyes burning with rage. “I came home to find you gone. Do you know how scared I was?”

I swallowed around a thickness in my throat. My stomach churned, but I wasn’t sure if it was from fear or lust. Possibly both. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I had to...go back to the park. I needed—fuck. I needed to see what Manky knew about Mom. If he sold her the drugs.”

“And you went without me?” His voice went low, and I wasn’t dumb enough not to hear the hurt in his tone. But why did he care? “I’m your Daddy. You call me that, but do you know what it means?”

“No.” I flinched. “Not really. It’s just a nickname, right?”

He stared at me for a long moment. Each passing second felt like he was ripping open my rib cage so he could see inside my heart.

Or soul. Or whatever the fuck was buried under all the flesh and bone.

I’d never been so exposed in my life, and I wasn’t sure if I liked it.

My skin itched, but I resisted the urge to scratch it.

He cradled my face and stroked his thumb over my cheekbone.

“I’ve never done this, but I know what I want when you call me Daddy.

” He brushed his nose over mine, and I tilted back my chin, hoping for a kiss that didn’t come.

“I want to be your protector. To take care of my boy and make sure you have everything you need, emotionally and physically. And you need me. Do you know why?”

I inhaled deeply. “Why?”

“Because I can see how much you’ve done for your family, and I see the strain it’s taken on you. You’re tired, boy, and you don’t have much left. Now it’s time for your Daddy to take on the role for you. Let me treat you like you deserve. Let me be your Daddy. I’ll be everything for you.”

Everything. I’d never had that, and no one had ever offered it.

I didn’t know what the word meant. I’d only ever had the bare minimum, and he was right, I was beyond tired.

Some days it was hard to keep my eyes open, but I had to.

For Ginny. So, what did this thing with Zayn mean?

We barely knew each other, and he was offering to take care of me?

Warmth spread through my veins and my shoulders relaxed in a way I’d always tried to avoid. Getting comfortable with someone meant trusting them, and I couldn’t afford that luxury. Until now. Was Zayn the person I finally opened my heart to? I wanted to scream yes, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.

Not yet.

There was something about him I was missing, a part that lingered below the surface I couldn’t put my finger on.

I’d been around a lot of different people in the park while growing up, and I’d met all kinds of personalities, but Zayn was a mystery.

I couldn’t risk that around Ginny. I had to know every part of him before I trusted him.

“I can’t,” I whispered too softly for him to hear.

When he frowned, I repeated the words a little louder.

“Ginny is the only family I have left. I don’t know you.

I need to understand why you’re doing this before I can let myself—” Be with you?

Love you? Fucked if I knew what the right words were.

“Before this is anything other than screwing. You might be my Daddy right now, but this isn’t long term. Not yet.”

He tensed and his eyebrows dipped.

My lungs squeezed, the fear that he’d kick us out settling in my head, but the pressure released when he drew me in for a gentle kiss. His mouth was soft against mine, and he didn’t hurry. It was different from what I’d expected to happen, and my body melted against him.

“Don’t worry, boy. I’d kill for you. I’m sticking around. I’m your Daddy,” he murmured against my lips, barely breaking the kiss to speak.

The funny thing was . . . I believed him.

He led me to the bed and took his time taking off my clothes.

Each movement was gentler than I’d expected, and he kissed the exposed skin like it was the last time he’d see me.

He took interest in the dips of my hips, my abs, my thighs, and the inside of my knee—spending a few minutes pressing soft kisses on each spot.

And I let him, going slowly nuts as he nuzzled my left inner thigh, brushing his lips over it.

“What are you doing?” The quietness of my words floated in the room, weightless and emotional. I sounded out of breath. A flush overtook my body, making it hard to expand my lungs. Everything he did had me panting a little harder.

“I’m not going to fuck you, boy. I’m making love to you.” He smiled up at me, and any breath left in my chest escaped in a sigh. His sexiness flew right off the fucking charts. There was no scale for how hot he was right now.

My dick throbbed, arching up toward him as though asking for attention, but Zayn ignored it.

He sat on his knees between my thighs and trailed kisses over my abs and up the middle of my pecs, then sucked on each of my nipples with the kind of tenderness that could drive a man crazy.

It was all too slow and too sweet and just too fucking much , and yet I loved every second.