Page 4 of The Love Obsession (Bloody Desires #11)

Uhlig chuckled, a dangerous sound that still managed to be mischievous.

Moose rolled his shoulders and stood tall, drawing away from my grasp. “You do what you have to do.”

My pride twinged, but before I could come up with a clever quip, he’d charged out through the doors with the unruffled blondie hot on his heels.

I was confused because I’d half expected applause or cheering.

Clearly, there was some illegal fighting going on.

Probably a healthy exchange of dirty money, too.

I hadn’t been to one of these things in New Gothenburg, but I had in other places.

Like attracted like, and different types of bad men tended to congregate together.

I’d been drifting around the country for a few years, going wherever my job took me—and unsolved crimes were highest.

Sometimes it was good to be at the top of your field. No one suspected the man wearing the crown of murder. Well, unless you were sloppy about it.

I was not sloppy.

It probably didn’t hurt that most cops weren’t in a huge hurry to solve the murders of known drug dealers. But I liked to think I was just that good.

Curiosity got the best of me, and I nearly bounced toward the doors Moose had vanished through.

There were two round glass windows at eye level.

In the other room, Moose circled the big guy who’d already brutalized the wretch dying over the drain.

There was a row of what appeared to be stone tubs along the far wall, and the rest of the room was a circle of cement walls about seven feet high.

Above was solid glass and beyond that rows of benches were filled with people looking down.

Joy and excitement swept the crowd as Blondie jabbed at Moose.

“Well, isn’t this place a horror fest,” I said cheerfully.

“It is! I love it! Officially, this used to be an observation room for medical procedures and other treatments.” Uhlig made air quotes. He adjusted his red tie as he came to stare out the other window and bounced on his heels. “Hell of an investment.”

“You own it?”

“Mm-hmm.”

The man over the drain groaned, and we both glanced in his direction, but he flopped and didn’t make any more noise.

“Think your toy died,” I said.

Uhlig shrugged, raising an eyebrow in my direction. If he thought I was going to get all squeamish and need to join the broken idiot on the floor, he had another thing coming. I would slit his throat before I became a victim.

Perhaps I had managed to communicate some of that by squinting at Uhlig because his eyebrows danced up and down. “Eh, probably passed out.”

“Unless he has a brain bleed. Or ruptured liver. Or spleen. Or intestines. It’s the internal bleeding that can be the hardest to predict.”

The corner of his lip curled into a sick parody of a smile. “Moron should’ve fought better. Or gambled smarter. He’s a waste. We’re doing everyone a favor.”

Intrigue hit me, a lightning bolt, almost the same way it had when I’d seen Moose sending people away from his table earlier, but it was of a different variety.

While lust was mixed up in my game with Moose, it was my thirst for blood that was piqued by this man.

But I wasn’t stupid. I didn’t want to get sucked into whatever was going on here.

It was too brash, and my body count was too high.

I had plans to continue to live as a free man forever.

There was a shout from behind the doors, and we both swung around in time to see Moose land a vicious left hook that dropped Blondie to his knees.

I glanced up. The crowd in the seating area stood and cheered and clapped, but none of the noise made it through the thick glass.

It was eerily silent in the pit where Moose landed another punch to the man’s face.

Uhlig grinned at me. “Want a closer look at your boyfriend?”

“Does a bear shit in the woods?”

A heartbeat passed. Uhlig snorted. “If you have his luck—” He pointed at the man over the drain. “—they probably shit on your car. Come on.” He pushed open the doors, and we stepped out.

I felt exposed, but all eyes were on Moose as he dragged Blondie over toward the stone tubs, and I was shocked as he flipped Blondie inside the first one he came to.

There was a splash that drenched Moose and splattered the floor around him.

People rushed the glass and started pounding on it as Blondie flailed.

Moose held him under, muscled arms bulging.

Was it wrong that my dick was becoming an issue? Probably. Yes. Definitely. But I didn’t care.

“What in the world?” I said, taking another step forward.

“The tubs were used to torture the crazy out of the patients here back when this was a functional asylum. Cold water therapy.” Uhlig ran his thumb down his jaw, playing with the stubble.

“Did it work?” I asked, unable to look away from the spectacle in front of me.

“Nah, it was really just a way for some sick fucks to get their twisted kicks.” He pursed his lips.

There was a shriek as Moose let Blondie up just long enough to catch his breath, then shoved him down again.

My dick twitched hard and I let out a long shaky breath.

Uhlig slapped my shoulder as Moose dragged Blondie out of the tub and physically hurled him a few feet away, where he rolled to a stop on the floor, coughing and wheezing while clawing at his throat.

A chuckle slipped out of me.

The man flipped onto his front and raised his head.

He spotted me, and my blood ran cold. No one was home.

He had the dead eyes of a predator. I didn’t have any weapons on me tonight because I was hunting, not preparing for a kill.

I wasn’t exactly defenseless, but a frisson of fear skittered up my spine and made my heart try to choke me.

“You had enough?” Moose bellowed.

Blondie hopped to his feet, eyeballing me. “Maybe from you. I’ll just fuck up your little boyfriend.” He charged.

“I’m not little,” I said, but that was my mouth running on autopilot.

“Shit.” Uhlig hustled away from me.

My heart pounded so hard I might pass out as Blondie bore down on me, arms pumping.

“Don’t move.” I coached myself through the moment.

I wanted to run. Zig. Zag. Anything but stand in front of the bull.

But he was moving fast, and I hadn’t reacted soon enough for a foot race.

So, I waited while my heart tried to escape my chest, chiseling away at my ribs like a pickaxe.

At the last second, I shifted left, grabbed his arm, and propelled him forward into the wall with all my weight.

“He’s not my boyfriend. He’ll tell you himself.”

The guy slid down the wall, a bug hitting a proverbial windshield, and crashed to his knees.

He stayed there, face leaning against the concrete, bloody and still.

I wasn’t sure if he was knocked out, in horrible pain, or if he’d actually gotten a lungful of water and was drowning despite sucking in air.

Moose raised his fists.

The crowd above went bonkers, smacking the glass as if they had front row seats at a hockey game. Dread started to sink into my skin at the quiet. There was the thunk , thunk , thunk of fists, but we couldn’t hear anything else. It was really fucking odd.

Uhlig smirked—gaze darting down my front with fascination—as he walked out toward Moose. He shook Moose’s hand and leaned forward to say something to Moose that made him wrinkle his nose.

“Stop flirting with my man,” I called.

Uhlig chuckled and the warm sound carried through the otherwise still room.

Moose stalked over to the double doors. There was a bruise forming around his left eye and a trickle of blood rolled from a split in his bottom lip to tremble on his chin, waiting to spill. Fuck, it was sexy.

He opened the door for me and waited. It took me too long to realize he was trying to be gentlemanly, or at least his version of it, so he was already through the door by the time I followed him into the locker room.

The guy at the desk tossed Moose a small manila envelope, and he stuffed it in his back pocket, not stopping to count the spoils of war as he barreled onward, full steam ahead, out into the long spooky hall we’d walked down to get here.

I rushed after him and grabbed his hand. He spun toward me, fist raised, and I went up on tiptoe to brush my lips against his. I caught a hint of his blood and savored the flavor. It took almost no time at all for him to wrap his arms around me and drag me against all those delicious muscles.

“Why?” Moose asked against my mouth, eyes a little too big. Fuck, he was still hopped up on the fight. This really was my lucky night. He was beautiful. I licked a drop of blood from his lips.

I took a shot in the dark and thought he might want an explanation for me attacking his mouth with mine.

“That was the hottest fucking thing anyone has ever done for me. If you want my cock—” I pressed firmly against him and the pressure set off pleasure bombs along my spine.

“—you can have it anywhere you want it.”

Hell, this was a bad idea. It felt so good. I’d missed having a man. It was impossible with my hobby of murder to let someone get close.

Moose moaned and picked me up higher as he kissed me. I wrapped my legs around his waist and hung on for dear life, letting myself forget this wasn’t real. He was a damned good kisser.

Fuck, really, really good.

I’d never had a guy who could lift me as if I was nothing and grind while holding me against his dick.

My hands shook as I forced my tongue into his mouth and tried to tame this beast, temperature rising like I was trapped in the middle of a volcano.

The fake-boyfriend angle obviously was working, but I could already feel myself slipping to a spot where I was losing focus. I couldn’t allow it to happen.