Page 40 of The Love Obsession (Bloody Desires #11)

ZAYN

“Oh, ouch.” Keaton winced and crossed his arms as he leaned closer to the thick glass wall in front of him. I’d tried to entice him away from the spectacle below with a glass of champagne, but he wasn’t interested in the glitz and glitter around him, only the fight.

“This brawl really is something else, Mr. Uhlig,” called a woman with a lilting Southern accent.

The gorgeous blonde lounged in a stuffed armchair positioned near the glass.

While her date seemed mesmerized with her and the way her crimson silk evening gown displayed her tits, she only had eyes for the bloodshed below.

“This is nothing. We’re just about ready to get the survival games rolling.

We had a couple of test runs and I got the cameras anchored this week to allow lovely people like yourself a bird’s-eye view of the festivities.

” Mr. Uhlig rubbed his hands together. He was in a suit, the same as last time I’d met him, and looking very polished.

The blonde’s date sat forward. He whispered something in her ear, and she laughed, a light musical sound.

Keaton hissed at whatever he saw below in the fight pit.

I had to admit that the VIP lounge was every bit as luxurious as any other high-end venue.

I was too nervous to hit the minibuffet along the far wall.

This was the first time I’d been out with a man romantically with no secrets to hide.

Well, almost no secrets. It was just me, no games, no pretending to be someone else. It was weird. And good.

And a little scary.

I walked over to Keaton and laced my fingers together with his. He smiled down at me, which loosened a few of the loops in the Gordian knot taking up the spot where my stomach should be.

“I haven’t been on a date since I was a teenager,” I murmured, then kissed the back of his hand. “I don’t count the first time I took you out because we still had a lie standing in the way.”

His eyebrows darted upward and he turned in my direction. “If we don’t count the restaurant, I’ve never been on one. Not really.”

“Now you have.” I kissed his knuckles, and he flushed a pink that made me feel unreasonably proud of myself. “I want to take you on a thousand dates. At least two every week, forever.”

Keaton could’ve laughed at me. I felt a little ridiculous.

But all he did was lean down and kiss my lips softly, as if he was pressing his mouth to silk.

I ran hot and cold and my head went fuzzy on the inside.

I couldn’t hold back my impulse to take over the kiss, and soon he was dueling with my tongue.

“I see the excitement has gotten to you. It does that to me, too.” Mr. Uhlig walked over to stand near us.

His gaze wasn’t on the chaos in the pit, but rather stuck on the crowd.

Everyone jumped to their feet with their fists in the air, and Keaton turned back toward the action—well, the blood and gore.

We’d been cooking up some pretty good “action” all on our own.

“Hendrix is brutal,” Keaton said with awe. “Shit, I wish I’d known about these free-for-alls. Five men fighting is nuts.”

“I could get you into the next one.” Mr. Uhlig’s smile was so shiny it could be spotted from space—but fuck that. No one got to steal Keaton’s safety.

“No.”

They both stared at me, and I had no idea how I looked, but I knew I wanted to murder Uhlig for the suggestion alone.

“He doesn’t need to fight anymore.” I was shooting for a normal tone, but I must’ve hit psycho killer instead because Uhlig took a step back and raised his hands.

“It’s good money,” he said.

“He doesn’t need your cash. He has mine.”

Uhlig’s smile became something wicked and he waggled his dark eyebrows. “Oh, really?”

“Daddy.” Keaton wrapped his arms around me. “I’m fine not doing that stuff anymore. We have our own games to play.”

I grinned at him over my shoulder. “True.”

Uhlig cleared his throat, but it sounded more as if he was hiding laughter. “My loss, gentlemen. Enjoy your evening.” He winked, then moved on to schmooze some other guests who’d probably paid the outrageous price of ten thousand dollars a seat to be here, the same as I had.

“Daddy, were you jealous?” Keaton whispered in my ear.

I shifted and shoved him against the glass.

Thankfully, it was every bit as sturdy as I’d assumed.

“Jealous?” No, I’d been terrified I would lose him the last time he’d fought and scared he would get hurt if he ever did it again.

“Of what? I love you, boy, and only I get to pick who you kill. It doesn’t matter if it’s inside the ring—” I went on tiptoe and nibbled his earlobe. “—or out.”

He smirked, an expression I’d never seen on him. “You love me that much?”

“More.”

Our next kiss heated up faster than a bottle rocket, and before long, my hard-on was pressed against his muscled thigh, and he was whimpering into my mouth.

“We’re loving the show, both of them, but you’re about to miss the big win.

” The blonde stood near us with a tiny set of binoculars anchored to a jeweled handle as if she was at the opera.

Keaton and I both spun around to watch the finale.

There were three bodies scattered around in puddles of blood with their appendages bent in various unpleasant ways.

A whip-thin man—all muscle—pounded in the face of a big bruiser who reminded me far too much of Keaton.

I shivered when the victor stopped to run his hand through his dark hair, obviously slick with sweat from exertion.

He flashed around a smile, then delivered one more punch before he hopped to his feet and thumbed his nose at the man on the floor.

“Oh wow.” Keaton rested his hand on the glass.

“That’s my boy! Excuse me!” Uhlig hustled for the door and grabbed a microphone from a small shelf as he passed it on his way out.

“Do you think he really is Uhlig’s boy?” I asked.

Keaton flushed, and I couldn’t stifle a chuckle. He was so cute.

“Nah. No way.”

“Why not?”

His brow furrowed as he studied me. “No one else would be as good a Daddy as you.” He leaned closer. “Mr. Uhlig doesn’t make me feel safe. He couldn’t be a good Daddy.”

Butterflies tap danced in my stomach and a strong breeze could’ve blown me away.

“We have our winner!” Uhlig’s voice came over the sound system. “Hendrix, our Knock Out Boy! For those of you who placed bets, the house will square up with you by courier during the coming week. Prompt payment is assumed. Thank you.”

I was a bit uneasy. No one was rushing to help the men on the floor out there.

I wasn’t sure if they were dead or no one gave a fuck about their injuries.

I didn’t honestly care about their lives, but mostly I couldn’t stop thinking about what would’ve happened if Keaton would’ve died in that hole down there before I’d met him.

“Y’all can continue on with your show,” the blonde said with a magazine worthy smile and a wink. I wasn’t sure I’d ever been in a room with a woman as beautiful as her. I didn’t even want to fuck women and I couldn’t help being a bit in awe.

Keaton glanced wildly at me, as if he needed my protection from her suggestion, but I was always happy to provide it. He didn’t need to worry.

“Sorry, I don’t share Miss . . . .”

“Madam Winters,” she said with a gentle nod. “Now, that is too bad, sweet pea.” She smiled at the man she was with. He was odd. I could’ve sworn he hadn’t looked away from her all night. It was starting to border on creepy. I would rather someone try to kill me than just stare all the time.

I grabbed Keaton’s hand when it appeared as if he might pass out from embarrassment and dragged him past the hors d’oeuvres he hadn’t touched and out of the asylum. I didn’t hesitate to rescue him, even though he probably didn’t really need it.

By the time the blush faded from his face, we were in the car driving down the highway while I squinted into the setting sun. “So, Daddy, that was a date.”

“It was.” I glanced at him and kept both hands on the wheel because I wanted to do something to make his face pink again. I might be a serial killer, but I wasn’t going to accidentally murder someone on the road by driving distracted. That was truly insane behavior.

He caught my eye, and we both grinned.

“Little bit of a letdown, actually,” he said, leaning back in his seat.

My gut swooped. “The fight wasn’t everything you thought it would be?”

“Nah, it was okay. I just thought it might be more exciting to go on a date with you, but you didn’t even want to fuck me in front of everyone.”

I veered toward the side of the road and the tires rumbled before I got the Maserati back between the lines again. “You—” I cleared my throat and tried again. “You would’ve been okay with that?”

He shrugged, laughing. “Who knows? But you should see your face right now.”

I slapped my chest, trying to get everything jump started. “I didn’t know you were a jokester.”

“I’m learning all kinds of things about myself.”

I realized where we were and couldn’t resist the trip back to the bridge where we’d first fucked. When I stopped alongside the road, he glanced outside and chuckled.

He didn’t say anything as I made my way down the embankment, but I turned and grabbed his hand as I walked him over to that same spot where I’d first gotten my lips on him.

He moaned when I sank to my knees.

“Daddy, what’s this?” he asked, but his hands were busy opening his belt. The black Rolex I’d gotten him last week glinted in the dying light. I wanted everything on his body to be things I’d bought for him.

I wanted him to belong to me and only me.

His cock made me focus like nothing else could. It was long and flushed. So fucking pretty. I kissed the head, parting my lips to suck on it, and he cried out, scrabbling at the cement wall behind himself.

“An apology. I planned to kill you when I first brought you here. I owe you the full truth now that you’re mine. I was amused when I fucked you here.”

He groaned as I sucked down his length, then fluttered my tongue around his tip. “Why, Daddy?”

“Because I dumped a body here and thought I would kill you after I got the name of your supplier. I did think you were a drug dealer. He was friends with some asshole named Dutch. Cardinal Cross.”

His eyes widened, but I worked him down to the back of my throat to soften the blow.

“Figured you were planning to, but that’s so fucked up, Daddy. Everyone at the park wondered what happened to him.” He sounded delighted, but maybe he would get mad at me later. I would take the win for now.

“I’m sorry I was going to kill you. I love you.

” I sucked him again, relishing each burst of precum that hit my tongue.

He slid his hands into my hair. Fuck, this was good.

I kept going until I gagged, and then he was in the back of my throat.

I pulled on his hips, wanting him to have free rein here.

He got the idea, and I went a little lightheaded as he dipped deep down my throat.

By the time he pulled back, I gasped for air, only to lose it again when he plunged forward.

It hurt, but I didn’t care. Toward the end it was a bizarre thrill when he buried himself as far as he could down my throat and shouted, his voice echoing across the water.

He was big enough to block my airway entirely.

When he finally pulled out, I had to hold on to his thighs until my head stopped spinning. Twilight had descended, and I glanced up at him, loving the way he looked wreathed in shadows.

“I forgive you, Daddy. I’m glad you got bad info or I wouldn’t be your boy.”

My heart surged, and I got to my feet. I was hard as fuck, and Keaton might need to drive home while I recovered, but I felt like I’d earned my forgiveness when he softly kissed me.

Since we were so close these days, that first time had been nagging at me. I carefully tucked him into his pants, and he watched me with eyes that were still shiny with bliss.

A bright light shone on us, and the police officer on the other end of it sighed.

“Oh, shit,” I mumbled.

Keaton tensed, and I grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.

“I better not be interrupting a business transaction.” The cop scowled at us. He was cute, with green eyes, dark hair, and an upturned nose that made him seem too young for his job.

“Nah, this is my boyfriend,” I said, forcing a smooth smile.

“Well, you guys get out of here. This ain’t no lovers’ lane. There’s some sick puppies loose in the city right now.” He pointed his light at the ground, and it was adorable that he actually seemed concerned.

“Of course. We’re on our way home.”

“I would never let anyone hurt him.” Keaton dropped his arm around me and that wicked smirk was back. He was so going to get a spanking later.

“Still. Can never be too careful.” The cop gestured toward the path on the embankment, and Keaton and I held hands all the way to the car while not looking at each other. I wasn’t sure about him, but I was going to howl with laughter if I made eye contact.

Somehow, this had turned into the perfect date.