Page 54 of Their Stolen Obsession (Phantoms and Obsession Duet #2)

Their Universe

Liv

C indy blasted a loud whistle, and all five dogs darted out into the yard, leaving us in the dust. Saint wiped the slobber from his face, and Sin dusted the fur off him.

I walked outside, and the sun shone brightly down from the clear blue sky.

It was a gorgeous day to be outside while the dogs relieved themselves and played with each other.

Scotty and the husky tackled one another while two smaller dogs ran through the yard.

Duke wandered around slowly, went back and forth, but he made a few circles and took a dump.

“Fuck,” Sin grumbled and rolled his eyes up to the sky.

I giggled. Sin shot me a dirty look.

Saint shrugged. “Who cares?”

“Me. I’m on shit duty. Remember?”

“Better you than me.” Saint chuckled.

Sin pulled a gun out of his waistband and pointed it at his best friend. “I’ll shoot you where you stand.”

Saint reacted. He pulled out a gun too and targeted Sin. Both aimed at each other, and I got right in the middle of them.

“Jesus Christ. Put the guns away,” I whisper-shouted. “Do you want to get us kicked out of here?”

Saint nodded straight ahead. “Well, he fucking started it.”

I peered at Sin. “Do you always have to be intimidating?”

“Yep,” Sin answered. “He deserves a bullet in his ass for laughing at me.”

“Why are you two bringing weapons to an animal shelter, anyway?” I questioned, glaring at one man and then the other.

“Sweetheart, a man goes nowhere without a weapon,” Sin answered with a tilt of his head. “Ain’t that right, Saint?”

Saint agreed, “A-fucking-men.”

I was over their childish bullshit.

“Whatever.” I shook my head.

I left the middle of Sin and Saint’s disagreement. I’d let them solve their own problems. The dog bowls needed more water after Scotty finished the last one. I gathered the water dishes and headed for the gate of the chain-link fence.

Sin grabbed my shoulder. “Not so fast. I’m coming with you.”

“Me too,” Saint added.

I jerked away and glared at both of them. “The dogs need more water. They don’t have time for your petty disagreements.”

“We put our guns away.” Sin held up his hands, not a gun in sight. “See?”

Saint nodded in agreement.

“Fine.” I huffed and pointed at them. “Behave or I’ll shoot you both myself.”

“Promise?” Sin teased.

Instead of answering, I rolled my eyes at Sin. I brushed past him while Saint slapped his shoulder and Sin cursed at his best friend. I kept moving, following a path leading me to the back of the building and right where I needed to be until I saw a green water hose.

I stopped. Unable to move a muscle as I stared at the nozzle and I wanted to go back to the dogs. All of a sudden, I felt safer stuck behind a fence with a bunch of animals I thought I feared most in this world.

“I’ll fill up the dishes.” Sin grabbed the bowls from my arms.

“Liv? Are you coming?” Saint called out as he turned on the water and untangled the hose.

I hugged myself. “I think I’ll wait here.”

Sin had taken off his leather jacket, revealing a white T-shirt underneath. He aimed the nozzle at a bowl and the water pressure was too much. A spray splashed all over his shirt. Sin was soaking wet.

Sin cursed. He went shirtless with his tattooed chest bare and his blue jeans hanging on his hips. His abs resembled an actor’s—perfectly chiseled, with water trickling down. Jesus. He was sexy.

“Nah. Come on over here,” Sin said, but I didn’t move, and he glanced at Saint. “Hold a dish, would ya?”

Before Saint even got to a dog bowl, Sin fired water at him. Beads of water dripped down his face, and he shot his friend an unimpressed scowl. Saint’s white shirt clung to him while Sin had a good chuckle.

“You fire a hose like you piss with a goddamn hard on.” Saint stalked up to Sin and reached for the nozzle. “Gimme that thing.”

Sin sidestepped away from Saint. “Gimme gimme never gets. Use your fucking manners, my friend.”

“Sin. Quit being a dick and fill up the damn bowls.” Saint unbuttoned his shirt and took it off. “We should get back to the mutts. ”

“Well, I’m soaked, you’re all wet, but someone is missing out on all the fun.” Sin aimed the hose at me and fired a long shot.

The wet spray took me by surprise and trickled down on me like a cool rainy mist, but it was the nozzle that frightened me.

“No, please! Stop it!” I screamed in terror.

Saint ran for me and yelled, “Sin! Knock it off!”

Immediately, Sin stopped the water from hitting me, and he dropped the nozzle.

He ran for me, but Saint made it to me first, where I had huddled down on the ground.

What was a playful, harmless water fight had brought me straight back to captivity.

Right back to the moment where those bastards blasted water at me, laughing and staring at my naked body.

I held onto Saint as if my life depended on him, and I was afraid to let him go. Petrified that if I did, he’d disappear, and I’d be right back in that awful place. I didn’t want to go back, and I couldn’t let the darkness inside of me take me away.

I whispered, “Don’t let me go, please, don’t let me go.”

“I won’t, darling. I won’t ever let you go again.” Saint stroked my hair.

“Liv, I’m sorry. Fuck. I should’ve known,” Sin apologized endlessly while he cradled my backside and his arms wrapped around my midsection .

My phantoms held me while I trembled, hyperventilating, and the lump in my throat wouldn’t go away. No matter how much I swallowed, the damn tightness didn’t dissipate. Not until Saint forced me to stare into those intense blue eyes.

“I can’t stand the fear in your eyes…” Saint whispered as he held onto my chin and the pad of his thumb caressed my cheek. “I want to make your nightmare go away.”

Sin touched my other cheek and tilted my face to him. “Me too. Fuck. I can’t stand to see you this way.”

“Please, make the pain stop,” I whispered, my bottom lip trembling. “I don’t want to suffer anymore because of what those bastards did to me. Please make them go away.”

Sin stroked my bottom lip. “What do you want us to do, little obsession?”

Both men stared at me intensely and waited for my answer. They didn’t force me into anything and left the choice in my hands. I had to choose my destiny with another way to take my life back.

“I… I don’t know… I—” Saint ran his hands down my body, and I was speechless.

Saint felt so damn good. His touch was everything I needed, all that I wanted, and I cherished nothing more until Sin caressed me, too.

Gently, his fingers traced my neckline as my body quivered with desire, and I forgot all about the evil done to me.

Lost in my phantoms and caught up in their obsession with me—their need to have me to themselves where they let nothing—not even fear—sway me.

“Tell us…” Sin whispered in my ear.

Saint breathed against my neck. “What do you want us to do?”

“I want both of you to make me forget. Ruin me so no one else can have me, not even the evil haunting me…” I breathed with certainty and gazed at the hose on the ground. “Because of that goddamn thing.”

Sin questioned, “The hose?”

“Yes. I’m scared, Sin,” I answered, glancing away from that wretched thing and peering up at Saint. “I don’t want to be afraid anymore, Saint.”

“You won’t be, darling, never again.” Saint looped an arm around my backside. “Do you trust us?”

I nodded. “I trust you.”

Saint lifted me into his arms, and Sin pressed a kiss to my forehead.

He carried me while his wet, brawny chest dampened my white blouse.

My erect nipples peaked through the fabric, and my cheeks flushed at the idea of anyone seeing us.

We were outside and exposed to the public, but these men didn’t notice.

All they cared about was me, all they saw was me, and all they wanted was me.