Twisted Obsession

by Keta Kendric

  She squeezed, and her low murmur sounded. “Um hum.”

  I believed she knew that this was the best I could offer her right now. I attempted to pull away, but she wouldn’t release the grip she had on me. I was about to make a dick move because Regina was scaring the fuck out of me.

  “Let go, Regina,” I stated, my tone low and unsure.

  I didn’t sound like myself. My words weren’t arrogant and sure. They were weak and filled with uncertainty. What had this woman reduced me to?

  The front of her body was glued to my back as she gripped me from behind. Her arms were around my neck like vise grips as she squeezed me so hard her nails dug into my shoulder. She nuzzled her nose in deeper, her warm breath heavenly against my skin.

  Regina knew I was uncomfortable. There was no way she didn’t sense it in the light tremble of my body. She kept my ass in place so that I could wallow in it. She wanted me to experience the love she had for me. She forced me to feel what I’d been denying. I’d lived my life surrounded by beasts of all manners, but Regina was the most vicious of them all. Her weapon of choice was one I couldn’t fight, didn’t know how to fight.

  She breathed me in on a deep inhale, unwilling to let go. I didn’t want her to let go, but I had no right to bask in this priceless gift and not be willing to reciprocate it. The connection we shared was magic. The raw emotion of it was the medicine that healed wounds, the answers that righted all wrongs, and the clues that solved every problem.

  When you felt this way about someone, there was nothing you wouldn’t do for them. There was nothing the two of you couldn’t work out. This connection was no doubt the only fingerprint shared by two humans. The idea that I, of all people, was getting to experience this incredible mystery was as amazing as it was disturbing.

  Regina had reduced me to a puddle in her arms as my body slumped and fell further into her hold, enthralled by her sensational magic. When I found the strength to reach up and tap her arm again, her grip loosened. She eased away from me in silence, the leather squeaking under her movement.

  I stood but was slow to walk away. My mind was split in two. I wanted her. Hell, I didn’t intend to let her go. But, I didn’t think I could give her what she was freely willing to give me.

  Without a glance back, I forced myself to walk away. The crinkling of the couch never registered, so I knew she hadn’t moved. She sat watching me walk away. With each step I took, her pull on me grew stronger, making my muscles fight to move me. When I was sure I was out of her view and turned onto my hallway, I slung my back against the wall.

  What in the fuck had I walked away from? Had I ruined the best thing to ever happen to me? Was I going to regret this moment for the rest of my life? Or had I saved a beautiful woman from a lifetime of pain?

  “Fuck!” I yelled as my forehead fell into my hands. There weren’t many challenges I’d walked away from, but this. Now, I understood why men started wars over women. I was falling for Regina as much as she’d admitted falling for me, but I couldn’t do that to her. I’d never gone there with anyone. I’d been truthful when I declared to her I’d hurt someone over her. Shit, we weren’t even in a relationship, and I could already picture my hands around someone’s throat if they eyed her too hard.

  “Nope, hell no,” I stated out loud while shaking my head. Regina didn’t need my kind of fucked up drama, and I doubted I could give her the kind of love she deserved.

  Ten minutes of me pacing up and down my bedroom, and my heart had finally returned to its normal beat. I gathered my clothes and headed for the shower, praying my mind would come up with a solution we could both abide.

  “Fuck, Regina! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I yelled at the top of my lungs as the hot water from the shower slapped hard against my skin. Her love continued to flow through me, the embers refusing to go out.

  My body shook from the emotions she’d set off, not knowing how to handle the unfamiliar currents. I raked my fingers through my wet hair, attempting to think past what was impossible to shake.

  I couldn’t give in to this. I was stronger than these fucking emotions. They were invisible and faceless. So, how the fuck had they reduced my ass to rubble?

  Regina understood me like no one else had, and she had so much love left in her to give. Me, I was afraid I didn’t have any left. Damn sure not enough to give her. About as selfish as an asshole could get, even as I fought against us forging a relationship, I couldn’t swallow the idea of letting her go. If there was one thing I knew with a great degree of certainty, I wanted Regina with me.

  I hopped out of the shower like the water had turned into flames, storming into my bedroom. Water dripped off my fast-moving body, dick swinging against the cooler air. My fingers swiped fast over the shiny black face of my phone as I called up my contact list and pressed the number I needed.

  “Yes,” came the voice of my saving grace. My fingers combed through my wet hair to keep water from falling into my face.

  “You got anything for me? I need something now!” I roared, not hiding the fact that I was about to have a fucking anxiety attack. My mind was all over the place, and I didn’t want or need Regina seeing me lose my shit. I needed to get my head right so I could think. I needed to go back and talk to Regina, but I had to clear my mind before I did that.

  “You sound stressed, Sir. I can go for some rough play right about now. Shock? Breath-play? You name it. I’m down. It’s been a while.”

  “You got anything or not?” I snapped.

  “Okay. Okay. Yes, I’ve got something for you. You got a pen?”

  When I stepped into the living room thirty minutes later and dressed, I found Regina rolled into a tight ball. Her heavy breaths indicated she’d fallen back to sleep. I eased down on the couch, careful not to wake her. I sat at her head, fingering her hair with the lightest stroke of my trembling hand.

  How could she find peace in sleep after the scene we’d just had? She looked so relaxed. A small smile rested on her lips as her shoulders moved in time with her breaths. How she could find happiness with the likes of me, I didn’t understand. How could she love me?

  I bent and placed a feather-light kiss on the side of her forehead before I slid my black leather gloves on. Anxiety kicked my ass so bad my fucking hands shook harder. Crazy thing was, a session with Regina could take it all away. However, she was also the reason I needed to put distance between us and pull myself back together.

  43

  Regina

  The blaring sound of a horn pierced my ears and lured me from a restless sleep. My body reacted before I had a chance to piece together what the ear-splitting noise was. Up and on my feet, I staggered a bit to get my balance. The darkness outside indicated that morning hadn’t come yet, so it was sometime in the middle of the night.

  It was the fire alarm that was making the irritating blaring sound. A quick inspection didn’t reveal any visible smoke inside the apartment. It was Gigi’s off day, so the kitchen had been left untouched.

  My bare feet slapped against the floor as I ran to the large living room windows to see if there was smoke outside. A quick peek revealed that all was normal.

  An incoming called pulled my scanning gaze to my phone flashing atop the coffee table.

  “Ansel,” I answered. With the phone at my right ear, I placed my hand over my left to hear him better.

  “Regina, I don’t see smoke anywhere, but I need you to go up and grab the keys from your bedside table. JG is on his way up. Just in case this alarm was triggered on purpose, he will stay with you until I get there.”

  My feet smacked against the stairs as I ran to my room. The nervous frenzy that had been set off within me yelled as the fire alarm continued to scream.

  Although disoriented, Ansel’s calming voice eased a bit of my tension.

  “Are you coming soon, Ansel? I’m scared.”

  “I’m about thirty-minutes away, but I’m on the way,” he replied. “Regina,” he called into the phone.

  “Y
es,” squeezed past my quivering lips.

  “Grab the keys and your gun too,” he instructed.

  “My gun? You think this is my family, don’t you?”

  “I don’t know, but I’d rather you be prepared if it is. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

  “Okay,” I replied as I swiped the keys and grabbed my gun box that sat next to each other inside my bedside drawer. I slipped my feet into my tennis shoes, not bothering to pull the backs over my heels. My shoes flapped against my feet with each quick step I took.

  As soon as I cleared the stairs and dashed through the living room, I scurried towards the elevator. JG stood between the open doors waiting, gun drawn as he glanced around the apartment.

  My phone vibrated in my hand, scaring the shit out of me as I clumped closer to JG.

  “Hello,” I answered, fighting to keep the quiver from my tone.

  “The sprinklers in the gym have been triggered, but there isn’t any smoke. Don’t stay in the building. You remember what I told you about using the keys and taking the black Mercedes?”

  “Yes,” I answered him. “You told me to use the car and to go to the address that’s in the GPS.”

  “I need you to be Gina right now. JG is going to take you to the safe house, and I’ll meet you there. Hand your phone and keys to him.”

  “Okay,” I replied as I handed the items over. Why was my heart so heavy all of a sudden? Why did I get the sense I was never going to see Ansel again? Ansel was the spark I’d needed to rejuvenate my life after my family had derailed it. Now, there was a possibility of me being snatched from him.

  Was my family doing this to draw me out so they could take me? Were they already here in the building coming for me? Were they going to finally kill me?

  My worst thoughts plagued me as the elevator lowered us. JG hadn’t uttered a word, but Ansel’s voice sounded, buzzing through the phone at his ear. When Ansel’s voice stopped, JG swiped my phone off and handed it back. I gripped it and my gun box like they contained the secrets of life.

  JG exited with his gun drawn and aimed into the dark garage. His actions reminded me that I also had a gun that Ansel had ensured I’d gained confidence with. He wanted me to be Gina, so I cracked the box open and wrapped my hands around the cold hard metal that I’d decided to call Winston. I didn’t have Winston aimed and at the ready like JG, but I believed I’d have a fighting chance if I were attacked.

  My feet moved with swift purpose as I jogged to keep up with JG’s quick steps. He opened the passenger side car door and waited until I climbed in before slamming the door behind me. He ran around the front, gun glued to his hand like it was a part of his arm.

  He hopped into the car and pushed it to a quick start. The high-powered engine roared to life, and the body trembled around us. The tires left a squeak echoing throughout the garage at JG’s quick take off. He didn’t have to tell me to strap in or stay low. August had revealed stories of the shootouts he and Megan had been in.

  I tossed my gun box over the seat and sat with Winston in my lap, hoping this was a fire scare and not a ploy for my family to get their hooks in me. My body didn’t begin to relax until JG and I had cleared most of the city traffic.

  The speeding swish of cars and the occasional horn sounding pierced the quiet darkness of the stretch of interstate we were driving along.

  “Regina,” JG called, in a low, calm tone. It was the kind of low and calm that let you know that something bad was about to be confirmed. A chill found its way up my spine during his pause.

  “Yes,” I answered, not ready to hear his words.

  “Climb into the back seat. Get behind me and strap yourself in. Stay low.”

  “What’s wrong?” I questioned as I climbed over the console and forced my body between the two front seats, falling into the back seat more than I climbed into it.

  “We’ve got company. They’ve been following us since we left the building.”

  I’d assumed JG was talking to me. When he continued, I understood he’d been speaking to someone on his phone. The speaker’s voice came across clear over the roar of the car engine and the wind whirling outside the closed windows.

  “Take the scenic route. We are going to try to get rid of your tails,” Marcus’ voice sounded.

  Since he was talking to Marcus, it meant that JG had back up. However, it also meant that we had more trouble than we anticipated. Now I was sure that the fire at Ansel’s apartment was an intentional rouse to draw me away from the building.

  My vibrating phone drew my attention. It was Ansel again. “Yes,” I answered. My voice shook with fear.

  “It’s going to be okay. I need you to believe that I will not let anything happen to you.”

  “Okay,” I choked out, not sure what he was preparing me for. Did he know something that I didn’t?

  “Regina—”

  My body lurched before Ansel could say his next word. My phone flew from my hands into the darkness and landed on the floor of the car. It took me a few lingering seconds to latch on to the fact that we’d been hit. The car swerved. A sharp jerk flung our bodies from side to side. The wheels screamed and fought the highway to remain steady and on the road as JG steered with rough yanks.

  The first few thumps registered, but it wasn’t until flecks of fire sparked off the glass next to my head that I understood we were being shot at.

  “This car is bulletproof. You’re safe in here, Regina. Ansel made sure of that. You’re pretty much riding in the car version of a tank.”

  Struck dumb by his words, I couldn’t render a reply. Leave it up to Ansel to have a tank on standby.

  “Regina, hold on!” JG yelled as the trembling tires rumbled under the car before losing their grip on the highway.

  My body lurched from left to right. The squeal of tires sounded as JG maneuvered the steering wheel to keep us steady. The force that we’d been hit with, coupled with our speed, meant the car couldn’t be controlled. My body went airborne for a few seconds, my inside shifting, before the deafening crinkle of metal colliding into metal filled my ears.

  The seatbelt came alive as it snatched at my body. Glass and pieces of debris peppered my skin as I used my arms to protect my face. A quick, sharp jerk caused me to lose my breath for a moment. When the car lifted from the ground a second time, my eyes remained open in fright long enough to see the view turn sideways. My body was slung back and forth and side to side, making the seatbelt dig in with a painful grip.

  The car may have been bulletproofed, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t unbreakable. Pieces of glass grazed my skin. Either all the windows had been busted out, or the car’s automatic windows had malfunctioned, leaving us susceptible to flying bullets.

  A sharp jerk whipped my neck to the left as I struggled against the momentum that flung me about. When something hard struck my head and blurred my vision, I was too weak to blink away the overpowering sensation of blacking out.

  Dirt, debris, and strong gusts of wind from the momentum of our rollover added itself to the crunchy sound of twisted metal that had screamed its deadly tune. The loud crunch blasted my ears as the car landed on its side and remained that way.

  My eyes tried to flutter open as I fought lightheadedness and attempted to lift my head. That was when I realized I was suspended sideways, fastened in place by the seatbelt. The car had flipped at least twice and had come to rest on its side, driver’s side down. Through my hazy view, a small portion of white peeked. The airbag had deployed in front of JG.

  “JG,” I called, my voice crawling over the pain controlling my body. My effort to reach for his shoulder was useless. I was stuck, and JG was nonresponsive in our sideways tomb. I was more frightened for his well-being than I was for my own because his face appeared to be buried in the white cloud of the airbag, and he wasn’t moving.

  The sound of multiple voices registered as I struggled to free myself from the seatbelt. The noise of cars zooming along the interstate entered my consciousness along
with crying insects that called into the night. No one speeding along would hear me if I screamed. Did they even know that we’d been in an accident?

  The car rocked, and it wasn’t until I glanced up at the obscured view of a stranger that I understood why. The men that had been chasing us had caught us. The bright light that was shined down on me only showed me the dark profile of a face.

  The man made several attempts to reach into the car from the top side window. My hands clawed in his direction in an attempt to keep him away from me. My sideways positioning had my symmetry and depth perception thrown off. Winston had been flung about the car and was what I believed had been the hard object that struck me upside the head during the rollover.

  The seatbelt aided my captor; its tight and persistent hold made me a sitting duck. I fought to unsnap the unyielding seatbelt, as well as the persistent man each time he reached into the car. The top half of his body was leaned in through the window above.

  I’d been so distracted by the man at the back-side top of the car, I hadn’t been paying attention to the one that had sneaked in through the front passenger side window. My view had been obstructed due to a portion of the car being smashed, but the man had managed to slither his way in.

  A filthy rag was shoved at my face, my neck twisting with quick jerks to avoid the strong chemicals it had been soaked in. When the rag made contact with my face, the man’s tightened grip cupped my nose and mouth. My eyes grew heavy, my lids fluttering, fighting to stay open. My arms became filled with lead, no longer able to fight off my attacker.

  The world around me started to fade and shrink. The tight embrace of hope had loosened, and my body was being yanked from her caring caress. My eyes fluttered, and my vision narrowed into a pinprick of light until there was nothing left but black silence.

  44

  Ansel

  An epic fucking failure.

  The banner hung around my neck like a big flashing neon sign. I’d left Regina at a time when she needed me. I’d left her alone long enough for someone to execute a plan to take her.