Twenty-Nine
Their Obsession
Liv
T he next morning, I woke up to the sunshine creeping through a small gap between my blinds. The sunrise greeted me as it touched the unmade bed on Sebastian’s side and drew my eyes to the sun’s rays. But the broken window reminded me of everything I went through hours ago.
My hands skittered over the tarnished markings my ghosts had left on my skin that wouldn’t vanish anytime soon. I was damaged, but they had made me feel alive. A fucked-up mixture I didn’t want any part of, but it was too late.
I had closed the drapes last night because Sebastian couldn’t notice the pried open window created by Sin and Saint. I didn’t need another devil breathing down my neck and leaving more lasting impressions. Two were good enough .
Yesterday, this bedroom was my sanctuary. I kept hidden away for most of the day after the assault I had endured at the hands of my phantoms. Their attack left me mixed up, and a confused mess because I still craved them. Yet I hated them. Loathed everything they had made me do and put me through, but I couldn’t stop thinking about them.
“Fuck,” I muttered as I sat up in bed and grabbed my cell phone from the nightstand.
I knocked over the book I had been engrossed in last night before I had crept downstairs to sneak a bite to eat. Sebastian wasn’t a worry after I caught him with a scotch in hand, stumbling around the living room and hollering at the television as if his life depended on it. The coast was clear as I grabbed some leftovers and proceeded back upstairs.
The novel I read was a dark romance about a man obsessed with a woman he wanted and the lengths he’d go to all for her—all the unhinged things he’d do to her and all the people he’d kill because of her. The fictional story reminded me of the men who stalked me, but I was envious. This bitch only had one stalker while I had two. Two deranged, addicted, and gorgeous men. Goddamn.
My heart beat out of control at the thought of them and my response to their torturous pleasure. The taunting teases they skillfully granted me when I was unwilling, but Sin and Saint had made me willing. Their delusions had become my delicious reality, and they weren’t going away.
The clock had struck half past midnight when Sebastian had flopped into bed, and I felt the shockwave of his body weight. Deep snores followed immediately after his head hit the pillow and he passed out drunk. I had expected this when he hadn’t asked me for supper, and I knew he must have been completely drunk, passed out on the downstairs sofa.
I was secretly grateful I had missed an unwanted altercation with him, and the situation had turned out great for me. Not so much for him. But the bastard had earned a raging hangover.
A smirk widened on my face as I peered down at my device for the daily news and a light breeze caught my attention. The blinds swayed from side to side and an early morning chill came from the window. Goosebumps raised on my skin, and I rubbed my bare arms to warm them, but I was relieved Sebastian had left early enough for work not to notice the brisk morning air.
Scratch that. Overlooked or was still intoxicated? I’d go with him being wasted.
I had closed the window; I was sure of it. To the best of my ability, I had pressed the window down and there hadn’t been a breeze creeping through. No crack for air to…
Wait a minute.
As I crept further forward to investigate, I noticed something colorful behind the blinds. The drape blew to the side and revealed a paper coffee cup from the café I had visited the day before. The same place I had spilled my morning brew all over my dress. Curiously, I pulled the curtain aside , and I found something shocking.
Two white roses on the window ledge.
A soft chime sound came from my cell phone, catching my attention, and I peered down at a text message.
Unknown:
Can’t have our girl go without her morning cup of java. Especially after yesterday’s spill.
Startled, I looked up from my phone and out the window toward the trees. Sunshine beamed through and blurred the view. The bright light was hard on my eyes, and I had to turn away before I went blind. Black stars danced as I blinked and knew Sin was out there watching and waiting in the damn trees with Saint by his side.
Now they brought me coffee too?
I appeased them by grasping the hot coffee as steam blew with my morning breath, and I took a small sip. The sweetness bit at my bitterness. My disgust quickly turned to softness as their gesture pulled at my heartstrings and got even sweeter when I realized the coffee had extra sweetener. The way I liked it.
Assholes. I’d have to get the damn window fixed ASAP.