Obsession (6 page)

“Well—no. But I could be.”

“Hannah, I am a very, very good judge of character, and I can say with complete confidence that you have never stolen money from anyone, animal shelter or otherwise.”

“You’re missing the point—”

“No,
you’re
missing the point. Stop trying to convince me you’re less than what you are. I see you, more clearly than you see yourself. And what I see is beautiful.”

“Whatever,” I muttered, secretly pleased as punch by his compliments, even if I had a hard time believing them.

He ran his hand down my bare back, a tender exploration of my skin that reawakened the pounding between my legs. I was so wet, my panties were pretty much useless at the moment. Unable to help myself, I leaned forward and rested my head on the swell of his hard chest, looping my arms around his waist and absorbing his warmth.

“Cuddly, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I didn’t get a lot of physical affection as a kid.” Jerking back, I wanted to pretend I hadn’t said those words. What the hell was up with my sudden bout of being overly honest? “Just kidding.”

Leo didn’t say anything, instead letting me wiggle out of his arms. “You need to relax. Come, do a shot with me.”

“That’s the last thing I need.”

He merely smiled at me and took my hand, leading me over to the couch. “Sit, beautiful girl.”

I watched his ass bunch and flex beneath his tight jeans, each long stride poetry in motion.

When he turned around and caught me staring, I flushed and looked away, pretending to be absorbed by the painting of the ocean. Up close, I could see hints of pink and purple in the sky, along with the distant bright blue ribbon of a clear horizon. It was thin, barely noticeable from far away, but it cut through the boiling storm clouds like a stroke of light. “I like this picture. Kind of rough and turbulent, but if you look on the horizon, you can see calmer skies are on their way.”

In the middle of pouring a drink, Leo froze and stared at me with an odd expression. “Is that what you see?”

Fidgeting beneath his intense regard, I licked my lips, which only made his interest in me sharpen. Setting the bottle down then picking up the glass, he strode across the room and sat right next to me, his heat saturating the side of my body. I tried to put some space between us, but soon reached the end of the couch. Still, it was enough room that I could breathe without pressing into all that hard, male bulk. His thick thighs were the size of two of mine together and I wondered what it would feel like to be able to explore the body of someone as fit as Leo.

Handing me a cut-crystal glass with about half an inch of amber liquid in the bottom, he said, “Drink.”

“Where’s yours?”

Instead of answering me, he gestured to the painting. “Would you like to know what I see when I look at it?”

I swirled liquid in my glass, the faint scent of honey reaching my nose through the heavy veil of alcohol. “Of course.”

“I used to see rage in the form of water, powerful destruction that even the rocks can’t hold back.” I gaped at him and his cold expression thawed, warmth melting his dark eyes to molten chocolate. “But now I see the coming of the dawn. The promise of safe harbor.”

I swear, this was one of the most overwhelming moments of my life. I stared at him, seeing only confidence and honesty in his face—along with a good dose of lust. Unable to handle this…whatever it was going on between us, I slammed the shot glass and gasped. “Holy crap!”

His white teeth gleamed as he smiled at me. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, that was strong stuff.”

“Not a whisky drinker?”

“Uh, no. I’m more of a sangria kind of girl.”

“Noted.”

Not knowing what to do with myself, I balled my hands together in my lap, clasping my fingers so tightly they hurt. Was he going to kiss me? Was I supposed to kiss him? A quick glance at his face revealed his expression had once again shut down as he stared at my bunched hands.

I quickly unclasped them, stretching my fingers slightly and almost sighing with relief when he looked away. He crossed his legs and I realized for the first time he’d removed his shoes at some point, leaving his feet clad in black socks. I flexed my own bare feet against the floor, trying to think of something witty, something urbane to break the silence. My comment about the painting had pretty much used up my pool of small talk. If he didn’t say or do something soon, I’d start talking about the freaking weather just to hear something other than the pounding of my heart.

“Do I intimidate you?”

“Yes.”

“Do I scare you?”

“No.”

“Not even a little bit? I’m a very big man, and you’re a delicate girl.”

I scoffed at him. “I’m not as fragile as I look.”

“You remind me of Audrey Hepburn.”

Without my permission, my inner insecure preteen self peeked out and said, “Really?”

He nodded solemnly. “You have the most graceful neck, and your eyes are as large and captivating as hers were. But your mouth…I am obsessed with your mouth. I think about it all the time, all the things I want to do to your lips, all the ways I want to corrupt you. Would you enjoy that, Hannah? Being corrupted by me?”

“Absolutely.” I blinked rapidly as my entire body heated. “It’s hot in here.”

He took me in his arms and cradled me to his chest, my body going limp with relaxation as my thoughts became disconnected, drifting.

The last thing I remember is Leo tracing the side of my jaw with his thumb, a look of triumph gracing his hard face.

Leo

Her eyelids fluttered shut over her extraordinary honey-brown and amber-flecked eyes, the naturally dark lashes sweeping to the curves of her high cheekbones, drawing my eyes to the unlined, almost childlike perfection of her ivory skin.

A thrill ran through me as I rubbed my nose along her cheek, savoring the feeling of her like an addict taking his first hit of opium. Having the woman I’m obsessed with close enough to smell, to taste, drives me crazy. My dick couldn’t get any harder, and I had a difficult time remembering why she’s here with me tonight. How much work has gone into this moment.

Once again I lost myself in leaning down so I could rub my lips against her fine hair, the softness making me think of what it would feel like to wrap all that silkiness around my cock.

There wasn’t a part of Hannah I didn’t want to both defile and revere.

To be honest, I’d all but forgotten about the girl I’d talked with in the waiting room of the hospital other than a random thought now and again, but some part of me had remembered the cadence of her words, the color of her eyes. When she’d waited on me at that diner a year ago, she was shy, sweet, funny, and when her hand brushed mine as I held my coffee cup steady, a flurry of sparks raced through my body, lighting up previously unused pleasure centers in my brain. Yes, I’ve had sex, and yes it has been pleasurable, but I’ve never felt the instant, enslaving blow of the need to own a woman that has made men stupid since the dawn of time.

At least until I saw Hannah.

In disguise, I’d visited her twice more at her job, an addict desperate for the fix of her soothing presence, the melody of her voice.

Briefly touching her as she’d handed me my food was both heaven and hell, her skin baby smooth and her sweetheart-shaped face graced with a small smile.

She invaded my thoughts, then my dreams, and finally I began my own reconnaissance in earnest, a yearning growing inside of me for a future I didn’t deserve. The more I watched her, the more fixated I became, unable to believe a person as good-hearted as Hannah really existed. But time and time again she proved that she was just…nice. She was loyal to her friends, kind to strangers, and sweet to the point that people like her rich bitch roommate took advantage of her.

She was a treasure waiting for the right man, a man like me, to recognize her potential.

I’ll give her everything she needs to be happy so even when I break her heart—and I will, the nature of my job almost guarantees it—she’ll love me enough to let me put it back together again, because I’ll be the only person who can.

If this works, I will have her absolute loyalty, and she’ll be the one person I can fully trust in this whole world.

In my arms, Hannah’s light weight rested easily against me and I couldn’t resist leaning forward and brushing my lips over her incredibly full, slightly parted ones before drawing away with great reluctance.

Now it was time to see if all my planning, all my work with the Cordova cartel’s scientists would pay off, and if Judith would have her miracle.

The modified truth serum I’d put into Hannah’s drink should be taking affect by now. A perfect blend of chemicals that would open her mind, relax her, while making her totally honest and open to influence. The serum we’d devised was powerful and could only be used sparingly without harming her, so I would make sure I used this time wisely. Not only did I to ensure she never betray me or our eventual family, I also needed to find out what she really wanted from a man. While I would do everything I could to make sure she wanted me, that she enjoyed submitting to me, I needed to fulfill her desires as well. Even the dark and kinky ones, way down deep, beneath the bullshit of society’s influence trying to tell her what’s right and wrong.

Once I knew her true desires, I was one step closer to owning her.

At our core, human beings are animals, and we all have certain needs that must be met in order to keep us content, one of the strongest being our sex drive. Having hacked into her computer and tracked her reading habits, I knew she tended to favor books with a dominant man, light BDSM, and taboo D/s pairings, which worked out well for me and my particular tastes in the bedroom.

It’s amazing what you can find on the internet these days and how willingly people put their personal information out there. Hannah was no exception, and thanks to her frequent activity on Pinterest, I knew everything from her favorite type of reading chair, to her favorite breakfast, to all the places she wanted to visit in the future. There were also over two dozen boards featuring clothes she liked, and I’d already stocked a closet full of items at our new home. There were also over four hundred photos in her “future living room” folder; Hannah pinned just about anything that caught her eye, so I didn’t think she’d recognize the fact that my new home had been built to her specifications.

In many ways, I feel like I already know her, that she’s confessed her greatest desires to me and let me into her glorious heart.

I wanted that, wanted her to allow me into the private parts of her soul, wanted her to confide in me and share her dreams. She fascinated me with her emotional delicacy, and I was afraid I might break her in my zeal to own every inch of her graceful frame. Like most aspects of my life, I needed to have complete control in the bedroom and, to a somewhat lesser degree, outside of the bedroom as well, something most women didn’t enjoy to the extent that I did. I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d find it odd that I wanted to dress her every day, that I got off on seeing her wear clothing and jewelry I provided her with.

I couldn’t take the risk that Hannah wouldn’t be turned on by my preferred sexual lifestyle, so tonight I would mold her mind, awaken desires in her she was unaware she had, give her subconscious permission to be as open and wild with sex as she wanted, without guilt. Through my careful training, Hannah will soon learn that giving me that control will be to her great benefit, that I will take care of her in every way and love doing it. She may be starved for affection, but I hadn’t had anyone to love in over ten years. My need to cosset her was compulsive, and building her dream home had been an act of worship to a woman oblivious of how much her life was about to change.

I wasn’t like the men she usually picked to fixate on, spineless and weak boys who reminded me of her father. He was a pathetic man, still living in thrall of his bitch wife while ignoring his daughter. At some point one of them would get sick, or lonely, and I’d bet my Rolls they would suddenly want to reconnect with Hannah. Fuck that. They didn’t deserve her and I planned to keep them out of her life, and mine. I had such a good future planned for Hannah, one that would give her everything she needed to be happy, and she would reward me with her love while I rewarded her with painful pleasure.

When I hurt her, when I spanked her ass red or tied up her breasts until they were almost purple, I needed her to get off on it. From my studies of Hannah, I suspected she might be a masochist, so my hypnotic suggestion would have a greater chance of taking root. Unlike in the movies, hypnosis can’t reprogram people like robots; the human brain is too complex and messed up for anyone to be able to do that. However, a trained hypnotist can influence the subject, plant little suggestions that the subject’s mind can absorb as its own truth.

I’ve trained with the best in the world on using hypnosis during interrogation, and I’ve experimented extensively with mind control during interrogation sessions, but I’ve never used the knowledge I gained to fuck around with the mind of an innocent before.

If I was a better man, I would have felt guilty about what I was about to do, but the only emotions rolling through me were anticipation and satisfaction.

This would work, I knew it would, and it would give the Cordova brothers some desperately needed hope. Since Nina’s betrayal, none of them had taken a woman for anything other than fucking, and they always had their bodyguards with them, even in the bedroom. Their trust in any female outside of their family had dwindled to zero, and I know it hurt Judith to see her boys so emotionally cut off. It hurt the cartel as well; the brothers’ ruthless behavior was bordering on psychopathic and causing problems. They needed the anchor of a good woman to hold them to their sanity, to give them something to live for. They needed the bright light of a girl adoring them, and they needed to be able to trust that her smile didn’t hide a pair of poisonous fangs.

But beyond helping the Cordovas, if my experiment with Hannah worked, I would have my baby girl, the greatest prize in the world, and no one could take her from me.

Not even my fucked-up self.

“Hannah,” I said softly, loving the ethereal, breathy feel of her name on my tongue. “Can you hear me?”

Her eyes opened the slightest bit, the pupils huge from the drugs coursing through her system, her mind unguarded. “Hi, Leo.”

“Hi, sweetheart. I’m going to ask you some questions. Do you think you can answer them for me?”

“Sure.”

The word was slurred, but I understood her. “I asked you earlier to think about what you wanted from a man. Can you tell me what you thought about?”

She shifted in my lap, the highly specialized truth serum I’d given her earlier in her whisky still coursing through her, encouraging her to be honest in a way she’d never be while fully conscious. “I want someone to love me,
really
love me. I want someone to think I’m amazing, I want to make them happy, I want them to take care of me and I want to take care of them.”

God she was sweet, pure in a way I’d never encountered. I almost felt bad for what I was going to do to her. “That’s good, tell me more. What do you want your life to be like ten years from now? What would make you happy?”

She licked her full lips and sighed. “I want a family. I want to be a mother, to have a husband who loves me, a nice home, a dog…I want a house filled with kids who are happy and cherished. I want to go to school plays, and complain about driving to their sporting events when secretly I wouldn’t miss one second of them. I want a husband who will help me go crazy decorating the house for Halloween and hold me at Christmas while we watch our children tearing into their presents. We’ll spend the rest of our lives together, loving each other, sharing the joys of growing old together. I want to never be alone again, because loneliness is like cancer, it kills you a little at a time until nothing is left.”

The heart some thought I didn’t have ached even as my cock pressed into the nicely rounded curves of her ass. The sudden image of her pregnant, with
my
child, sent a visceral shock of yearning through me. Her body would change after she had children, soften with the curves of motherhood, and I already looked forward to licking drops of milk from her swollen breasts. Nothing would be off limits between us; we’d do anything that brought us mutual pleasure. Our life would be good, so good together, but only if I could guarantee her loyalty. If I couldn’t, it didn’t matter how perfect we were together. I’d have to leave the cartel that I considered my family if I wanted to have Hannah as my wife.

Then again, I don’t think Judith would let me leave. I knew too many secrets.

Trying to focus past the worries that plagued me, I stroked her cheek as I asked, “What is it you want out of a relationship? What could your man do for you that would please you and make you happy?”

“I want him to take care of me. To love me. To praise me. I want to be his good girl. I’ll be so good, I promise. If you love me, I’ll be the best.”

It didn’t take my genius-level IQ to figure out Hannah’s childhood had scarred her deeply, but witnessing the evidence of it made me more determined than ever to heal her.

Then she said something that had me wishing I could break her parents’ necks. “I have so much love to give, but nobody wants it.”

“I want it.”

“You do?”

“More than anything.”

“You seem like a nice guy, and you smell really good. You can have it.” She patted my chest before loosely curling up in my lap. “I’m sleepy, Leo.”

“One more question, then you can go to sleep.”

She yawned then stretched. “Okay.”

“If you needed punishment, correction for your actions, how should you be punished? What would make you really sorry?”

“If you ignored me. I hate that. Makes me feel so cold inside.”

“What about a spanking?”

Barely looking at me, she gave me a smile so seductive I would have done anything she wanted just to keep the warmth filling my chest, chasing back the empty cold. “Spanking turns me on. At least I think it does. I’ve never tried it.”

My throbbing dick ached beneath her slight weight and begged me to fuck her, to give the greedy bastard just a taste of the no doubt sweet little pussy between her slender thighs. “What else turns you on?”

Her eyes closed all the way. “You. So big, strong. Reminds me of a Viking warrior. Commanding. Even when you’re mean I find you sexy. Is it wrong that I like it when you scare me? That I’m horny when I should be afraid?”

“Nothing wrong with that, baby girl.”

“I want to be your baby girl, Leo. So much.”

I could only pray she would feel the same way after she learned about who I really am. The muscles in my thighs and around my groin tensed, and I bit back a groan of frustration. The need to fuck her was already hard to resist, but combine it with her chiming voice and I was a goner. This girl had no idea the power she held over me.