Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
I reach into my pocket when a shadow moves out of the corner of my eye. Asher leans against a stone pillar in one of the darker corners near the canopy.
A bud of ember burns when he takes a hit of his joint.
His face breaks into a wicked grin. “Still pretending you don't smoke cigarettes when you're drunk?”
“I don't pretend!” I tilt my head, defiant but my muscles slowly uncoil at his presence. Goddam traitor.
He laughs, and my attention snaps to him just in time to catch that wicked flash of teeth. “Funny.” His voice cuts through the cold air. “You forget I know you, Venom? Better than you know yourself.”
I close the space between us, plucking the joint from his fingers. “If you knew me, you wouldn't have vanished for a year.”
The smoke burns sweet in my lungs. I hand it back.
His head tilts toward mine in the shadows, and something dangerous unfurls in my chest. Heat that has nothing to do with the weed.
Fingers brush mine as he takes the joint back, barely a touch, but it shoots straight through my veins like poison.
Or medicine.
Hard to tell the difference anymore.
“Maybe that's why I did it.” His lips brush my neck, his hand flattening over my lower back.
I should step back.
I should run.
But the weed and whiskey have blurred my edges, and his body burns against winter's bite. “Asher…”
Warning or invitation? I can't tell anymore.
He lowers to where my shoulder meets my neck, his mouth curving against my skin. “You gonna beg, Venom?”
Every second he’s on me only leaves deeper scars, but two can play this game.
“Because you know what happens when you beg.” His voice dips. “And we both know you're not ready for that yet.”
I angle my face up to his. Our lips barely apart. Neither of us back down.
“Bold of you to assume I'd be the one begging,” I whisper, but the words almost get stuck in my throat.
His fingers flex against my lower back.
“Try me.” The words come out rough, and suddenly his hand finds my throat. Not squeezing, just holding. Possessive. Promising. My pulse hammers against his palm.
I reach up, wrapping my fingers around his wrist. Not to pull away. To keep him there. “You first.”
He buries his other hand in my hair, tugging on it with enough force that it burns. There’s something heavy that settles between us, as if we’re waiting for the other to make the first more.
Using his grip like a leash, he tilts my head to the side, exposing more of my neck. “Need someone to make you submit?”
My nails rake down his forearms. “Think you can handle it when I do?”
His chest vibrates with that low, knowing laugh. “I don't think anything. I know you, Venom.” He drags his thumb across my bottom lip, rough and possessive. “Know how wet you get when someone finally puts you in your place.” His breath is hot against my face. “Because no one can.”
I sink my teeth into his thumb. Hard.
He hisses but doesn't pull away. Instead, he pushes deeper, pressing down on my tongue while shoving me back against the pillar. “Bite all you want. We both know what you really need.”
I swirl my tongue around his thumb, watching his pupils blow wide. Then I bite again, tasting copper.
“Fuck,” he growls, ripping his hand away. Before I can be smug, he's got both my wrists pinned above my head, his body crushing me against the pillar. “You really wanna play this?”
The bass from the pool house thuds through us like a second heartbeat. Anyone could walk out here. See us. See how I'm arching into him like a strung-out addict.
“You're engaged,” I remind him, but my voice is wrecked.
“And you're married,” he counters, rolling his hips in a slow, deliberate grind. “Didn't stop you from coming to my video earlier.”
Heat floods my cheeks. “That…”
“That was just the beginning.” He releases my wrists but doesn't step back. “For the remainder of this trip, you're going to watch me with Camille. And I'm going to watch you with Parker. And you’re gonna remember exactly how you sounded when you came thinking about me.”
He pushes away from the pillar. The sudden loss of his heat hits me like a slap. Nice way to be reminded you're nothing but a cold bitch.
“But tomorrow?” His smile cuts deep, pure fucking sin. “Tomorrow we'll see who breaks first.”
He walks away, dragging my humming discomfort with him. Cheap party lights smear his retreating form in streaks of neon. Go inside. Forget this fucking happened. That’s the smart move. The sane move.
Instead, my fingers find the pack. Another cigarette flares to life between my lips. I watch the ember eat at the paper.
Tomorrow.
Let the asshole think he took this round.
I play the long game. Always have. Always win.
Chapter 14