Page 15 of Corrupted Heart

Last night, and him.

The massive wall of a man, dripping with power, pulsing with darkness and danger.

The pressure of his strong hand around my throat

The touch of his finger as it dragged up my sternum.

The scent of him.

His size.

And the glow of that creepy mask leering down into my soul.

Goddammit.

The longer I replay it all and think of him, the more turned on I start to get. Black visions and brutal fantasies fill my head. Fantasies I know I shouldn’t have leave electrifying throbs sizzling through my core.

The desire to run, and to be chased. The need to be caught and pinned down against my will. To be taken, roughly.

What the fuck is wrong with you, Bianca? What sort of messed-up girl wants that? You need fucking help. You’re broken.

Words from years ago feel like fresh slaps as they echo in my head, reminding me that what I desire—what I crave sometimes—doesn’t “fit” with the world I live in.

That those thoughts don’t belong in my head.

Shaking my head, I yawn as the fatigue of the day settles through my limbs.

I should sleep.

In the kitchen, I grab a glass of water to bring with me to bed. Slowly, my gaze wanders and then lands on the laptop sitting on the far end of the kitchen island.

Not Tempest’s.

Dante’s.

I’m hovering over it before I know what I’m doing. I lift it open, my pulse thudding as my eyes drop to the keyboard.

This is wrong, but I start typing anyway.

“Venom” doesn’t work to unlock it. Neither does “Club Venom”, “kink”, “Kink” with a capital K, or either of our parent’s names. I wince when I try “Claudia”, Dante’s and my older sister who died when she was a teenager.

Nope.

Then, it hits me like the most obvious neon sign in the world.

“Tempest”.

Yep, that does it.

Top-notch security, bro.

Breaking into Dante’s laptop is a horrible idea. It’s not just morally wrong in terms of breaking his trust, either. Instantly, I realize I have free access to the members list and member profiles for all of Venom, which could earn some major ransom money in the hands of the wrong people.

But I’m not here to blackmail people or ruin any reputations.

I’m here because a man in a mask last night poured gasoline on the little wicked fire inside of me. Now, it’s a raging inferno.

…And Dante’s computer has the only water that will douse it.

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