Page 38 of Viper

Viper shot him a hard look. “Thanks,” he said, his voice dry. “Do you know if Neta’s still here?”

“She stormed out of the club after we blocked her path to the alcove and told her to leave,” replied Omen. “What are you gonna do if she reappears and again makes a move on you?”

Viper rubbed at his jaw. “I’ll talk to her one last time. I’ll get it firmly across that she’s chasing after something she’s never gonna have.”

He would rather not piss off Maddox by threatening his lair members, since it would be a fast way to lose an alliance. Making an enemy of demons wouldn’t endear him to Ella. But … “If she persists after that, I’ll contact Maddox and communicate that eitherhedeals with her or I will.” Because Viper also couldn’t allow any woman to make attempts to chase off Ella. No one would get in the way of him making her his this time. Absolutely fucking no one.

CHAPTER NINE

I’ll come for you.

Cursing beneath her breath, Ella paused in topping up the box of small on-sale products near the till. Viper’s words from last night wouldn’t leave her alone.

She’d done her best not to think about him. Had tried hard to mentally shove aside their little encounter in the shadows. It was just sex. There was no reason to think about it.

And yet, snippets of it kept replaying in her mind. His mouth moving insistently on hers, his hands possessively fisting her hair, his cock driving into her over and over, and making her explode more fiercely than she ever had before.

Okay, so it hadn’t been ‘just sex’. There’d been nothing regular or simple about it. It had been incredible. An unparalleled experience. Blindingly hot.

But that wasn’t to say they should repeat it. Their kinds weren’t supposed to mix. A one-time fuck, well, that could be overlooked. It had just been a spur of the moment thing brought on by the mere fact that she’d been thinking with her pink parts.

Parts he’d pleasured exceptionally well.

Ella gave her head a little shake and went back to adding products to the counter.

There was another—and admittedly silly—reason why his words kept swimming back to the forefront of her mind. Theyfelt slightly reminiscent of those spoken by the wraith:He will come for you.

This was sheer coincidence, of course. The wraith had merely blurted out crap to mess with her—there’d been no truth in it, let alone any reference to Viper.

The only person who might ‘come’ for her was her little note-deliverer, but that concept didn’t gel with the rest of the wraith’s weird warning … “You will be chained to him forever, and you cannot imagine what that will mean for you.”

Plus, the demon had also said something about how it washersoul that she needed to worry about. There was no reason why her pen pal would pose a risk to her soul. No one would. So yes, the wraith had been rambling nonsense.

Viper, though? She didn’t get the sense that he’d thrown out his little warning lightly. If she didn’t seek him out, he might very well come find her. Which shouldn’t make a little tingle of excitement ride her spine, but their chemistry was, like,whoa.The kind of chemistry that made a person make unwise decisions.

Case in point.

If he sought her out, well, she’d just remind him that casual fucks weren’t her thing. It would be for the best, wouldn’t it?

Her demon didn’t think so, no longer bothered by, or uneasy about, him being one of the Fallen. It liked the darkness that seemed to cloak him.Weirdo.

Mia appeared beside her, one hand on her hip. “You keep zoning out, and I’m wondering if your thoughts might be flying to the mystery guy who ravished you last night.”

Ella had confessed to her sister that she’d slept with someone at the Red Rooms, but she’d kept his identity to herself. Mia might toss out comments about how hot Viper was, but she wouldn’t approve of this. She would instead lecture her on theevils of tangling with the Fallen in such a way. Ella was in no mood to hear one.

“I’m just tired.” It wasn’t a lie.

“Hmm, you do look like you could fall over and nap any second.”

“Ever the flatterer,” Ella sardonically muttered.

Mia snickered and braced her elbow on the counter. “Why won’t you tell me who the mystery dude was? It’skillingme that I don’t know.”

Ella frowned. “You haven’t been all that open with me either. I’m still waiting to hear about whoever fucked a smile onto your face at the club.”

Mia’s brow dented. “I already told you all about him.”

“Oh, yeah. ‘He was uber hot and had some serious skills. You woulda liked him.’ Very detailed.”

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