Page 29 of Seizing Control: Part One

As she swings from side to side on the stool I lifted her onto, I realise that I need to tread carefully. There’s cautious calculation in her behaviour. Sure, it’s tinged with frustration, but I’d bet good money that whatever has spooked Cherub, has pushed her to the point where she’s ready to cut me and Venom loose. While she’s feeds me an explanation that she’s obviously making up on the spot, I pay attention to her actions.

“I don’t know what he wants from me…”

Another unconscious swing from side to side on the barstool.

“It’s been six months since everything fell apart, and it’s not like I hopped on the first dick that was waved at me.”

Embarrassment at her inadvertent reminder of our interaction after the concert reddens her cheeks and she picks up her mug to hide her face. The small sip she takes rallies her enough to offer, “I tried to stop it getting to this point, Slash. Everyone knows that. He doesn’t get to change his mind after so long, then expect everything to just go back to normal.”

“I doubt that’s what he expects,” I remark with fake placidness.

Surprise widens my duchess’ eyes. “You’re defending him?”

“No.” Rather than laugh straight in her face at her inability to hide her confusion, I peer down at the countertop and try to school my features. “I just understand where he’s comin’ from.”

“Well, yay for you, I guess… ’cause I don’t understand any of it. My entire world has fallen apart, and I don’t know why... which makes it pretty damn difficult to fix anything.”

Hearing the raw emotion in her confession affects me on an elemental level. Hunter’s “forever kind of love” admonishment pops back into my head, and I finally admit to myself that everyone has been right all along.

I’m always going to share her heart with Venom.

I guess the challenge now is to ensure I claim the bigger slice.

In the immortal words of the bitch who murdered my son, I need Lilianna Mayberry to love me most. Anything less is failure. It’s war. Between me and my best friend. Between me and life in general. In the same way I’d walk away from the Shamrocks to keep her, I’ll flay the skin from the back of anyone who tries to stop me from possessing her completely.

It’s a sickness.

One she doesn’t need to be burdened with.

Not when she carries so much already…

Feigning nonchalance, I turn away from my duchess. I take my time to grab a beer from the fridge, steadying myself further with every second that passes, even as my soul is shredded by my ongoing denial of my need to claim her. The power this woman wields in unimaginable. She’s a sorceress. Playing with fire is her speciality.

Venom’s love is a raging wildfire.

Mine is a carefully controlled backburn.

Which means that whether Cherub gets burnt is up to me.

Cracking the top of the bottle on the edge of the counter, I round the end, then take the stool next to hers. Cherub stills, stiffening as she battles her reaction to my proximity. I pretend not to notice the war she internally wages. I’m not sure what lies she’s told herself to explain how she wakes up freshly showered and clad in my t-shirt after her drunken nights out, but her body and her head aren’t on the same page.

My duchess might be able to mentally shield herself from her feelings for me.

Her body will out her every time.

I affect her.

For now, that’s enough...

Her throat works as she watches me empty my bottle of beer. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and Cherub’s tongue tracks the same path along her lower lip. It takes every ounce of willpower I possess to stop from kissing her.

It would be easy.

Devouring her mouth, stealing her breath, depriving her of excuses, forcing her to admit that she’s in love with me too.

Instead, I settle for offering my truth. “Hunter said somethin’ tonight that hit home for me… he called the love you and Venom share the forever kind.”

“Oh.”

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