Page 35 of The Bitterness of Venom

Between the couple days spent in Desmond’s sex dungeon and this, I would love nothing more than to pass out, but here and now is not the time. Especially not with the predators lurking around me, cheering.

I sit up, my hands resting on my knees as I take in a deep breath. Rising, I find Clint behind me, grinning. “I knew you wouldn’t disappoint.”

I may not have this time, but if there is a next time—and I’m sure there will be—the price will probably be higher. Like another piece of my soul I can’t afford to lose.

I feel worsethan I look. A black eye and busted lip aren’t anything I've never endured before. But the pain in my ribs is killing me. I think one or some may be broken, but going to the doctor is out of the question. I can't afford it, nor do I want to have the looming debt of a medical bill.

I sink my body into the warm bathwater. I couldn't tolerate my usual preference for a hotter-than-hell shower with all the cuts and bruises. I let my face sink below the water, letting out air bubbles as I breathe. If my will to live wasn't so high, I would’ve just let myself go. How simple it would be to allow myself to give up and never rise from the water. For it to all be over.

But then Clint would win.

My will to live may be fairly petty at this point, but I refuse to allow him any more power than what he already has. So, I live to spite him.

I rise from under the water, wiping the clinging drops from my lashes. I check that the lock is still in place and then Irelax. The last thing I need is Desmond to bust in and ruin the illusion of the temporary peace that I have.

Without my permission his face enters my mind, the dark strands of hair hanging in his face, body bare and glistening in sweat, all dark and delicious as he grips my thighs. I moan at the memory, my hands traveling down my body. I squeeze my breast roughly, lingering there as I envision his hot mouth on my neck, his teeth sinking in like he starves for my taste. The way his hips buck up into me as I am suspended from the chains. The way his nose glides down my neck like I'm precious even though we both know that's a lie. I'm anything but. My head falls back and my hand drops to my pussy, my fingers slowly tracing my needy clit.

I see him, the vision replaying, except, it's not a vision, it actually happened. He bit my nipples, leaving claiming marks on them all the way to my stomach, his hot breath stirring something sinister in my chest at the thought of him owning me. Because even though he was teaching me a lesson, making me pay with my body, he was owning me, and in a sick, twisted way, I loved it. No one has ever wanted to keep me, own me. But here was my childhood best friend-turned-bully, owningme.

The girl who was not enough to stop her parents from doing drugs. The same girl that no foster home could ever keep. The girl constantly running from her past. Unworthy, unwanted. He wantedme.

For now. Until he gets tired, that is.

I rub my clit harder, my free hand covering my mouth as I moan out Desmond’s name. The vision of his hand around my neck, cutting off my airways. His engorged dick hitting so deep inside me I couldn't breathe if I wanted to. And when I image him biting into my gasping lips, I come. My body trembling and convulsing as I squeeze around nothing, which is agonizing. I want him betweenmy legs so I can ride my orgasm out like his good little slut. But I'm left with visions and a dwindling release.

This motherfucker may have ruined me for every other man.

Just like he promised.

TWENTY-FIVE

As much asI wanted to fuck my little doll on every available surface of the penthouse I rented, I simply didn't have time. After I fucked her to an inch of her life, I woke up to an empty bed, vaguely remembering murderous blue-green eyes. I didn’t think much of it as I needed to get to practice, which we do three times a day during the season. Leaving no room for much but sleep and eating.

We won our first game of the season last night and while I should be elated, all I feel is bored and irritated. Hockey is putting a wedge betweenme and what I truly want.

And that's to possess my little doll.

I may be the best goalie in the league but even the promising career in my future stirs nothing like the idea of hunting Blaise down. Which is what I need to do. She seems to have slipped through my fingers here lately.Which is what’s making hockey such an inconvenience in my life. Before she walked—sorry, barged—back into my life, hockey was everything to me. My outlet. My source of entertainment, but now it’s just… bland.

I find Blaise in a coffee shop, a stupid romance novel in hand. Her eyes alive and vivid as she chases each word with those peacock eyes. She’s fucking mesmerizing. Her pink hair falling down her back. The hidden freckles that dance along her nose and scatter across her face. I’d like to spend one whole day counting them, memorizing each one. These thoughts should have scared me, the way I’d always seemed to be drawn to her like a moth to a flame. When we were kids, did she feel the same about me? The way my blood hummed and stomach tightened when she was near. How she took up every thought and dream I had.

Her presence is nauseating but addicting. I don’t want to fucking want her—needher. But I do, and I always have. Years without her haven’t changed that. The need to own and destroy her war inside my chest as I watch her. And I find I’m content with such a mundane act. Me, who strives on destruction and chaos. I’d worry if I gave a fuck, if I weren’t so gone and high off just the sight of her.

Maybe I should go to visit my doctor? Get my fucking head checked.

Blaise rises, her hand buried in her bag as she drops the book in there. I calculate each step she takes. Making sure I’m always five behind her. She’s observant, looking over her shoulder every now and then. I wonder if she can feel me? If the hair rises on the back of her neck as my eyes drill into her skull? Is she as fucked in this connection as me?

She walks around the music hall and that’s when I grab her. Pressing her body against the wall as I inhale her scent, my fingers sinking between hers as I flatten her hands on the rough bricks.

“Hello, my little doll. Have you been avoiding me?”

She huffs, trying to maneuver her leg behind mine, so I flatted my body completely against hers, my front to her back. Loving the feeling of her soft curves against my hard body.

“Avoiding? No. I just thought I was fucking lucky.”

“That mouth will get you fucked.” I run my nose along the slope of her neck. “Right here where everyone will see it. They’ll watch you take my cock like the good little slut you are.”

She shivers at my words, making me smirk.

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