Page 120 of A Love Like Venom

With all the remaining will power that I have I pull myself away from her. It doesn’t exactly help when I hear her whimper from the loss of my lips. In fact my cock only gets harder. I know, it’s a fucking shock to me, too.

Her eyes are closed as her swollen mouth is open. Panting, her chest heaves up and down. Fingers that are on the back of my nape begin to lose their harsh grip.

Not being able to help myself because I can’t seem to keep my hands off her I bring my finger to trace her swollen lips.

Her breath hitches and her eyes fly open as my middle finger makes contact.

All too soon the hunger returns. In reality it never left.

How could it when every time I look at her I want her.

This is the kind of hunger that can never be sated. A flame that will never burn out.

“You stopped,” she acknowledges but not in an accusing way.

I nod my head in return. “I did.”

She blinks up at me as she wonders, “Why?”

Smiling down at her I reply, “Believe me, I want nothing more than to feel you against me. To explore each and everyinch of your skin and taste it all on my lips. I want the feeling of your legs wrapped around my waist as I’m sinking into you and I want to see the look in your eyes when I do. I want to hear every moan and cry. I want to feel your body explode with pleasure underneath mine. Believe me, Alice, I want all of that. I want it so fucking much. But it’s not about what I want and what I desire. It’s about you. It’s always about you. And a kiss is all you are going to get until you tell me that you want more.”

Her eyes begin to mist over and I start to think that I have said something wrong. That’s until I see the smile still on her face. Her smiles never lie. “You’re giving me something I never had.”

My tongue suddenly feels heavy in my throat as my chest tightens. I know what she is going to say. I know exactly what she is talking about. And my heart breaks for her. It breaks for what she’s had to endure. The darkness in me, the demons inside want to rip the hands off every man that has touched her. They seek to destroy each man who violated her. Chris Blackwell paid for his unforgivable sin. He’s in Hell where he belongs. Soon, very soon Razor will be joining him.

“A choice,” she then says softly. “You’re giving me a choice and I don’t know how to thank you for that.”

“You never have to thank me for that. Never. That is something you should always have. Don’t let anyone take that from you.”

The fact that I have to tell her this is heartbreaking in itself. For me to tell her that having a choice is something everyone should have shouldn’t be a gift for her. A choice,her choice, will always matter.

Her choice is valued.

Her choice is important.

No man or any gender or any being has the right to take that away from her.

Raising herself up on her tip toes the top of her head comes at my upper chest. Smiling up at me she then presses a chaste kiss to the underside of my jaw. “You have more light inside you than you’ll ever know.”

“You bring it out in me.”

Disagreeing she shakes her head. “You’ve always had it. There may be darkness inside you but the moon still shines brightly against the night sky. And you, Reed Carter, you are that magnificent moon. Casting a light even in the darkness.”

Her words, her words that make beautiful lyrics have my whole body trembling. They have me shaken down to my core.

They touch my soul.

She is the only one who can.

My angel.

“And you, my angel, burn brighter than the radiant sun. You light up everything that you touch and fill each dark room. You’re luminous with a glow that rivals the pearly gates. The sun pales in comparison to you, Alice Hall. It envies you. It envies the light you possess knowing that it will never come close.”

Her hand that loosened on the nape of my neck grows tighter. As she forces my head downwards our foreheads touch. This close I can count every freckle that dusts across her nose and cheeks. This close I can see the affection burning in her eyes.

As I breathe her in, the scent of vanilla filling my nostrils I have never felt more at peace.

Confessing my love to her is something I should have done a long time ago. Probably from the first moment that I saw her.

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