Page 52 of The Venom We Bleed

Oh. Fuck. No.I shake my head and try to dispel the sensation, but it doesn’t leave.

“Did they hurt you?” Gio asks, the question quiet in the otherwise too-loud night sounds.

My heartbeat races in my ears, rushing along with the sound of my blood through my veins. I shake my head again, though I’m not sure if it’s to answer him or to try and get rid of the unwelcome attraction swarming my body.

As disturbed as I am by my body's reaction, all it does is make me viscerally aware of the two men crowding me in the dark. Their large frames make everything else disappear—blocking out the rest of the clearing so I can no longer see the bodies collapsed on the ground. All I can see isthem.

My breathing picks up, growing faster and faster as Gio’s thumbs rub soothingly along the sides of my throat. Damn him. I don’t want to be soothed or comforted and definitely not by him.

I switch my attention from him to Lex. “Let me go,” I demand.

Lex doesn’t say anything. Instead, he just stares at me with those dark, soulless eyes of his. Air dries up in my lungs and I choke when I want to say something, though I’m not sure what. Silence lingers between the three of us, cold and filled with tension. Their shoulders rise and fall with the effort of their own breaths, and after a moment of carefully examining Lex’s face, I realize that it’s speckled … with freckles? No, not freckles. He’s speckled with blood. My insides clench but not in fear. I stifle a groan of disbelief. I can’t find a man covered in blood sexy because that would make me fucked in the head. Damn it, Iamfucked in the head.

“Who the fuck brought you here tonight?” Lex demands, his voice a deep gravelly rasp.

I blink. “Why does that matter to you?”

He stares back at me, but his expression is so imperceptible I can’t tell if he’s surprised or angry. “Answer the question and I’ll step back,” Gio murmurs.

I latch on to the bargain without a second thought. I need to get the two of them away from me. I need them both to stop fucking touching me. “Not that it’s any of your business, but my friend Roquel brought me tonight.”

The heat burning my insides diminishes but only marginally as Gio makes good on his promise and takes a step back, forcing Lex to do the same. I sigh and fold my arms over my chest, shooting them both a dark glare.

“You want to explain what you thought you were doing, following these two out here?” Gio reintroduces his earlier question with a much calmer tone than the one Lex had used.

I glance over their shoulders to Josh and Rich before returning to meet their gazes. “Not particularly.” They don’t need to know.

Gio bends slightly as he looks at me, gaze scanning my face and lower. The color of his eyes, already nearly ebony turns into darkness itself. My lashes brush my lids as I stare up into his face. It’s like looking into a never-ending void. You know what they say … once you look into the void for long enough, it begins to look back into you.

Right now, I very much think it is. I thinkheis the void.

This is insane.Theyare insane, and I need to get the fuck away from them before it’s too late.

“Listen.” I blow out a breath as I reach up and put a hand over Gio’s chest, pushing lightly to give myself some more breathing room. Not that it helps. The motherfucker doesn’t budge a single inch. Instead, his breath hitches and he makes an odd sound in the back of his throat. I whip my hand back in an instant but don’t comment.

“I appreciate you coming to help me.” The words are pulled like nails from my throat. I really don’t want to say them, but I’m not so much of a bitch that I won’t admit when I’ve been given a break, even if that break is from one of the bastards trying to wreck my life. “I didn’t ask for your help, but it’s done now and it’s not like we’re friends—quite the opposite actually—so?—”

I shuffle to the side, sidling out from the wall of muscle that surrounds me. A thick arm, corded with muscle snaps out and halts my escape. Tilting my head back, I gape as Lex captures my hand—the same one that had touched Gio. He pulls it towards himself, pressing the flat of my palm against his chest.

“Why are we the opposite?” Lex’s question is full of an enigmatic emotion, but the deep baritone of his voice vibrates across every molecule of my flesh.

The heat of his hand on mine, keeping me in place, is like a brand to my nervous system. It takes my brain a second longer than usual to catch up with his words. “What?” Is he serious? “Because you hate me. Everyone in Silverwood hates me.”

“Hate?” Lex’s head tilts to the side, and though I can’t pick up the fine details of his expression, I can tell that the movement is one of either confusion or curiosity. I tug against his hold. He doesn’t release me. Doesn’t even react to the action. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks, but I don’t hate you, Jules.”

Jules?My upper lip curls back, baring my teeth.He doesn’t get to call me Jules. We’re not fucking friends.

“Let go.” I hiss the words between my teeth, pulling harder on my trapped hand. The muscles of his chest are impossibly hard. I try not to think about how close our bodies are.

“No,” he snaps in answer to my demand.

My eyes skip back to Gio, expecting him to step forward and do something to stop his friend. To my utter shock, the cornerof his mouth is tilted upward and he stands back, folding his arms as he watches on withamusementtwisting his expression.Asshole.

“This is stupid.” I tug on my hand again to no avail. My scowl deepens and I yank harder on the hand holding mine in place, right against his pectoral. “Don’t pretend—you and the entire fucking school have been out to get me from day one,” I snap.

Lex glances at Gio. “Are you still out to get her?” he asks. At least, he’s admitting that my words aren’t all false.

Gio snorts. “Not that it would do me much good if I was, but no. I’m not out to get you either, Prep Girl.”

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