Page 81 of The Vipers' Vow

I finally react and sit up. I pull my top down and look at my shiny nipples. Then I turn to the bedside to see a pot of balm. What is this?

I pick up the note, and re-read it, even though I know what it says. His writing is terrible and not the usual elegant hand he has. It’s more like a scrawl and wet tear marks blur the ink.

Fuck. Fuck him, and fuck the way I feel about him. He’s sick in the head. I can’t forgive him. I can’t.

But those tears, the anguish in his voice. Plus, the certainty I have that there is no way this …this beautiful, insane, messed up thing will work between us without him.

I get to the end of his note, and my own tears are falling, but then I gasp out a half laugh through my crying.

“Oh, Saint.”

At the bottom of the paper, he’s written,I’ve been worried about your nipples since we used the clamps. They’re so incredible, and I can’t stand the thought of them giving you pain, so please use this balm. And maybe think about me when you do.

I don’t know what to think or do. This is all so fucking weird, but then in a moment, clarity hits. Instant.Sure.

I know he didn’t sleep with Angelica. He was the one who called Jarl, and he saw him drag her away. He’s done a lot of very screwed up things, but he hasn’t betrayed me, and even though he’s one messed-up puppy, he’smymessed-up puppy.

Throwing the covers back, I slip my feet into my sheepskin boots and race out the door.

32

SAINT

“Saint! Wait, please!”

It’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard, Vani’s voice, calling to me. I’m halfway down the corridor, with its dark wood paneling and oil paintings of old professors and hideous carpets, and I pause.

For a moment, I think I’ve imagined it, but then I glance over my shoulder to find her flying toward me, her bare legs sticking out of her boots, and her thighs and tits barely hidden in the tiny, silky, sleep short pajama set she’s wearing.

“Vani?” I can’t quite believe what I’m seeing.

“Don’t go,” she blurts, coming to a halt.

I turn fully to face her.

She continues, speaking in a rush. “I forgive you—though I’m not even sure there’s anything to forgive now. I should have believed you when you said nothing happened. I mean, it kind of hurts that you kissed her, but I understand why you did it. You were right about her, and I’d been blindsided.”

She’s rambling, and her dark eyes are glassy with tears.

“Vani—” I say, but she doesn’t let me finish.

“Don’t leave. I couldn’t stand it if you left, and Lex and Zane would never forgive me if I came between you all. I love you, too, Saint. Every crazy, fucked-up inch of you.”

“You love me?” I’m still dazed by this interaction.

“I do. I really do. I don’t want to have to live without you. I don’t want any of us to live without you. We work, the four of us, don’t we? How could we carry on if you weren’t with us? It would all feel wrong.”

I scoop her against me and kiss her hard. She kisses me back, our tongues seeking each other, battling with need and hunger. I lift her, and she wraps her arms and legs around me.

“Carry me back to bed,” she says against my lips. “I can be asleep for you.”

My cock jumps.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s what you want, isn’t it? To fuck me while I’m sleeping?”

My dick gets even harder. “Vani…seriously?” But I’m already walking back the way I just came, toward her room.

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