Page 67 of The Vipers' Vow

From various rooms comes the sound of laughter and voices. I’m part of this place, and yet I feel so separate from it, divided from normality by all I’ve been through. The twins, and Zane, too, carry scars from their past, some physical, and some hidden but still very real. It means we’re always on the outside. Unlike the Devils and their Duchess, who are feared but seem popular, my men and I like to lurk in the shadows.

If we became an official foursome, it would make things hard for us here. I doubt we’d ever be accepted in the same way those three men and Mackenzie are.

I don’t know her well, but Mackenzie is a perfect, pretty princess, and I’m anything but. I laugh out loud at the idea of me being a perfect princess, and flush as a couple of men walking by shoot me puzzled glances. I’m really getting ahead of myself. Here I am, wondering if we’d be accepted as a foursome, and none of the guys, not even Zane, who has said he loves me, have shown any interest in taking things farther than this dangerous game we play.

Do I even want them to take things farther? I consider the question as I leave the building and head through the woods, toward the mansion. I’d like them in my life on a more permanent basis, but I’m not sure how or in what way because I sure as hell don’t want to be pregnant and having their kid the way Mackenzie did. No judgement for her, but after what I’ve seen women in the club go through, I want to live my life while I’m young, and maybe,big maybe, have kids later.

The evening is well and truly setting in, and the sun is losing its battle to stay in the sky. As it sets, the clouds become pink tipped at the edges, and I pause for a moment to breathe in the blessed air and enjoy the beauty of this moment. I might have lost it all if it weren’t for Zane. Instead of looking at these clouds, I might have been in a watery grave, sucked under the silt and debris at the bottom of the lake.

For a horrifying moment, I see myself, long hair fanned out, floating in the water, and the image sends ice crawling up my spine. I shake it off and head purposefully toward the mansion.

When I arrive, I knock once then enter. Zane and Lex are on the sofa, playing a violent game on the huge TV on the far wall. Lex is playing despite his thumb, and he appears to be losing, badly, no surprise.

He glances over at me and gives a low whistle. “Jesus Christ, Venom. You look good enough to fuck.”

Zane’s eyes widen as he stares at me, and his fingers freeze on the control pad. He gives a slow but definite nod of agreement.

A smile teases my lips. “I should hope so.”

I give my hips an extra wiggle as I head across the room, toward the kitchen where Saint is cooking.

Onscreen, both men die in their game, and I can’t help but giggle that my arrival distracted them so much.

As I get closer, the most amazing aroma hits me. Herbs, wine, meat. It smells delicious, and despite my still lurching stomach, a tiny pang of hunger makes itself known. We’d stopped off at a roadside pitstop on the way from the club and eaten then, but that was hours ago, and I’m starved.

“What are you making?” I ask.

He turns to me and grins. “Coq au vin, cherie.”

“It smells amazing.” I worry that after all I’ve been through, I won’t have an appetite, but as if on cue, my stomach gives a loud rumble.

I laugh and pat my belly.

“I think she’s hungry,” Lex calls over his shoulder, the noise distracting him momentarily from his game.

Saint turns to me, and his blue eyes almost look as if lit from within. His gaze roams down my body, lingering on my tits, which are barely covered in this dress, the buttons straining. “We’re all hungry,ma belle, but food first, and then we can satiate the real hunger,non?”

I shiver at his words and his intense scrutiny. “Yes, um, yes, of course. I mean, that sounds nice.”

Nice? What the fuck is wrong with me? Whenever Saint speaks French, it does things to me. I lose the ability to be cool and controlled. He moves closer to me, his hand finding my hip to yank me into him, and then he leans in and licks my neck. It’s an odd and yet intimate thing to do.

“It will be nice,cherie, for once. I promise.”

I grab the lapels of his fancy shirt, my nerves suddenly gone because I do not want nice. “Oh, no, you don’t, Saint. I wantyou. The real, authentic, fucked up you. I didn’t nearly die to be given an anemic version of you, ofthis.” I gesture between me and him, and the two men on the sofa.

His eyes flash then he nods once, quick and sure. “Bien.”

“Oh,” I add. “And wewilltalk about what went down here while Zane and I were gone, but not tonight. Tonight is for us to find each other again.”

I walk away and can feel his gaze on me. My back is straight, and I’m proud of myself because I finally feel as if I’ve found my spine with these men. I glance at Lex and Zane on the sofa, and Zane’s eyes lift from the TV screen to look at me. For a moment, we simply hold one another’s gaze, until I break the spell.

He told me he loved me. He said it in the most beautiful way, using his sign language to show me I mean something to him. Zane has done some crazy shit, and there have been times with him when I’ve felt extremely unsure as to the ground beneath my feet, but he’s saved my life, twice. I feel as if I have finally found someone solid to hold on to.

As for Lex and Saint, things aren’t quite as simple there. We need to talk for sure. I wrecked their shit. I tore up Saint’s paintings and damaged Lex’s car. His baby. His pride and joy.

They deserved it, though, and maybe it was wrong, but hell, they’ve been tormenting me ever since I got here.

Lex glances at me, too, and his expression is much harder to read than Zane’s. Does he trust me? Or is that destroyed now?

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