Page 20 of Desperately Delicate Viper

The blood in my veins turns to ice and I grab Anders by the jaw with a low growl. “You really think I’m a monster just like he is?”

He’s silent for a beat, his gaze boring into mine, the muscle in his cheek ticking. “No, I don’t think you’re like him.”

Anders jerks out of my light grasp. I let my hand fall and tilt my head towards the building right in front of us. He jogs up the steps and doesn’t say a word while I unlock the door. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him shifting on his feet, his expression fluttering between worry and anger, just like earlier.

If I remove the problem for him, will his fear and wariness eventually melt away, leaving nothing but the beautifully feral, confident man he is when his mask slips? I’ll destroy this entire city with my bare hands if that’s what it will take to bring that version of Anders to the surface.

“I’ll kill him for you,” I say casually, opening the door to my apartment and waving him inside.

Anders stops just inside the door, spinning to face me with his jaw clenched and a wild, frustrated look in his eyes.

“You cannot be fucking serious right now.” He advances on me and gives me a hard shove in the chest, pushing me up against the closed door. “You get how fucked up this is, right?”

I frown, not sure I’m following. He huffs out a laugh and curls his fingers around the lapels of my suit jacket.

“I tied you up and robbed you, and you’ve gone and imprinted on me like a psychotic goose or something. You want to save me? You want to kill everyone responsible for fucking up my life? What’s next? Are you going to follow me around and shoot anyone who gives me a dirty look?” The same frustration that’s in his eyes drips from every word, but with each one, he tightens his grip on my jacket and leans in closer until he’s pressed fully against me, baring his teeth less than an inch away from my lips.

“Sure,” I answer with a rasp. “I’ll clear my schedule.”

Anders snarls and slams his lips into mine in a harsh, biting kiss. I melt against the door, hooking my index fingers through the belt loops on his shorts and opening wider to welcome the lash of his tongue against mine. He lets go of my jacket and drags his fingers through my hair, yanking on the ends and sending a skitter of stinging electricity through my scalp and down my spine.

He uses the grip to tug me away from the door. I stumble forward and moan around the tangle of our tongues. Precum dribbles down my shaft, dampening the inside of my briefs, and my balls give a heavy squeeze as he drags me blindly down the short hallway into the small living room. He breaks the kiss, his chest heaving, and looks around. Light from adjacent buildings illuminates my living room even without me flipping any switches. It’s not perfect, but it’s enough for him to drag his gaze over the various shadowed furniture and decor.

“It’s smaller than I expected,” he murmurs, his fingers still firmly knotted in my hair, forcing me to bend towards him. I’m not sure he’s even doing it on purpose, but it makes my cock throb all the same.

I smirk at the underlying implication that he’s been thinking about my apartment;picturingit enough to have formed anexpectation in the last two days. But I decide not to point that out.

“I’ve been spending way too much money on this gorgeous rent boy recently. But I expect my budget is about to loosen up a bit, if you’re attached to the idea of upgrading.”

His eyes flash and he tugs my hair harder again, sending me to my knees. The hardwood sends a jolt of pain through me when I land, but it only makes me whimper with need. I sway forward and nuzzle my face into the warm, hard bulge in his shorts. The musky scent of his skin and sweat is muted by the smell of denim, but if I breathe deeply enough, I’m still able to fill my lungs with his intoxicating smell. I mouth at the rough material, work my tongue into the zipper flap, and lick teasingly along his length. The sharp edges of the zipper and the taste of metal aren’t enough to sate the insatiable hunger making my mouth water and my hole ache to be filled.

“That’s right,” Anders says coolly. “You paid tonight, didn’t you? I guess that means my ass is yours. What’s your pleasure, Mr. Moretti?”

With my hands on my thighs, I tilt my head and look up at him. There isn’t an angle of Anders I haven’t enjoyed yet, but this one might be my favorite. I can practically feel the heat of his erection coming through his shorts, my scalp tingling and stinging from his grip as he looks down at me. The only problem is the detached indifference is back in his eyes again.

“That money wasn’t for sex, little viper,” I murmur, mouthing at his cock again, desperate for the taste of his skin instead of the rasp of denim on my tongue. “It was to protect you from the person who’s been hurting you until I get the chance to deal with him properly.”

His fingers twitch in my hair and his breath hitches.

“I keep feeling like this is some kind of trap. I just can’t figure out what your angle is,” he confesses.

“There’s no trap, but if you need time to believe that, I understand. In the meantime, I think you promised me some kind of retribution for ‘kidnapping’you. So, what’s it going to be? Do you want to hurt me? Use me and leave me unsatisfied? Tie me up again and rob me blind of every item you can carry out of my apartment? What’s it going to take, Anders? Do your worst.”

ANDERS

The rawness in Luca’s voice and the startling vulnerability in his words tug at the threads of my control that I’ve barely managed to hold together over the past few years. Embarrassment and rage and the inky black feeling of powerlessness churn inside of me. I hardly notice that my breathing is getting heavier or that my vision blurs with tears that threaten to spill down my cheeks. All I can really think about is that I honestly can’t remember the last timeanyonebothered to ask me what I wanted. What it would take to satisfyme.

And, fuck, that’s a scary goddamn question because the answer is too fucking big. What would it take to satisfy me? Knowing Finn is really and truly safe from our father and anyone else who would ever be stupid enough to hurt him, that would satisfy me. Finally having a life of my own, whereIdecide who looks at me and who touches me, that would be pretty fucking satisfying. Finding an outlet for the unspent adrenaline and swirling emotions tonight has caused would feel pretty damn satisfying too. That might be the only one I can tackle right now, and it’s probably the only one I’d prefer to let Luca help me with. The rest are problems for me to solve another day.

I release my hold on his hair and wrap my hand around his throat in a fluid motion. I can feel the vibration of his gasp against my palm as it works its way up his windpipe. His eyeswiden with lust and excitement as I tackle him backward onto the polished wood floor. I cut off his surprised yelp with another hard kiss, shoving my tongue between his lips as soon as I land on top of him, straddling him, pinning him to the ground with the weight of my body. Maybe he could easily throw me off, but knowing he won’t makes me feel powerful anyway.

I thrust my hips and grind my cock against his, teasing us both with the muted feeling of too many clothes still between us. Luca grunts and moans around my tongue, each sound rattling against my palm where it’s pressed to his throat. I’m not grabbing him hard enough to cut off his oxygen, but the way he pushes himself into my hand, I think he’d be into it if I wanted to.

Isthiswhat I like? Is it whatI’minto?

I yank his shirt open impatiently, getting a primal kind of satisfaction from the sound of buttons skittering across the floor. With one hand still around his throat, I kiss and bite his chin, his jaw, the parts of his throat that aren’t covered by my hand, drawing rasping whimpers from him with every sharp nip of my teeth. His body jolts under me, his cock throbbing so hard I can feel it pulsing against mine even with so much fabric still between us.

The way this hard, intimidating man turns into a submissive puddle at the first sign of any bite is intoxicating. It’s addicting. And, yeah, I think I might be into it. Knowing that somehow Luca looked at me across a bar and saw things about me no one else ever has, that he managed to unlock things I didn’t even know about myself, is terrifying. It’s even more terrifying than the fact that I can feel the hard shape of a gun tucked under his jacket, or that I think I’m actually starting to believe he isn’t going to hurt me.

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