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The front door shut behind us.
And the snake?
I could’ve sworn I heard something shift in the glass enclosure off the main hall. A flicker of black scales. A flash of tongue.
Obsidian watched us go.
I twisted just enough to look back at her.
“Don’t worry, girl,” I whispered, glancing over Elias’s shoulder toward the glass tank. “I’ll come back for you later.”
The snake didn’t blink. Didn’t move. Just stared—dark eyes gleaming like she knew secrets I hadn’t earned yet.
But I wasn’t scared of her.
Bringing a black viper to bed wouldn’t even crack my top ten worst ideas. Hell, it might not even make the list. Because the real danger? The one with teeth sharper than fangs and control tighter than coils?
Was already carrying me up the stairs like I was weightless and his to keep.
And me?
I wanted to test the locks. Tap the glass. Find every button he didn’t want pushed and press it until it broke.
Because if he thought the snake was dangerous, he hadn’t seen what I could do when I decided someone was worth the bite.
12
ELIAS
Vivi’s wet body was a firebrand against my shoulder, her thighs slick from the pool, her black thong a flimsy barrier that did nothing to hide her heat as I carried her up Dominion Hall’s stairs. Her laugh, low and taunting, echoed in the cavernous hall, a siren’s call that made my demon roar.
I’d killed for her, fucked her against an alley wall, and now she was here, in my domain, daring me to break her.
Our snake, Obsidian, watched from her glass cage below, her black eyes glinting like she knew what was coming. I didn’t care. Vivi was mine, and tonight, I’d own every inch of her, every gasp, every scream, until she understood what it meant to push me.
My suite’s door slammed shut behind us, the steel and glass sealing us in. I didn’t put her down, not yet. Her wriggling only made my grip tighter, my hand branding her thigh, the other splayed across her bare ass, feeling her pulse under my fingers. Her scent was a drug, sinking into my veins, shredding my control. The demon was free, its claws sharp, and I let it lead, my blood a furnace that burned for her.
“Put me down, Cipher,” she said, half-laughing, half-demanding, her nails digging into my back. “Or I’ll make you.”
I smirked, tossing her onto my bed, the black sheets swallowing her like a sacrifice. She landed with a gasp, her red curls a wild halo, her skin glistening under the low light of my suite. She was in nothing but that thong, her breasts bare, nipples hard from the cool air or the thrill—I didn’t care which.
She propped herself on her elbows, legs parted just enough to make my mouth water, her grin wicked and unyielding.
“You think you can handle me?” she said, voice a velvet blade, her eyes green fire that dared me to try.
I didn’t answer with words. I stripped off my boxer briefs, my cock already hard, throbbing with need. Her gaze dropped, and her lips parted, a flicker of surprise in her eyes that made my demon growl with satisfaction.
I was big, thick, and I knew it, but it was the hunger in her stare that drove me feral. She wasn’t scared—she wasintrigued, and fuck, that was better.
I climbed onto the bed, my hands gripping her ankles, yanking her toward me. She gasped, a sound that shot straight to my groin, and I spread her legs wide, pinning them to the sheets.
Her thong was a scrap of black lace, soaked from the pool and her own arousal, and I ripped it off with one sharp tug, tossing it to the floor.
She was bare now, glistening, her pussy pink and perfect, and I wanted to devour her, to make her scream my name until her throat was raw.
“Elias,” she breathed, her voice a mix of challenge and need, her hips arching toward me like she couldn’t wait.
I leaned down, my breath hot against her inner thigh, my lips grazing her skin.