Page 51 of Lovely Venom

I glare up at him. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people.”

His jaw drops. “You shouldn’t breakinto my home.”

I shove at his chest, but it’s like trying to move a mountain. Smirking, he lets me keep pushing, lets me squirm while amusement glints in his blue eyes.

“You’re making it very easy to believe youareobsessed with me.” His voice drips with sarcasm.

“Maybe I am. Maybe I got obsessed after that one night. Maybe I like the way you smell, and I’m stealing one of your shirts to sleep in.”

His grip tightens around my wrists. “Cute. I’m flattered, but we both know that’s bullshit.”

I go still, but my pulse betrays me, hammering at my throat. I suck in a sharp breath, my nails biting into his wrist. “You’d like it if I were crazy about you, wouldn’t you?”

He leans in, his breath warm against my ear. “What I’d like to know is why you’re really in my apartment? Armed to the fucking teeth this time.”

My spine stiffens, but I keep my lips flat. “Why else does a woman dressed like me, packing heat, sneak into a mob boss’s apartment?”

A flicker of amusement crosses his face, but it dies just as fast. Like he’s weighing whether to correct me or enjoy the fact I finally said it out loud.

“Is that why you’re here to kill me?” He lets go of one of my wrists, only to brush a strand of hair from my face. The gesture is too soft, too deliberate. “RainaRiatt.”

I swallow. “You, you know my last name?”

If his hacker brother is any good, they know I was DEA. Getting fired works in my favor, but that could just make me look like a loose cannon.

“I knew your first name before tonight, too. My enforcer team followed you when you left here months ago.” His stance shifts, and with it, the pressure of his thickening length against my stomach. “And I was therewhen you tried to arrest Havok. I killed the buyer. I saved you.”

“You killed him?” I clutch my chest. All this time, I thought Valdrin iced that buyer. “Did you recognize me?”

“Fuck yeah, I did.” Connor grinds into me, and there’s no mistaking what he wants. “He had a lock on you and was ready to blow your head off.”

I swallow roughly. “Christ, Connor. Thank you.”

That confuses the hell out of me. We had one hot night and didn’t bother exchanging names, let alone phone numbers. Then he saw me wearing my DEA vest. That made me the enemy, but he saved my life.

“You can thank me by dropping to your knees and sucking my cock, Venom.”

“What?”

“You’re blushing.” He brings our mouths together. “Was that offer too lewd for you?”

“I’m tougher than that. You had me once. You know I can dish it out as well as take it.”

“And I remember how it felt to be buried deep inside you. And how badly I want it again. I’ll damn near do anything to be inside you. Even let you live, Venom.”

“Why are youcallingme Venom?”

“Because you sink in, slow and sweet, and by the time I’ve felt the poison in my veins, I was already yours.” But Connor drops the flirty mask and gives me a taste of the rage beneath his skin. “Now, tell me. Who sent you to kill me?”

I don’t answer. I can’t. This conversation is heading in a direction I didn’t anticipate, so I just shake my head.

“All right.” His voice lowers, more dangerous in tone. “You have two options, Venom.”

I lift my chin and play dumb. “Let me go, or kill me?”

A dark chuckle breaks from his throat. “Not quite.”

I scowl. “Then what?”