Page 80 of Lovely Venom

The monster walks to the hidden door and wrenches it open with a creak that sounds like the gates of hell swinging wide. The passageway is dark, musty, and cold.

Connor drops his voice to a sinful purr. “This time, I’ll make it exciting.”

“How?”

“I plan to completely fuck with your emotions. Crank up the adrenaline that pumps your amazing heart.”

“I want that,” I groan, sniffing.

“Good.” Connor grins.

“What do I do?”

“Run.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

Connor

Watching Raina run away from me, her braid flying off her shoulder, her nerves tensing every muscle in her face, the exhilaration of the chase has my heart ready to implode in my chest.

I know she’s imagining every dirty thing I plan to do to her, knowing I’ll fulfill every fantasy and more. Show her who I really am. Even if I’m just figuring out this side of me. It’s someone born from her strength and power. The stronger she is, the more intense I will be to counteract her.

This side of me belongs to Raina.

My Lovely Venom.

I plan to strip her of every safety feature and be a monster her inner slut wants.

In my utility closet, I pull down the trap door that leads to the catwalk above the passageway.

Raina will run for the torture chamber. The real her wants to be caught and knows once she’s in there, she’s mine. But her stubborn side will try to resist me.

I choke on a laugh.

Resist me.

She never stood a chance.

She’s been pushing my buttons and testing my patience since we met. Tonight, the boundaries she thinks are between us are done. Obliterated.

I’m hard as fuck in my pants. My body sizzles, imagining her face when I tackle her and bring her to heel.

I take off down the catwalk. Even from these metal risers above, the scent of her apple and cinnamon shampoo finds me. My blood thrumsinside my veins. I have never felt as unhinged and unraveled as I do now, knowing that I don’t have to hold back. I don’t have to think. I am stripped down to a beast who needs to fuck and come to survive.

And my other half, my better half, is a chase away from being completely mine.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Raina

“Run.”

The command cuts through the silence like a blade. Sharp, with the promise of pain. The pain from being fucked hard by a lunatic.

My pulse spikes as I run, boots slapping against the stone floor of the passageway. The air down here is cool and stale, but I don’t feel it. All I feel is heated adrenaline and the rush of this temporary freedom laced with danger.

The danger lies in seeing a side of a man I really don’t know very well. A man who could have been playing me all these weeks.