Page 81 of Lovely Venom

I’ve only been up and down this tunnel a couple of times, but I know every inch of it. Every seam, every rusted bolt. Overhead, the metal catwalk groans, the meshed steel clanging.

Oh my God, he’s up there. How the fuck did he get up there?

All my confidence drains when I realize he’s been one step ahead of me this whole time. I’m a blind mouse inhismaze.

I forgot just how dark this tunnel is without a flashlight.

The echo of Connor’s footsteps pounds above me. They’re heavy and relentless. The entire walkway shudders with every step. Metal screeches as he leaps over a crossbeam. It’s so loud, I swear the trusses will give and send the whole structure crashing down on me.

That sends my speed into high gear.

“You think you can run away from me, Venom?”Connor hisses through the darkness, low and savage. “When I catch you, I’m going to make you sorry for every second I wasn’t inside you.”

A tremor coils in my gut. It’s not fear, not quite. It’s wicked anticipation and arousal. All tangled together like barbed wire around my heart. Fuck, he’s not stolen my heart, he’s captured it.

“I’m going to rip all that sass you lay on me by throat-fucking you so hard you won’t talk for days,” he snarls again, closer this time.

My core tightens as electricity buzzes under my veins.

Connor’s laugh cracks through the air like a midnight summer thunderstorm. “And when I’ve got you under me getting fucked, I’ll make you scream my name so loud, this whole fucking tunnel will shake.”

I jerk to a halt and press my back flat against the wall, trying to quiet my breathing. All I hear is the slam of my heartbeat against my ribs and blood whooshing through my ears. All sounds by Connor stop. No metal rattling, no hooting and laughing. Just the drip of condensation from yet another level I never saw.

“Connor?” I whisper, hating the tiny panic in my voice.

Still nothing.

“You think you’ve got it all figured out, sweetheart?” he taunts. “Watch this.”

Boom!

He drops from above, crashing into me with the full force of his weight. We slam to the ground in a tangled heap. His chest presses into my back, his breath hot and ragged against my ear.

“I warned you what would happen if you tried to kill me again,” he says, pinning my arms. “And now you’re mine.”

Breath caught in my chest, every muscle locks againsthis. I should be afraid. Iamafraid, but not of Connor. Not really. I’m afraid of how badly I wanthimand his raw power.

How I crave him doing unspeakable things to me. Things that will question my sanity. Things that will make me hate the girl staring back at me because I love them so much.

“Feel that?” He grinds against me. “Feel how hard you made me. Your throat. Your cunt. Your ass. Every hole will be mine after tonight.”

My core dampens as my heart pounds. “Wanna bet?”

“Oh?” he says, his gravelly voice laced with sin. “I was hoping you’d put up a fight.”

I twist and squirm beneath him, my legs flailing. When there’s a bit of resistance, I break free. My knees slam into the ground, but I’m only temporarily straddling him. Before he can yank me down, I jump off and run.

God, the more I make him chase me, the harder he will fuck me. That, I wantthat.

But I keep running. Cracked walls scream past me, and I’m so hypersensitive right now that it’s all a dull hum.

The sound of my footfalls is all I hear. When I look back, Connor is gone.

That’s not good.

The hallway behind me yawns open like a black throat, empty and thrumming with silence. That’s worse than the chase. Worse than the pounding metal.

Because now I don’t know where he is. And I know what happens when the predator goes quiet.