Page 32 of Venom (St. Sebastian’s at Cravenmoor Academy #1)

Blake

“ W hat?” Viper snaps quietly. “It’s not a good time.”

I search his eyes, looking for something. I’m not sure what. “I want to see her,” I say eventually.

“It’s okay,” Venetia says from behind him. They’re both dripping wet and only covered in towels.

Viper steps aside, his reluctance a force in the humid air of the room. He remains a barrier, a wall of tattooed muscle and simmering rage, but he obeys her quiet command. My gaze moves past him to Venetia.

The cruel marks on her throat and shoulder are an unacceptable breach. It is damage to a masterpiece. Her eyes, though, are what I focus on.

I step over the threshold, my presence a deliberate intrusion of cool logic into their steamy, emotional sanctuary. I hold up a file.

Venetia’s eyes go straight to it as Viper closes the door behind me. “What’s that?” she asks.

“Maddox Headley no longer has a family fortune,” I inform her. “Their so-called empire has collapsed. We now own every single square inch of their patch.”

“That was fast,” Viper says, eyes narrowed.

“I don’t sit around waiting. I act.”

Venetia looks at the file, then at me. The vulnerability I saw in her eyes a moment ago is being rapidly eclipsed by a familiar, dangerous fire. She is not a damsel to be rescued; she is a queen appraising a tribute.

“You destroyed him,” she whispers. It is the sound of a woman who understands that true annihilation is not just a broken body but a shattered legacy.

“His family gambled against the house,” I reply, my voice smooth. “The house always wins.” I offer her the file. “A small token. Consider it our first acquisition.”

“Our?” She takes the file from me, and opens it, her eyes scanning the top page. A slow, deeply satisfied smile curves her lips. “You didn’t just ruin them. You erased them.” She looks up at me, her green eyes blazing with heat.

“Their power, yes. But their assets are ours.”

Her eyes harden. “I don’t want any involvement in trafficking. I will rip it apart?—”

“Already in the process,” I interrupt her.

“We will slash the repugnant dealings and replace them with true power. A queen needs a kingdom, after all. One of her own,” I murmur, my gaze holding Venetia’s over the damning pages in her hand.

“We have just acquired our first province.” I reach for the silk robe hanging on the back of the door, holding it out to her.

It is a simple gesture. A challenge to the man who just bathed her.

My methods are different. Cleaner. More permanent.

She drops the file onto the bed, and I slip the soft silk over her shoulders.

She pulls the towel away and turns to face me, her gorgeous body exposed, tempting me.

But I won’t take her now. She needs time to heal.

But it doesn’t stop me from reaching out to run my fingers lightly over her nipple before I dip my hand lower.

“You are gorgeous,” I murmur, moving close enough so that her nipples brush against my shirt.

“And she’s in pain and needs to rest,” Viper says.

Ignoring him, I thrust my fingers deep inside her pussy.

She gasps and clutches her side. I should stop, but I can’t.

She is exquisitely wet for me. I withdraw my fingers and rub them over her clit.

She trembles, closing her eyes as I give her pleasure.

Thrusting them deep inside her again, I twist my fingers, hearing her moan with desire.

“That’s it, my queen. Let your king give you pleasure without expecting anything in return.”

“Blake,” she pants and comes all over my hand.

Withdrawing, I bring my fingers to my lips, tasting her on my tongue. “Exquisite,” I murmur, my gaze holding hers. She is breathless, pliant, her eyes a stormy sea of lust and exhaustion.

I gently take the edges of the silk robe and pull them closed. I tie the belt, a final, possessive touch. “Rest,” I command softly.

I turn and walk towards the door, not giving Viper a second glance.

Leaving them alone, I walk down the hallway to my room, feeling a new sense of victory unlocked.

I understand Venetia in a way that surprises me.

For all her family’s power and wealth, she wants to make her own way.

She wants to cut ties with the Corbyn-Hale name and become her own powerhouse.

It’s a feeling that I’m all too familiar with.

The Locke name gives me more power than I know what to do with.

It is a name that makes the underworld shake if it crosses over their desks.

If the Lockes have noticed you, you are in trouble.

But I want more. I want more than a legacy that was passed down through generations.

I want my own legacy, built from scratch.

Venetia wants that as well. Together, we can create something that will be feared for generations to come.

I enter my room, the scent of her still clinging to me, a ghost of her pleasure, and pour myself a measure of whisky, the amber liquid catching the light from the dim glow of the lamp.

Viper and Rafferty have their place in this new build.

Venetia and Viper have something that is impossible to deny, and he will end the world to protect her.

Rafferty has a skill that is necessary when taking down enemies.

The four of us are a new world order, and anyone who crosses us will soon learn what it means to challenge an ascendant power.

Our legacy will not be inherited. It will be forged in the fires of our enemies’ ruin.