Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100493 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100493 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“I fell asleep and woke up covered in snow,” I say, doing my best to not sound breathy.
Nonna laughs into her napkin. “I found her at dawn. Blue lips, hypothermia setting in, still clutching that empty bottle.”
I fix my eyes on Luce. “Worth it though. The stars were perfect.”
Asher hides a grin behind his glass, gaze flicking to me. “Yeah, Ivy and stars seem vaguely familiar.” He leans in like we’re the only people in this room. “Right, Venom?”
I don’t pull away. “It was also my birthday, so...”
The mask slips for a moment.
I face forward, scanning until I find Daniel at the far end of the table. His eyes meet mine with a small dip of his chin.
Sinead lounges in their chair, tattooed arms folded, smirking at something Jord says. Typical Jord. Of course it would be him that tugs at the hard edges of Sinead.
Sinead shakes their head, amused. “You’re all fucking disasters. How are you still alive?”
I lift a shoulder and reach for the bread. “Spite.”
Luce raises her glass, mouth tugging. “And Nonna.”
Asher spreads his fingers and draws my thigh closer to his, and my body refuses to settle the fuck down, which only makes me hate him more on sheer principle.
My knee brushes his, tilting the room.
He traces circles over my skin, each one making me burn hotter and hotter.
I swallow my wine in one gulp, ignoring Luce’s obvious gawking from across the table. She’s always had the mercy of an executioner when I’m making bad choices.
Asher brings his mouth to my ear. “You’re getting quiet, Venom.”
I set my glass down before I do something idiotic with it. “I’m considering murder.”
He turns closer, his mouth ghosting against my skin. “Foreplay already?”
Across the table, Luce gives me a sweet little smile over her wine, and I know she’s saving this for later. The traitor.
Punk leans into the table, attention on Asher. “Tell him about the time Ivy tried to cook for Leon’s birthday.”
I lift an eyebrow. “We don’t talk about that.”
Jord toys with a crust and smirks. “The fire department came.”
Luce covers a grin with her hand. “Twice.”
Asher tilts his head and nudges my shoulder. “Now that I believe.” He shifts closer. “I was always the one cooking.”
I turn into him before I register how close our faces are. “If by cooking you mean cheating and ordering takeout, then suuureee.”
His gaze drops to my mouth, and there it is, that old, lazy grin. The one that used to knock all the fight out of me and apparently still can, because the whole world falls away in an instant.
My heartbeat thuds against my ribs as he drains his glass and slides in close, but I stop him with a hand on his chest. “Stop doing that.”
Asher grins. “Doing what, Venom?”
I glare at him, because if he keeps putting his body this close, I’m going to fucking climb it.
Threading his fingers into the back of my hair, he angles his head to the side and kisses me, tongue sliding past my lips.
And there goes my dignity. Out the window. Gone. Because his mouth is doing that thing it used to do, the thing I love to pretend I don’t miss.
My body answers before my brain can stop it, fingers curling into his collar and dragging him closer, like I have any right to, like I didn’t spend a year thinking I’d killed him.
He pulls back a fraction, breath warm against my mouth, that fucking grin pressed to my lips.
Everything snaps back into focus. I used to have more control. I do have more control. What the fuck is wrong with me where this man is concerned?
Luce mouths something across the table, catching my eye. “You okay?”
Not a single person here so much as blinks at mine and Asher’s little display of… whatever the fuck that was. Despite the erratic beating of my thirsty heart, I nod at Luce.
I can’t tell anymore if he’s forgiving me or punishing me.
Sound cracks half a second behind the impact, and the delay jerks my head sideways. Wood and glass spray across my cheek, and I’m already moving, dropping beneath the table to yank the strapped gun from where it’s kept for… purposes.
Another shot rips through the room. To find a vantage point, you must calculate the trajectory in reverse and then work out if you’re dealing with a single shooter or pair. The rhythm between rounds is uneven and spaced far apart, which means one shooter.
Standing to my full height, I lift my arm to unload when Asher clamps his around my throat, dragging me behind him as his other hand strips the gun from me so fast my fingers still curl like they’re holding it.
He fucking disarmed me faster than I could recite the damn Codex. Positioning himself between me and the shattered window, he locks onto the invisible target and fires once.