Chapter 2 – VENOM
Chapter
Two
VENOM
After making my way out of that dank hole, I fill my lungs with fresh air, dust off my pants and then head to my car.
“Wait! Where are you going?” the girl shouts from behind me.
I stop and turn to face her.
“I thought it was obvious. I’m leaving. My job here is done,” I say with a dramatic bow.
“But… where do I go now? You can’t just leave me here.”
“I most certainly can. And I will.”
“You’re not going to help me?”
“I’ve helped enough.” I continue walking, but the pesky beast follows.
“Hey! Asshole, I’m talking to you!”
Pausing, I turn to her once more with a smirk. She stops as I stride toward her.
“You know, darlin’, there’s better things you could do with that mouth of yours than spew insults at the man who saved you.”
She scowls and raises a finger at me. “Fuck you.”
“Sorry, beast, I don’t have much time.” At that, she crosses her arms, tossing a glare at me.
Amused, I turn, but a hand grabs my arm. I slowly look down at the dirty limb that has attached itself to me, then meet the eyes of the girl it belongs to. “Remove your hand, if you would like to keep it,” I say in a low voice, growing tired of this interaction.
She must see the severity in my expression because she immediately lets go.
“Please. I have nowhere to go. I don’t even know where I am. There are dead bodies in the house, I’m barely clothed, I haven’t eaten or drank anything in almost three days.”
“I don’t see how that’s my concern. Call the police.”
She bristles, her cheeks turning a pretty shade of rose. “Clearly, I don’t have a damn phone and I’m not going into that house or being held responsible for their deaths.”
“Tell them a very attractive and charming poisoner killed them.” When she scoffs, I add, “I am not the hero in your story, darlin’. Make no mistake, I am the villain,” I add with a smirk.
“Please, Venom.” Her eyes soften, looking at me.
I should leave her here and be done with this. Begin my much-needed vacation. But hearing my name on her pouty lips sends a flame flickering within me. I search her desperate eyes, which are now much clearer in the afternoon sun.
Striking verdant irises with a blast of golden rays in the center of them. Beautiful. Mesmerizing. Light freckles paint her porcelain face along with dirt and dried blood. Her messy long copper hair shimmers in the sunlight like a blazing fire, and I suddenly have the urge to be burned.
My gaze travels over her body, taking note of the bruises and scabbed over wounds before I meet those stunning eyes again. She’s staring at me with an intense expression as she silently begs me.
Battered and bruised but not broken.
Raising a finger up to her flushed cheek, I stop before touching her.
“You remind me of someone,” I say softly. She blinks and I turn away from her. “Follow me, beastie.”
I don't bother looking back to make sure she’s obeying. There’s a tightness and heat coming from behind me that lets me know she’s indeed following me.
Reaching my car up the dirt road, I open the back door and motion for her to get in.
“I can’t sit up front?”
“Little beasties belong in the back.” I tilt my head at her and smile, motioning again for her to enter. She grunts and takes a seat in the back.
We surprisingly make it two hours into the drive without speaking another word to each other.
I pull into a gas station and start toward the door, then turn back, grabbing a bottle of water from my trunk before sticking my head back into the car and offering it to her. “Would the beast like a treat for behaving so well?”
She growls, snatching the bottle from my hands. “Stop calling me that. And yes—gummy bears.”
I blink. “Gummy bears? Out of everything?”
“They're my favorite,” she says around the rim of the bottle, eyes daring me to argue. “I’ve been without them for way too long.”
Without another word, I close the car door and stride inside to get the wild woman some ridiculous gummy bears.
“You smell. And now my car smells,” I whine after another four hours of driving.
“Well, what the fuck do you expect? I’ve been stuck in a fucking hole. I can assure you; I don’t like it any more than you, pal.”
My eyes meet hers in the rearview mirror. “Your manners certainly reflect that fact that you’ve been living like an animal.”
She bristles. “Fuck you.”
Amused, I smile, then focus back on the road, driving in silence for the next two hours before we finally reach my home.
I pull up to the gate of my property, and with a press of a button, it opens, leading us down a long stone driveway.
“Where are we?”
“My home.”
“Your actual fucking house?”
“Would you prefer I take you to the pound to be put down as a rabid animal?” I see her scowl at me through the rearview mirror. I smile. “Don’t go thanking me though, darlin’. You just signed your death sentence.” I park my car outside the garage and exit the vehicle before I hear her response.
She scrambles out of the car, quickly following me up the stairs to the front door.
“You live in a castle? And what do you mean, I signed my death sentence?”
“It only looks like a castle on the outside.” I ignore her second question and continue to my front door.
She huffs behind me. “If you’re just planning on killing me anyway, then what’s the point of even helping me in the first place?”
I turn toward her with a grin. “I’ve been known to play with my food before devouring it.” The massive wooden door swings open with a push, and I motion for her to enter first. “Beasts before beauty.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“Oh, darlin’, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
” She begrudgingly enters, and the door closes behind us with a loud bang, causing her to jump.
“First things first, you need a damn shower. I won’t have you infecting my home with your filth.
Come.” I motion for her to follow me, but before we make it to the stairs, someone rounds the corner from the hall.
“Oh my god, you didn’t tell me you lived with your mother.”
I scowl. “Evelyn is not my mother. How absolutely insulting to say such a thing.”
Evelyn comes closer, and I can already tell by her expression that I’m in trouble, which is quite common among us. Her brows pinch as she moves her hands and fingers, signing.
“You scared me! You weren't supposed to be back for a month. Is everything okay?”
“I know. Everything is fine.” Side-eyeing the dirty woman standing next me, I continue speaking out loud while signing back to Ev. “Change of plans. We have a guest for a bit. This is…” I look at the redhead once more. “What’s your name, little beast?”
“Ivy.” I can’t control the deep chuckle that escapes me as her brows furrow. “What’s so funny?”
“Of course that’s your name.”
Placing her hands on her curvy hips, she asks, “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”
“Well, don’t ya know you’re poison, darlin’?” She rolls her eyes, and I suddenly have the urge to watch them melt from their sockets.
“This is Evelyn, my housekeeper. She keeps things in order while I’m away, and well, when I’m here, she also tries her damndest to keep me in order as well.”
“You are impossible. It’s an endless task.”
“Well yes, but you love it.”
She gives a light shake of her head with a growing grin and looks at Ivy.
Ivy gives Evelyn a wave with a small smile, looking shy.
“You can speak to her. She can’t hear or speak but she can read lips, rather impressively. In fact, you best watch everything you say around her.”
Evelyn gently swats my arm as she tries to suppress a small smile.
“Shall I prepare a room for her?”
“Please.”
Evelyn nods, then glances at Ivy before disappearing.
“She cares about you.” Ivy’s voice is soft, but steady, cutting through the charged silence between us.
I huff out a laugh, shaking my head. Of all the conclusions… “You’ve come to that from that one interaction? I pay her well.”
Her brows lift. “Are you saying she doesn’t care about you?”
A sigh escapes before I can catch it. My shoulders feel heavier with the admission. “The women in my life have always cared more about what I can do or provide for them rather than anything else.”
Ivy doesn’t flinch. She just tilts her head, gaze unwavering. “That may have been so but you’re blind if you can’t see it’s different with her.”
I study her, searching for a crack, a tell. “Hmm. Maybe. Or maybe I can see people much clearer than you.”
Her lips curve into a challenge. “And what do you see when you look at me?”
“Besides a filthy beast?” I take my time with the words, letting the insult hang between us. “You’re certainly here for what I can provide you, aren't you? You’re all the same.”
Her jaw tightens. “Maybe you don’t give anyone the chance to show you anything different.”
I close the space between us in one step, my shadow swallowing her smaller frame. Her green eyes blaze up at me, daring me to keep going. “I don’t allow myself to be deceived.”
“You think I will deceive you?” Her arms fold across her chest like armor. “You don’t know anything about me,” she says, crossing her arms.
“I know enough. And I know that you already have.”
“What? I have not!”
I smirk. “You are far from what you pretend to be, darlin’.”
“I’m not pretending to be anything! I just need a little help.”
“Hmm.” I flick a piece of her dirty hair. “I'll add that to the list.”
She swats at my hand. “Add what?”
“That you're a liar.”
“And what list?!”
I slide my hands into my pockets. “My list of why I should kill you.”
“Ya know, I’m sick of you being an asshole to me for no fucking reason!”
“You’ve ruined my vacation. That’s plenty of reason. Now let's go, you need a shower, and I need to get you out of my damn sight and nose for a while.”
“You know what, fuck this! I’m out!” She heads for the door, pulling it open.
Before she can open it any further though, I slam it shut. She whirls on me, and I pin her against the door with a hand to her chest. “You will not be going anywhere.”
“Fuck you, asshole.” Her palm cracks across my cheek before I even see it coming. Heat blooms in the sting, sharp and satisfying. I bare my teeth in a slow smile.
“You truly have no idea who you are fucking with, little beast.”
Her chin lifts, green fire burning in her eyes. “Am I supposed to be afraid of you?”
“Yes.” The word rumbles out on a sneer, low and deliberate.
“Surprise, I’m not. So… now what?”
Is she really challenging me? This could actually be fun. “That means I have to change that.” I grab her bicep and pull her down the hall.
“Let go! Where are you taking me?!” She fights me, but I'm stronger, especially in her weakened state. But then she drops her body weight, nearly causing me to trip. I stop, let out an annoyed huff, then lift her, roughly throwing her over my shoulder.
“If you’re going to continue to behave like a wild beast, then I’ll have to lock you up like one.”
“You’re going to keep me prisoner after just freeing me? How the fuck does that make sense?” She tries kicking at the air, but I hold her legs tightly against me. Her small fists bang against my back in frustration, causing me to grin. Such a wild thing.
“It doesn’t have to make sense. It just has to work.”
“For what to work?!”
“Tame the beast,” I say, then drop her like a bag of coal into a room and slam the door shut, locking her in.
She jiggles the knob and pounds on the door, screaming like a banshee.
I pop a toothpick into my mouth and stride off.
So much for my vacation.