Chapter 4 – VENOM
Chapter
Four
VENOM
Running a hand down my face, I sit on the edge of my bed.
That woman… no, that beast is already exhausting me.
She shouldn’t be bothering me as much as she is but something about her is slithering its way beneath my skin. I know I shouldn’t have brought her here, but there’s no going back. I might as well have some fun.
The image of her pouty, terror-stricken face flashes before me, and an unpleasant feeling pulses inside my chest.
Strange.
I hear the shower in the next room turn on. Finally, the wild thing is washing herself. I lie on my bed and listen to the stream of the water.
Almost thirty minutes pass, and the shower is still going. While I had her locked away downstairs, I installed a couple cameras in her room to keep an eye on the wild thing.
Curiosity taking over, I grab my phone, open the camera app and click on the view inside the shower.
The beast is sitting on the shower floor, knees up to her chest with her head resting on them and her arms wrapped around her legs.
Steam billows in the air as the water spills over her, slicking her copper hair to her now pinkish flesh.
A shiver coils through me. She looks so small and fragile.
Breakable. But this creature is far from how she appears.
Fifteen more minutes pass before she finally stands.
Closing her eyes and tilting her head up, she lets the water run over her face once more.
She looks serene. She then takes a step back, away from the water stream and her lips part, taking in a deep breath as she runs her hands over her wet hair.
Droplets of water fall from her thick dark lashes and travel down her face, neck, and over her luscious breasts. I swallow.
As beastly as she is, she’s still a beautiful creature. Too beautiful.
I blink a few times, breaking the spell. My thumb hovers before I exit the app, pulse unsteady.
Closing my eyes, I try to rest. It’s been a long day.
A couple minutes later, I hear the guest room door open then close.
Where’s the beast off to now?
After waiting a moment, I make my way downstairs to see what my fiery redhead is up to.
I enter the kitchen to find her standing at the open fridge, shoving berries into her mouth.
“Would you like a bowl?”
“Shit!” She startles, placing a hand over her chest, drawing my attention to those luscious curves of hers. My gaze slowly travels back up as I grind my molars. Blackberry juice paints the corner of her mouth and chin. “I was looking for something to eat.”
“It appears you found where I keep the food.”
She scowls at me as she pops another berry into her mouth and licks her lips. My gaze lingers a bit too long at her juice-coated mouth.
“Evelyn will be cooking dinner soon. You can have a proper meal.”
“Are you trying to be nice to me after poisoning me?”
“Nice? No, I wouldn't dare.” I saunter closer to her and she takes a step back, colliding with the fridge door, causing it to shut, and her to jump once more. Her wet hair hangs free, droplets of water still falling from the strands.
“You a bit skittish?” I ask with a raise of my brow.
“Being nearly killed by poison can do that to a person,” she snaps.
“You wouldn't have died.”
“No?”
“Just would have wished you had.”
“Right. So, you do this often?”
“You gotta be more specific, darlin’.” I tip my head to the side, eyeing her up and down.
“Kidnap and poison people?”
“I’d say so. Though, I wouldn't say I kidnapped you. If I remember correctly, you begged me to take you with me. You were about to be on your hands and knees before me. I think I would have enjoyed seeing that.” I step even closer and take pleasure in seeing her visibly tense.
She scoffs. “That was before I realized what a psychopath you are.”
I bring my thumb to her face, and she flinches. Smirking, I wipe the blackberry juice from the corner of her lips as she stares at me with bewilderment, then bring it to my mouth, sucking. “Delicious.”
“Don’t do that again,” she says with a murderous expression which I find absolutely delightful.
“Or what?” I challenge.
“Or I’ll bite your fucking finger off.”
I laugh. “Of course I’d find such a wild beast in the south. Nothing good in my life has ever come from there.”
She lifts her chin higher in defiance. “You can insult me all you want. I see right through you.”
“You certainly wish you would see through these clothes.”
“Ugh. Seriously, get over yourself.”
“Just do yourself a favor, don’t go falling in love with me.”
She laughs, the sound oddly pleasant to my ears. “As if that was ever going to be a possibility.”
“Do you not find me charming, darlin’?”
“Not in the least,” she says, straightening her back and crossing her arms over her tightly covered breasts.
“You’ll need to work on that.” Smirking, I turn from her.
“On what?”
“Your lying. Oh, and for the record, I bite back,” I say as I leave the kitchen.
We sit in the dining room at opposite ends of a long dark table while Evelyn serves us dinner.
“What is it?” Ivy asks.
“You’ve never had salmon before?”
“No. As far as seafood goes, I’ve only ever tried shrimp.”
“Ev makes the best lemon garlic salmon. But even if you don’t agree, just pretend to love it.”
Evelyn takes the dish towel that was over her shoulder and throws it at me, smacking me right in the face.
Ivy laughs as Ev signs, “Don’t tell the girl to lie to me.”
“Just looking out for your feelings, Ev. With them being so old, you might not survive someone telling you your best dishes are shit.”
“You know what? I think I liked it better when you were gone.”
“Don’t go lying to yourself now. You know you missed me.” Evelyn finally breaks her scowl and smiles at me.
I look back to Ivy who's just been watching our interaction with fascination. “Go on, try it.” She actually obeys, parting those pink lips to slide a piece of salmon onto her tongue. I watch her chew, and when a smile curves her mouth, I lean forward. "Good, right?"
“Wow, yeah. That’s really good.” She looks at a grinning Evelyn and says, “Thank you, it’s delicious.”
With a nod, she leaves us.
Ivy begins shoveling the salmon into her mouth, barely taking breaths in between.
“You even eat like a beast.”
She glares at me. “I’ve been practically starved for the past nine months.”
“Then you should probably eat slower. Let your body adjust instead of overwhelming it.” My jaw ticks as images of her wet body take over my thoughts.
She considers my words and slows down. I bring a glass of whiskey to my mouth and take a large sip, pushing away the images.
“So, how did you end up with that couple anyway?”
She shoots me a hard look, like she’s weighing whether I deserve the truth.
“Are we getting personal now?”
“Oh, we’ve already gotten pretty personal, don't ya think?”
She rolls her eyes but finally exhales. “I was on the run from someone when that couple found me. I thought they were nice—offered me help.” Her voice goes flat, her gazed fixed somewhere past me.
“Instead, they lured me back to their place and tossed me in that hole. Turns out they were trying to sell me to the highest bidder. And until then, they made money letting men use me.” Her expression doesn’t shift, her tone as stone-cold as the words spilling from it. No emotion. Nothing left to give.
“Use you?”
“That’s what I said.”
“You were raped by these men?” My jaw clenches and fingers squeeze tightly around my fork.
She shakes her head. “No. There were rules. No intercourse. Just… other stuff. I was to remain…" She breaks eye contact. “A virgin.”
I drop my utensil, the clang against the plate making her glance up and meet my eyes. "You're a virgin?" The words slip out before I can catch them. I hadn’t expected that.
"Yup. Still worth a lot of money. You thinking of changing your plans and selling me too?"
"I have enough money."
She doesn’t respond, but something flickers across her face, subtle enough most people would miss it. For a couple of breaths, we just stare at each other, the silence heavy, until she clears her throat and takes a slow sip of water.
“So, what are your plans for me then?”
Ignoring her question, I ask one of my own. “Who were you on the run from?”
“That doesn't matter,” she says a bit too quickly, causing my curiosity to pique.
“I told you; you need to work on your lying. Don’t be shy now, darlin’.”
“How about you answer one of my questions first?”
“Fine.”
“So, you’re some kind of serial killer? Why poison?”
I smirk, then lean back in my chair. “I prefer assassin. And ever since a young age I’ve been fascinated by pretty, remarkable things that can easily kill you. I also happen to be immune to poison.”
“All poison?”
“So far all the ones I’ve come across.” Which happens to be quite a lot.
“You’ve tested them on yourself willingly? What if you died?” she asks with furrowed brows.
“When you have nothing to live for, it becomes rather easy to risk your life.” She looks surprised at my answer. “Now, back to you. Who were you running from?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Give me the cliff notes.”
With a long sigh, she brings her hands to her thighs as if to steady herself.
“That couple… they weren’t the first to lock me up.
” Her voice falters, and she swallows before forcing herself on.
“When I aged out of foster care, I had nothing. No family. No home. Just me, scared and stupid. I trusted the wrong people.” Her hands come up in front of her again as she fidgets with her fingers before curling into fists.
“And ended up in the hands of someone more psychotic than you. If you can believe that.” I raise a brow, but she doesn’t meet my eyes.
“Anyway…” Her laugh is bitter, shaky. “I got away. Only to end up prisoner once again with those redneck fucks. And now—again, with you.”
“Did any of them serve you delicious salmon and look as good as me?” When she rolls her eyes, I add, “Come now, darlin’, I ain't so bad.”
“Something tells me you’re something entirely different. Which isn’t exactly a good thing.”
I offer a smile before I take a sip of my whiskey.
“I’d like to go to bed now if that’s alright with you.”
“Go right ahead, prisoner.” Before she leaves the dining room, I call out, “I wish you the sweetest dreams, beastie.”
She throws up her middle finger at me before disappearing.