Page 135 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
I force my gaze away, briefly scanning for Azrael’s shadow, which is now nowhere to be seen. Before my heart can crumble any further, I turn to find Gideon and Winnow on horseback, lazily making their way towards us.
“Your services are required, Duchess.”
Her mouth opens with faux humility, presumably to request that I no longer refer to her as Duchess. She’s stopped short as her eyes flick to the males behind me, eyes widening in horror at the sight of Azrael’s head.
Gideon seems far less perturbed, though his brows slide up his forehead as he directs his question to Levi. “Imma take a wild guess and say you had somethin’ to do with that.”
Azrael’s head smirks, eyes flicking towards Levi.
“I see your reputation precedes you.”
Whatever joy was shining through Levi’s face mere seconds ago has evaporated entirely.
In the distance, I can see Gideon’s friends exiting the barn and making their way towards us. I nod in their direction.
“Will your human friends be unsettled by our...predicament?”
Gideon curses under his breath as he and Winnow follow my line of sight. “Winnie, baby... You wanna go tell Beau and Gertie to get started without us, while I bring our guests inside?”
Before she can reply, Levi speaks up.
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll go speak with them. I need to take a ride down to my property anyway... I’ll be back shortly.”
Levi’s gaze shifts to mine, and for some Akash-forsaken reason, my heart leaps beneath it.
“Wait for me?”
My mouth opens and closes uselessly while I attempt to recompose myself.
Clearing my throat, I straighten.
“Remind me why, exactly, I would do such a thing,human.”
I expect him to grumble and grunt now that we have an audience.
I am wrong.
Instead, he closes the distance between us in two strides, grips me firmly by the hips, and brings his face within an inch of mine. Hesitating briefly as if to give me the chance to stop him.
And I find, despite no longer having asoulbondbetween us, I am incapable of denying his touch.
My breath suspends somewhere high in my chest, and I nearly choke on my own spit. Every thought in my mind eddies away like a sandcastle on a seashore.
All that remains is the thundering of my heart and the pureneedfor him streaking like lightning through every atom of my body.
At my lack of protest, Levi’s mouth captures mine in a way that is both tender and ravenous. Devouring yet reverent.
The fervour with which his lips and tongue caress mine sends the message that whatever he lacks in romantic declarations, he longs to make up for in action.
One of his hands roams from my hips to cradle the back of my skull to grip a fistful of my hair. The world around us evaporates until he suddenly breaks our all-too-brief kiss.
“So I may do you justice.”
What?
I’m still trying to recollect what question he was even replying to when he releases me and marches towards Gideon’s barn.
It is a monumental feat that my knees don’t buckle, and I manage to straighten. Finger-combing my now mussed hair, I force my gaze to acknowledge our audience’s stares despite the fact that my cheeks are burning hotter than a hearth.
