Page 164 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
My heart sinks a little at the possibility Levi might give up on me when the time comes to actually fulfill the courtship rituals... namely, the part that involves sharing me with Azrael. Everything that I am now magically bound to do with him.
A small amount of guilt and shame nauseously winds through me at the undeniable fact that, no matter how my logical mind or my morals try to sway the heart of me otherwise, Iwantto do those things with Azrael.
In all these years, I never forgot about him. Hadwilledhis pin betwixt my fingers on countless occasions. Had, in my weakest moments, yearned for him. Absolutelyachedto call upon him. To be held by him, a stranger that showed me kindness, whose soul called to mine, but didn’t belong to me.
When Levi had given me the excuse to—when fate had at least given me a valid reason to seek Azrael out—as heartbroken as I’d been, a tiny, deeply suppressed and unacknowledged part of me had also been hopeful.
And now that I’ve gotten to know him; the sweetness, the tenderness, the vulnerability, and loneliness that’s been hiding behind all that power and mask of charisma... my heart, mind, body, and spirit yearn to show him just how much I adore him.
But I am equally heartbroken.
How will Levi ever reconcile this?
VIOLETTE
After feverishly masturbating in the shower and dressing myself in a floor length night dressandrobe, I exit the bathroom only to be stopped in my tracks at the sight I’m greeted with. Levi and Azrael sitting on top of the bed covers, their backs leaning against the headboard as Azrael reads aloud from an old, weathered book. His shadow sits ominously, watching from the desk chair across the room.
Azrael’s words drift as his eyes, twinkling with mischief, meet mine from over the book. Levi’s, on the other hand, devour me.
My core clenches. And as if Azrael can detect it—perhaps scent it even—his grin widens. “That was a ratherlongshower.”
My back goes rigid, chin lifting. “To complement the long day, naturally.”
Azrael’s lips tease a grin. “Naturally.”
The tension in the air grows impossibly taut, and Azrael chooses that exact moment to slam the book shut.
“Right. I’m going to take a quick shower myself.”
He tosses the book on the foot of the bed. “Care to translate?”
My gaze lands on the dark green and gold book. I hadn’t discerned the half-faded, gilded syrith lovers embossed into theleather of the cover, or the Syrithian script above them reading,The Sacred Rites of Syrith Courtship.
Sacred indeed.
Slaughter, blood, grand gestures, declarations of love, more blood—the drinking of it, and finally fucking. Lots and lots of fucking. Or more accurately, lots of edging, andthenfucking.
My core clenches in anticipation.
Azrael strides off to the bathroom, liberating his torso of Levi’s shirt and flinging it onto the desk. I gulp. Audibly.
Levi sinks further onto the bed, holding an arm out in invitation—an action that makes my nipples and clit tingle.
Akash almighty.
I’m gnawing at the bars of my feeble enclosure.
Needing no more encouragement, despite my internal battle, my feet carry me to the bed, and I crawl directly into Levi’s arms.
Levi gazes down at me. I gaze up at him, his scent filling my nostrils further increasing my need for him. His words are a soft murmur. “Thank you for agreeing to this.”
“Thank you for inviting me. And allowing Azrael to join us.”
“You didn’t exactly give me a choice.”
Well, there’s that... but he has been surprisingly amenable about it.
“That’s not such a bad thing, though, is it? You two seem to be getting along. If it weren’t for me, you’d be fast friends.”
