Page 166 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
Like actually getting through the final rite.
A few moments pass as I steel myself.
“The final rite is to determine sexual compatibility, followed by achieving practiced fluency in one another’s sexual needs and desires. Learning each and every detail, desire, need, and dislike. Moulding ourselves to fit the other person. It is no small feat. It is not merely sex for the sake of sex, and can only be completed with trueunion—as in dually achieved orgasms, and their bodies made one. It is something that holds immeasurable gravitas, andeven in the rare circumstances where one or both parties in the courtship decide to part ways and forgo swearing their lifelong vows, they are both forever changed.”
Holding my gaze, Levi’s expression is completely void of emotion.
Oh, fuck. This is it. He’s going to walk straight out the door.
The silence between us is excruciating, and I exhale a breath when he finally speaks. “And what about in circumstances like this? Where there is more than one person courting the other?”
I shake my head, wary of his calm demeanor. “... It’s unheard of in syrith culture.”
Not that I would know as an Akash-forsaken shiver-less paraseivero.
Levi continues to stare.
Panic starts to build in my chest.
Fear, more specifically.
This is it.
We are no longer soulbound. He’s going to leave. This is the perfect window of opportunity for him to do so, and no one would blame him.
Levi’s expression is so distant; I’ve never felt further from him.
Tears begin to burn, forcing me to look away.
I am such a fool. An impulsive, naive, idiotic fool.
My breath catches as Levi finally breaks the silence.
“You care for him?”
Akash almighty, as guilty as I feel about it; as much as I probably shouldn’t, and regardless of how little I know him or how little trust he has earned...
I do.
My expression tightens as I try to hold back my tears.
I can’t bring myself to lie, and even if I could, Levi would see the truth written all over my face. Streaking down my cheeks in two fat, watery flags of dismay. So with a whisper, I nod. “Yes.”
Levi’s expression gives away nothing, but there’s a palpable sadness radiating from him.
“But please know that I care for you as well. Beyond measure. Beyond what I am willing to admit…”
Levi studies me, but his expression remains vacant. A few fleeting moments pass before he stands. My heart shatters in anticipation of what I should have known was coming. I stand, in one abrupt movement, to follow him, causing a mirrored memory of my mother to play in my mind.
Desperation has me gripping his arm. “Levi,please. Please, don’t leave…”
I’ve never felt more like my mother in my life, and it’s the first time I’ve ever begged.
And I’ve never felt lower.
Perhaps akin to something like carrion.
No, lower.
