Page 167 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
Sewer sludge, more likely.
Brows faintly drawn together in an uncertain look, Levi looks down at my hand clutching his bicep and then at me.
Azrael chooses then to emerge from the bathroom, a cloud of steam billowing around him. I am both relieved and terrified to see him. Relieved that there’s someone else here to potentially restrain Levi from leaving, if necessary.
Is that too deranged? If so, I’m not sure I care.
I’m terrified that Levi will snap and try to rip Azrael’s head off again. Punt it out of the hotel room window for it to get pancaked by a semi-truck.
Azrael looks down at us, eyes darting between my tears, Levi’s tense expression, and my hand still grasping his arm. “Everything okay?”
The space between Azrael’s question and Levi’s answer feels like a window to eternity in which my heart stops.
But then he gradually nods. “Yeah. Gonna take a shower.”
Oh, gods.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt such relief. My hand slackens, dropping from Levi’s arm. With parted lips, I finally exhale. A slight wave of dizziness comes over me, but quickly fades.
Azrael steps aside, and Levi steps inside the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
Azrael turns to face me, hands settling on the curve of my shoulders as he stares down into my face. Seeing the worry lining his features feels like the sun’s rays being revealed from behind a passing thundercloud.
“You thought he would leave?”
I was certain he would.
My chin wobbles as I manage a nod, more tears streaming.
Azrael’s expression morphs into something that resembles a look Levi has given me several times already—the one that reminds me of someone looking at something tiny and pathetic, but cute.
With a softtsksound, Azrael pulls me against his bare, still moist chest. The only other place I’ve ever felt as much safety and relief as I have in those fleeting moments when being held in Levi’s arms.
“Oh, darling. You don’t give yourself enough credit. Truly.”
Pressing a kiss to the top of my head, he murmurs against me.
“Or him, to be honest.”
Sniffling, I whisper into one meaty pectoral. “How so?”
“Did you honestly thinkhe,of all people, would be so intimidated or easily deterred? That just because he has a little competition, he would just give up on you?”
I scoff, rolling my eyes, and pull back to gaze up at him. “You know it’s more thanjust a little competition.”
He arches a brow at me. “How so?”
My cheeks heat. “Well... you know...the final rite.”
Azrael gives me a look that tells me I’m being naive. “Do humans not take multiple partners? Do they notdate around? Sample their sexual compatibility with different people before choosing one to settle down with?”
“This is?—”
“Different? Yes, of course it is, because both of us have already chosen you.”
I have no rational negation to that. I ponder. Azrael continues.
“And you feel guilty because you feel like both of us deserve your loyalty? Why? What have either of us done to earn your loyalty? Proven that we are even mentally, physically, emotionally, morally, and spiritually compatible? How long have you truly known us? Hm?”
