Page 51 of Gravehouse

I swallow my wine in one gulp, ignoring Luce’s obvious gawking from across the table. She’s always had the mercy of an executioner when I’m making bad choices.

Asher brings his mouth to my ear. “You’re getting quiet, Venom.”

I set my glass down before I do something idiotic with it. “I’m considering murder.”

He turns closer, his mouth ghosting against my skin. “Foreplay already?”

Across the table, Luce gives me a sweet little smile over her wine, and I know she’s saving this for later. The traitor.

Punk leans into the table, attention on Asher. “Tell him about the time Ivy tried to cook for Leon’s birthday.”

I lift an eyebrow. “We don’t talk about that.”

Jord toys with a crust and smirks. “The fire department came.”

Luce covers a grin with her hand. “Twice.”

Asher tilts his head and nudges my shoulder. “Now that I believe.” He shifts closer. “I was always the one cooking.”

I turn into him before I register how close our faces are. “If by cooking you mean cheating and ordering takeout, then suuureee.”

His gaze drops to my mouth, and there it is, that old, lazy grin. The one that used to knock all the fight out of me and apparently still can, because the whole world falls away in an instant.

My heartbeat thuds against my ribs as he drains his glass and slides in close, but I stop him with a hand on his chest. “Stop doing that.”

Asher grins. “Doing what, Venom?”

I glare at him, because if he keeps putting his body this close, I’m going to fucking climb it.

Threading his fingers into the back of my hair, he angles his head to the side and kisses me, tongue sliding past my lips.

And there goes my dignity. Out the window. Gone. Because his mouth is doing that thing it used to do, the thing I love to pretend Idon’tmiss.

My body answers before my brain can stop it, fingers curling into his collar and dragging him closer, like I have any right to, like I didn’t spend a year thinking I’d killed him.

He pulls back a fraction, breath warm against my mouth, that fucking grin pressed to my lips.

Everything snaps back into focus. I used to have more control.I do have more control. What the fuck is wrong with me where this man is concerned?

Luce mouths something across the table, catching my eye. “You okay?”

Not a single person here so much as blinks at mine and Asher’s little display of… whatever the fuck that was. Despite the erratic beating of my thirsty heart, I nod at Luce.

I can’t tell anymore if he’s forgiving me or punishing me.

Sound cracks half a second behind the impact, and the delay jerks my head sideways. Wood and glass spray across my cheek, and I’m already moving, dropping beneath the table to yank the strapped gun from where it’s kept for… purposes.

Another shot rips through the room.To find a vantage point, you must calculate the trajectory in reverse and then work out if you’re dealing with a single shooter or pair.The rhythm between rounds is uneven and spaced far apart, which means one shooter.

Standing to my full height, I lift my arm to unload when Asher clamps his around my throat, dragging me behind him as his other hand strips the gun from me so fast my fingers still curl like they’re holding it.

He fucking disarmed me faster than I could recite the damn Codex. Positioning himself between me and the shattered window, he locks onto the invisible target and fires once.

Twice.

Three times.

Silence.