Sweet Touch of Venom (Lethal Love #1)

27. Venom

Chapter 27

Venom

Operation: Die by my fist, bitch.

“ Y ou motherf—” I scream, cutting off the words because I drop my butcher knife, and my fist connects with Fred’s face painfully. Repeatedly. Until I see the tint that disgusts me the most. I just want to see him turn black and blue.

How could he say that to me? He was my brother. My only sibling. The one that gave me hope and always looked out for me. The one that believed in me—even when I didn’t believe in myself. Anytime I felt hopeless because I had no clear goals, he encouraged me to lean toward what inspires me. Once he was gone, everything disappeared. The house no longer had that special energy that completed our family.

I let out a screeching scream, continuing to deck him in the face, tears pooling in my eyes and the pain stabbing me over and over in my heart, my eyes blackening. Bastard.

Punch.

Here’s for the death they caused to my brother.

Punch.

The torture they inflicted on Ronan.

Triple punch.

For every child, they made suffer for their own selfish gain.

Until powerful arms wrap around my waist and pull me from his demolished face. I grip at the arms holding me, scratching at it to finish what I started. I scream, hoping to get away. I’m not thinking clearly; my mind is a volcano eruption wanting to spill its magma all over him. Ronan is unaffected by my wrath; he still holds me tight to him.

One arm stays around my waist while the other hand skates up my chest, gripping me fully into his body. “Breathe, Anita,” he whispers lightly in my ear. “Don’t let him see you break.”

My heart drops from his words. And emotion swells in my throat, constricting it. An unwilling sob escapes from me. I lift my nails from his broken skin and curl my hands over it, pulling him in as my body shakes.

The vulnerable side of me, I dare set free, is spilling out like cracks in the dam. I can’t control it. I shut my eyes, allowing his breath against my face to calm me down. His harsh hair from his beard to prick and graze my skin. The hard chill of his body to relax my hot venom. He draws me even tighter, turning me around from Fred.

I’m wrapped in him like a bear, calming my untamed spirit. His heartbeat thumps against my back, as he whispers “he’s here” and “it's okay”. I soon realize that he’s…hugging me. No one has ever gotten in such proximity to touch me like this. I haven’t been held this way in so long. I had forgotten what it felt like to be sheltered. Nurtured.

Protected from myself.

I take ten deep, shuddering breaths in my nose and harshly out of my mouth, the sweat coating my skin for that onset of fire. After he sees I’ve calmed down, he turns me around to face him. Shame is all I feel. I lost my cool; I nearly burst into tears, and he may not want me to do this with him again. I never lose my shit like this.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” I breathe out, avoiding his eyes.

Expecting to hear anger or criticism, he hooks my chin between the pad of his thumb and finger, tilting my head up. His arm wraps around my back, soothing me with gentle rubs. “Don’t ever apologize for that. You deserve to hurt them. It’s your right.” He speaks with ease.

My shoulders relax, and I gaze up into his eyes. The man they’ve trained me to hate calms me. “If you want me to leave now, I understand.”

“Absolutely not. We came for blood, and that’s exactly what we are going to get.” Ronan’s fingers leave my chin to cup my face. “I didn’t pull you away because he doesn’t deserve it. I did it because you were hurting yourself for a disgusting human like him.” He grasps my hand softly, lifting it to the middle of us.

I step back, appalled. Not only are my knuckles gashed and damaged, but my nails are also horrendous and covered in his blood. I continue studying my bruised and battered hands. It’s bloody, but I’ve never felt more satisfied.

“Say the word and I’ll shoot him right in the face; we don’t have to prolong this. I’ll slice his throat and end it right now. Give me the word, amor.” His words are promising and oozing with the name they call him— poison .

A tightening pulls at my heartstrings. The wall I’ve built over my heart rumbles and cracks. He holds my hand, the other placed on my lower lumbar. His thumb rubs around the blood, carefully to not touch the gashes. He hoods his eyes at me intensely, showing through silent words that I’m in control. I close my eyes, letting out a sigh. I am calmer than I have been since starting this venture.

“Ok. Let's finish.”

He nods, dragging his hand up my waist and to my shoulder. The simple act sends chills up my spine, and my waist presses into him tighter. He flicks his gaze back to my lips. The Adam’s apple in his throat bulges out before releasing and withdrawing from me. “You go to Dr. Rio after this and get patched up.” Gesturing his head to my bloody knuckles.

I suddenly miss his hold on me; the warmth that was created has evaporated and replaced with shivers and chills. So again, I push those unneeded feelings away. He was just doing what he was trained to do. He would do that with anyone.

I gather myself to face this man who makes me sick to my stomach. My hand is now stinging and throbbing from the aftereffect. His face is puffing from the hits, and frankly, I don’t give a damn. His swollen eyes catch me, and his gaze turns furious.

“You-you crazy fucking?—”

Ronan cuts him off by giving him another blow to his face. “Choose your next words wisely.”

I smooth down my shirt. “Let’s start over. Who paid you to go after my brother and Ronan?” I lean over in front of him.

Cracking a toothy smile, the blood staining his teeth, his head bobbing and eyes dulling. “You’ll find out soon.” He chokes out a cackling laugh.

I look over my shoulder at Ronan while he grabs his brick, my brows furrowing deeper. That doesn’t sound promising.

“We don’t have time for this shit,” Ronan snarls, throwing up the brick and catching it like a baseball.

He strolls back over to this shelf of devices, picking up a handful of things.

I slowly raise and glance at Fred, whose smile is gone. I don’t see anything apart from the image that rests in my head of his body cut up into chunks and pieces. I pick up the butcher knife, stepping to him as Ronan follows.

Ronan leans over my shoulder, pressing into my back. The heat of his body engulfs me into his shadow, the air from his breath grazing my skin.

Dipping his lips to my ear, brushing over the curves delicately. “Let your venom free, little snake.”

A tingle runs up my gut, bursting into my chest as I stand there, watching Fred bleed out. My eyes dilate as I think back on when I sliced Joe and hung him to bleed out. That was fun.

“Make him suffer,” he whispers menacingly. I tilt my ear to his lips, compelled to his word. He continues his hushed tones into my ear of every intricate thing he wants to see me do to him. Everything I desire. All that I wish for.

“Cut him limb from limb.”

“You deserve this.”

Darkness emanates off him and swirls around me, consuming every part of my soul. He holds out his hand for me to clasp, telling me this where I belong. Take his hand and accept his danger.

And I do.

“ Ruin him, little snake.”