Venomous King (Venom #2)

31. Diego

Chapter thirty-one

Diego

“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.”

Brené Brown

W e walk across the pool area in silence, each of us lost in our thoughts. My eyes trail over Issy’s slim frame, and Kai’s fucking right, she’s not eating, and she’s not sleeping. I drag my tattooed hand through my hair in aggravation. I have no idea how to help her through this, other than to try to kill every single person who is part of that cartel, whether they were innocent of the deeds Sonja and Joaquín committed or not. Maybe that fucker Kai is right, and she needs to go somewhere away from us to heal. The minute I think the words, everything within me rages to reject them. I can’t let her go, and I refuse to be apart from her. Even with this frigid distance between us, I still get to see her, and hear her laughing with Julia. Even if I am not welcome in their space, at least I get to know that she’s still breathing.

I look over at Kai, and his eyes are firmly on her back. He looks like complete shit, too. The guy barely sleeps anymore, staying up and watching, as Issy breaks down every single night. I may not be in the hallway with her, like he is at a distance, but it’s because I can’t trust myself enough not to grab her and shake her. I want her to break free from this prison she’s putting herself in. Instead, I sit with my back against the door, listening to her screams, while tearing out my hair, and holding myself back by a razor edge, from going on a destructive killing spree.

Now, he says that she’s hurting herself. All of her belongs to me, she doesn’t have the right to hurt herself. FUCK! I can’t allow that to continue, I broke her of one self-destructive behavior long ago, and I’m not afraid to break her of another. Do I need to throw her in a fucking hole in the ground? Would that do more damage than good? Maybe I should take her back to the jungle? Come back to me, Princesa , please. I’m dying inside without you. I feel like I can’t take a deep breath, knowing that your body is here with us, but your heart and mind are far away, locked in a cage and out of my reach.

I rush forward and block the entrance to the pool house, before she can open the door. She stops suddenly, and immediately puts distance between my body and hers, as she trembles at the thought of any contact. Another crack opens within my heart, watching how wide her eyes become, and the fear she tries desperately to wipe off her face. “Move, Diego,” she demands, but there’s no strength behind her words. Fight, baby, fight for us, fight for yourself. Come back to me.

“Make me, Princesa ,“ I snarl and take a step closer, eating up the space she put between us.

“Diego!” Kai’s warning bark breaks the silence between us. Fuck him, he’s going to sit by and watch her continue to fall apart, while giving her the space to do it. He calls it compassion, fuck that shit. Not me, I’ll fucking push her and keep pushing her, until she snaps out of this shit. I want my Issy back. No, fuck, I demand my Issy back. This woman who returned from that compound is an imitation of her, and I am not satisfied with the knock-off version. If I have to frighten her, and make her fear me once again to get her back, then I will. She’s fucking mine.

I take another step, and she backs up again, her eyes becoming so large that I fear they will pop right out of her skull. I was told what she did to the fucker that raped her. She took justice into her own hands, and I was elated and proud of her. The mere thought of her vengeance gives me a hard-on. Where is that fighting spirit now? Where is my Issy, who ran from me and left me in my fucking jungle alone to die? “Do it, Princesa, make me.”

“Diego, fuck! What are you doing?” Kai reaches forward and grabs my shoulder, but I shrug his hold away and bare my teeth at him. “If she wants to go in, she has to prove she can handle it. If she wants to step through that door, she’ll have to make me fucking move to do it.”

“Don’t... do this.” Her voice is shaky, her breathing picking up as her chest rises and falls rapidly. Come on, baby, where’s that steel will? Fight me, please.

“Don’t do what, Princesa ? Remind you that you’re alive, or how about that you’re fucking mine, and you don’t get to die inside?“ I take another step. “Did you forget that I own you, that you belong to me, and you don’t have the right to take yourself away from me?”

Kai’s thick arms wrap around me from behind, and the big fucker lifts me off my feet, and yanks me backward with him. My arm automatically rises, and I elbow him in the throat until he starts choking on air, and releases his hold on me. He’s panting, bent forward, and grasping at his throat, and I can see the fear in his eyes. I’m sorry for what I am about to do, I honestly don’t hate the guy anymore, even though he took Issy from me. I know he’s suffering, but I need a way to push Issy back to the land of the living, and he will do. I slam my elbow into his back, and he goes down to his knees, striking out his hand, to stop me from pushing him further to the ground. I kick him in the upper thigh, and he crashes into the cement pavers with a groan. I raise my foot, and with an apology ready on my lips that I know I will never utter, I kick him in the chest. He grunts, taking the hit, before attempting to make it back to his feet, but I can’t allow that to happen.

I drive my foot again into his body, this time getting him in the leg at the same time my hand thrusts out, and I punch him in the face. The crush of my knuckles hitting flesh makes me feel alive, and I can finally fucking breathe. The sting of my flesh breaking open, and seeing my blood and his awakens something inside of me, something primal and destructive. I lose control of myself, no longer trying to hold the force of my punches as he hits me back. “You piece of shit, I’m going to kill you!” Kai yells and rushes me, taking me to the ground like a linebacker. We wrestle with each other, exchanging more punches. My lip splits open with one of his hits, and I land one on the side of his head that has it wrenching to the side.

“Come on, pretty boy , show me what you’ve got.“ The words are grunted as I try to wrap my arms around his thick frame, so I can body slam him. Before I can lift his heavy weight off the ground, Issy throws herself on top of me and starts punching and hitting me, as hard as she can, as she screams like a banshee. “You fucking assholes! I fucking hate both of you!” She hits me, but also tries to strike Kai, and the two of us stop fighting each other, to try to deflect her blows.

“Jesus, woman, why are you hitting me?” Kai shouts as he dodges a punch to his face.

“I’m sick of both of you always thinking I’m a piece of fucking property! I’m revolted by both of your constant need to one-up each other. I’ll end the both of you!” Her face lunges forward, and she bites down hard on the side of my neck, and Jesus fuck, does it hurt. I release my hold on Kai, but our limbs are still entwined, and I can’t get off of him unless I shove Issy off of me. She releases my neck like a savage, and spits my blood at Kai, before raking her nails down the side of his cheek.

“Issy, fucking stop attacking us!” I try to grab hold of her, but I’m scared to hurt her, so I keep letting her kick and beat on us. She’ll exhaust herself soon enough, and then I can safely move her, or at least that’s what I bank on. What I don’t count on is her kneeing me hard in the balls from behind, and my stomach lurching. “Idiots, assholes, fuckers!” She keeps pounding her little hands down on us, and goes to knee me again, but I roll into a tight ball right on top of Kai, so she gets him instead. “FUCK, ISABELLA, STOP!”

She jumps up and off of us, and I think that we are finally done taking our punishment, but shit am I wrong. She grabs a fistful of my hair and Kai’s, and pulls until we bang our heads together, and my vision dims for a moment. Holy fuck , I’m sure she has most of my strands ripped out between her delicate fingers. “I’m tired of you both being cavemen with me.”

“Baby,” I try to get words out, but it still feels like my balls want to crawl inside of my body, and hide from her. “Don’t you baby me, you big, scarred psychopath!” She lunges forward again, but I wriggle out of the way, and Kai ends up taking the kick in my stead. How does such a tiny body have so much power and rage inside of it? “And you, Mr. Fucking Perfect!” She kicks him again until his breath leaves him in a harsh whoosh. “Stop following me around like a demented fucking shadow. I don’t need your protection.”

She pushes back from us, her face blotchy and loaded with rage, her eyes filled with lightning. I’ve never seen Issy so fucking angry. She looks like a lioness, ready to rip us to shreds. I open my mouth to speak, but the glare she gives me has me swallowing my words. Shit. She paces back and forth, mumbling to herself as Kai rolls to sit up, and I do the same. Both of us are utterly entranced by the image before us. She looks over her shoulder at us and darts to the side, grabbing a potted plant, and throwing it at our heads. She nearly gets me, but I move out of the way in just the nick of time. Kai isn’t as lucky, and he gets a plant to the head.

“Take that, assholes!” She races and grabs another plant and throws it, and both Kai and I scramble to our feet to avoid it, and it crashes where we just were. Fuck, I think I broke something inside of her, she’s completely lost her shit. She releases a high- pitched scream, and birds fly from the trees surrounding the property, and into the air in fright.

Kai charges at me. “Look at what the fuck you’ve done, psycho! She’s lost her fucking mind!” My eyes never leave my Princesa , watching as all the layers she has tried to wrap around herself, to keep us at bay, shatter under her immense fury.

Her rage destroys me, and threatens to bring me back to my knees and keep me there, as I watch it consume her. It intoxicates me and rolls me under her spell, a place I never want to be free of. My beautiful broken doll, all her parts fractured, yet stunning. We are just two messed up people that fate decided needed to meet. Whether that is because we lit a fire in each other, an eternal flame that cannot be extinguished, I don’t know. She is broken, fucked up, damaged, and I am the same. I cannot live without her, and I won’t allow her to live without me. Together, we are an explosion, earth-shattering, devastating, and destructive in the best ways.

She’s exhausted. Her limbs have finally stopped moving, and she’s ceased mumbling irately to herself. I watch as she takes enormous gulps of air, wrapping her arms around herself in a protective way. I move towards her, refusing to allow her to retreat back into herself. Kai’s hand reaches out and wraps around my wrist, forcing me to look his way. Once our eyes meet, his grip tightens before releasing me, and I make my way to my greatest prize. Does he see what I see before my eyes? Does he see our Issy, the woman that we both love, and can’t be parted from? The one that has spent weeks denying her need for comfort from us. My strong and beautiful queen, the queen of serpents, who has more than proved that she is a survivor.

I reach forward, and my fingers graze against her chin, forcing it to rise so her eyes meet mine. The beautiful icy blue clashes with my green fire, and it causes my chest to tighten, and feel like all the oxygen has been sucked out of my lungs. Is this what they mean when they say souls know each other? Because I swear, I feel like a part of me burns from within, at just the feel of her skin and the way she’s looking at me. Mine. My body, heart, and mind know what Issy briefly forgot; she is, and has always been, mine.

“Don’t do this...” her words are whispered, but they are deceptive, I can see the need rising within her. Her lips part, her tongue peeking out, and then brushing against her lower lip, as her eyes dilate. My hand moves lower, tracing the slim column of her neck, and she shivers at my touch. I allow my fingers to slowly encase the length of her throat but not tighten. “Diego...” the word rumbles against the tips of my fingers, and I apply just a tiny amount of pressure. “You are mine, broken doll. You have forgotten who your master is, it’s time I remind you.”

I pull her forward by her neck and crash my lips against hers, biting down on her bottom lip to force her mouth to open, so I can taste her and get my fill of what I have spent weeks denying myself. What she has spent weeks avoiding the truth of; she is mine, and no one can take her from me. Not our enemies, not her grandmother, and certainly not fucking fate. There is no Diego without his Princesa , and I won’t allow there to be an Issy without me in the picture. If I have to end her life myself to prevent her from destroying herself, I will, and then I’ll follow her into the ever-after because, without her, there is no point in living.

She tries to pull away, pushing against my chest with her hands, but I tighten my grip on her neck in a warning, and soon, instead of pushing me away, her fingers are twisting in my shirt and pulling me closer. Her lips roam over mine, our tongues tangling together as we both consume each other like fire and oxygen, one cannot survive without the other. Her body tries to climb me like a tree, and I use my other hand to grip underneath her ass and push her upwards, until she can wrap her legs firmly around my waist. She rubs herself over and over against my hard cock, the friction making my eyes want to roll in the back of my head. I release her mouth, starving for air as much as I am for her. She gasps as her hands find their way into my hair, and her fingernails scratch across my scalp, even as she continues to ride my dick through our clothing.

A groan catches my attention, and I realize that we have left Kai just standing there watching us. A part of me, the malicious part, wants to make him watch me take her back, so that he realizes that he was always her second choice, and that I am her true mate, but I can’t. He loves her too, and he has died a little more each day, far from her warm sunshine, and as much as I don’t want to share her, I also know she needs him too.

“Kai, come here and welcome our girl back.” He doesn’t hesitate, as if he was just hoping and praying for a morsel of her love. He reaches forward, his hand cradling her face gently before his lips meet hers. At the same time, she’s still wrapped around me, and her legs tighten around my waist, her pussy pushing against my cloth-covered cock. I can feel beads of precum slipping from my slit and coating me, as her little whimpers reach my ears. It’s erotic to have her grinding on me while kissing him. I release my hold on her neck and grab both her asscheeks firmly, moving her body up and down against my rigid length. “Fuck, Princesa , you feel so good.”

She moans as one of Kai’s hands reaches for the round globe of her breast and squeezes, while the other hand slips into her hair and pulls on her strands, controlling her so he can consume more of her. Fuck, I need inside of her right now, but she’s wearing fucking pants, and we are too exposed to prying eyes where we are. Eyes I would have to rip from skulls, for getting a glimpse of my girl. I take a step forward, and Kai matches my movement, never breaking the seal of their mouths.

My eyes search for how far we are from the door. Fuck, mere feet, but it feels like miles when I need her so much. I take another step and then another, balancing her on my cock and forcing her to ride me, as I push against her needy pussy. She moans over and over as Kai, the lucky bastard, swallows the sounds. Once we get to the door, I shove my back into it, and it crashes open as I push the three of us through it. My fingers dig into the fabric of her pants, ready and willing to rip them apart, so I can bury myself in her heat.

A moan sounds loudly and hoarsely in the air, but it doesn’t come from any of us. It’s like I threw a bucket of cold water over Issy, and she immediately freezes, her body no longer soft and supple under my grip. She pries her mouth from Kai’s, even though he keeps attempting to lead her back to him. Her hold on his hair is no longer passionate, as she yanks his head forcibly away from her. The change is instant and dramatic. She goes from being my passionate Issy to the guarded and angry one.

“NO! Release me!” She pushes against my hold, until I have no choice but to drop my grip from her asscheeks, allowing her to slide down my body, and she stumbles away from me the minute her feet touch the floor.

All of our eyes turn at the sound of another moan, and what greets my eyes has my eyebrows reaching my hairline. Antonio Sanchez, the head of the Sanchez cartel, and Sonja and Joaquín’s father, is chained and suspended by his arms and legs to the ceiling, and he’s a bloody fucking mess.

Fucking Stella Stratford, the bitch really did get me a gift.