His chest vibrates with that low, knowing laugh. “I don't think anything. I know you, Venom.” He drags his thumb across my bottom lip, rough and possessive. “Know how wet you get when someone finally puts you in your place.” His breath is hot against my face. “Because no one can.”
I sink my teeth into his thumb. Hard.
He hisses but doesn't pull away. Instead, he pushes deeper, pressing down on my tongue while shoving me back against the pillar. “Bite all you want. We both know what you really need.”
I swirl my tongue around his thumb, watching his pupils blow wide. Then I bite again, tasting copper.
“Fuck,” he growls, ripping his hand away. Before I can be smug, he's got both my wrists pinned above my head, his body crushing me against the pillar. “You really wanna play this?”
The bass from the pool house thuds through us like a second heartbeat. Anyone could walk out here. See us. See how I'm arching into him like a strung-out addict.
“You're engaged,” I remind him, but my voice is wrecked.
“And you're married,” he counters, rolling his hips in a slow, deliberate grind. “Didn't stop you from coming to my video earlier.”
Heat floods my cheeks. “That…”
“That was just the beginning.” He releases my wrists but doesn't step back. “For the remainder of this trip, you're going to watch me with Camille. And I'm going to watch you with Parker. And you’re gonna remember exactly how you sounded when you came thinking about me.”
He pushes away from the pillar. The sudden loss of his heat hits me like a slap. Nice way to be reminded you're nothing but a cold bitch.
“But tomorrow?” His smile cuts deep, pure fucking sin. “Tomorrow we'll see who breaks first.”
He walks away, dragging my humming discomfort with him. Cheap party lights smear his retreating form in streaks of neon. Go inside. Forget this fucking happened. That’s the smart move. The sane move.
Instead, my fingers find the pack. Another cigarette flares to life between my lips. I watch the ember eat at the paper.
Tomorrow.
Let the asshole think he took this round.
I play the long game. Always have. Always win.
Chapter 14
Ivy
Veilarath's got its pecking order, and tonight's venue sits at the bottom. No Glasshouse with its three-sixty mountain views from the ice palace perched on Mount Crow.
Tonight, we head up Void for Game two.
The mind-fuck mountain.Of course it fucking is.Where the snow shifts when you're not looking and paths double back on themselves. Where riders swear they've seen their own tracks ahead of them, fresh as morning. A twisted playground of opticalillusions that makes you question if you're losing your goddamn mind or if the mountain just wants to watch you break.
Snow dusts the windows of the kitchen, as my finger hovers over a new text message.
I pale.
Distractions are good. Relax.
Like clockwork, my muscles unwind. Trust is a fickle thing…
It's been two years. Two years since I've been hung up, strung up, and left here to rot. Days pass. The weather changes. Swells get bigger, more dangerous, and every day, I stay here. Metal biting into my wrists with the memories of that little girl who was twelve years old and wishing for her daddy to come home.
A door opens. I recognize the sound. Heavy. Metal. Rot…
Footsteps echo in. The polished shoes. Awesome. Those are the ones I remembered from two nights ago when he decided to try something new with me.
He bends down, a mesh veil covering his face. He only wears it on Fridays and Mondays. Never asked why. Not once.
