Page 11 of Venomous Desires

“Come closer.”

The command, spoken in flawless English, froze me halfway down.

Slowly, I looked up.

He leaned back against the couch, one arm stretched lazily along the backrest, eyes closed as though I wasn’t worth looking at.

I frowned, glancing around the room just to make sure therewasn’t another unfortunate soul hiding behind me.

Nope. Just me.Wonderful.

With all the enthusiasm of someone walking toward their execution, I limped forward another few steps before stopping again.

His smile only grew.

Without opening his eyes, he lifted two fingers and crooked them toward himself. “Closer.”

Seriously?

Was this an interview, or was he summoning a stray cat?

I stayed exactly where I was.

“I think this is close enough.”

A low chuckle rumbled through the room. “No,” he said. “It isn’t.”

My grip tightened around the strap of my bag.

Every survival instinct I possessed was screaming at me to keep the distance. Unfortunately...ten thousand dollars was louder.

Against my wishes, I was just following whatever he was saying.

When I was only two steps away, I lowered myself into the chair beside him.

“I figured you probably don’t want me any closer than this, sir.”

His eyes opened. The world narrowed. For someone who was supposed to be blind, his gaze made me conscious.

Before I could make sense of it, he leaned forward. The glowing end of his cigarette drifted beneath my chin—not touching, just enough to tilt my face up.

“Wha—”

The light caught his features, stealing the rest of the word.

God.

He was... unfairly handsome.

Sharp cheekbones. A crooked nose that looked like it had been broken at least once. Dark stubble shadowing a hard jaw. And eyes so pale they didn’t look real.

Definitelynot a child.

“How old are you?”

“T-Twenty-two, sir.”

I instinctively leaned back.