Page 123 of Venomous Desires

I shook my head. “You can’t—” I started, but the words died on my tongue, swallowed by the overwhelming dread that consumed me.

The devil didn’t move, didn’t blink, just watched me with those eyes that could see straight through me, peeling back every layer I tried to muster. “I can,” whispered sin caressed my ears, travelled down my neck and wrapped around my neck. “And I will.”

A cornered mouse can’t outrun the cat. And I was that mouse, and there was no escape.

“You’re not… serious,” I whispered. “You can’t make me do this.”

His gaze hardened, the smirk slipping from his lips as his eyes turned cold. “You still don’t understand, do you?” he murmured, almost to himself, shaking his head slowly. “This isn’t about what you want. This is about what you will do.” His tone sharpened, the underlying threat clear. “And you will move in.”

My hands were trembling uncontrollably now; my vision blurring as panic surged through me like poison in my veins.

I tried to stand, to push back from the table, to escape his presence, but my legs wouldn’t cooperate.

“Please,” I managed to choke out. “Don’t do this.”

His eyes glinted with something dark, something dangerous, as he slowly rose from his seat. The chair scrapped against the floor with a sound that made my blood run cold.

He was towering over me now. I was a rabbit caught in a hunter’s snare, and he was the hunter who had no intention of letting me go.

He leaned down, close enough that I could feel his breath against my cheek, his voice a low, threatening whisper. “And you think you have a choice, little bird?” he taunted, his lips brushing the shell of my ear.

A tear slipped down my cheek, unbidden, and I cursed myself for the weakness that had me breaking in front of him. But it was no use. There was nothing left to fight with, nothing left to cling to. He’d stripped me of everything.

He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, his gaze locking onto mine, holding me captive. “This apartment is yours now,” he raised his brow. “Use it however you see fit.”

“Defy me, there’d be consequences,” A hollow, bitter laugh escaped his lips as he added, almost as an afterthought, “And trust me, you won’t like the alternatives.”

As I stared into his eyes, I could feel the last shreds of hope slipping through my fingers like sand, and there was nothing Icould do to stop it.

He stepped back, giving me just enough space to breathe, but not enough to escape.

I swallowed hard, my throat burning with the effort, and nodded slowly, my body numb with defeat and I gripped the back of the chair with my trembling hands. “Fine,” I was barely able to get the word out. “I’ll move in.”

He smiled then, a slow, satisfied smile that chilled me to the bone. The dimples that should make him look beautiful just added sinister edge to his overall persona.

He had won, and we both knew it.

“But I have some conditions.” The words trembling out of me like the last gasp of a dying flame.

His smile didn’t falter, but there was a gleam of something darker in his eyes—amusement, perhaps, at my foolish attempt to regain some semblance of control.

“Conditions?” The bastard drawled as he leaned against the table, crossing his arms over his chest. Looking taller and broader than ever, almost taking half of my vicinity.

My hands clenched around the back of the chair. “You’ll use condoms,” I forced the words out before I could lose my nerve.

He raised an eyebrow, and his lips twisted into a cruel grin. “I prefer raw fucks,”

I flinched, shaking my head. “Then let me have morning pills.”

“Have it.”

Relief surged through me, but it was short-lived. “And I don’t want you to interrupt in my private life,” I continued, my voice gaining a hint of strength.

To my surprise, he laughed. “I was inside yourprivatepart just a few minutes ago. Why does it matter now?”

I gulped.

I needed him away from my private life. If I needed to keepthose closer to me safe.