Page 23 of Venomous Desires

He reached for my hand with his other one. I carefully led him through the steam, squinting my eyes when he didn’t budge. If he were pretending, he would’ve shown some kind of reaction. Maybe a subtle twitch of his jaw, or a stiffening of his body. But he looked oblivious as he unconsciously took a step towards the tub as if he knew where that was through his memory.

I swallowed hard, slowly loosening my grip and stepping back.

Judas took a step forward, his arms extended as he reached for something and then stopped. His wide broad back rippled with muscles.

He stood there and then turned his head to the side, his unfocused gaze slithering on the mirror, but he wasn’t looking at anything. I held my breath as his lips curled. From the side, he looked so sinister as he hooked his fingers into the band of his boxers, and before I could react, he pulled them down his thighs and then legs.

He had tattoos on his tailbone too, down the back of his thighs.

But as he turned, my breath completely trapped itself in my throat.

Jesus.

I couldn’t look away, even if my life depended on it. Every protective instinct I had instantly short-circuited when my eyeslanded on his semi-erect penis.

He took another step forward, and I shouted.

“Wait!” My heart leapt in my chest violently as I gulped. “The water is hot.” I barely managed to get the words out and rushed to the tub, turning the cold tap on and watched it fill the tub, daring not looking at the man standing naked behind me.

I would’ve burned him, hurt him. What was I thinking?

When the temperature balanced, I cleared my throat.

“You can get in,” My voice was somehow calm. I heard the splash of water and then another. Looking over my shoulder, I opened my right eye and looked through the slit. And sighed in relief, finding him nestled in the tub, which looked smaller for his larger-than-life body. To be honest, I would’ve drowned in that tub if it were me.

I laced body wash near him and was about to walk out when he stopped me.

“Wash me.”

“What?”

“Did I stutter, little bird?” A wicked smirk pulled at the corner of his lips, as he submerged himself more into the water, groaning blissfully. “Come here. Get your hands dirty.”

Well, fuck my life.

Chapter 8

The Prey

Aweek had passed since I stumbled out of his bathroom. My head was a mess; my body barely holding itself together. I could hardly recall the next half hour—only that Judas had dismissed me without a word.

Kyle drove me back to the dorm, and as soon as we arrived, I bolted to my room, collapsing onto my bed. And that’s when I realized—I’d left my damp sweater at his place.

With all that, there was guilt too for doubting his blindness.

I stared at the ceiling, willing my thoughts away from him. But they refused to listen.

The image of his him hadn’t left my mind.

No matter how much I tried not to, my thoughts reeled back to him. No man had ever made me feel this way—terrorized and enticed all at once.

Strangely, it had been a week since the feeling started—like I was being watched. I kept brushing it off, pretending it wasn’t there. Just paranoia and lack of sleep.

My mind had a way of turning silence into somethingheavier, feeding me thoughts I didn’t ask for. Even in the dorm, where nothing should’ve felt wrong, I still had that same sense—like unseen eyes lingering where they shouldn’t be.

But this feeling only grew.

And through it all, those hunter’s eyes stayed with me—making everything worse without trying. Everywhere I looked, there he was. Even in the dorm, Alina wouldn’t stop talking about him, building him into something larger than a man.