Page 97 of Sweet Venom

Are you hiding in the shadows again? No more. I smiled to myself as I watched the scene before me.

Slowly at first, the horses moved, their forms shifting with a grace that seemed impossible for something made of wood. The haunting melody continued to play. The lights above the carousel flickered in time with the music, casting fleeting shadows across the garden as the carousel spun in its dance.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and a shiver ran down my spine as I realized that, somehow, this was another love letter to me. Another shared secret, woven into every thread of the garden’s fabric.

Tears welled in my eyes, and for a moment, I felt like my heart might burst with the overcome of emotions rushing through me.

With my hand in my chest, I stepped forward, the music guiding me, my heartbeat in rhythm with the soft melody that swirled around me. The lights of the carousel danced around me, their glow casting shadows that made the whole scene feel like I was in another world. A world he made for me.

That’s when I laughed out loud. I laughed with joy and happiness.

And then, as I took another step closer towards the carousel, I felt a presence behind me.

A shift in the air.

My heart stopped.

I didn’t need to see him to know it was him. I felt him.

Azariel.

I turned, and there he stood, his dark figure framed by the flickering lights of the carousel and the thunderstorm happeningabove us. His gray eyes glimmered in the shadows, and though his expression was unreadable, I could see something in the way he looked at me—something tender, something sweet, something that spoke louder than his words ever could.

I swallowed hard, my pulse racing with every second that passed.

“You built this for me,” I whispered, my voice thick with emotion, barely able to contain the wave of feelings that crashed over me. “Why?” I knew why, I just needed him to say something to prove to me that I’m not dreaming this.

He slowly stepped forward, like a predator sizing its prey. The way he looked at me made my heart flutter in my chest.

“Because,” he said softly, his voice a low murmur, “you’re the only one who could ever understand it.” Somehow it didn’t seem like he was talking about the garden or the carousel. It was as if he were telling me I was the only one who could understand his heart.

Oh, God. I’m going to lose every ounce of decency and self-respect and fall to my knees if this man said or did one more thing that felt like a romance out of the greatest love stories in literature history.

Step the fuck, back Romeo. Azariel Solonik has you beat.

As we stared into each other’s eyes, the music swirled around us and the carousel continued its endless dance, its lights flickering like stars. Because of the stork going on, there weren’t any stars visible in the sky so it was almost poetic.

At that moment, as the world seemed to freeze around us, just like the statues he had made for me, I knew this was it. This was the beginning of a love story that rivals every romance book I’ve ever written.

“Just tell me one thing. Why blue roses?” I asked, while stepping closer to him, until I was standing right before him. Hiseyes flicked down to mine, and I tilted my head slightly, looking up at him, my heart pounding in my chest.

“Why, Azariel?” I whispered again, my voice barely audible, as if afraid to break the spell we both seemed to be under.

He didn’t speak immediately. Instead, he just stared down at me, his eyes deep, searching, almost lost in a way I wasn’t used to seeing from him. For a moment, the weight of his silence seemed to stretch on, pulling the space between us tighter.

And then, just when I thought he might not answer at all, his voice came, soft but with an intensity that made my knees tremble and butterflies take over my stomach.

“Because you, Poe Nicolasi, you painted everything blue.”

His words hit me like a wave, crashing over me, sweeping me into the depths of something I couldn’t quite put into words. I felt the emotions stir inside me, like a storm that was impossible to control. It was so overwhelming, so raw and pure, that it took every ounce of strength not to let the tears rise up.

Blue.

I painted his world blue and I hadn’t even realized it. Just like he painted mine soft gray from the moment he first stared at me with those eyes that are inked not only in my heart but in my soul.

When what I felt for him took over all my control, I rose on my tiptoes, my heart beating wildly in my chest as my hand reached out. My fingers hovered just above his face, trembling slightly as I traced the outline of his features with the barest of touches. I didn’t dare to touch him—because I knew he hated being touched—but I couldn’t resist getting close, feeling the heat of his skin, the power of his presence.

---