Page 200 of Craving Venom

Her lips curl into a wicked grin, but her eyes are still locked on whatever’s behind me.

“And he’s totallylookingat you.”

“Looking at me?” I repeat, trying to keep my tone neutral. “What do you mean? How is he looking at me?”

“He’s looking at you like he wouldn’t let anyone else look at you.”

The air leaves my lungs.

“Don’t—”

But before she can finish her sentence, I look back.

I shouldn’t have looked.

But it’s too late.

Zane sits across the room with one leg lazily crossed over the other, his body draped in that sinful way that makes the chair seem built just for him. His arm rests casually on the armrest while the other lifts the cigarette to his lips, taking a slow dragthat makes the ember flare and throw a faint glow across his sharp jawline.

But it’s his eyes that catch me and hold me. A storm rolling behind a veil of calm. He’s not just looking at me. He’s consuming me, devouring every inch with a gaze that pins me to the spot and makes the world shrink until it’s just him and me.

The smoke curls around his face as he exhales, drifting between us and forming a barrier I’m too tempted to cross. It moves lazily through the air, and I swear I can feel it wrapping around my throat, pulling me closer. There’s something in the way it moves, something in the way it invites me, coaxing me deeper into his orbit where I’m his, and he can do whatever the fuck he wants with me.

And fuck… I want that.

I should look away.

But I don’t.

Because in that moment, as the smoke weaves between us and his gaze drags me deeper—

I want to be part of his world.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

THE MONSTER

She doesn’t look away.

Most people can’t hold my stare for more than a few seconds. Fear always makes them look away. But Faith? She holds my gaze with an intensity that rivals my own.

And fuck if I don’t want to see how far she’ll go.

The cigarette smolders between my fingers as smoke curls lazily into the air. She thinks that distance between us protects her but it doesn’t.

Every breath she takes, every move she makes, it’s all leading her closer to the moment when she realizes she’s always been mine. And through it all, I’ll be watching. Waiting. Owning it.

The smoke forms a barrier, but she’s leaning into it, breathing it in as if it’s pulling her closer. My lips curl around the cigarette as I take another drag, letting the heat burn through me, but all I taste is her. And when I blow the smoke out, I picture it wrapping around her throat, a fucking collar claiming her before I’ve even touched her.

And I will.

I’ll possess her so completely that even her own shadow will envy me.

She stays so fucking still, frozen like she’s scared one wrong move will tear this apart. But she’s dead wrong, because what I feel isn’t fragile; it’s savage and it’s not going anywhere. And when she finally sees that for herself, there won’t be a piece of her left that doesn’t belong to me.

“Alright, Valehart.”

The guard steps between us, and I recline in my chair, tapping the ash off the end of my cigarette as if I wasn’t just ready to fucking devour my girl.

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