Page 50 of Paved in Venom

There’s not a speck of warmth in the grey eyes that I’ve come to love when he calmly stands and takes a step towards me. When I take a step back, it’s not all for show. This is the side of Danil that he keeps hidden from me, but because of my spur-of-the-moment plan, he has no choice but to put his dark and deadly side on full display and aimed directly at me.

I bite my bottom lip and his eyes briefly flick down to my fidgeting fingers. He stalks towards me, there’s no other way to describe it. His powerful body is nothing but fierce, fluid movement that puts him right in front of me in seconds. He gives me a wicked smirk and cups the back of my head, fisting my hair in a tight enough grasp to make me wince.

“You sure you don’t want to share her tonight?” Tom yells, making the men around him give a few soft chuckles. “That would teach her to open her pretty mouth when she’s told.”

Danil’s jaw tenses, but he keeps his eyes locked on mine when he says, “No one touches my girl but me.” He looks over at Tom. “I do require a room so I can discipline her properly. I can’t let this go unpunished.”

“Oh, let us watch,” Tom says, and he sounds like a pouting teenage girl who’s just been told she can’t go out this Friday night.

“I don’t like an audience, Tom. This is between me and my pet.” He fists my hair tighter and pulls me closer to his side, but he also caresses my scalp with his thumb as he does it. It doesn’t take the sting away, but it’s still a comfort and immediately makes me feel better.

Tom laughs and waves a hand towards the door we came in. “Take your pick.” He gives another drunken laugh. “At least make her scream loud enough for us all to hear.”

When Danil spins me around, I catch a quick glimpse of his brothers. Vitaly’s giving me an amused smirk, and Lev’s quirking a pierced brow at me in a what the fuck have you gotten yourself into kind of way.

I let out a yelp when Danil starts dragging me to the door. My high-heeled feet have to work hard to keep up with him, and he’s not letting up on my hair. I gotta say, we’re playing the part beautifully. For all intents and purposes, I very much look like the pet who’s pissed off her master by refusing to get on her knees. His grip on my hair is strong, but he’s being careful to not let it hurt too much. He’s giving me what I can take, but no more.

Even after leaving the room, we keep up the charade because we’re not sure who may be watching. Danil drags me down the hall and up a flight of stairs. He doesn’t say a word, but I can tell he’s not pleased with the plan I came up with. After opening a couple of doors, he finds Tom’s office and pulls me in. As soon as the door shuts, he lets go of my hair and cups my face.

“What the fuck were you thinking, baby?”

“I was thinking that we needed a reason to leave the party.” I give a small shrug. “It was a split-second decision. It was all I could come up with.”

He lets out a pained groan and kisses my forehead.

“I don’t understand. Why are you so upset?”

“Because they think I’m disciplining you.”

“So? Can’t you just tell them that you did?”

He sighs and runs a finger down my cheek. “You don’t look like you’ve just been disciplined, sladkaya.” His fingers trail down my neck before dancing along my clavicle. “You’re wearing very little tonight, and all this flesh is unmarked.”

“Fuck,” I whisper, because I hadn’t thought of that. I thought we could just disappear and I’d go back with my head hung in shame and that would be that. He’s right, though. I’ve made too big of a show of this, and Tom is going to be looking for results.

I look up, meeting the grey eyes that are now softened with concern and something else, something that goes far beyond that, but I can’t sort through all that right now. We don’t have the time.

“Then do it,” I whisper.

His eyes narrow as he whispers, “What the fuck are you suggesting? Because if it’s that I hit you, I don’t want to fucking hear it.”

“No, not hit me, but maybe you could mark me some other way.”

I reach up and wrap my hand around his, bringing it back up to my neck. His eyes darken as I wrap his fingers around me. He’d held me like this when he’d made me come, and I’d liked it. I’d liked it a lot, and I know he did too. His breathing has already deepened, and his pupils are blown, making his eyes look darker, hungrier, and all of it is directed at me.

“Do you feel how fast my heart is beating?” I ask him, walking backwards until I’m pinned between the door and his powerful body. If I had any doubts about him liking his hand around my neck, they dissolve when I feel the hard length of him press against my hip.

“I know you like to be in control,” I whisper, squeezing my hand on top of his, tightening his grip on me until I feel my airway start to constrict. “So be in control, Danil. I trust you.”

“Fuck,” he growls, bringing his lips close to mine. “Are you sure, sladkaya?”

He drags his free hand down my side, hooking his finger under my skirt before slowly teasing his way up my inner thigh.

“I’m sure,” I whisper. I have no clue what’s about to happen, but I trust him. I trust him completely.

“If we’re going to do this, then we’re doing it my way.”

I smile at his words. “I never doubted that for a second.”

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