Page 5 of Venom Within Her

Larz. I rolled the name over in my mind, wondering how it would sound on my tongue. It was edgy, unique, and matched her exterior.

“It’s okay, I’m really fine. I know you didn’t mean to.” I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.”

Larz’s gaze shot down to where my hand rested on Dean’s shoulder, the muscles in her angular jaw twitched.

When Dean was gone, she glanced back down at me, her jaw relaxing again. She looked like a God towering above. I couldn’t help the thoughts that ran through my mind as my panties went damp. I could get on my knees and stare up at her all day.

She held her hand out to me, I took it with a shaky grip. They were rougher than Stellan’s. More sturdy and thick, with long fingers. A sting of electricity shot through my bones as our hands melted into each other’s, stealing the breath I already didn’t have. She pulled me up to my feet effortlessly and I had to push the thoughts of what those long fingers could do out of my mind.

Her eyes studied mine. I couldn’t see the color under the shadow cast across her face, but they looked dark. Deep. Full of a mystery that I was dying to uncover.

Her hand lingered, still holding mine as she spoke. “You should probably pick a tree a bit farther away, that unfortunately happens a lot.”

“I-,” there was no moisture left in my mouth, but I managed to croak a few words out. “Thank you.” Suddenly feeling overheated, I took a step back, my back thudding into the tree trunk behind me. Our hands parted and she stared at it for a moment, rubbing her fingers together like I had left some sort of delicate residue.

She smirked, pointed canine teeth peeking over her full bottom lip for just a moment before she snapped her mouth shut. Her expression went black and cold as she looked over my body and I suddenly felt wildly self-conscious. I looked down at myself, making sure I hadn’t stepped in shit or something.

When I looked back up, she was already walking away. The air was empty and thin without her presence. I twirled my fingers in the space where she once stood as if she’d left some of herself behind.

When she reached the concrete again, she slammed her board down and rode away, pulling her hair up into a messy ponytail as she got further and further away. I took my time to grab my stuff, watching her get back into her rhythm.

She was an amazing skater, fluid and sure in her movements, and I found myself mesmerized. I didn’t know how I hadn’t noticed her before, but she commanded the whole space. Her dark hair whipped in the wind, blending gorgeously with the gray overcast of the day. It’s like she’d been born directly from the fog.

She landed a trick and stopped, resting at the top of a tall ramp. Her gaze landed on me, it was so intense that I let out a small yelp. I turned quickly, walking away from the park and towards home.

When she was out of sight, I took my first deep breath since I’d seen her. My chest felt heavy. Not sorrow, but a pull. Like everything in my body was rejecting the growing space between us. Like the exact place I was meant to be was next to her.

3

Larz

The sweet softness of her lingered on my skin like a whisper. My fingertips brushed against my lips, trying to taste any essence of her that she may have left behind, only to be disappointed at the salty tang of my own skin. I pushed up to my nose, inhaling deeply. Ecstasy washed over me as the faint, indulgent aroma of cocoa butter danced its way up my nostrils, encasing my body with her scent. Even if it was only for a moment, it was pure bliss.

I felt her at least a week before I saw her. The thought of having a mate died years ago with the massacre of my kind. I accepted my fate of being alone a long time ago. With no other creatures like me and no human that would ever understand, it was nearly impossible.

Until last night, when I fucked up that drunk asshole for touching her.

I ignored the overbearing pull and protectiveness I’d felt as just being a decent person helping a girl who had been objectified, but the moment I stepped into Shiver Park, the pull morphed into a clawing need. My body knew my mate was there before I did.

I didn’t plan on approaching her. Not that day, or ever. Even though I could feel she belonged to me, that didn’t mean I could ever act on it. What kind of human, especially one as gorgeous as her, would agree to be claimed by a monster?

But when she almost got smashed by that idiot’s board, I couldn’t help it. Fate decided for me, creating a situation where it would be impossible for me not to get near her. I reacted out of pure instinct. The need to protect her was stronger than anything I’d ever felt.

The second our eyes met, I knew she felt it too. It was obvious she didn’t know what she was feeling, but by the way her body reacted, it was confirmed. This mystery girl was my mate, and I couldn’t help but give in to the urge to know everything about her.

I waited until she was completely out of the park before following the pull towards her. I rolled slowly on my skateboard a few blocks behind her, hidden by the heavy blanket of fog ghosting over the streets. The puffs of white clouds around her short stature told me she was taking deep breaths; she was as shaken up as I was.

I followed her to a tiny, old home on the treeline of my woods. It was a small, dark, two-story, charming cottage that looked like it was made for her. Brown, crumbling leaves crunched under her heavy boots and littered her voluminous curls. My fingers curled into my palms, itching to jog up to her and pick out each tiny piece.

Instead, I settled myself outside the window, observing her as she made herself some tea.

The home was littered with unpacked boxes. It all made sense. If she had just moved here, it explained why the pull showed up out of nowhere.

~

Leaving her felt wrong, but when her neighbor pulled into the driveway, the last thing I needed was for them to see a weirdo creeping at the newcomer's window. I waited for night to fall, shifted into my scorpion form, and returned to her.

She had moved upstairs. I climbed up a nearby tree and watched, feeling the obsession for her sprouting in my veins. She was tucked into her bed with a steaming mug of tea and a book resting in her lap. She was so beautiful when she was relaxed.