Beautiful Venom: A Dark Hockey Romance (Vipers Book 1)

My breath comes in short gasps.

The cold earth shocks my feet.

The air asphyxiates my burning lungs.

But I don’t stop.

I can’t.

The wet grass slicks beneath my feet, and every time my skin brushes against the damp ground, a shiver ignites in my bones. But I pick up speed, my heart hammering against my ribs. The maze looms over me, its towering walls of hedges swallowing me whole as I plunge deeper into the darkness.

The thick night air wraps around me in a suffocating noose. My shallow inhales scrape my throat as some of the branches claw at my arms, snagging on the fabric of my dress.

I hear the rustle of leaves behind me. My spine tingles with a sharp chill.

He’s close.

I can feel him along with the beat in my chest.

Hear him amidst the buzz in my ears.

That quiet, steady presence hunts me through the dark. Sometimes clear, sometimes faint, as if he’s playing with me.

Actually. He is playing with me.

He clearly said I’m his toy.

Now, if my insides wouldn’t liquefy at the prospect of being chased, that would be great.

I try to focus on the path ahead, but the sound of his calm, controlled footsteps keep pulling me back. The thrill of knowing he’s there, always just a step behind, twists with the fear in my chest. My mind tells me to run, but there’s something else, too.

Something darker.

A part of me that wants to slow down.

That sick, twisted part wants him to catch me.

The ground beneath me shifts, wet grass slipping under my bare feet. I stumble, my body pitching forward, and my knees hit the hard earth.

A sting of pain shoots through my legs. I’m pretty sure I scraped my knees, but that’s the least of my worries.

Thundering footsteps echo in the air and I push myself up and take off again. Despite my blurring vision. Despite the sharp metallic taste on my tongue.

It’s survival.

I’ve always been good at survival.

Then I see a sliver of light in the hedge, barely wide enough to fit through. In a snap decision, I dart toward it, then break a branch and throw it in the opposite direction as far as I can aim.

Hopefully, that will distract him.

I slip into the narrow space, pressing my back against the rough leaves, and hug my knees to my chest.

The branches dig into my skin, but I ignore the discomfort. My chest rises and falls, my ears pound, and sweat coats my temples and trickles down my back.

The footsteps stop.

Thick, oppressive silence swallows me whole, and I bite down on my lip, trying to steady my breathing. But my heart’s frantic beat threatens to give my position away.

Not to mention that the air is so cold, I’m afraid I’ll crumble.

For a moment, the only sound is the whisper of the wind through the hedges.

But I know better.

He’s there.

Somewhere in the dark, stalking and watching like a predator.

The electric tension in the air makes the hair on the back of my neck prickle.

He’s close. Too close.

Then I hear his footsteps carrying him in the opposite direction.

Oh. Thank God.

For a moment, just one moment, I think I’ve lost him.

But before I can release a breath of relief, a rough hand wraps around my ankle.

A sharp scream rips from my throat as I’m yanked out, my body sliding across the damp ground, my fingers scrambling for a branch or anything to hold on to.

My nails dig into the earth, dirt gathering beneath them as I claw at the grass, but it slips through my hands like water.

I twist, kicking my legs with all my might.

For a moment, I truly believe I’m in danger and fight, aiming for maximum damage.

However, his grip is effortlessly strong, and it fires me up even more.

The world spins as I’m hauled back, the ground rough beneath me, the grass scraping against my legs.

The cold, unforgiving wind slaps my face, but all I can hear is his steady breathing as his deep voice rumbles in a hushed whisper, “Caught you.”

A rush of crippling terror and morbid thrill courses through me, and I lift my trembling hands in the dark. “Kane…hold on…let’s talk about this.”

“Don’t say my name. I’m nobody to you.” His voice sounds lower, closer, each word wrapping around me like a simmering earthquake.

He flips me over with horrifying ease.

All I can see is the looming shadow of his body in the darkness—big, broad, and utterly intimidating. A strange flutter awakens in the pit of my belly.

Is it excitement?

Need?

Both?

More?

An animalistic, primal emotion rips through me like thunder, and an exhilarating tension coils at my core.

Kane slaps my knees apart and kneels between them. The last thing I see is the glint of the knife before he bunches my dress and slashes it open right down the middle.

A dress so expensive I was scared to wear it.

He brutally rips it off as if it cost pennies.

My gasp echoes in the air, and I shove at his chest. “Stop it!”

He firmly pushes my hand away and cuts through my strapless bra like it’s butter.

My breasts spring free, the nipples hardening even further as he roughly squeezes one in his big hand. “Such a dirty little slut. Your body is made to be used by me. You’ll swallow my cock and beg for my cum, won’t you?”

“Don’t touch me!” I kick his chest with everything I have.

He grabs my foot and slashes through my panties, then thrusts the handle of the knife inside me.

God. I’m wet.

I’m so wet by his manhandling, it should be embarrassing.

“You think you can fight me?” He thrusts again, pumping the handle with wicked expertise. “You think you can escape me?”

My back arches on the wet grass, but I still try to resist the blinding pleasure building inside me.

It feels like a need.

A sick, depraved need.

“You’re so wet at the prospect of being used. So primed and ready. You’re choking the knife as if it’s my cock, aren’t you?”

“You disgust me, you fucking asshole. Let me go!” I lift my right hand and slap him on the hideous mask.

He backhands me with his free hand. So hard, my vision blurs, and I think I come a little.

Oh no.

No.

No.

This is just a show, a test, and playing his game to get what I want.

I’m not supposed to enjoy it so much.

I’m not supposed to come.

“Think twice before you run your mouth.” He reaches beneath me and presses a finger against my back hole and I tense. “I could and would fuck your ass bareback. Mmm. This feels virgin.”

I buck and try to escape him, keeping my legs spread so I don’t cut my thigh on the knife, my heart surging loudly.

“Let’s test it.”

The moment he slips the knife out of me, I kick him and turn over, crawling on all fours, panting like an injured animal.

I’m entirely naked, and the cold bites into my warm skin, but that doesn’t matter.

It feels like I’m running for my life.

As if I’m in real danger.

But the truth is, I want to provoke him further, unleash the beast, and make him show his true self.

If only once.

Just for me.

A hand wraps around my hair and I scream as I’m yanked back so that I’m on my knees. My back presses against Kane’s taut chest, his harsh breaths filling my ears.

For the first time, he’s not calm. Not steady.

He’s far from controlled.

He’s unhinged.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

“Away from you.” I tilt my head back in spite of the pain and spit on his mask as I lie through my teeth. “Your touch repulses me.”

“Is that so?” While he’s still immobilizing my hair, I feel his right hand moving behind me and I hear the unbuckling of a belt, its sound echoing in the frightening silence.

“Yeah. You’re a sick fucking bastard I wouldn’t touch twice.” My voice trembles despite my attempts to provoke him.

He said my fight turns him on, and I feel it.

I feel the bulge pressing against my ass, hard and heavy.

“If I’m a sick bastard…” He slaps my ass a few times and forces his cock between my thighs, sliding its length against my soaking wet pussy, then speaks against my mouth, his mask touching my lips with every rough word. “You’re a dirty little slut.”

Then he thrusts into me with a force that steals my breath.

Oh God.

Oh fuck.

It doesn’t matter that I’m wet or on the verge of coming—Kane is huge. And he feels bigger than ever before as his cock pounds into me as if he hates me.

And I clench around him as if I hate him, too.

Still wriggling, fighting like I truly don’t want this, even if my entire body comes to life.

Even if a surge of overwhelming pleasure pools in the pit of my stomach.

It doesn’t help when he keeps whispering sinful words in my ears, like a mantra, an aphrodisiac.

Words that drag me to the edge of my sanity.

“Mmm. Your cunt is strangling me so fucking well.”

“That’s it, stretch for me. Good girl.”

“Your body is made to be used and owned by me.”

“You’re taking all of me. So deep. So good.”

“You’re a fast learner. Roll those hips for me so I can fuck your tight cunt.”

My head hums with a low, constant buzz, and my body resurrects.

From the ashes.

From the dead.

Kane is the only one who’s ever managed to provoke this bizarre side of me.noveldrama

Maybe it’s due to his unorthodox methods.

Maybe because he fucks me hard and fast, confiscating all of my control whether I like it or not.

Maybe because I can’t think straight.

Or maybe, just maybe, I’m sick in the head and only enjoy this rough play.

I love how with every touch, pleasure mixes with pain until the two are indistinguishable.

Every thrust goes deeper, harder, electrifying every fiber of my body. My moans and whimpers and veiled curses echo in the air, piercing the silence, fusing with the obscene sound of his in-and-out.

But he doesn’t stop.

Doesn’t slow down.

His breaths grow ragged and rough. “You’re made for me. Only me.”

I can’t stay upright and grab onto him. My nails dig into the collar of his shirt—or jacket—but it’s not enough. I loll forward with his powerful thrusts and nearly fall, but he wraps a strong hand around my hip and circles his fingers along my stimulated clit.

“Come for me. Show me how much you want this.”

It’s impossible to last.

I can’t.

The moment he touches me, I’m a goner.

My body jerks and I tremble all over as I fall apart on his cock. I hold on to him for balance as wave upon wave washes over me, consuming my every nerve.

I press my eyes closed, feeling every inch of him as he fucks me, never slowing down or becoming gentle.

A part of me likes this. The part that never really liked gentle.

Kane releases my hair and squeezes a hand around my throat. “You’re ruining everything. Everything.”

I didn’t think it was possible, but his rhythm intensifies, becoming harder, his thrusts longer and deeper, hitting a sensitive spot inside me.

“Everything,” he growls, his words sharp and raw.

There’s no trace of the controlled Kane.

The one who hid in a fortress with no key.

He’s entirely himself. Undiluted.

“You shouldn’t have come into my life.” Thrust. “Into my world.” Thrust. “Into my fucking system.” Thrust. “I’m going to break you to fucking pieces for daring to come close.”

I can feel the remnants of the orgasm transforming into something more powerful.

I can barely breathe due to his fingers smothering the sides of my throat.

The pleasure intensifies the more he squeezes, mounting, heightening, until I think I’ll pass out.

Still, I lift a shaking hand to his mask and push it up. My movements are stumbly at best, considering my lack of strength.

As soon as I reveal his mouth, I close the small distance and seal my trembling lips to his.

I suspect Kane doesn’t kiss. He’s never tried to before and he also doesn’t like me to touch him.

But I need this.

In the midst of violence and degradation, I need some form of connection. I also need to own a part of him no one has dared to possess before. I need to turn his world upside down just like he did to mine.

He goes still for a moment, his massive body freezing as if he’s been shot. His lips are cold and unmoving.

But it’s only a moment.

Just one suspended moment in time.

A growl rips from deep inside him as he kisses me with a ruthless vigor that steals my thoughts.

It’s not a kiss—it’s a possession. His lips move against mine with a rough intensity, leaving no room for breath or softness.

Just Kane.

His fingers tighten around my throat, angling my face up so he can devour me.

The kiss is a clash, a war of heat and anger as he grazes his teeth over my bottom lip and plunges his tongue in and consumes mine. The taste of him is fire, scorching every thought from my mind. His breath is harsh against my mouth, his lips relentless, like he’s trying to swallow me up, break me.

There’s no finesse in the way he kisses. It’s neither controlled nor refined. It’s not even disciplined like the way he fucks. It’s as if he’s never kissed before and I get to witness every second of every bit of his brutal, heated, explosive power.

I crave it.

I love it.

I fall apart at the thought that he only shows me this side of him.

Without the restraints. Without the repression.

Just Kane.

His kiss is furious. It’s dangerous.

It’s everything.

Then he fucks me as he kisses me with a blinding passion. His hips jerk with the same rhythm as his tongue.

This time, I don’t get a warning as I shatter on his cock.

I come so hard, I think I’ll faint.

But I don’t.

Still holding on to that unrestrained part of him, needing more and everything.

I’m so sensitive, so sore, moaning in his mouth as he continues to kiss me. Thrusting into me like he’s punishing and owning me at the same time.

Though he probably doesn’t know that I’m also owning a part of him as well.

A part no one else has seen.

“Fuck!” He wrenches his lips from mine and releases my throat as he pushes me down on all fours on the grass.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” He grabs my hips, pulling my ass up as he drives into me with unveiled anger.

I love it when he loses control because of me.

He’s cursing, shedding his outer layers one at a time.

Because of me.

So even though I’m fully spent, I lean my head on my hands, latch onto the earth, and let him fuck me like a beast.

Every delicious, punishable stroke nearly sends me over the edge, and I can’t believe my drained insides are thinking of another orgasm.

I must really, really like it rough.

Kane’s chest covers my back, his hand wraps around my hair, and I feel his teeth and lips, sucking and biting along my shoulders, my spine—marking me everywhere.

It hurts so good.

“You’re a fucking nightmare,” he snaps near my ear, his lips grazing the shell.

“Kane…”

“Don’t fucking moan my name, Dahlia.”

“Kane…Kane…” I moan louder, throatier, as the orgasm rips through me. “Come with me…please…”

“Fucking fuck!”

“I’m on birth control…come inside me.”

“Jesus fuck.” Kane pulls out and I feel his cum coating my ass and back, the sting of the hot liquid against the handprints he left on my ass cheeks pales in comparison to the sinking feeling in the bottom of my stomach.

Why am I disappointed he didn’t come inside me?

Kane collapses on top of me, crushing me against the ground. “I fucking hate you.”

“I hate you, too, asshole.” I mutter, losing all my fight.

I think he’ll kill me with his weight.

What a way to die.

Being crushed to death after the best sex of my life.

Kane shifts and I think he’ll release me, but he pulls me in one swift movement so that I’m lying on top of him, my back to his chest, my head on his shoulder. My legs are trapped between his, his half-erect cock nudging against my ass.

I’m a mess, covered in cum, sweat, and even tears from the intensity that is Kane Davenport. I don’t even want to think about the state of my makeup.

But Kane still wraps one arm around my breasts and the other across my hip and pussy.

I’m so sensitive, I jerk at the merest contact. My nipples poke against his hand and I don’t like this whole scene.

It’s vulnerable and I don’t do vulnerable.

Which is laughable, really. I can handle being chased and dicked down in the middle of nowhere, but being held raises my alarms as if I’ve been doused in icy water.

I wiggle and try to turn around.

“Stop moving.” His rough voice filters into my ears like a curse.

“I’m uncomfortable.”

“I don’t give a fuck. Stop trying to turn around. Stop messing everything the fuck up. Just stop.”

I turn my face away. “I hate you, asshole.”

His hand wraps around my throat and he angles my head up so that he speaks against my lips. “I fucking hate you, too, Dahlia.”

And then he kisses me senseless.

He kisses me until I think I’ll pass out.

He kisses me until I think he’ll never stop kissing me.