Saved by Venom: 3 (Grabbed)

by Lopez, Lolita

  Turning off the lights, she left the kitchen—but stopped short when she heard Venom and Raze talking. She hesitated, uncertain whether she should cross the hallway where they were discussing something in serious tones or return to the kitchen so they could have their privacy.

  “Are we okay?” Raze sounded hopeful.

  “We’re fine. I shouldn’t have pushed so hard on the mating thing.”

  “Sure, but I shouldn’t have talked to you like that. It was totally wrong of me to insinuate that Dizzy is afraid of you or that you would harm her.”

  “It’s water under the bridge.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Raze, we’ve been friends since we were five. I think I can forgive this.”

  “Good. I’m glad.” Raze cleared his throat. “I should go. It’s late and I’m sure you two have plans.”

  “As a matter of fact,” Venom replied, displaying his comfort with being open about their sex life with his friend.

  Raze laughed, the sound growing softer as he moved toward the entrance of their quarters. “You two about to practice for demonstration night?”

  Demonstration night? Dizzy didn’t like the sound of that at all.

  “Shit.” Venom swore with frustration. “I signed up to teach that rope class almost two months ago. It completely slipped my mind.”

  “You’ve got time to put something together. You think she’ll enjoy it?”

  “We’re not going to find out. It’s too soon for her. I’ll just use one of the poppies.”

  Poppies? Something told her Venom wasn’t talking about the pretty red flowers that her ancestors had brought from Earth and nurtured into a wild crop on Calyx. She slipped back into the living room and grabbed her tablet off the coffee table. While Venom and Raze finished up their talk, she opened the search browser and typed in demonstration night. The ship’s calendar was the first result so she double-tapped it.

  Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she read the description. At the wives’ meeting, she had heard the officers’ club mentioned in passing. The hushed whispers and gossipy remarks about the place had given her a certain feeling about it. Now she understood what it really was—and what Venom was planning to do there.

  Without her.

  “You all right, sugar?” Used to operating with stealth, Venom had come into the living room without garnering her attention.

  Peering at his handsome, kind face, Dizzy refused to believe what she had heard. Surely she had misunderstood. “What is demonstration night?”

  “Oh. That. You know about the officers’ club?”

  “Sort of.”

  “It’s basically a social club open to officers. Most nights of the week it’s only open for drinks or dinner. A few nights a month it’s open as an adult playground.”

  “Playground?”

  “Men who are mated take their wives there to explore and enjoy the sensual side of our lifestyle. Men who are unmated come there to learn and practice. Remember how I told you some couples like to share? Well—that’s where it often happens.”

  “And you’re going to teach a class there?” She tried to slow her racing heart as she tried very hard not to imagine the very worst thing happening.

  “It’s hardly as salacious as it sounds. It will be an introductory course. It’s not that big of a deal.”

  “How long will the class last?”

  “An hour or two, depending on what types of ties or bondage the students want to see.” He shrugged as if it were no big thing. “I’ll be home before you finish a movie.”

  She blinked at him and tried to decide if he was really that clueless. “You’re not taking me?”

  His face hardened. “No. You’re not ready for the intensity of that place.”

  “But how am I supposed to get used to a place like that if you don’t take me?”

  “I’ll take you when I think you’re ready.”

  She swallowed hard. “And just who will you be practicing the rope bondage on?”

  “I’ll use a poppy.”

  “What is a poppy?” Knowing the sort of place he was going, they probably had fake women made out of gleaming plastic for demonstrations.

  “P-O-P,” he spelled it out. “It stands for Property Of Prison. It’s the nickname for the paid pleasure women who service events like these and the sky brothels.”

  Dizzy’s mouth gaped. “You mean they’re prostitutes?”

  His expression turned distasteful. “It’s not the same thing in our world as it is in yours. Poppies are very highly paid and skilled. Most of them were born inside the prison system, usually from illicit assignations between guards and female inmates. Going into pleasure work is a way for them to make a place for themselves in society. Most of them retire in their early thirties and are very wealthy. It’s not—”

  “Stop.” Dizzy held up her hand. She couldn’t listen to another second of him talking about prostitution as though it was a godsend. “Can you hear yourself? You’re talking about women who have to choose between escaping prisons or letting dirty, panting soldiers paw all over them for money.”

  Venom’s lips thinned with irritation. “I told you. It’s not like that in my world. To us the women who work in the sky brothels are to be respected. They serve a vital need, especially since it takes so many valor points to earn the right to a mate and a family. Most of us haven’t seen home in decades. In case you haven’t noticed, there aren’t a lot of women in space. It’s the poppies—or nothing.”

  Dizzy didn’t know what to say to that. Maybe he was right. Maybe in Venom’s world being a prostitute wasn’t as shameful and exploitative as it was in The City.

  “Are you angry with me?”

  She gawked at him. “Yes!”

  “Because I’ve slept with prostitutes in the past?”

  “What? No.” She huffed at him. “I’m not thrilled by the idea—but I understand that your culture does things differently than mine. I get that you guys have…needs. If satisfying them with paid pleasure women is your way…well…whatever. It was before me.”

  “Yes, it was.” Venom took a cautious step toward her. “Please don’t ever think that the brief moments I shared with any of those women compares to anything we’ve shared. With them, it was a business transaction. With you—it’s real.”

  “If what you’ve shared with me is so fantastic why aren’t you taking me to the demonstration night?”

  Venom exhaled roughly. She sensed his patience was thinning. “I’ve already told you, Dizzy. You aren’t ready.”

  She decided she was done arguing with him. Lifting her chin, she declared, “I’m going with you.”

  “No,” he said sternly. “You. Are. Not.”

  Dizzy gritted her teeth and stared at him. She had so many ugly things burning the tip of her tongue but she refused to make this situation any worse than it already was.

  Overcome with anger and disappointment, she headed for their bedroom, giving Venom a very wide berth in the process. She stopped in the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face before changing into a nightgown. The thought of sleeping in their bed made her stomach churn.

  Grabbing her pillow, she stormed out of their bedroom and shoved by Venom who stood just outside the doorway. He clasped her wrist to stop her from getting away from him. Even though he was upset with her his touch was surprisingly gentle—and that just infuriated her even more!

  They glared at each other for a few seconds before his gaze drifted to the pillow. “Are you throwing me out of my own bedroom?”

  “No.” She jerked her wrist free. “I’m sleeping on the couch tonight.”

  “You’re not serious.” He seemed shocked. “You’re going to throw a fit over something so ridiculous?”

  “Ridiculous, huh?” Dizzy threw her pillow on the couch. “Would it be ridiculous if I said that I was going to go to a party without you and let a man who wasn’t you put his hands all over my naked body? That I was going to let him wrap ro
pes around my breasts and pull them between my thighs?”

  “That isn’t even remotely the same thing. You’re talking about infidelity. I’m talking about teaching with a paid volunteer.”

  “You’re talking out of your ass,” Dizzy snapped. “And I’m so over it.”

  Venom crossed his arms. “Come to bed, Dizzy.”

  “No.” She moved to the couch and fluffed her pillow. “I would love to…but I just don’t think you’re ready for the intensity of it. Maybe I’ll see if I can hire a gigolo from the Low Side to come up here and snuggle me tonight.”

  “Suit yourself.” Venom spun on his heel and headed toward the main household control console. He turned off all the lights except the one in the entryway that he dimmed to its lowest setting. At their bedroom door, he paused and turned back to her. “When you’re ready to be reasonable—”

  “When I’m ready to be reasonable?” Infuriated with him, she flopped down on the couch and lifted her hand in his direction. She gave him a bold one-finger salute.

  His sharp intake of breath told her that he had seen her flip him off so crudely. “Yeah—that’s real ladylike, Dizzy.”

  “Ladylike this,” she grumbled and punched her pillow into submission. Hot tears burned her eyes as she listened to Venom get ready for bed. Her lower lip wobbled but she gulped down the warring emotions and refused to cry.

  Dizzy couldn’t reconcile Venom’s unyielding position on the officers’ club with the sweet and loving gesture he had made earlier that day. He had gone out of his way to make her happy. Why in the world was he being so obstinate about this?

  Why didn’t he understand how it clawed at her heart to think of him touching another woman? Even if it was simply a demonstration of technique it wasn’t right. He loved to remind her that she belonged to him. Hell—she wore a collar for him! Shouldn’t that road go both ways? Didn’t he belong to her? If he could make up rules for her shouldn’t she have the chance to set hard limits for him?

  She was still trying to untangle the jumbled mess of thoughts when Venom appeared next to the couch. She stiffened defensively, unsure what he wanted or planned to do. If he saw her rigid body he didn’t comment on it.

  “Come to bed, Dizzy.”

  “No.”

  “You won’t get any sleep here. This couch isn’t comfortable.”

  “I’ll deal.”

  He sighed loudly. “Will you please come to bed, Dizzy?”

  Refusing to budge, she asked, “Will you take me to the club with you?”

  “You’re not ready.”

  “Well, then, I guess I’m not ready to come to bed.”

  “Fine.”

  After delivering his clipped response, he stepped closer to the couch. For a second, she thought he was going to scoop her up and force her back into the bedroom. Instead he snapped his arms and unfurled one of the heavy extra blankets he kept in the closet. Holding her breath, Dizzy warily watched him. He shocked her by covering her with the blanket and tucking it tightly under her body, almost cocooning her in place.

  “It’s not your weighted blanket but it will do.” He hesitated before brushing his lips across her forehead. “Good night.”

  Bewildered by his compassion, Dizzy watched him leave. Alone on the couch, she hadn’t expected to get any sleep tonight. Since Venom had Grabbed her she had grown accustomed to the feel of his strong, heavy arms cradling her to sleep.

  Lying there alone in the dark but embraced by the blanket, Dizzy wondered at Venom’s gentleness toward her, even when they were fighting. His desire to take care of her never wavered. So why couldn’t he see how much it hurt her to be left behind while he went to the club?

  You’re not ready.

  Was he afraid she would embarrass him? Is that why he didn’t want to use her in his class? She didn’t have nearly as much experience as he did—or as the poppies, obviously—but how the hell was she supposed to gain that experience if he locked her away in their quarters? Learning to love the way these Harcos men did—with their collars, spanking, ropes and discipline—took some serious hands-on training. She needed to be in his element to learn how to please him.

  Dizzy stared at the dark ceiling and tried to decide what to do. Deep down, she didn’t believe Venom was purposely trying to hurt her. He was simply caught in that alpha-male mindset of knowing that his way was the best way—even if he was dead wrong.

  It had to have been two hours from the time Venom tucked the blanket around her when Dizzy finally dug deep and found enough bravery to twist and wiggle free from her cocoon. She sat up slowly and listened to their quiet apartment. She didn’t hear any sounds coming from their bedroom. Was Venom already asleep?

  The thought of him drifting off peacefully while she was alone and on the verge of tears angered and hurt her. She feared setting a bad precedent if she capitulated first but what was the alternative? Morning would come and they would still be upset with each other. Staying in here was only delaying the inevitable.

  Rubbing her face, Dizzy was reminded of the last few fights she had overheard between her parents. The one that had sent her mother flying out of the house the morning of the bombing had been a doozy. It was the first and only time she had ever seen her dad lose his cool. That vase smashing against the wall had been a symbol of their imploding marriage.

  She remembered the nasty words her parents had traded as her father practically chased her mother to the front door. It had been so very ugly. So much of that day she had blocked out but the pain inspired by Venom’s refusal to include her in every part of his life seemed to be dredging everything back up.

  Glancing at the open doorway of their bedroom, Dizzy decided she didn’t want any regrets when it came to her marriage. It was so early in their relationship and they were still building the foundation for years to come. One badly placed brick and the whole damn thing would come crumbling down.

  Shoving off the couch, Dizzy silently padded across the living room. She had taken exactly one step into the pitch-black bedroom before the light built into the wall above the bed switched on. She raised a hand to shield her eyes as Venom adjusted the brightness to a setting easier on their eyes.

  When she could see clearly, she found him sitting up against his pillow. The sheet sat low enough around his hips that she could tell he was totally naked. Her gaze moved from his trim waist across his chiseled chest to his handsome but concerned face.

  “I was waiting for you to fall asleep,” he admitted finally. “I planned to come in and get you.”

  That didn’t surprise her at all. Wringing her hands, she took a cautious step forward. Slowly and still trying to decide what to say, she made her way to the bed. Venom held out his hands, opening his arms in a silent gesture of welcome. If he thought she was going to forgive and forget that easily, he had another think coming.

  But she couldn’t deny that she craved his body heat. Climbing onto the bed, she slid one leg over his and straddled his thighs. The sheet trapped between their bodies kept them from touching too intimately. Knowing Venom, he probably planned to use those masterful hands and his skilled mouth to make her forget about their spat.

  Venom cupped the tops of her knees and glided his hands along her bare thighs until they disappeared under her nightgown. The fabric bunched around her waist as his fingers spanned her hips. “Talk to me.”

  She braced her hands on his broad shoulders. It would be so easy to make a threat to deny him her body or her affection if he didn’t take her with him but she refused to start down that petty path. It wasn’t going to solve anything.

  Deciding that this was one time when she needed to be brave and bold, she stated very clearly, “I’m going with you and you’re going to use me to help teach this class.”

  His sigh of frustration buffeted her neck. “Dizzy, I don’t—”

  She touched his lips. “I’m not done yet.”

  His eyebrow quirked but he didn’t try to speak over her again. She traced the outline of
his mouth and then let her finger trail down a long, thin scar running along the edge of his jaw. “I’m coming with you because I want to learn everything you have to teach me. I’m coming with you because I am your mate, your wife, and I belong with you.”

  She gulped but found the courage to be totally honest. Taking one of his hands, she dragged it out from under her nightgown and brought it up to her chest. He palmed her small breast and she covered his hand with hers. “I’m going because I won’t be able to breathe if I have to sit here and imagine these hands that I love so much running along another woman’s naked skin.”

  His pained expression and the rough inhale that accompanied it convinced Dizzy that Venom hadn’t realized how badly he had hurt her. She gasped as he expertly and swiftly flipped her onto her back and came down on top of her. “Venom!”

  “I wanted to protect you.” Kicking the sheet back toward the foot of the bed, Venom insinuated his hips between her thighs and pinned her to the mattress. His huge erection rubbed against her but he didn’t try to penetrate her—yet.

  She pressed her hands against his chest. “Protect me from what?”

  “The club isn’t like our playroom, Dizzy. We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of all the erotic possibilities. You will see things on demonstration night that will make you uncomfortable or even frightened. I refuse to push you too fast or too far.” His thumb outlined the shell of her ear. “You are so precious to me.”

  Caressing his hot skin, she pointed out the obvious. “You could have told me that.”

  “I did tell you that. I told you that you aren’t ready.”

  “That’s not what I heard.” Her cheeks grew heated. “I thought you were afraid I might embarrass you because I’m not up to par.”

  “Never,” he swore. He lowered his face and peered intently down at her. The depth of his adoration made her heart swell. “I chose you, Dizzy. I don’t want to touch another woman ever again. You’re the only one I want.”

  Rocking her hips in a flirtatious, inviting way, she commanded huskily, “Prove it.”