Saved by Venom: 3 (Grabbed) (24 page)

Annoyed but no longer angry, he waited for an elevator to take him home to Dizzy. Raze would cool down soon enough and come looking for him when he was ready to apologize. Venom figured he probably owed Raze an apology too. He should have respected Raze’s direction to let it go but he had pushed too far.

As he leaned against the cold metal wall of the elevator, Venom wondered if today’s theme was making amends. Raze wasn’t the only one who needed to hear sorry from him. Dizzy, the most important person of all, was at the very top of his list.

* * * * *

After a simple breakfast of fruit and crunchy cereal, Dizzy wandered around their apartment looking for something to do. Venom wouldn’t be home for quite a while.

She vaguely remembered him telling her that SRU workouts were two hours in duration. Well…she thought that might have been what he said. Maybe?

Truthfully she had been panting so hard and was so blissed out from out from three wickedly intense orgasms in a row that it had been hard to understand a word that came out of that sexy mouth of his. Hell, he could have said the ship was on fire and she probably wouldn’t have even blinked.

Standing in their room, she opened the closet. Working on Naya’s dress last night had reignited her passion for design. She wanted to get her hands on some fabric and make something beautiful and flirty.

But the yards and yards of gray and black uniforms were less than inspiring. Back in The City, Dizzy wouldn’t have thought twice of taking a dress that had fallen out of favor, tearing it apart and making it into something cute and new. She didn’t dare do that here.

Until she could secure fabric and notions, she was too afraid to risk the fashion-forward clothing she had brought with her. What she had seen of women’s fashions aboard the
Valiant
terrified her. Everything was so damn boxy and drab. Some of the wives had been doing their own alterations and jazzing up their outfits—but the garments they started with lacked proper form.

Her gaze drifted to the uniform pants Venom had been complaining about the other day while she had been whip-stitching those rope ends for him. She took them down from their hanger and inspected the pocket that had him so riled up. What had he called it?
Oh, right. Janky.

The description brought a smile to her face. He was right, of course. The pocket sat in a strange position along the thigh. After seeing Venom decked out in his SRU gear she understood better how these pants needed to function. This pocket was too big and it puffed out too far. No doubt Venom and other men wearing them snagged that pocket in tight spots.

An idea formed. She eyed her sewing kit. What would Venom say if she removed the pocket and made some alterations to this pair of pants?

Her bottom tingled with the memory of that swat she had earned after cutting up the throw pillow without asking permission. Instead of diminishing her enthusiasm, Dizzy found herself oddly excited by the idea of Venom giving her a
real
spanking. Knowing her big, sexy sky warrior, he would find a way to make the experience incredibly erotic, arousing and addictive.

Her mind settled, Dizzy picked up her sewing kit and carried the pants to the kitchen table. She examined the seams and the construction of the garment before sketching out her idea on the back of one of the pamphlets she had been given at the wives’ club meeting. Scratch paper was impossible to come by up here. She was just lucky she had a pencil in her kit.

As Dizzy carefully ripped the seam of the pouch pocket, she wondered if she would ever get used to the paperless society Venom inhabited. She had always been a tactile person. Even though she could design on her tablet it simply felt different. She was so used to putting together a design board with swatches of fabric and samples of ribbons and laces. To virtually pin a photograph to a virtual board? It wasn’t ever going to be the same.

But she had to adapt. There was no going back to The City or her old life.

Sometime later, Dizzy heard the front door open. She had only basted the first redesigned pocket into place when Venom rounded the corner of the kitchen. He scanned the scene before him and his brow furrowed. “You cut up my pants?”

“Are you angry?” Her stomach clenched as she waited for his answer.

He shot her a bewildered look. “Over a pair of pants? No. I would appreciate it if you would ask the next time.” His gaze narrowed. “Unless of course you were hoping for a repeat of that swat I gave you last night for tearing up the pillow?”

Ears hot, she dropped her gaze to the pants. “Of course not. What kind of a weirdo do you think I am?”

Venom slipped his fingers under her chin and tipped her head back. His icy-blue eyes bored into her. “The truth, Dizzy.”

She swallowed. “So…maybe I sort of thought about you spanking me again.”

His thumb brushed her lower lip. A playful smile curved his mouth. “You didn’t have to cut up my favorite pants. All you had to do was ask.”

She gasped. “Oh no! Were these really your favorite pants?”

He chuckled. “No. I was teasing.” He picked up the pants and looked them over. “I like this.”

“When I was at the SRU headquarters with you I noticed that you were carrying a lot of weight in that pocket. It looked as if everything had settled down into the bottom. I can’t imagine how hard it is to dig things out of there when you need them.”

“It’s a real pain in the ass.”

“I thought it would be more useful to have two or three shallower pockets. I think a modified welt-style with some hook-and-loop closure maybe…”

“Yeah. I don’t understand any of that.” He slid into the seat across from her. “In the middle of all that chaos you noticed my pants?”

“It’s what I do,” she said with a shrug. “I also noticed that the tailor you guys use doesn’t hem your pants uniformly. Yours have a quarter break. Raze wears his with a full break. Just about everyone else had no break at all.”

“A what?”

She reached down and gave the cuff of his pants a little shake. “A break? It describes the way the pants sit on top of your shoes. See how yours touch the laces on your boot and there is just the tiniest bit of extra fabric that sort of kinks up right here? That’s a quarter break.”

“Huh.” He lifted his leg to study his pants. “I guess you learn something new every day.”

She smiled at him. “Your tailor needs to learn how to fit pants better. Raze’s pants are too slim.”

“How can you tell?”

“The seat is too tight and it makes the pockets flare.”

Venom frowned at her. “I don’t think I like you looking at Raze’s ass.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes dear.”

He laughed. “Now that? I could get used to that.”

She snorted. “Fat chance, Venom.”

As Dizzy measured and marked the spot where the next two pockets would go, she asked, “How was your workout?”

“Fine.” He picked up a scrap of fabric and worked it between his fingers. “You get enough rest?”

She didn’t meet his intense stare. “Yes—after you left.”

“I think that might be the way we start our mornings from now on. What do you think?”

She squirmed in her seat. “If that’s what you want…”

“I’m asking what you want.”

She finally worked up the courage to look at him. His smoldering gaze made her insides quiver. “I want you.”

“Just me?”

“What more could I possibly want?”

He shrugged. “You grew up extremely wealthy. Maybe you dreamed of marrying a rich man and having servants and a mansion and—”

“Venom,” Dizzy sighed and stabbed her needle into the pincushion. “Let’s get something straight once and for all. Yes, I was born into a rich family. I lived a luxurious life until the bombing and the recession. After that? Well—as the people on my planet like to say—I was so poor I didn’t have a pot to piss in.”

“Why would you want to piss in a pot?”

She rolled her eyes again. “It’s just a saying. It means—look, never mind, okay? Basically I was hand-to-mouth poor. Eventually I got back on my feet and made a nice life for myself. You know what all of that taught me?”

“No.”

“It taught me that money doesn’t give you happiness. It just gives you money and better stuff.” She reached for his hand and gripped the long, rough fingers that had caressed her so lovingly that morning. “Venom, I just want a good man in my corner. I want a man I can love and support who loves and supports me right back.”

He mulled over her statement before exhaling loudly. “My father was never good enough for my mother. She constantly harangued him for not advancing high enough or fast enough. Every time I was home on a school break, I had to listen to her berating him. It was—”

“Painful,” Dizzy guessed softly.

“Yes.”

She leaned forward and kissed his knuckles. “Venom, I’m not your mom.”

“I know that now.”

She traced one of the gnarly scars on his hand. “Is this why you flipped your lid when I brought up the possibility of selling my designs in Naya’s shop? You thought I doubted your ability to provide for me?”

“It was my parents all over again with my mother threatening to shame my father by taking a job in one of the munitions factories.” Venom grimaced. “It was awful of me to hurt you like that. I shouldn’t have let my insecurities kill your happiness.”

She could tell he was upset about his behavior by the deep set of the lines around his mouth. “You didn’t kill my happiness. You pissed me off,” she said with a little laugh that he matched with a snort. “You said we would figure it out—and this is us figuring it out.”

“I’m trying to get my hands on a garment printer for you.”

“A what?”

“It’s like the sewing machines down on your planet only better. Cipher is working on sourcing one right now.”

“Venom, you don’t have to do something so extravagant.”

“It’s hardly extravagant to give you something that will make you happy.”

Although his sweet words made her heart flutter wildly, she didn’t want him going into debt. “The expense—”

“Cipher has a connection that can get me printer at a very affordable price. Besides,” Venom sat forward and cupped her face with his big hand, “like most men in the corps, I’ve been throwing my salary into a savings account since my first payday.” He nuzzled their noses together but didn’t try to kiss her yet. “There wasn’t anything worth spending it on until now.”

She stroked his square jaw. “I appreciate this so much, Venom. I recognize what a huge compromise this is for you. In the spirit of compromise I’ll agree to confine my work hours to the times that you’re at work. When you’re home I’m all yours.”

“Thank you.” Venom’s fingertips trailed along her cheek. “I don’t want your dreams to end simply because I Grabbed you.”

“They haven’t ended.” She gazed into the bright blue of his eyes. It was quickly becoming her favorite color. “They’re expanding and growing and changing. Now I don’t simply dream of what I can build if I work hard. I’m dreaming of what
we
can build
together
.”

“Dizzy…” Venom seemed to choke up. Unable to find the right words, he captured her mouth in a kiss filled with the promise of their future. A future she couldn’t wait to meet hand in hand with him.

Later that evening, Dizzy tidied up after dinner. She was finally getting used to the lights around their quarters that operated on a timer to mimic a day of natural sunlight and darkness. She hadn’t quite worked up the courage to visit the observation deck for a peek at the vast emptiness of space but so far living off-planet wasn’t too bad.

When the doorbell chime sounded, she stepped out of the kitchen. “Venom?”

“I’ll get it.” He exited their bedroom still pulling on his shirt. After dinner he had disappeared to take a shower. He had that wicked gleam in his eye that promised her a night bound up in his ropes and completely at his mercy.

But the sound of Raze’s deep, gruff voice echoing off the walls of their quarters meant a delay to whatever delightfully kinky plans Venom had in store for her. With a disappointed sigh, she finished scraping the last bits of food into the trash compartment and hit the button that swooshed it away to heaven only knew where. She loaded the dishes into the cleaning unit and pressed a few buttons to make it start.

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 ropes 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.