Sweet Venom: A Why Choose Romance
Sweet Venom: Prologue

6 MONTHS EARLIER

‘Why are you bringing me back here?’ I ask as Charlie hooks her arm through mine to lead me back to the Voyeur room at Covet. Before she can respond, we are interrupted by euphoric moans that instantly have heat flaring to life low in my belly. She knows my tastes are unique, but I’m curious why she feels compelled to bring me back here. The closer Charlie and I have grown, the more I’ve learned she isn’t some vision of innocence herself. In fact, she is quite the opposite, which makes this jaunt all the more intriguing. As we reach the viewing area after turning the corner, I can’t resist biting my lip when I see the couple on the other side of the glass.

I’ll admit this is hot. It’s like watching porn but in real life. Plus, it’s two men and one woman. That’s one experience I have never had. A man is on the edge of a bed with his legs spread as a woman straddles his lap. Her back is to his front, her legs spread just as wide, draped over his. He’s slowly pumping into her ass and pinching her nipples as a man sits between his legs and eats her pussy. My panties are soaked immediately. I have to bite back my desire to touch myself.

I try to latch onto my last sane thoughts. Get it together, girl. Charlie’s here. She brought you back here for a reason. I remember her telling me that she and Mason reconnected in that room. That must be what this is about.

I lean into her ear and say, ‘Mason really went in there with you?’

This is not something I’d picture my long-time best friend ever agreeing to.

‘Umm, yes, but it was just the two of us. It’s not always three people.’

Of course, it was just the two of them. There’s no way in hell Mason would let another man touch her. The question that was meant to distract me didn’t at all. I’m now fully invested in the stories of the people behind the glass. Are these people complete strangers who met here at the club? Is she with one of the men? Is this a boyfriend giving his girlfriend a one-time free sexual fantasy pass? Or are they all together? Anyone watching this unfold is undoubtedly focused on the sheer debauchery, but my attention is on her, and how utterly desired and cherished she must feel with two men worshiping her.

Charlie clears her throat, pulling me from my thoughts before she says, ‘Can I ask you something personal?’ I eye her suspiciously before nodding my agreement. ‘Is this why you and Ellis aren’t talking?’

I’m quiet as I consider her words. To the world, it would appear that Ellis Lykos and I hate each other. Our greetings are short, clipped, and dripping with condescension, but because Charlie knows us both all too well, she can see right through our ruse. All our verbal sparring stems from pent-up sexual frustration. We are more than attracted to each other, and our stripes are starting to show. When I don’t respond, she adds, ‘Is it because you don’t think he’d be down to share?’

‘No, it’s because I don’t want to share.’

See, that’s the thing when people replace out that I partake in threesomes; they automatically assume I’m a freak in the sheets who is into kinky stuff or I’m promiscuous, when in reality, my choices have nothing to do with either of those things and everything to do with my sick heart. I’m strategic in the partners I choose for a reason. I want to have a good time and walk away without commitment or strings attached.

If I told you I hadn’t thought about playing with fire and tempting Ellis, that would be a lie. However, every time I let my mind entertain such foolish thoughts, I instantly shut it down. I don’t want to get hurt, but more importantly, I don’t want to hurt him, and both are given. He’s too damn magnetic. My heart already skips a beat when he’s around, and we haven’t even officially hooked up. Yes, we’ve messed around, but we have yet to go all the way. I just can’t.

‘He knows I like or liked this, but…’ I shrug, unsure of how to communicate exactly how I feel inside.

‘But what?’ she asks, honestly confused.

‘I really like him, Charlie, like really, really like him, and I guess I’m scared I can’t have both.’

No one could understand the twisted thoughts that skew any and all rational logic behind my choices. My choices are not rooted in reason, but in emotions, and therein lies the problem. It comes down to more than just sharing, and it could never be fair.

‘Haven’t you been with married couples?’

‘Yes, but it’s different when you are the third person with no emotional ties. I’m not sure I could watch him be with someone else.’

‘Have you talked to him about this?’ she asks, refusing to let the subject go. When I shake my head no, she adds, ‘I think you should talk to him about it. He runs a sex club. The man has seen it all.’

I offer her no words. Charlie makes valid points, ones I have entertained. Out of all the men and the type of hook-up I’m looking for, Ellis would fit the bill, but it’s because I like him that I stay away. Nothing good could come from hooking up with Ellis Lykos.

My silence has her trying a new angle. ‘Aren’t there couples that share where only one person is shared, like what’s going on now? Two men are pleasuring the woman, but the men aren’t touching.’

I’m beginning to get a clearer picture of why Charlie thought to lure me back here. What she doesn’t understand is that scenes like the one playing out before us are just fantasies. It’s fiction versus reality, and reality is a cold-hearted bitch.

Before I can tell her to drop it and leave well enough alone, a deep voice behind us growls out, ‘Yes,’ and we both jump.

‘Shit, Ellis, you scared the crap out of me,’ Charlie scolds in hushed tones to not distract the patrons around us.

Ellis wraps his arms around me in an embrace that sends my heart racing before placing his full lips on my neck and murmuring, ‘You should have told me.’

Damn it. He would overhear this conversation and mistake my reservation as fear instead of seeing it for what it really is—venom. I am a poison that even the coldest of hearts can’t survive, but poison is in everything. It’s the dosage that makes it lethal or a remedy. Maybe he can survive just a taste. The question is: Can I?