Page 99 of The Cannibal

She slapped her hand across my mouth, smearing the black blood across my face as she serviced herself right there in my lap.

If my eyes could roll further from ecstasy, they’d be in the back of my head. I tipped my head against the bark of the tree, closing my eyes as I felt myself nearing my climax.

I was afraid to finish again, because what if she wasn’t done with me?

The chittering was becoming intense from her, my own purr surfacing when I realized she was likely nearing the end, and that I was nearly a job well done.

Her voice surfaced between the clicking, lewd moans, and ecstatic gasps as her hips rocked, her forehead touching mine as she closed her eyes to fully feel and take advantage of her newfound natural senses, her instincts.

She shivered, her hips slowed.

I reached behind her thighs to pull her forward, narrowly avoiding the grip of the spines as her head slipped against my shoulder.

Both of our breathing ran ragged. Every hot puff of air expelling the heat of the moment, and her body finally relaxed against my chest.

Without moving her too much, I carefully removed my arms from my jacket and moved it to the front. I placed it over her shoulders to cover her bare arms.

We rested like that for a while after. I think we both fell into sleep between the sounds of the ocean and the most delightful shade from the sun.

I was left with a rather religious experience I couldn’t quite place. But I was right when I said it upon our first encounters, and I was still correct when I said it now—this woman was destined to haunt me, and I wished not to be saved from peril.

28

THE POISONER

“Do you feel anything?” I poised my pen above the paper, my timepiece flat on my journal to watch the hands tick.

Phoebe looked down at her hand supinated on the table. The tip of her finger twitched. “Just the tiniest amount. It tingles a little.”

I wrote down her observations as well as my own. We had been testing all morning. I’d bitten her arm about five times already. It seemed like it was only five minutes of paralysis per bite.

I’ve tried gathering enough venom to concentrate it, but as before, collection is extremely slow. I was lucky that I could extract it myself, but I only had maybe two vials.

“Oh! Fingers can move again!” Phoebe squeaked, extremely focused on watching her fingers curl.

“Good job,” I praised, marking the time and observation again, “next time we can test your leg.”

“Oh.” She was less enthusiastic this time. “How many tests will you do?”

“As many as it takes until I understand how it affects Vipera fully.” I watched her hand move, her fingers flexing back and forth.

“What about humans?”

My heart sank to my stomach. I hadn’t checked on John since the last incident. In all honesty, I was afraid. The mortification of knowing I’d caused such a reaction. I should have tried to figure it out sooner. Something was wrong with me. It is my responsibility to negate any suffering for my own survival. It’s a selfish life, I couldn’t let myself accept it.

“What’s the progress?” Luka didn’t bother knocking before waltzing into the lab, papers in hand. He glanced at his timepiece on the underside of his wrist. “I’m gone today, can you two handle yourselves?”

“What’s the rush, you’re just in time for a new round. Care for a humble donation of a limb and a bit of your precious time?” I suggested innocently.

His smile was nothing but sarcastic. “I’m on handler duty.”

“Secret Fixer things I’m guessing?”

“Ask your husband,” he mocked, then his brow furrowed the longer he looked at me. “You look . . .”

Phoebe and I held our breaths, awaiting the next possible thing to come out of his mouth.

“ . . . better,” he said.