Venom And Vice

Chapter One OceanofPDF.com ASHLEY My awareness of him ate at me like a tumor I couldn’t kill. I didn’t have to look behind me to know that Casek was still seated at the same table he’d occupied for the past three hours. Back to the wall. Eyes devouring the room. Cigarette perched casually between two fingers as one end melted slowly into ash. He’d hardly moved from his seat all night. I’d partied, danced, laughed, and cheered. I’d allowed myself to be swept up in the celebratory current of the packed nightclub, but all the while, his brooding presence remained lassoed around my middle, ensuring I couldn’t ignore him completely. I had tried to tell myself over the past five months of living at the Huntsman that I didn’t care, but if that were the truth, why did he show up on my radar at all? Why was he the first person I noticed in a room and the only one I couldn’t seem to forget when my eyes closed at night? Why did I always gravitate toward him, trying to start conversations and finding ways to coax out the tiniest reactions from him? Casek wasn’t just quiet; he was a hawk high above everyone around him, the embodiment of predatory vigilance. His waters ran so deep that a girl could drown in the undertow. I knew better than to wade into such dangerous territory. I. Knew. Better. So why can’t I f*****g let it go? Each minute at the party ticked away like drops of Chinese water torture, wearing down my patience. I’d even been so bothered that I’d broken my strict one-drink-an-hour limit. I’d never in my life been more than a little tipsy because I was practically OCD about regulating my alcohol intake. Peer pressure had never remotely tempted me to break my rule, but Casek drove me to a state beyond reason. And when the vodka from my fourth lemon drop martini filtered into my bloodstream, it melted away the last of my restraint. I gave in to the overwhelming need to lash out against the relentless pull toward him. Slipping from my chair, I drifted away from the table I’d been sitting at with half a dozen other people. They were all too engrossed in conversation to notice my departure, unhindered by the same type of debilitating awareness I’d been enduring. When I zoned in on my intended target, his perceptive stare was already trained on me, despite the steady crisscross of people passing between us. My heart surged into my throat, attempting to keep pace with the pulsing beat of the music. Weaving between oblivious clubgoers, I made my way to Casek. He tracked my every movement without betraying a hint of what he might be thinking. I’d yet to see the man succumb to any emotion since I’d known him. He was the most controlled, stoic man I’d ever met, and it made me desperate to rattle him. To see him feel an ounce of the discomposure he caused me on a daily basis. My unyielding stare speared him through as I approached. A chair sat unoccupied next to him, but I wasn’t there to sit and chat. Besides that, I preferred the advantage of higher ground. I walked straight up where he sat, stopping just inches away, and propped my hands on my hips. “Why did you come tonight if you were going to sit in a corner and ignore everyone?” God, what a relief it was to say the words that had been burning on my tongue for hours. Casek held my gaze as he lifted the cigarette to his lips, hollowed out his cheeks with a pull of polluted air, then blew the smoke off to the side while slowly smothering the butt in an ash-filled tray. When he leaned forward and stood, I retreated a step. I hadn’t wanted to concede ground to him without a response from him, but his hulking frame proved too dizzying. His proximity left me unbalanced and in need of air. Before I could demand an answer, his hand clamped over my wrist and tugged me toward the back hallway. His pace was determined but reasonable, so I had no trouble keeping up, at least not physically. My emotions, however, were reeling. From relief to worry to excitement to anger and beyond—I struggled to settle on how I felt. With a man like Casek who gave away so little, it was impossible to know my own feelings. He led me past the office and bathroom doors down to the conference room and pulled me inside, calmly closing the door behind us and releasing me. The city lights from outside the windows lit the room with a soft glow. Not enough light to detail the flecks of gold in his jade-green eyes, but enough to see a hint of tension in the set of his shoulders. The seemingly benign gesture of pulling me away from the party was an explosive response coming from him. He gave off an unaffected air, but I knew otherwise, and that knowledge kept my lips tightly sealed for once. I’d hopscotched my way into the middle of a minefield and wasn’t sure retreat was an option. Casek rubbed his fingers along his jaw as he considered his words. “For someone having the time of her life, you seem awfully concerned with a man minding his own business.” His words slithered through the shadows and crept along my skin, unleashing an army of goose bumps on my bare arms. I fought to focus on what he’d said rather than the maddening way his voice made me feel. “Because you’re bringing down the entire vibe by brooding in the corner.” “Am I not allowed to celebrate in my own way?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “No, not if you’re going to do it like that.” It was a ridiculous thing to say. I knew it. He knew it. He had every right to be as boring as he wanted, but I was too irritated to back down. “Tell me, Ashley Moore.” He stepped closer, his voice softening to a lethal caress. “If there are unspoken rules to this little celebration, why are you here?” Shock hit me in the pit of my stomach.