Saved by Venom: 3 (Grabbed) (23 page)

Though he was still on leave for his honeymoon, Venom decided to head in to the SRU for the team workout the next morning—but not until he had woken Dizzy with a very pleasurable start to her day.

Leaning against the wall of the elevator, he let his thoughts drift back to her cries of pleasure as he lashed her sweet cunt with his tongue. After their long night of lovemaking—first in the living room and then again in the bedroom—Venom hadn’t expected to wake with such a raging hard-on. Dizzy had become his own personal aphrodisiac. The scent of her hair and the feel of her supple, lithe body curled against his was enough to shift his lust into overdrive.

She had whimpered in her sleep and roused only a very little as he had kissed and nibbled his way down her luscious body. He had even managed to part her thighs with his broad shoulders without fully waking her. It wasn’t until his tongue had fluttered over that enticing pink clit of hers that she had bolted awake.

Gripping his head, she had come long and hard with his mouth on her pussy and then welcomed his pounding cock. His back was still marked by her fingernails. He wore those red scratches like a badge of honor.

He had left her in bed with a satisfied smile on her face and expected she was already fast asleep again. He liked the idea of her living a comfortable, pampered life and hoped she enjoyed the lifestyle he provided her.

But as the elevator shot down to the main housing floor and Venom crossed to a different bank of elevators that would take him to the SRU section of the ship, he couldn’t shake the idea that Dizzy needed more than simply being his kept mate.

There had been no mistaking the utter joy on her face when Naya had proclaimed her wedding saved yesterday evening. He had never doubted Dizzy’s skill as a designer and seamstress but seeing her employ the craft she had practiced for so many years drove home a point he hadn’t wanted to acknowledge.

Dizzy needed to work.

It didn’t jibe with his traditional upbringing or the dominant culture of the Harcos but it couldn’t be ignored. She needed to design and create as much as he needed to fulfill his duty as a land corps soldier. Menace didn’t seem to mind Naya having a career of her own but Menace probably hadn’t spent his entire childhood listening to his mother berate his father for being a poor provider.

The elevator paused seven floors down from the SRU headquarters and Mayhem stepped into the car. “Captain,” Mayhem greeted respectfully.

“Sergeant.” Venom remembered that he hadn’t properly thanked Mayhem for helping Dizzy. “I owe you a debt of honor for coming to my mate’s aid the other day.”

Mayhem waved his hand. “I would have done that for any woman. It was my honor that demanded my action.”

“Even so, if you ever need a favor, come to me.”

Mayhem’s dark brow lifted. “Does that extend to a good word for the upcoming SRU tryouts?”

“You don’t need it. You’re a damn good soldier. You have excellent test scores. You’re very well liked. As long as your trials go well, you should have no problem earning a slot.”

“With the alpha team?” His hopeful tone came through loud and clear.

“Possibly,” Venom answered. “Raze and I are currently considering breaking out some of the more senior members of the established teams to form foundation units for the newer teams we need to create. If that happens, we’ll have open slots on alpha squad.”

“If I earn a position with SRU, I would like to be considered for one of those slots.”

“I’ll throw your name in the hat.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Venom let his gaze drift to Mayhem’s bionic prosthesis. “Is that a prototype?”

“Yes. The engineers and rehab staff on the
Mercy
designed this one based on the newest research. It’s amazing.” He flexed the limb and Venom was surprised at the way it reacted and moved like a natural leg. “They inserted an implant here.” Mayhem touched a spot on his lower back. “It helps my brain and my leg talk.”

“That’s incredible. Are they going to roll this out to more injured soldiers?”

Mayhem nodded. “There are three dozen of us using them right now. The initial reports are excellent. I think the war council understands how important it is to retain their best soldiers. We aren’t useless just because we’re injured.”

Venom heard Mayhem’s bitterness. “The old ideas are changing. Better medical technology is making things possible today that never would have happened when our fathers were active.”

Mayhem shifted his gym bag. “I realize I pissed off a lot of people with my lawsuit but the old ways were changing too slowly. I didn’t have any say in having my damn leg blown off—but I sure as hell have the right to make choices about my future. The Splinters took my leg but they aren’t taking my career.”

The elevator slowed to a stop and the doors parted. Mayhem nodded in his direction before stepping out and heading down the long hallway to the SRU private gym. A bit dazed by the man’s strident defense of his lawsuit, Venom exited the elevator. Instead of following Mayhem to the gym, he hesitated in the hallway.

Mayhem’s words ricocheted in his brain. Was that how Dizzy felt? Her career and her life as a single, independent woman had been snatched from her. She had seemed so excited by the prospect of selling her designs in Naya’s shop—and he had stomped on it, crushing her excitement with his own insecurities.

Thinking of the way she had called him an amazing man last night made his heart ache so painfully. She had accepted him for the man he was—scars, emotional baggage and all. She had allowed him to exert dominance over her. She had trusted him with his ropes and restraints. She had supported and reached out to him when he had taken Ben’s life to end the hostage situation.

And what had he done? He had crushed her dreams of continuing her work here on the
Valiant
. Didn’t she have the right to make choices for her future?

For our future.

Venom took a hard right and strode down the hallway to the SRU offices. He waved at Raze as he passed their shared space but kept right on walking until he reached Cipher’s spot. The door was wide open as usual and the engineer was on his back under a bomb-sniffing unit, tinkering with its internal parts.

“Hey, Ven,” Cipher greeted, his voice muffled by the metal box sitting over him. “What do you need, man?”

He leaned against the doorframe. “What do you know about sewing machines?”

The wheels on the creeper squealed as Cipher slid out from underneath the bomb-sniffing device. He sat up and set aside his screwdriver. “You’ll have to repeat that. Did you ask me about a sewing machine?”

“Who needs a sewing machine?” Raze elbowed Venom aside so he could get in on the conversation.

“I do. It needs to be a good one, Cipher. One that can make really pretty things.”

Raze snorted. “Ven, I realize I opened the floor at last month’s meeting to a discussion of new uniforms for the SRU—but let’s try to keep the ruffles and lace at a minimum, okay?”

Venom knocked into Raze’s shoulder. “Shut up. It’s for Dizzy. I’ve decided she can continue designing and selling her clothes up here.”

Raze offered an approving, if sad, smile. “That’s a smart move.” Clearing his throat, he pushed off the doorframe. “You two hurry this discussion up, okay? We’re in the gym in ten.”

“Sure thing, boss.” Venom watched his best friend disappear down the hallway. He sensed Raze was still unsettled from the dark turn the hostage call had taken. It was something they needed to talk about but first he wanted to get things squared away with Cipher. “Well?”

“If you want her to be able to produce commercially—say five or ten copies of each design—you’ll want to go with one of those fabric printers.” Cipher shuffled around the tools and empty drink bottles on his desk to find a tablet. He tapped away at the screen and finally spun it around. “Something like this, you know?”

“It looks like the printers we use to make repair parts for weapons,” he said, studying the specs. “Where can I get one of these?” He considered how pricey they were. “What’s the hit to my account going to be like?”

“Give me a couple of hours,” Cipher replied. “I know a guy down in the recycling department. He lets me source parts from all the broken-down shit that gets routed his way. The uniform shop just upgraded to new clothing printer models. A hundred credits says I can find one free and clear down in the bin.”

Venom considered Cipher’s outstretched hand. “Okay. I’ll take that action.”

Their deal made, Venom hurried to the locker room to change into workout clothes. Every single member of the land or sky corps was required to meet extreme physical fitness standards but the SRU pushed those standards even higher. Every team worked out together at the beginning of their shift as a way to enhance unit cohesiveness.

Today, Raze was brutal as he pushed them through their circuits. By the time their two hours of torture ended, Venom was sweating and exhausted. On legs like jelly, he stumbled into the locker room and peeled out of his soaking-wet clothing. A cool shower helped lower his body temperature but one glance at Raze’s clenched jaw told him the same wasn’t true for his friend.

“You want to talk?” No man wanted to be ambushed about emotional issues with his dick swinging in the wind so Venom had waited until they were dressed and out of the locker room to ask Raze the obvious question. “Is this about Ben?”

Raze shot him an annoyed glare but didn’t lie. “I lost him. Somewhere in that negotiation, I fucked up.”

“It wasn’t you, Raze. It was the added complication of a hostage. We couldn’t control what came out of her mouth. If there had been a way to keep her quiet, to keep Ben’s attention away from her, things might have gone differently.” Venom squeezed Raze’s shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I think that guy came on this ship with a death wish. He was either the stupidest man in all of creation to come onto a Harcos warship and shoot four people—or he was suicidal.”

Raze made a humming sound of agreement but wouldn’t commit one way or the other. Lowering his voice, Raze said, “I heard that Axis was pulled from the central lockup and dragged down to the Shadow Force sector in the middle of the night.”

“I assumed something like that had happened. Terror made a comment to Dizzy that made me think he had taken an interest in Axis.” Venom rubbed his jaw as he considered the implications of that development. “You have to admit it’s a pretty big coincidence that he just happened to come by the offices to ask about the SRU tryout invitations when every single one of our teams was away.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Raze replied and gestured for Venom to join him on the walk to their shared office. “I asked Cipher to dig around and see what Axis was trying to access when he was on our consoles. Apparently the lying bastard didn’t even try to find that SRU invitations file. He was looking for our escort schematics.”

“Was he now?” The muscles in his neck tightened. “Trying out for the team, my ass! He was on a recon, wasn’t he?”

“Sounds that way, doesn’t it?” Raze shook his head. “They never caught the mole who framed Naya. Remember how they suspected that she had used Menace’s office to send an information blast out into space by plugging into one of the communication conduits running through that closet down there?”

“Yeah.” Venom remembered, all right. He had been part of the team that rousted Naya and Menace from their bed and hauled them in as terrorists. It hadn’t been pretty. “You think Axis is the mole?”

“It’s possible. He works in IT right? Hell, for all we know, there are dozens of those traitors on this ship.” Raze’s expression darkened. “I had wanted to grab Terror for a chat last night but he cut out of the wedding pretty damn quick.” He shot a sideways glance Venom’s way. “I noticed the two of you left early too.”

“Dizzy wasn’t feeling well.”

“Let me guess. She had a fever?” Raze slyly grinned. “But I bet you had the right prescription, huh?”

Venom whacked Raze. “You sound jealous.”

Raze chortled. “Hardly. Been there, done that. Remember?”

“I remember,” Venom said softly. “I also remember how excited you were in the days leading up to the collaring ceremony you shared with Shelly. I can’t for the life of me understand why you’re so afraid to try again.”

Raze pinned him in place with a look. “Don’t, Venom.”

The cold, harsh tone should have stopped Venom from pushing the issue but he was sick and tired of watching his best friend deny himself even a chance at happiness.

“I’m your best friend and that means I get to say things to you that no one else has the balls to even bring up in your presence.”

“Venom—”

“No. You need to do the math, Raze. It’s been over a decade since she walked out on you. It’s time for you to move forward. So she didn’t love you. It happens, okay? Your first bond was a mess but that doesn’t mean you give up, Raze. You were both younger and selfish but you’re a smarter man today. You could have what I have with Dizzy.”

“And what do you have with her, Venom? You chased a terrified woman down in the snow, put your collar around her neck and dragged her back to your ship where she’s virtually your prisoner for thirty days. Sure, everything is going great now—because she’s probably afraid of pissing you off and meeting the vicious soldier under that mask of friendliness.”

Venom recoiled at Raze’s cruel remark. The insinuation that he would ever abuse or harm Dizzy infuriated him. “Fuck. You.”

“No thanks.” Raze spun on his heel. “Besides, don’t you have a mate waiting back in your quarters to service you, warden?”

Venom flinched when Raze slammed the door to their shared office. He ignored his instinct to shove the door open and demand an apology. Venom had poked a damn bear and gotten bitten. There was no point going back in there to jam a pointy stick in the bear’s face.

Pivoting away from the door, Venom caught SRU members scattering like bugs under a bright light. He wanted to snap at them for eavesdropping but it wouldn’t have been right. He and Raze should have taken their heated discussion behind closed doors if they wanted to avoid gossip.