Saved by Venom 3 (Grabbed)(48)

“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.

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.