The Poisoner (The Poisoner #1)

by I.V. Ophelia

“Not when you flirt with me like that.”

“That is revolting.”

“Blood is blood.” He smirked. “I will take anything you give me—anything.”

“You know, if you just gave in, I would be worshiping you right now instead of chasing you,”

“Though it is rather exhilarating when you play hard to get.”

You want to know what I want? I want you, Alina. All of you. Every hair on your head, every tear, laugh, and scream that rips from your delicate vocal cords will all become mine.”

“You are a cruel, wicked thing, Silas Forbes,”

“I want to taste every venomous word performed by your lips until you have to invent new ones just for me.”

“I need more of you.” There was an irritated bite to his words. “It wasn’t enough.”

“A need or a want?”

“Need. Nothing else is...

“I will not forgive you if you die without my permission,”

“What?” “Who have you been seeing?” His voice was cold. “Have you been seeing him?” “What do you mean?” “You’re the most capable creature I’ve ever met. Don’t pretend to be dense.”

“It is all over you. The scent.” He squinted at me. “Is this what you do when I leave you to your own devices?” “Even if that were true, I do not belong to you.”

“You wound me, my dear.” He clutched his chest mockingly. “My heart is yours to do with as you please! Even if you are to run blades through it!”

“Why do you smell like that?” His nose wrinkled in disgust. “Like what—”

“I can smell someone all over you. Is it that lab partner? Someone you met elsewhere? A tavern fellow perhaps?”

Admittedly, my first thought was to run to the other dangerous creature within the house. This must be why he thought he smelled someone else on me, because someone else was here. The question was for how long?

“You know, you make many empty threats. While you have given me a concussion and an interesting collection of bruises from our encounters, you never deliver on your ferocious little fits where you threaten to eat me.” I laughed. “What a poor predator you are.”

“Is this your own suicidal way of telling me that you want me to hurt you?”

“No amount of fondling will cure a migraine,” I said flatly, keeping the pressure on my eyes. “You’ll never know if you don’t try.”

“I meant something else, but maybe we should try that too, to be thorough.”

It brought me joy knowing I could make a creature like him mewl for me, beg for me without a single word.

“I want something.” “Anything,” he breathed, his hands sliding up my back. “I want to see more.”

“I’m afraid that I won’t stop.”

There it was again, that warm feeling. It was not natural to feel this for the person capable of killing you. The danger might have been the thing that made it feel so much more intense. It was possibly due to some strange chemistry, but I had never met a man so interesting. It only made sense that he was not even human—I was not easily satisfied or entertained like this.

While I said I would leave her alone, I would not let her out of my sight. Ever.

“You are so beautiful when you look out at the universe. I wonder what it would be like to be looked at with such adoration as you do at the unknown,”

Why did it feel like I was betraying Silas just by hearing it? “I can’t,” I whispered.

“I know.” He pulled away. “It would punish me every moment it went unsaid.”

“You look absolutely radiant when you’re angry,” Silas whispered against my neck.

“I can explain⁠—” “What is there to explain? You cannot just kill anyone who insults me! If you killed every man who said similar things to Boris, I think half of the men I’ve met would be in the Thames by now!” “I will not allow anyone to speak to you like that.”

“I can’t stand when you cry,” he said quietly. “The smell burns the inside of my nose.”

“I love your eyes, even when they’re red from tears.”

“I have never seen someone look at something as wretched as me only to be left in awe,”

“For that reason, your eyes will always be precious to me, in any form. I want nothing mor...

skull and see the world a...

“I have not known fear until I met you, Alina,”

“Do you know how horrifying it was to see you on those stairs and wonder what could have possibly scared you enough to cry out to me, of all things?”

“I realized that it wasn’t you who scared me the most,”

“What scared me is what would happen to me without you.” Did he mean that?

No one had ever killed for me, and it was becoming harder to stay angry at the gesture. No matter what my ethics said, I found it romantic.

While Silas’s and my relationship was complicated, I found myself hating him less and less, especially after last night. Unfortunately, I had seen every side of him, yet I was still helpless to keep myself from certain feelings. I would like to say maybe my presence had changed him, but I might be getting ahead of myself.

I needed him whether I liked it or not.

“No amount of insult will be able to make you feel better about a man like him preferring a woman with a bit more…substance.”

“People are avoiding me like the plague.” “Oh, that is because I told them that you were carrying my demon spawn and also secretly engaged to me.”

“Well, you have certainly bewitched me.”

“I quite like your poisons. I have acquired a taste for them.” He leaned close to my ear. “It is

not the only thing I have developed a taste for.” “Shouldn’t we be keeping our distance?”

“You know very well that I couldn’t do that any more than I cou...