My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 88

Raphael turned his attention back to the massive creature draped over his bare shoulders. He reached up, his thumb gently rubbing the top of the snake’s diamond-shaped head.

"Say hello to Medusa," he muttered, his voice softening in a way that made my skin crawl. It was a sweet tone, the kind you’d use for a puppy, but he was using it for a twenty-foot killer, "She’s been waiting for you to wake up. Haven't you, girl?"

The python—Medusa—flicked her dark, forked tongue out near his ear. Raphael let out a dry chuckle and leaned his head back, letting the weight of her body shift against his tan skin. He looked so comfortable, his fingers playing with her scales as if they were silk.

"She’s a beauty, isn't she?" he asked, though he didn't wait for me to answer. He began to coil a section of her thick body around his forearm, watching the muscles ripple, "You know, Gianna, people think snakes are just mean. But they’re actually very... efficient."

He leaned forward just an inch, his eyes locking onto mine.

"Did you know a python like Medusa doesn't just bite?" he asked, "She doesn't have to. She wraps herself around you. And every time you take a breath out, she squeezes just a little bit tighter. She waits. She’s patient. She listens to your heartbeat through your skin, and she doesn't stop pressing until that heart just... stops. No air, no blood, just a quiet, slow end."

He smiled then, and lifted Medusa’s head, holding her up so she was eye-level with him. He tapped her snout playfully, his movements gentle while my entire body shook.

"She can feel how fast your heart is going right now, Gianna," he said, looking back at me, "She likes the vibration. It makes her hungry."

I pulled the covers up to my nose, my eyes darting between his chest and the shimmering scales of the snake. He looked so in place, sitting there with a killer draped over his heart, babying it while I felt like I was dying inside.

He didn’t stay in the chair. He stood up with that predator draped over his skin. The massive weight of the python moved, her heavy coils tightening slightly around his bicep to keep her balance as he moved.

He started walking toward the bed.

"Why... why are you telling me this?" I choked out, "Why are you saying these things to me?"

I looked at him, pleading with my eyes for him to stop, to move away, to take that nightmare out of the room. He leaned over the bed, bringing his face—and the snake’s head—closer and closer to mine.

"Because you need to understand how things work in this house, Gianna," he whispered.

The snake’s head swayed, moving in a hypnotic circle just inches from my face.

"And because you need to be very, very quiet," he said, "Last night was a mess. A loud, ugly mess. And in this house, when things get messy, someone usually ends up like that goat I told you about."