Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
RAVEN
A nger burned inside me as I stared at Reid. I was pissed that he’d decided to show up and push his way inside, but I was even more annoyed that I couldn’t give him an answer.
I loved him, I always would, but he kept hurting me over and over again to protect his friendship with Josh as if it even mattered.
“You don’t get to stomp in here demanding shit from me,” I spat, feeling a little better when I walked up to him and gave him a shove. “I did nothing wrong, you did!”
“Tell me what to do to fucking fix it then!” he threw back, getting in my face.
“You can’t just take back everything that was said, Reid.”
“I know that.”
“You need to fix this on your own. Asking me to fix it for you is proving that you?—”
“What do you want me to say?” he practically begged. “That I’ve been insanely in love with you for years? That I’m not good enough for you, so I kept pushing you away?”
“Keep going,” I said bluntly, some of the heat leaving my tone and making him frown.
“That no one in this world makes me feel like you do. If I could take all the bad shit back, I would. If I could go back and save Josh to give him back to you, I would. It kills me not having you, but fuck, Raven. If I could go back even a few months and just let you go so Logan could make you happy and our friendship was okay, I would.”
When I was quiet, he moved closer and hesitated before reaching out to cup my chin, forcing my eyes up to his.
“If I could go back,” he said softly, his thumb brushing my cheek. “I’d put you first, just like I should have in the first fucking place.”
I wanted to cry, run, and punch him all at once, so I did the logical thing and slapped him.
He barely flinched, stepping into my space even more. “Do it again.”
I did, smacking his chest next before finding my back slammed against the wall and his mouth on mine. My fingers threaded through his hair, and I yanked hard, gasping as his teeth sank into my lower lip in response.
It fucking hurt, but it only made me want to yank his hair harder.
Our kisses were brutal as we stumbled, a hiss leaving me as I tripped and landed on the floor, but he caught himself just before he could land on top of me. My legs wrapped around his waist as he went to stand up, my hand on the back of his neck dragging him down for more kisses.
His body pinned me to the floor, and I moaned into his mouth as he pressed his hard cock against my core and ground against me.
“Tell me this is what you want,” I panted, making him go still as he leaned back to look down at me. I waited, knowing he was going to retreat as reality hit and the guilt towards my brother kicked in, but he surprised me when he leaned back down to drop a kiss on my lips, his hand cupping the side of my face.
“I want this. I want you. If Josh has a problem with it, then the fucker can come back and fight me himself.”
“He’s not coming back, Reid,” I said softly, a sad smile tugging at his mouth.
“I’ve got nothing to worry about then, do I?”
My hands grabbed his shirt as I yanked it over his head and tossed it aside, my fingers instantly running along his warm back as I dragged him back down. He made quick work of my shirt and bra, my back arching as he took my nipple between his teeth and bit down harder than I’d expected, licking the sting away as I jerked.
His mouth trailed over my chest and neck, his hands impatiently getting my jeans undone as he tried to shove them out of the way. I lifted my hips to help him as he finally yanked them down my legs and off my feet, a groan leaving him as I shimmied my panties down, leaving me naked.
“I should worship you and take my time.”
“Or you could fuck me and do that sweet shit later,” I answered, already reaching for his pants to push them off his hips.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I’m soaked. Trust me, I’m ready,” I promised as he kicked his pants off the rest of the way. My legs moved around his waist again, trying to encourage him closer.
“Condom,” he said firmly, reminding himself to slow down and use his brain.
“I’m on birth control now.”
“I don’t care. Condom.” The tone told me we were discussing this later, but I didn’t want to ruin the mood by arguing any longer, so I waited for him to grab his wallet and pull one out.
The second he rolled it on, I grabbed a fistful of his hair to force him down on me, biting his lower lip and rolling my hips as I felt him right at my entrance.
The sound we both made as he pushed inside was something out of a damn porno, and I couldn’t do much else other than hold on as he fucked me almost through the damn floor. My nails cut up his back, his teeth marked my throat, and I was definitely getting carpet burn all over my back.
It was frantic, and everything I knew sex with Reid was supposed to be.
This was what I’d wanted from the very beginning.
My climax was intense, and I swore he somehow fucked me even harder when he heard how wet I was.
“Fuck, Rae. Did you squirt?”
“Yeah, I seem to do that a lot,” I joked, not expecting him to pull out of me. “What are you?—”
He grabbed my thighs and buried his face in my pussy, moaning as he tasted me. I squirmed as he pushed two fingers inside me and pumped them hard and fast, the screams leaving me making my voice crack as he forced another orgasm from me and made me squirt everywhere.
How the fuck did we clean this from the carpet?
My limbs were weak, but I managed to push him onto his back to straddle him, surprise in his eyes as I sank over him and started bouncing. His surprise turned to annoyance, telling me he realized just how much practice I’d been getting recently.
Jealousy had him gripping my hips and fucking up into me like a man possessed, and I let him move me how he wanted as he stood with me still in his hold. He dropped my back down on the couch, my ass hanging over the edge as he started fucking me while rubbing my clit, giving me one final orgasm before finishing himself as he practically gasped for air.
My body was trembling, but I was more worried about him when he pulled back and winced.
“Shit, did you hurt yourself?”
“It’s fine.”
“Reid,” I scolded, forcing my legs to work as I stood. “What hurts?”
“My leg’s a little pissed at me right now. It’s just aches and pains,” he insisted, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
“Sit. I’ll get some ice,” I offered, making him snort.
“I’ll survive.”
“Sit the fuck down and stop being stubborn,” I bit out, his eyebrow quirking as he eased himself onto the couch and pulled the condom off to tie.
“You’re bossy after sex.”
“Only when I wasn’t the one in charge,” I joked as I took the condom from him, wandering into the kitchen without getting dressed, and returning with an ice pack once I’d tossed the condom out. “Can you ice it yourself, or do I need to kneel between your legs and lick your cock the whole time so you sit still?”
“Jesus, Raven,” he chuckled, managing to look a little awkward. “If you think I’ll be able to sit still with your mouth on me, you have another thing coming.”
I smirked, placing the ice pack on his thigh and making him jump from the chill of it. “Next time, let me do all the work. I might not be that good at it yet, but?—”
“You on my cock in any way is good,” he assured me, turning his body slightly so he could put his leg across the couch and move the ice pack to his shin. “I probably should’ve taken it a little easy on you. I don’t exactly know how much experience you have.”
“I want it like that all the time,” I confirmed, letting him tug me onto his lap. His cock nestled against my pussy, and I let out a content sigh as he kissed my throat.
“Tell me what you like,” he asked after a beat of silence, his hands sliding down my sides to my ass.
“You won’t go caveman on me and ask how I know I like it?”
“I’m aware that you’ve learned your experience from the guys,” he said wryly. “Go on, tell me.”
Part of me was worried that this was all going to blow up again the second the dust settled, but I also wanted him to know. This was Reid, the guy who’d helped me with my first period without saying it was gross, and who’d held me all night after many nightmares.
He’d never tell me something I liked was weird, that much I knew.
“I think my favorite thing is receiving oral,” I mumbled, hating how my face burned instantly as if he hadn’t just fucked me all over the living room. “I like DP once it’s in. Before that, it’s not the most comfortable thing.”
“That’s a lot for a newbie to be doing,” he said with worry, but I shook my head.
“We took it slow, and I trusted them. I, uh, also like being a little dominant. Ander lets me choke him sometimes.”
“Lavaro let you do that? The big alpha asshole that likes bossing people around?”
“He lets me try anything I want. He’s just happy to be involved, I think.”
That made him huff out a laugh, his dick twitching against me. “I’m not surprised. Well, I’m not a fan of being choked, but I will one hundred percent eat your pussy whenever you wish.”
“Is there something I can do that you’d like?” I offered, his hands squeezing my ass firmly.
“Just having you like this is all I’ve ever wanted. I’ll say sorry more, I promise. This doesn’t fix everything I broke, I know that.”
“I love you, you know?” I said softly, leaning forward to give him a quick kiss. “But I also love Zavier, and I’m not leaving Ander. As much as he hurt me, I never stopped loving Logan either. This is probably messy, but if you’re willing to?—”
“If you can understand that sometimes I’ll get jealous and need to stake some kind of claim to fix my bullshit, then that’s all I ask for,” he cut in, running his hands up my sides and stroking along my under boob with his thumb. “I’d rather love you alongside them than love you from the sidelines. Besides, I need help wrangling you.”
He laughed when I swatted him, my eyes catching on the wet carpet.
“How do we clean the carpet? I’ve never had to get pussy juice out of carpet before,” I asked with a wince, leaning back and making him curse under his breath as his dick slid along my wet pussy.
“Fuck the carpet. You need to put pants on before I rail you all over again.”
I giggled, rolling my hips a little to rub on him. “Careful. You’ll hurt yourself more.”
“Injured or not, I can put you in your place. Don’t get cocky,” he grunted, reaching between us to grasp his cock and rub it back and forth against my clit, making me jerk.
My hand grabbed the back of the couch for support, his eyes studying me with something like awe.
“What?” I asked as he kept going, obviously trying to get me off again.
“I’ve been imagining how I’d fuck you for the first time for half my damn life,” he said sheepishly. “I’d planned on taking my time with you, not ravishing you like a savage.”
“I kind of like being ravished,” I replied, using my knees to lift myself slightly to move him where I wanted him.
“Raven,” he warned, the head of his cock nudging my entrance.
“Do you have another condom?”
“No.”
“Then pull out.”
“Your lack of concern for condoms is freaking me out, and I’m considering spanking you for it. I don’t want to be a dick, but you know the consequences. I don’t want to be the reason you’re crying in a hospital bed again,” he said seriously, making me wince. “I’m saying this because I love you more than I love my dick. I was angry that day, but I was freaked out that I couldn’t fix it for you. This is me making sure you don’t go through that again.”
“If it wasn’t for the car?—”
“We’re not ready for a baby, Raven. No matter how much you wish things had turned out differently,” he said gently, making me blink back tears as the emotions hit me. “Please don’t cry when you’re naked on top of me.”
I laughed, clearing my throat. “You could always fuck me better again.”
“I’m not fucking you if you’re crying,” he said with a small smile, shifting me to move my pussy away from his cock. “And I’m not fucking you without a condom, no matter how much you beg. Assume every time you do, it could knock you up.”
“But I’m on birth control and you guys are clean, right? Most people who date don’t use condoms,” I reminded him.
“Can we discuss this another time? Right now, you’re in a sex-haze. We have things to work through still, and until we’re one hundred percent okay again, it’s not something I’ll budge on,” he explained, sitting up to wrap his arms around me. “Where’s Lavaro and Lopez?”
“They left pretty early. They were looking into Stefano some more with the Thieves,” I sighed, unsure whether to tell him about my own investigation on Josh’s murder. “Rory’s trying to track down the guy who killed Josh.”
He tensed, stroking his fingers through my tangled hair. “Why?”
“Every day I wait for him to kick the door down again,” I whispered, placing my hands on his bare chest. “I want to know if he’s still around, that’s all.”
“Anything so far?”
“Apparently, most of the wannabe gangs from back then ended up in prison or dead. No news on if he’s alive or not though. I just want to know.”
“Me too,” he answered, wincing as he moved to put both feet on the floor. “I should’ve stuck with physio.”
“Go home and rest,” I insisted, and I hated how he seemed hurt by it.
“You’re kicking me out?”
“I haven’t changed my mind or anything, I just want to talk to the guys about it and possibly figure out some sleeping arrangements. Maybe if we can organize something better, we can all stay together.”
“Promise you’re not freaking out.”
“I promise. No regrets,” I assured him, kissing him before getting to my feet and taking the ice pack back to the kitchen. When I returned, he was tugging his boxers and pants on, my clothes placed on the couch for me.
I got dressed and followed him outside, stopping him before he could walk away from the front door.
“In case I never said it enough, thank you for keeping me alive all these years. As much as we had a shit childhood, it wasn’t so bad because of you.”
His face fell, and he groaned as he scrubbed a hand over his face. “Shit, I forgot to tell you about Frank and Lara.”
“Are they okay?” I asked with worry, my stomach twisting when he winced.
“I had to step in today and get them removed from their house. It was bad, Raven. Lara was sitting in filth all night after their father had broken her arm and hit her. She was bruised, and her cries were so raspy from screaming. Frank was at Clint’s with Viktor all night after being smacked around for defending his sister.”
“You knew all that and didn’t fucking tell me?” I hissed, apology on his face.
“It got heated when I got here, and I let my dick steer the conversation. They’re at the hospital. Rory’s taking them in, they’re not being split up. Maybe call Rory tonight to ask about it?”
“I will.” I turned to head back into the house to find my phone, but Reid grabbed my elbow to pull me back for a scorching kiss, his hand cupping my face affectionately.
“I love you.”
He said it so sweetly, my heart beating faster and my cheeks warming.
“I love you too.”
He kissed me again before fishing his keys from his pocket and walking to his car, and he shooed me inside so he knew I was locked in there safely.
I heard him leave, trying to figure out how to clean the fucking carpet, when there was a knock at the door. I hadn’t heard Reid’s car come back, but he must have forgotten something.
I opened the door to find Dante glaring at me, and I didn’t even get a word out before he backhanded me. “You filthy little bitch.”
I stumbled, cupping my tender cheek with surprise. “What? I don’t?—”
“I just watched you making out with that fucker. You thought you could cheat on Ander?” he snarled, making me realize Ander hadn’t explained the whole situation to him.
Then again, Reid wasn’t exactly part of the situation until now, so maybe that was why.
“Dante, you’ve got it wrong?—”
My ears rang as he punched me, my vision dimming for a second as I managed to stop myself from falling on my ass. He pushed past me, taking in the messy room, the wet patch on the floor, and my bra that I hadn’t bothered putting back on.
I tried to avoid his hands as he grabbed for me, but he managed to get his fingers in my hair to yank me back, my scalp burning from the force of it.
I panicked as he started dragging me outside, my feet scraping against the pavement as I tried to scramble away but couldn’t.
“Dante! Listen to me!”
“You listen to me ,” he spat, grabbing my throat and shoving me back against a car. It hadn’t been there before, so it must have been his. “You fucked with the wrong person. You might have Ander fooled, but not me.”
His grip tightened, and I clawed at his hands to try and make him let go, my lungs burning from the lack of oxygen.
No one was going to help me, not here in the Heights where the rules were hear no, see no, speak no. People would turn a blind eye, pretending not to hear or see anything, and they’d never speak a word of it.
If I was murdered and buried today, no one would talk about what happened.
The guys would never find out the truth.
Just before I could black out, I was yanked off the car and shoved into the trunk, Dante glaring down at me. I had a feeling this was the real Dante, and I’d been right all along.
We couldn’t trust him, Ander had been wrong.
He went to shut the trunk, his voice deathly cold.
“We could’ve been best friends, Raven Pierce, but no one cheats on my baby brother and gets away with it. Not even his pretty little Bluebird.”
I didn’t move fast enough as his fist snapped out, the impact hard enough that all I saw was darkness, and the last thing I heard was the trunk slamming shut.
To be continued in Filthy Liar…