Chapter Twenty-Four
R aven
"Who?”
He shook his head. “I’m not telling you.”
“And why the fuck not?” He was really starting to piss me off. She was my mother, he had no right to keep that information from me. I didn’t care who the fuck he was to me. I should be able to know the truth.
I thought about that day all too often. The sirens going off. Her screams. The smell of blood slowly filling the house as my world began its heavy descent into darkness. That was the worst day of my life, and the fact that he was refusing to tell me what happened, made me want to punch him in his perfect face.
“You’ll do something rash and risk my plan. I can’t have that happen.”
“So instead I have to be kept in the dark? How does that make sense?” He was getting frustrated. His body was tense, and his eyes were seething. He was trying his hardest not to lash out at me.
“Trust me.” Two words, all he said was two words. It could’ve been anything else and I maybe would’ve been able to do it. Trust was a whole other word. Did I love him? Yes, beyond words. But trusting him was a hard thing to do. He left me once, how could I believe that he wouldn’t fuck me over again?
I looked away from him and swallowed the lump in my throat. “I can’t.”
I sat there for a minute, contemplating what to say next, what he would say next. I just wished we could forget the world and our responsibilities and be together.
“This won’t work if you can’t trust me. I need your help. I need you to trust me, Rav.” There it was, that nickname again. He knew how to twist my heartstrings. He was the puppeteer and I was his puppet.
I lifted my gaze to his and was shocked at what I saw. The normally composed man was standing in front of me, bearing all of his burdens. His usual icy gaze was filled with longing. Longing for a normal life? Longing for Julianna and myself to be back in his presence on a daily basis?
He took a step closer to me, and I sucked in a breath. His knees brushed against mine, and I had to tilt my head up to look him in the eyes. His fingers traced the outlines of my chin, and his touch drove me to the brink of insanity. I didn’t want to talk anymore. I just wanted to become one with him. It had been too long since I had his touch on my skin. I needed to feel it again. The rest could be sorted out later.
“I know I’m a dick. I know we are on opposite sides, but I am asking you to be on mine. Your father is not a good man. You know firsthand the pain and terror he can cause. Help me remove him from power. If we can do that, then you’ll be free.”
Free?
The words dropped so easily from his lips, but there was something nagging in the back of my mind. What if this was a trick? What if once he took over the kingdom, he decided to kill me? Could I really look past that possibility?
Before I could ask him, his lips touched mine and all thought was gone. Next thing I knew, his hands were in my hair, and mine were dangerously picking at his shirt to get it off. His lips melded against mine in a perfect rhythm, sending sparks racing down my spine. The sounds of our lips smacking together in a hungry passion made my body go into a heat frenzy. I couldn’t have his clothes off of him fast enough. I pushed his shirt up until he broke away from my lips to tug it off. Then I started reaching for his jeans. I wanted him completely naked against me.
His hands removed mine and held them up over my head, so I couldn’t move them. He nibbled along my jawline until his lips traced a path all the way down to my stomach. His teeth clamped onto the bottom of my shirt and lifted up so that my midsection was completely exposed to him. My legs wiggled, wanting his mouth to move to that perfect spot.
Eventually, he moved his hands from mine and tugged my pants down my legs. His eyes never once left mine as he hooked his fingers inside the string of my thong and slid it down. My lip went between my teeth as his breath hovered over my center. It seemed like hours of him hovering, and I got fed up.
A whimper escaped my lips, “Please.”
His lips tilted at the corners before he dove in. My eyes rolled to the back of my head when his tongue met my folds. “Fuck...” my voice quivered at the undeniable passion exploding behind my eyes.
I didn’t have sex with many men. In fact, after Slade, it was a total of two men. The first was a drunk one night stand I washed out of my mouth with soap the next morning, and the second was the one haunting my world. It didn’t matter what Slade thought he would accomplish, Zeke would not leave without a fight.
My hands tangled into his soft hair as he continued to lick and suck, making my entrance soaking wet. When he was done, he quickly got his pants and underwear off, and pushed inside. Sparks exploded behind my eyes as he pushed in and out. A moan escaped my lips when he drowned it out with his.
Slade knew how to make me crumble at his feet. He was so fucking good in bed. There was no man who would ever come close to doing for me what he did. He reached down and rubbed my clit with his fingers as he continued to push in and out of my pussy. My climax was building and before I knew it, I was coming all over his dick. Shortly after, he shot his load inside.
The feeling of him coming inside was something I wasn’t able to describe. He was laying on top of me, gently pushing back the wet strands of my hair as he looked into my eyes. His body comforted me like a weighted blanket. I’d missed his scent so much that it slammed me with memories that had long been stored away. Something that was so savage, turned into a passionate moment of bliss. He rolled off and tugged me into his side. My eyes grew tired, and a yawn escaped my lips.
As my eyes closed, I whispered, “If you ever leave me again, I’ll cut your dick off.”
THE NEXT MORNING, I reached around in the sheets and felt nothing beside me. Frowning, I sat up and realized how empty my room was. Was that all a dream?
My gaze roamed over the disheveled room. My clothes were thrown everywhere, and Slade was nowhere to be seen. Figures. A sigh escaped my lips, and I removed the covers from my body and rolled out of the bed.
There was a knock on my door. I looked down and panicked when I noticed I was wearing my birthday suit. I quickly grabbed my robe off the bathroom door, slid it on my shoulders and tied it. Once I was presentable, I went to the door and opened it.
My mood went from medium to sour when Zeke’s body stood on the other side. I thought they were going to be gone for a week? It had only been three days. Dread filled me as his greedy eyes roamed up and down my body, but after what happened last night, I didn’t want him erasing Slade’s touch. “What do you want?”
His mouth twisted in a cruel smirk. “You.” There was a sour taste of bile in the back of my throat at his declaration.
I slammed the door shut in his face, but I wasn’t quick enough to lock it. He busted through it and locked me in. My anxiety spiked at the thought of being alone with him in a room again. My room was my safe place. If he tarnished that, there would be no area that I felt safe on the grounds.
I wracked my brain for something I could use as a weapon in case I needed to fight him off. “I’m not in the mood, Zeke.”
“I don’t really give a fuck what you’re in the mood for. We made a deal. If you don’t want any harm to come to your daughter, then you will bend over when I say so. You are mine to fuck whenever I want to. You don’t get a fucking say.”
My skin prickled. I couldn’t do this anymore. There had to be another way. What if I ran to Slade?
He came closer, and I continued to back out of his line of sight. Suddenly, his phone started ringing, interrupting my heavy heartbeat. He tried to ignore it, but the phone kept ringing.
“Dammit!” He pulled the phone out of his pocket and barked, “What!”
“I’ll be right there.” He hung up and gave me a nasty look. “We'll finish this when I’m done. You’ll wait here for me, or your punishment this time will be severe.” The brief sense of relief I had from the timely interruption dissipated quickly with his threat.
He turned and left, but not without slamming the door shut behind him. I sat on the bed trying to figure out what the fuck just happened. Zeke was tightening the rope he had around my neck, making it hard for me to breathe, think, and live. I couldn’t do anything under his grasp. I needed help. I needed a criminal mastermind who would put Zeke in his fucking grave.