Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
RAVEN
W iping down a recently vacated table, I sigh through my nose. Lunch at The Wandering Raven isn’t nearly as busy as it is at night, but still busy, nonetheless.
I told Kat about my car troubles to let her know I wouldn’t need her to watch Noah for my shift.
She insisted I use her car and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
When I got here before opening, Griffin’s lips pinched together in a hard line, then he poked his head outside, scanning the parking lot.
He came back inside, satisfied, and we got right to work.
Blinking away my puzzlement, I take the tub of dirty dishes to Camden in the kitchen, then return to the bar. Knox and I are the dynamic duo running the place today. I didn’t ask what Griffin is up to. I didn’t want to seem eager or clingy.
It was just a kiss. I need to calm down.
As I’m refilling Benny’s glass, I let the question slip. “Why do they go out in the front sometimes?”
“Why don’t you ask them?” Benny grumbles.
I slide the glass on the counter in front of Benny, but when he reaches for it, I slide it away. His glare might make lesser women shiver, but Benny’s the kind of person who projects a hard exterior. I’ve faced real evil, and Benny isn’t it.
My brow raises. I know he knows what I want.
Benny rolls his eyes and spills the beans. “They have a barn down the dirt road that leads away from the parking lot.”
“What do they do there?”
Benny doesn’t answer me. He stands, grabbing his drink out of my hand.
As Benny drops back onto his stool, three women walk in through the front door, letting in too much light. I thought I would get used to that when customers arrive, but I don’t think that day will ever come.
When my eyes finally adjust, I notice the women have taken the table I just cleaned.
A shot of annoyance makes my eye twitch.
It doesn’t help that these women look like fucking Karens.
They each wear their hair styled to perfection.
Their clothes look like they’ve been freshly dry cleaned and pressed, and their makeup looks pristine.
They pretend to read the menus that we leave on the table, but their eyes wander the room.
The one with bright blonde hair spots Knox as he exits the kitchen, and her eyes flare with interest.
My eyes roll as the blonde pulls on the front of her shirt, exposing more of her cleavage. She sees my annoyance and smirks.
“Hey, Knox!” she calls to him. When he makes eye contact, she bats her lashes and continues, “We’re ready to order.”
Knox doesn’t show an inkling of emotion.
Is this the type of woman he prefers? Skinny and manipulative?
I look down at myself, observing how the width of my hips is bigger than hers. I know men want me. Many have paid for access to my body. But would a man as caring and protective as Knox want me?
Instead of answering the customer, Knox turns his head to me. “Raven! Table four needs your help.”
Table four? I know for a fact they don’t have a numbering system for the tables.
Brushing off my confusion, I grab my pad of paper and a pen, then switch into waitress mode. “Hi, ladies! Thanks for coming in. What can I get for you?” My smile is fake, my tone is fake, and my welcoming attitude is fake as well.
Knox isn’t mine by any means. I didn’t leave New York just to come here and dive into a serious, committed relationship, and that’s assuming Knox is even interested in me that way.
Then throw Griffin into the mix, and shit gets all sorts of confusing.
But all of that aside, I don’t have to like watching women flirt with them.
The blonde sneers at me. “We’ll wait for Knox.” She’s clearly the ringleader of this trio.
Fake smile still in place, I attempt to kill them with kindness, and if they die, then I’ll consider it bonus points. “Knox is busy at the moment. I’m more than happy to take your order.”
The blonde looks me up and down, and her friends follow suit.
I don’t know what they’re looking for. I’m wearing my normal work attire.
Cut-off denim shorts, a tank top, and tennis shoes.
I know their stares are meant to make me shake in my boots, so to speak.
But I’ve faced scarier people than them.
It’ll take a lot more than the judging eyes of a few pathetic women to make me flinch.
My eyes search out each of their left hands.
One…two…three wedding rings.
“I know you’re new here, honey, so I’ll let you in on a secret. You’re not woman enough for him. Either of them, really. You’re how old? Eighteen?” She adds a half-smile.
My eyes widen. “Twenty-five.”
“Still too young. He needs a woman more…” She tilts her head side to side as she gives me another once over. “ Experienced. ”
The muscles along my jaw clench. Placing my hand on the table, I lean into their huddle of three, so it looks like we’re sharing a secret. “No offence, honey , but desperation doesn’t look good on you.”
The two other women gasp, and I swear I hear a chuckle turn into a cough somewhere behind me.
The blonde’s eyes sharpen, and her mouth grows tight.
I don’t wait for her comeback as I spin on my heel and head straight for the kitchen.
“Ughhh,” I growl at no one in particular.
Camden snorts as he assembles the burger in front of him on a plate. “I take it you met The Vultures?”
“The who?” Camden’s question snaps me out of it, and I snigger.
“That’s what I call them. Kaitlyn, Nicole, and Heather. They’ve lived here their whole lives, as well as their parents, grandparents, and so on.”
“Ahh. I see.” I know the type. Walter and Georgia were the type as well. They think that since they have old money, a recognizable last name, and a fake body, they can do whatever they want and say whatever they want. There usually aren’t consequences for people like them.
“Yeah,” Camden says with a sad smile. “They come almost every day for lunch, and flirt with Knox and Griffin.”
“Good to know,” I comment.
I turn back to the door and sigh. Flipping back around, I inform Camden, “I didn’t get their orders, and I don’t think I can go back out there and ask.”
Camden laughs at my situation. “I got you, girl. They order the same thing every time.”
I place my hands together in front of me like I’m praying. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! Any chance I can hide in here until their food is done?”
“Oof. You could, but Knox will probably come looking and drag you out himself.”
My heartbeat picks up at the thought of Knox putting his hands on me.
A tempting thought.
Sighing again, I admit, “You’re right. And that’s not a good way to impress the boss.” I give Camden a mock salute and push myself out the door.
Kaitlyn and her group don’t notice my entry, and I spot the three drinks in front of them. A grain of guilt pokes at me, realizing that Knox served them when he had asked me to take care of it.
Knox is filling a few glasses with beer behind the bar, and I head straight for him.
“Hey. Sorry about?—”
Knox snags my upper arm and hauls me into the stockroom.
“Let go of me,” I protest as I shove his shoulder, but he shows no sign of registering my objection.
He ignores me and slams the door behind us.
“Seriously, Knox. What the hell?” I throw my hands up in frustration. I know I wanted his hands on my body, but I was picturing something very different.
Knox doesn’t respond to my outburst. I back up into the shelves when I notice his wild eyes and flared nostrils. His chest is puffed up, and his breathing is rapid. He looks like a bull ready to charge.
“Knox?” My voice sounds small.
His hands clench and unclench at his sides. His gaze starts at my feet and travels up my long legs. He lingers for a moment at the junction of my thighs, causing me to squeeze them together. The resulting groan from his throat is long and primal. I feel it reverberate in my core.
Knox’s eyes continue their path up my stomach and across my breasts. Now I’m panting with him. I want him to repeat the journey with his hands, his tongue.
I can feel the lust rolling off of him, and it fuels my own. But I can also feel his hesitation. I should heed the nagging thought at the back of my mind that this would be a bad idea. Potentially catastrophic.
But I want to know what it would feel like when my need is so strong that I can’t think of anything else but the pleasure we give each other.
Curiosity wins as I open my hand and offer it to him. He looks down at it and back at me. He raises a brow, and I know I’ve made the right choice. He’s asking for my consent. I offered it, and he still asked. That’s all the confirmation I need.
I give him a single nod, and he explodes.
Knox closes the small distance between us.
The force of his momentum pushes me further into the shelves at my back, and his chest collides with mine.
He grips my ponytail with one hand and my hip with the other.
He tugs on my hair, forcing me to crane my neck, and he dips his head.
I rise onto my toes, eagerly meeting his lips, but his hold on my hair doesn’t let up.
I revel in the pull as I loop my arms around his neck.
He doesn’t waste time as he nips at my lips, encouraging me to open my mouth. The first swipe of his tongue and I’m a goner. I can only imagine what his tongue would feel like shoving into my pussy. My panties flood with arousal as we continue to taste each other.
Needing me closer, Knox bends down, picking me up by the back of my thighs, and lifting me so my center is perfectly aligned with his hard length.
Hot damn. He’s huge.
My legs instantly wrap around his waist. He groans into my mouth as my fingers dive into his shoulder-length waves and my nails scrape the back of his head.
I roll my hips, grinding up and down his thick cock and applying the right amount of pressure to my clit. It’s my turn to moan into his mouth, and he greedily swallows it down.
He moves his hips with mine and breaks our kiss, placing his mouth right next to my ear. “You’re gonna have to be quiet for me, Darlin’. I don’t want to have to rip Benny’s ears out because he heard your sweet sounds,” Knox growls.
Double hot damn. He’s got a dirty mouth, and he’s an expert at using it.
“I can try,” I assent breathlessly.
His hips keep the same rhythm, driving me higher and higher as he replies, “Baby, I don’t think you understand. No one gets to hear you. Not a single goddamn soul. Your moans, your sighs of pleasure, are mine .”
On his last word, he tilts his head and sinks his teeth into my neck. I open my mouth to sigh in pleasure, but he lifts his hand and covers my parted lips, effectively trapping the sound.
“Mine,” Knox growls before he attacks my mouth again with his. Our tongues move against each other, and he nips at my lower lip, sending a small jolt of pain through me. But it’s pain that I welcome, and it spurs me on.
He kisses his way down the front of my throat, sucking and nipping at my skin as he goes.
When he gets to the top of my breasts, he sucks and nips some more.
He pulls the front of my top down, snagging the cups of my bra with one hand, and my tits slip free.
He grunts. “Fuck, you’re perfect.” Then he lifts one and he sucks my stiff peak into his mouth. Hard.
This time, I hold in my cry of pleasure, biting my lip. I run my fingers through his hair more as I bask in the way he praises my body.
I slide a hand down his chest and taut abs, letting the feel of his firm muscles urge me further. When I finally run my hand over the front of his jeans, I rub up and down on his cock. He grabs my wandering hand and brings it above my head, trapping it there.
“You keep touching me like that, Darlin’ and I’m gonna come in my pants like a damn teen, and I’m too old for that shit.”
Shit shit shit. The thought of that happening makes me even hotter.
With my head thrown back, I hear the springs of the doorknob as it turns. My body stiffens, and I pull at Knox’s shirt to get his attention.
Knox feels the shift in my body and stops immediately, lifting his head from my chest. “What’s?—”
The door opens, and a body steps into the cramped space, shutting the door behind them. “Well, well, well. This is not what I expected to find. Not at all.”
Shit on a cracker. This isn’t good.