Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Ryan
A warm glow of sunlight cascaded over the monochrome of the room. I hugged Raven tighter against my chest, my dick hard against her ass, and buried my face into her dark locks. Once we finally went to sleep the night before, I slept like the dead.
My hand caressed her stomach, back and forth, as I mentally recounted the events of the previous twelve hours. Being submissive wasn’t something I ever thought about doing, but for Raven, I was quickly learning I would do anything. I would drag my dick through glass if she asked me to.
When I got used to the idea, I enjoyed it.
Raven was a fucking goddess and I was hers to play with.
It was hot, not only the sex, but surrendering to her was enthralling.
I had never given someone complete control before and it was a release I didn’t know I needed.
I wondered if Raven felt the same way when I had been dominant with her.
I doubted she had been submissive with many others if any and I made a note to ask.
My kisses down her back and shoulders combined with the movement of my hand over her thighs stirred her awake. She stretched and pressed further back into me, eliciting a groan from my lungs.
“You had better stop moving your ass or I’m going to bend you over and spank it until it's red with my handprints.”
She chuckled and rolled over to face me. “What if I tie you up again and spank yours instead?”
I kissed her mouth hard. “We’ll discuss that fun topic later, my queen.”
“Fine. Until then I think I’d like some action with all this talking.” She bit my lip playfully.
I reached between her legs and cupped her pussy. “Be careful what you wish for, baby,” I threatened before hauling her up on all fours. “Ass up, and face in the pillow. Arch that pretty back for me while I have breakfast.”
We sat down to my second breakfast of the day an hour later, and Raven groaned around her first bite before I could lift my fork.
“Good?” I asked.
“That’s a dumb question, but I’ll humor you. It’s not just good, it’s delightful.” She hurried to take another bite of the hash I had made while she tried to help. “I might just take you hostage so you can be my live-in chef.”
I chuckled. “If I’m going to be your chef, we need to stock your kitchen with more than the basics.
Be thankful you had potatoes and eggs since there’s no breakfast meat to be found in here.
” I gestured around the open kitchen with my fork.
It was a dream to cook in. Raven had it equipped with fine appliances I assumed didn’t get much use.
“You don’t want chicken for breakfast?” she teased.
“No, I’ll pass, but thank you for the offer. The only time chicken is good for breakfast is when it’s deep fried, and as much as I’d like to see you covered in flour, I’ll save that for another day.”
“I wouldn’t be covered in flour, you’re the one who’s the messy chef. I’m certain you would have the entire kitchen covered in it like you had potato peels everywhere.”
I sent her a glare. “Cooking is an involved process. I can’t be worried about cleaning up while I’m cooking. I have to focus on the food.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m great at cleaning up since I never learned much when it comes to cooking.
Mom is the best chef, but when I was a kid, she had to make quick meals, and I always had my nose in a book.
” Her gaze drifted to a spot above my shoulder as she recalled her turbulent childhood.
“I wasn’t interested in anything other than books and music.
When I moved out and went to college, she taught me the basics like baked chicken and vegetables.
Enough to feed myself. Over the years, work never lent free time to devote to hobbies. ”
Silence stretched between us, and I wondered how her relationship with her parents survived everything they’d been through. I decided on what I thought was a safe question. “Do you see your parents often?”
She sighed. “No. I moved them here from the big city, but work keeps me from getting to the suburbs as much as I’d like.
I try to see them at least once a month.
” She looked down at the table, and I could tell she wasn’t happy with that.
“I make sure they have everything they need, but I’m not a great daughter in other ways.
I cancel on them all the time for work, and I know it bothers them. Especially Mom.”
My heart squeezed. “I’m sure she understands,” I said, trying to comfort her in some way.
Raven pushed the last bites of food around on the gray plate. “Yeah. She has all kinds of things she does in her little neighborhood, and Dad stays busy in his garage, but…” Her words died away as a tear escaped down her cheek.
My chair scraped the floor as I moved around the dining table to pull Raven into my arms. “You’re a fantastic daughter and your parents know that. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She buried her face into my chest for a few moments. “It’s all right,” she said, looking up at me with clouded eyes. “I just wish I could see them more.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Only you can decide what the solution is there, but in the meantime, the only tears I want to be responsible for are the ones running down your cheeks as I fuck your face.”
She shoved me away with a push to my chest. “You’re an ingrate.” She laughed. “You don’t think about anything else, do you?”
“Not since I heard your voice, no.” I smirked. “You’re not the only one with a voice kink.”
She stilled, letting my words sink in. Her eyes gleamed, and it struck me that Raven might not have many things that were just for her. Maybe I could be just for her.
“Who said I have a voice kink?’ she asked, sitting back down on the wooden chair, crossing her legs like the empress she was.
I leaned against the table, crossing my arms over my chest. “I did, ‘Finigirl’. Oh, and you also agreed last night.”
Raven’s jaw slackened, before her lips formed a hard line as she tried to suppress a laugh. “You know what, shut up.” Her face turned curious. “Actually, you never told me how you figured it out. That I’m Finigirl.”
“I might not be a professional stalker like the men in the books I narrate, but I’m not too bad at figuring things out.
” I braced my arms on the side of her chair and leaned down until my face hovered over hers.
“No one else has your emerald eyes. They were the first thing I noticed in your business photo, and when I saw your social media after you followed me, I would have known that shade of green anywhere.”
She drew her bottom lip into her mouth, and the simple movement made me wild. She cocked her head. “Do you do this with all your followers and fans then? Do you stalk them and break into their homes, too?”
I could tell there was some sincerity to her question, so I reached my hand up to grip her throat. “Only if they’re you,” I rumbled as I dipped my head to capture that perfect lip she loved to bite.
She sighed into my mouth, subsiding her worries to me. When I broke the kiss she whimpered, and fuck me, if it was the last sound I heard before I died, I would die happy. I sat back down and turned my tone serious to quell her concerns.
“I don’t talk to people personally unless it's regarding a job, and even then, it’s all usually handled by my agent. In the beginning, I did everything myself, but now I don’t have to. So I don’t.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear. “So why do you do it, then?” she asked. “Why do you do the paid stuff and social media posts, aside from the audiobooks?”
I sighed. I guessed we were going all the way there. My gut told me that it wouldn’t make her run, but it was still early on. I knew Raven was understanding and open-minded, but I still had a nagging worry about being vulnerable.
Taking a deep breath, I launched into the story. “That’s how it all started for me. Social media. Back in college, I dicked around with my friends, streaming ourselves playing video games online. People kept telling me that my voice was soothing, and then women started messaging me.”
Raven’s lips parted slightly, and the trepidation in my gut intensified, but I kept going.
“I’m sure you can imagine the things they were saying.
That my voice was attractive and such. One of them mentioned she would love to hear me say some lascivious things like her favorite book characters.
I was single at the time with no desire for a serious relationship, so I came up with my pseudonym and made profiles on social media.
The paid content came after I had a decent following.
I learned I could make money off my voice, so why not? I didn’t have much, so it made sense.”
“Wait. I thought you said your parents were wealthy?” she asked.
I couldn’t look her in the face while I told her, but it was a better alternative to what I thought I was going to have to tell her. Picking up the dishes, I walked back to the kitchen to clean up. Just as I thought she would be, Raven was close on my heels.
“I struggled with drinking and got kicked out of the Ivy League school my parents paid for because I never went to class. I moved back home, and they paid for a therapist to get me through that.”
The cold water from the sink was grounding as I turned it on to rinse the dishes. When I opened the dishwasher, Raven came up beside me and took the plate from my hands, depositing it in the rack.
“So that’s why you ordered water at the restaurant.” She gave me a reassuring smile, and we set a routine of me rinsing and her placing it in the organizing rack.
“Like I said last night, my parents always wanted me to be their poster boy. Their only kid had to be one they could parade around in front of their friends and eventually take over Dad’s Fortune 500 consulting company. Much to their dismay, I wasn’t that kid.”
She gave me a sideways glance and kept transferring the dishes I handed her.
“Once I got sober, I told them I wasn’t going to be that.
I remember the night I broke.” My gaze drifted, unseeing the gray backsplash as I was transported back in time.
“Dad had been pushing me all week to talk about the company. That night at dinner, being his usual asshole self, he berated me for taking so long to overcome my addiction. The look on Mom’s face when I yelled back at him is still clear as if it were yesterday.
I hadn’t ever raised my voice to either of them.
When they talked at me, I just ignored them and went to my room.
But this time, I couldn’t hold back anymore. ”
Coming back to reality, I dried my hands on a dishtowel, watching the movement with intensity so I could avoid her eyes. “I packed my shit and left everything. I only had enough to get on a plane to a random city and get an apartment. So, I ended up here.”
We stood like that for a moment, me at the sink and Raven leaning against the dishwasher.
She probably thought I was a fucking idiot for leaving so much money behind when she couldn’t even buy a damn book when she was a kid.
She moved in my periphery and placed her hand on my arm.
When I turned to her, there was nothing but compassion and understanding in her eyes.
When she took me into her arms, I breathed a sigh that felt like a release of all the emotions I still held on to about my so-called family.
The next thing she said surprised me since the conversation had completely gone down a different path. “So you did the voice acting just for money?”
My stomach dropped. I thought I’d gotten out of telling her by focusing on my parents.
“No, I didn’t just do it for the money.” I turned away, walking to the end of the island, running my hands through my hair before lacing my fingers together around the back of my neck.
“I did it for the pleasure of it all, too,” I murmured into the silence, my pounding heart the only sound in my ears.
“It began with the posts on social media, but then it grew to include the books,” I continued.
Throwing caution to the wind, I faced her.
“I get off on it, Raven. Knowing people are turned on by my voice, it ignites something in me that nothing else ever has.” I paused before adding, “Nothing until you.”
She pursed her lips, looking away, and I waited for her to tell me to get the fuck out of her apartment.
When her eyes came back to mine, exasperation was etched into her face. I blew out a breath and closed my eyes, waiting for the last nail in the coffin. Fuck. I shouldn’t have told her. I shouldn’t—
Her voice drifted across the space separating us, but there were no undertones of anger or frustration. Just her usual perfect voice. “Ryan,” she whispered. “I’m the last person to kink shame.”
My eyes snapped open and she was looking at me with the same fire she usually had in her eyes.
“For fuck’s sake, I was turned on by you breaking in here and putting me on my knees.
” She gestured to the door. “The only thing that would’ve made it better was if you were wearing a Ghostface mask or something. ”
A growl tore from my throat, and I lunged at her, colliding my body into hers.
She lost her balance, but I was there to catch her.
Sighing relief into her mouth, I claimed her lips with passion, vulnerability, and something else altogether.
She tasted like acceptance and understanding, and my tongue claimed every morsel she gave me.
She hadn’t run away when I told her the one thing I thought I could never tell anyone.
One of the things that kept me from relationships because I knew I couldn’t give it up.
She didn’t push me out or tell me to leave.
She met me with her own ferociousness and depravity.
Finally breaking the kiss, I hauled her back to the bedroom where I showed her exactly how depraved I could be.