Dylan (18 page)

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m
trying to be a good boy, Raven, and I can still taste your
sweetness in my mouth.” His voice is deep and gruff. I shiver
slightly.

“Okay.” I finally manage to force the word
out.

“Trust me, I want nothing more than to be on
that bed with you, but with the way I feel right now . . . ” He
trails off, but the meaning behind his words has my body heating
under his stare.

I need to change the subject. Get us back to
a safer topic. “How did Troy get shot?” The words are out of my
mouth before I can even think about what I’m saying, and by the
sudden tension overtaking his body, I can assume it’s not a
question he wants to answer.

“How do you know about Troy?” Gone is the
playfulness of his voice. It’s been replaced by a sternness that
has me shifting uncomfortably.

“I just heard that he got shot. People talk,
Dylan.” It’s a lie, but I really don’t want to out Trisha.

“Are you lying to me, Raven? The look in
your eyes right now makes me think you’re lying.” My whole body
freezes.

Fuck
. I stay silent. I don’t know
what to fucking say. I was lying.

“Let’s get one thing clear here, Raven.”
Dylan pushes off the frame and stalks toward me until he is
crouched down next to my bed so
his eyes are level
with mine. Annoyance has replaced the heat that was in his eyes
only moments before. “I will put up with a lot, but I won’t be lied
to. Even if you had heard about Troy from the gossip mill, you
wouldn’t have made the connection to me without help. We’ve never
talked about Troy before. So, I’m going to ask you one more time.
Who told you about Troy?”

“Trisha.” Being this close to him . . . It’s
like he has some twisted kind of control over me. He’s
intoxicating. The feeling of him is seeping into my entire being.
“She didn’t mean to, and then she told me that I would have to ask
you. So I am.” I defend Trisha, because I know she wasn’t trying to
cause trouble. She didn’t even mean to tell me.

Dylan sighs as if it makes complete sense to
him, and I wonder if it does. He is such a mystery to me. I wonder
if I will always be this curious about him. Will I ever know
everything about him? I really hope so.

“Troy is my best friend.” His eyes shift
back to mine. I can see the surprise in them, but I’m not sure
what’s causing it. “He got shot trying to save his now wife, and
Ethan’s sister. That’s all I can tell you.”

Honestly, that’s more than I thought he
would tell me, but still I find myself pushing for more. “Why can’t
you tell me any more than that?”

I can feel my heartbeat in my neck as I wait
for his answer. He doesn’t say anything, but he pushes up the
sleeve of his t-shirt revealing more of his finely tuned bicep.
Then he turns it up like he’s flexing, and I can see that a clover
has been tattooed there. There is no other artwork, just the one
simple clover. I raise a brow as I flick my gaze between his eyes
and the tattoo.

“You tattooed a clover on your bicep?” I
question. “Are you Irish?”

His deep chuckle makes my toes curl, and my
hands fist tightly into the blankets. “Yes, but that’s not the
reason it’s there. I can’t tell you everything right now, but if
you don’t give up on me, I promise one day I will. I’ve just never
had to explain it before, and I think it’s something that I will
need to work up to.”

His words are eerily similar to my feelings
of explaining Harper and Steven to him. Leaning forward, I can’t
stop myself from placing a soft kiss at the corner of his lips.
It’s meant to be a simple kiss of understanding, but his hands rest
on my cheeks as he briefly deepens the kiss before pulling
away.

“I’m still not having sex with you.” The
words whisper through my heavy breathing. Dylan lets out a deep
laugh that makes a smile cross my face. “Will you stay with
me?”

What the fuck, Raven! Have you lost your
ever-loving mind! What the hell is wrong with you?

“What?” Dylan’s lips part with his shocked
expression.

“Just sleep with me?” I’ve never wanted to
fall asleep with anyone before, but I really want to snuggle
against Dylan’s warm, delicious body.

He looks unsure, but he nods and stands to
slip off his boots. He reaches behind his shoulders as he tugs his
t-shirt over his head. The sight of his bare chest and ripped abs
makes my mouth water. He reaches for the button of his jeans, and
then thinks better of it and shakes his head.

“I better keep these on if I’m trying to be
good.” I just nod, unable to speak through the tremors racking my
body at the sight of him. “That hungry look in your eyes isn’t
helping matters.”

His voice jerks my gaze to his. I lay
down, pulling the blankets up to
my neck and squeezing my eyes shut. His soft chuckle follows him as
he climbs on the bed and settles in behind me. He lays
on his back,
and sighs.

“You better get that sweet ass over here and
cuddle with me, or I’m going home.” He threatens, but I know he
doesn’t mean it. For whatever reason, I feel like he knows he is
right where he wants to be.

Still, I find myself rolling over and
snuggling into his side. I fall asleep quickly with his scent
filling my every breath, and his hand gently caressing my arm.

Chapter Twenty

Dylan

I want to see
her wake up. I want to watch the sleepy look in her eyes dissolve
into alertness, and watch her smile light up her gorgeous face at
the sight of me next to her. All I can think about is her soft body
wrapped around mine, and her breath on my skin. I want all of it
more than anything, but I can’t have it—not yet anyway.

I shift gently out from under Raven’s body.
The sight of her peaceful expression and soft curves is enough
temptation to have me rethinking my responsibilities. My body is
begging me to crawl back beneath the sheets with her, but I
can’t.

I take my time, as I quietly get dressed.
Maybe I can sneak back before she wakes up. No, that would be
impossible. She wouldn’t be awake to tell the behemoth at the front
gate to let me in. How mad will she be when she wakes up and I’m
gone? No. I can’t think about that. Hurting Raven is the last thing
I ever want to fucking do.

I write a quick note on the pad of paper
that’s sitting on her bedside table. At least when she wakes up,
she won’t just think I ran out without saying goodbye. If she never
asks me to sleep over again I might kill someone.

If it weren’t for Ronan, I would stay right
where I fucking was, wrapped up in my own form of paradise.
Instead, Ronan has asked all of us to meet him back at the
warehouse, but I had to see her first. I never would have dreamed
that she would ask me to stay. Now, I feel like a complete ass for
leaving her, but it’s not like I have a choice.

I walk down the dark stairwell to the front
door, but before I reach for the handle, I find myself stopping to
look longingly up the stairs where I’ve left my angel. There is no
point in dwelling on what I’m missing out on. I grip the cool metal
in my hand as I pull the door open.

Sean is still waiting outside of the gates
in his SUV where I left him. I’m not sure how long I’ve been in
here, but knowing Sean he’s really fucking annoyed by now. I nod in
the direction of the guard, who tilts his head slightly in return,
before climbing inside. Before I’ve even fastened the seat belt I’m
lighting up a joint. Sean eyes me curiously, as he backs out, and
onto the street.

I inhale deeply before I glance toward Sean.
“Sorry. That took a little longer than I expected.”

Sean lazily shrugs one shoulder but keeps
his attention on the road ahead. “Everything okay?” Like the man
himself, his response is simple. Nobody does evasive like Sean
Rian.

“Yeah, you up for Rylan’s Pizza tonight? I
want to introduce Raven to everyone.”

Sean manages to spear me a glance now, and
the utter shock on his face makes me uneasy. “You’re serious about
this girl?”

I nod as I pull in another puff off the
joint burning slowly between my thumb and index finger.

“You’ve all lost your damn minds. Why in the
bloody hell would you want to tie yourself down? First Troy, and
now you?” Sean pauses as he exhales slowly through his lips.
“Anything for you, D. You know that.”

“Thanks, Sean.”

He nods again, but then cocks an eyebrow in
inquisition. “She know about us? What we do?”

I puff in a bigger lungful of pot as I shake
my head. That’s the one thing that terrifies me the most. She’s
already been very clear on her standpoint in the world of drugs.
I’m the fucking king of that world.

Sean doesn’t say anything, but he nods
solemnly. I breathe deeper until there is nothing left but the
small cherry burning at the end of the paper. With a flick of my
wrist, it sails out the window. A loud
pop
fills the
stillness as the car suddenly jerks to the side of the road, my
head smashing against the window.
Mother fucker
.

I hear Sean’s cursing and yelling beside me,
but I suddenly feel weightless. My eyes cast around the vehicle,
searching desperately for any sign of what might be happening right
now, but all I see is blackness beyond the windows.

I hear a few more pops, and then I feel the
impact of the SUV smashing against something hard ricochet
throughout my entire body. Then it’s nothing but silence. That
silence is the most terrifying sound I’ve ever heard. It’s just too
much.

“Sean?” I can’t mask the trembling in my
voice, but right now I don’t care that I sound like a pussy.

When he doesn’t respond, I say his name
again, a little louder this time, and when he still says nothing, I
manage to lift my head enough to realize I’m not in the fucking
passenger seat anymore. I’m in the damn back, in the open space
reserved for luggage, or groceries, or whatever the fuck else you
might put back here. I also realize my head really fucking
hurts.

“Sean!” I yell it this time as the panic
begins to settle into my chest.

I move my gaze around the inside of the SUV,
but I know I’m alone. The driver side door is standing wide open,
and the glass around the front of the car is completely shattered
over the interior. I climb over the back row of seats, ignoring the
pain that’s hammering away inside of me like a knife. I push open
the back door, and practically fall onto the ground below.

Sean’s SUV landed in some kind of ravine off
the side of the road, and looking at the place I’d been sitting
moments before. I know that it’s a fucking miracle I’m even alive
let alone conscious. The entire front passenger side has buckled in
on itself, and Sean is gone.

Chapter Twenty-One

Ethan

Fuck, that
feels good.
Goddamn it
. This girl is so fucking tight, and
she loves being treated like a slut. Those girls are my favorite
one-nighters. I have no fucking clue what she said her name was,
and I don’t give a fuck that she keeps screaming out some other
guy’s name. All I care about is that her tits are real and full.
They bounce with every hard thrust of my cock into her tightness,
and she doesn’t mind me being rough with her.

Dark hair is falling down her back as she
arches toward me with her head thrown back in pleasure, bringing
those mouthwatering tits even closer to me. I don’t know if she’s
close, and I don’t care. I pump into her two more times before
spilling into the condom wrapped around my dick. I pull out of her,
unwrap her legs from around my waist, and help her stand back up on
her own feet. That’s all the help she’ll get from me.

The smile on her face drops into an
irritated frown. I don’t care. The only pussy I care about taking
care of is currently grinding her ass all over some douche bag on
the dance floor. Trisha is always fucking with my damn head.

One minute she is sucking my cock so deep
into the back of her throat I think it might just get stuck there,
and the next she’s pulling some bullshit like this.
When will
this girl fucking grow up?
How can she not see that these
fucking games are killing me?

I slip off the condom, tie the end, and toss
it into the trash before tucking myself back into my jeans.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” The
irritation is clear in her voice, but I expected that. Not too many
girls are cool with being used as blow-up dolls.

I look up to see the annoyance in her gaze
has grown, and her arms are now crossed over her bare chest. I bend
down, grab her flimsy top from the floor, and toss it to her. She
catches it, but I can see the anger sparking in her dark eyes.

I don’t respond, or help her clean up, I
just turn and head back into the main room where the party is still
raging. My eyes instantly land on Trisha. She doesn’t know I’m
here, or even that I’m back yet. She looks like a goddamn
centerfold out there. Long blonde hair is sticking against her neck
and the side of her face from the fine sheen of sweat coating her
skin. The black “dress” she has on is way too fucking short, and it
keeps riding up her perfect fucking thighs with every damn swivel
of her delicious hips. God, just looking at her has me hard
again.

I want to cum all over her fucking body,
mark her as mine, and keep every other fuckers hands off of her.
Like the pair that are currently gripping her hips. When I feel my
fist clench tightly at my sides, I know I have to get the fuck out
of here before I fucking murder this dude.

Just as the thought hits me, and my vision
goes red, my cell phone vibrates in my pocket. I turn, heading away
from the noise and out the large front doors. When I pull it out
Dylan’s name is on the screen.

“Dude, I’m really not in the mood
right—”

I’m cut off mid-sentence by Dylan’s frantic
voice. “Get to the fucking warehouse, now! Sean’s been taken, and
I’m with Troy now. Just get there, and I’ll explain
everything.”