Raven (Kindred #1) (12 page)

Trying to make sense of the data laid out on her home-office desk was giving her a headache. So Zara removed her reading glasses and turned off the lamp, resigned to putting her investigation to bed for the night. While moving through the living room, she glanced at the candles on the windowsill and considered lighting them to beckon him. But Raven was no easier to decipher than what she’d left on her desk.

She took a shower and then lay down on her bed in the dark. The options before her weren’t particularly attractive. She could quit her job and pretend that she had never heard of Grant McCormack, Raven, Sutcliffe, Kahlil, and the rest of them. But if there was a chance that these men were planning something nefarious, she would never forgive herself if people lost their lives while she turned a blind eye.

Going to the cops was another option, but she had no evidence to present to them. The only firsthand information she had was an off-handed comment made to her on the phone, and she didn’t have concrete proof of that either. She didn’t even know what this damn product was, meaning she couldn’t tell authorities what to look for.

Spreading her arms the width of the bed, she steadied her breathing. All she could do was try to obtain more information. Except she’d tried to approach Grant and every time he stonewalled her. Grant wasn’t interested in her input, he was in league with the terrorists and happy about it.

Raven was an option. She could confess all to him and pray that he didn’t take the information and bolt. She still didn’t know quite how he fit into this scenario or whose side he was on. People always said that serial killers looked like everyone else. Maybe the same was true for terrorists. They didn’t walk around wearing a button declaring their intent and they could probably be charming… not that Raven could be accused of that.

“What did I tell you?”

Recognizing the ease of his now familiar tone, Zara rolled her head to the side in time to see the floor lamp illuminate. Raven was seated in the corner chair as she’d anticipated he would be. Closing her eyes, she returned her head to its original position.

“Naughty,” Raven said. “I said you were a naughty girl, didn’t I?”

“What do you want?” she grumbled.

“Haven’t decided yet,” he murmured. His husky voice made her shiver, even with the heat of the shower still clinging to her skin, but the mental exertions of the day left her too drained to think about seduction.

“I’m not in a sexy mood. Can you come back tomorrow?”

“Busy tomorrow.”

“How long have you been sitting there?” she asked, rolling her head and peeking at him out of one eye.

“Long time,” he said. “You should probably turn on the lights when you’re walking into your bedroom naked.”

Rocking onto her side, she supported her head with a hand under her hair. “This may come as a surprise to you, Rave. But other men don’t sneak into my bedroom to skulk in the dark.”

“I prefer to think of it as loitering with intent,” he said.

The lamp went off and the sound of movement preceded his silhouette emerging in the frame of her window. Tipping her head back to look at him, Zara couldn’t make out his features, but could tell that he was taking off his tee shirt.

“Uh, what do you think you’re doing?” she asked, but he had already dropped onto the bed beside her.

One of his arms came around her ribs and he hauled her closer while his head fell to sample the line of her throat exposed beneath her supporting arm. “You opened the door,” he said, tracing his lips back and forth on her jaw line. “Until you tell me it’s closed again. You’re fair game.”

“I’m fair, what?” she asked, smacking his shoulder.

“You get as physical as you want,” he said. Rushing forward, he tackled her onto her back and pinned her down. With his hands on her upper arms, and his shins over her legs, she couldn’t move.

“You’re a physical guy,” she said. “You understand the physical.”

“Want me to teach you?” he asked, letting his jeans rasp the length of her exposed legs. Lowering himself, he kissed her jaw again.

“You can talk me through it,” she said and finished by muttering his words, “I’m fair game.”

His statement didn’t offend her. Having such a direct guy in her bed was something Zara needed. Questions existed in too many areas of her life. Conceding to simple sexual desire without extraneous stress in the equation was alluring.

“Is it words you want, baby?” he asked. “Is that what turns you on?” No man had asked her that question before. Usually actions took the place of words. “You want to hear what I’m gonna do to your fuckable body?”

That was another question no man had asked her and she was still pondering it, and the growing pulse in her muscles, when Raven’s mouth moved over hers. Zara parted her lips and let him kiss her. She hadn’t been objecting to the sex. Her objection had been to his presumption, and that complaint hadn’t been particularly convincing even to her own ears.

“You lay it all out for me,” he said. “I was thinking sex and you came in ready to perform. You’re a good girl, Zara.”

“I thought I was naughty,” she asked, and he caught her chin in his teeth.

The grip on her arms grew and she got a glimpse of just how strong this man was. His fingers cut so deep, she thought they might bruise her, but that ache stoked the fire smoldering low in her gut and she parted her legs to draw up her knees.

“Is that what you like, baby? You want me to talk? To get rough with you?”

Her heart pounced up to her throat when they made eye contact, and in its place was a hollow haven of arousal that bubbled and simmered, popping and spilling lower, descending through her guts. Her head moved in a nod of its own volition and when his shrewd smile became lewd, she wondered what kind of brute she’d just unleashed.

“Push back,” he murmured and she wasn’t sure what he meant. “Show me what you’ve got… Fight.”

Under normal circumstances, she would never try to fight anyone, especially someone with Raven’s stature. But she tensed and tried to push up. Wriggling left to right, she got her feet to his hips and tried to push him away while pulling her arms back and forth, trying to work them out of his hold.

“Stop,” he said. Although he hadn’t had any difficulty in subduing her, she complied and went limp. “You see how that worked?”

“What? I—”

“When I said stop, you stopped.” She nodded. “If we’re gonna play games, if you want me to… take control. If no is gonna mean yes, I have to know when stop means stop.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m happy to play with you,” he said, lowering to kiss her and run the tip of his nose down her cheekbone. “I’ve been thinking about nothing else since I left you here naked with that gun the other night.”

Exhaling her impatience, she tried to stem her frustration because somehow she knew he would enjoy getting a rise out of her. He had kissed her, started to stimulate her, and then stopped to have a damn conversation. But she had to appreciate that he was being responsible because she hadn’t realized that sleeping with him once would make her fair game, as he’d put it.

Now that she’d told him she wanted him to get rough, God only knew what door she had opened.

“What word will you use if you mean no?”

A safe word. As ridiculous as it made her sound, she had read about this. For couples who liked to get rough or push boundaries with each other, they came up with a word that could be used in place of a refusal. The possibilities began to flood her mind. The freedom this could give them in the bedroom provoked her hormones again until her toes tingled, forcing her to curl them into his hips.

“What are you going to do to me?” she asked, grinning past her pout. Trying to push up to kiss him, she was planted back on the bed. If this new chapter meant their kissing would cease, she would be disappointed. Kissing him was a wonder. The memory of it alone dampened her.

“Pick a word and then I can do whatever the hell I want until you use it.”

Odd as it was, he was actually being respectful; he was taking care of her. In that moment, she stared up into his eyes and decided that there was no way he could be a terrorist. Terrorists wanted to terrorize and took pleasure in the suffering of others. She wasn’t suffering. Granted, she wasn’t his prey… except from the depth of his intensity now, she could be mistaken for it.

“Dagger,” she said. “Because you’re so cloak and dagger.” He shook his head. “Why not?”

“Because I might bring one of those to bed.”

That sent another shudder through her. Zara tried to free her arms so she could touch him, but he kept her pinned. “Taxicab,” she said, growling in frustration. “Taxicab is our safe word. No chance of you bringing one of those into bed, is there?”

His eyes got heavier. “Excellent choice,” he said and with that formality out of the way, he became fixated on her lips. “Taxicab it is.”

Pressing down on her, he impelled his tongue into her mouth. The motion of his kiss relaxed her and she opened and closed her fists. Still unable to touch him, she used her feet to do the touching for her. Coiling her legs around his thighs, she rubbed her feet down his hard calves, pushing into them with the balls of her feet, massaging the muscles until her toes hit his bare heels, then they ascended again.

He’d obviously removed his socks and boots while he was seated in the corner. Now all she needed to do was get rid of his jeans. When he loosened his grip on her, she slid her hands up his arms, expecting to get her chance to explore his body. Except he cut her chance short by picking her up in a bear hug. Coiling her legs around his hips, she locked her ankles at his lower back and stretched her arms out behind him, crossing them over, and linking her fingers.

Raven’s wide kneeling stance gave them a good foundation and he didn’t wobble once. Their eyes met and she leaned in to kiss him. While he was pampering her mouth, he shuffled forward and fell onto her. Zara caught the full weight of him for a split second before he shifted himself to one side, so that his body was still covering hers, but he wasn’t above her anymore.

When he reached over her for the drawer, she assumed his intention was to retrieve a condom. Taking her chance, while he was on a mission, Zara combed a hand through his hair. She kissed his neck and shoulder while stroking his torso. Every inch of him was hard and she wanted to explore each of his muscles with her tongue. But knowing that her time might be limited, she chose instead to unbuckle his belt to try to get ahold of him.

The belt was as far as she got. He closed the drawer and returned his focus to her, squashing her roving hand in place with a slant of his pelvis. Stealing her mouth, she was basking in the fervor of his kiss when she heard the buzz. Still kissing him, she opened her eyes and tried to see what was making the noise.

She didn’t see it, but she felt the tingle on her knee and she recognized the pinch of that cool metal. Gasping the air from his mouth, she grabbed his shoulders to force him away from their kiss. But he was already trailing the metallic object up the inside of her thigh.

“That’s my…”

“Yes, it is,” he said and licked her bottom lip. “You know what you have to say if you want me to stop.” They had just made that agreement, and as mortified as she was at the thought of what he was going to do to her, she’d invited it. Asking him to push her boundaries had given him free rein to deliver her new experiences, even those that might fluster her.

“You’re not gonna say no,” he said, pressing kisses to her cheek, jaw, and neck. “You’re naughty. You’re a naughty girl who wants a bad boy to do naughty things to her. Aren’t you?”

The pulse of her vibrator had paused high on her thigh. With his mouth open on hers, Raven moved the unyielding object higher to let it just touch her clit. The stab of pleasure made her cling to him, still their mouths remained open together, yet they didn’t fuse.

“Relax,” he said. “Let yourself feel it.”

Sliding the cylindrical agitator south, he let it just enter her to tease her juices. Keeping it just on her threshold, Raven ducked down to kiss and tease each of her nipples to a point with his mouth.

When the invisible strings keeping her body together began to tighten, he shifted higher to lie the length of her with his weight braced on one elbow. The other hand moved the tormenting tool in circles, widening her entrance in preparation for him.

In no apparent hurry, he used a fingertip to circle the nipple closest to his supporting arm and kept on playing. Turning her body toward him, Zara tried to kiss him again. But he kissed her chin and rose over her only to then descend out of her vision, leaving a chill in the place his body had been. Parting her legs, he kissed her hip and ran his tongue across to unite it with the vibrator he’d moved onto her clit. Kissing each side of it, he moved the toy up and down over her and trusting it to do its work, he dropped his mouth and dipped his tongue into her.

Zara didn’t know what to do with the rush of heat and arousal that was making it difficult for her to remain static. To aid his work, he rested a forearm across her pelvis to pin her down. The buzz of stimulation made her yelp, and he reared up to kiss her. Experiencing her own taste on his tongue made her clutch his hair to force him closer. When she arched up into the toy, Raven pressed it into her sensitive spot, showing no mercy, and she yelped again.