Angel's Halo

by Terri Anne Browning

  Muttering a curse, I picked up a glass motorcycle paperweight and throw it against the opposite wall. Fucking Hannigans!

  Raven

  We’re out of Snapple Apple.

  That only pisses me off. How can I drink my Grey Goose without my Snapple Apple? I pick up my keys. I’ve finished one bottle and am a third of the way into the second. There’s no way I can finish without my favorite fruity drink. There’s a convenience store five miles down the road.

  “Where are you going, Raven?”

  My head snaps up. Gracie stands in the doorway to the kitchen. I’ve forgotten all about her. She’s wearing a pair of pajama shorts and a camisole top. Even I can see that the girl is hot but screams innocence. Maybe that’s why Hawk is so twisted over her.

  “I need some more Snapple. You want anything from the store?”

  Her eyes narrow as she takes in the mess on the kitchen table—four empty bottles of Snapple Apple. Two more are shattered on the floor where I let them fall. The first bottle of Grey Goose is on it’s side. It was anyone’s guess where the top is. I can’t remember where I put it. It’s not like I needed it. The second bottle of Grey Goose is also topless and just begging me to drink it.

  “You drank all of that by yourself?” I remember her checking on me once. I’d been two Snapple Apples in when she made herself a sandwich. We didn’t talk, at least I hadn’t.

  I shrug. “Yeah.”

  “You aren’t driving.” She steps forward, holding out her hand for the keys. “You have to be drunk…” her eyes narrow “…even if you don’t act like it. Give me your keys.”

  “Fuck that!” I turn and head for the door. I may like the girl, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to listen to her.

  “Raven!” She rushes after me and catches my elbow before I have the door open. “Don’t do this. Look, if you need to go to the store I’ll drive you. Please. Please let me drive you, Raven.”

  The please does it. No one ever says please. No one ever cares enough to say please. I blink back tears and hand over my keys without glancing at Gracie. “Let’s go,” I whisper.

  The clock on my dash says it’s past three in the morning. I sigh, wondering if the run had gone as planned.

  Ten minutes later Gracie pulls into the convenience store’s parking lot. It’s not owned by anyone in the club, and I rarely shop here except for gas. It’s one of those twenty-four hour places and part of a chain. Gracie gives the guy behind the counter a nervous smile as we enter the store, and I head straight for the back coolers. I need Snapple Apple. That’s all I want…

  They don’t even have Snapple!

  None. At. All.

  I slam the cooler door shut and kick it hard enough that if I hadn’t just swallowed a whole bottle of vodka it would have hurt like hell. Instead I laugh then laughed at the sound of my girly-ass giggle. Gracie touches my arm. “Raven, are you okay? That looked like it hurt.”

  “I’ll let you know tomorrow.” I tell her, giggling again. “I can’t feel shit right now.”

  “Um … Okay. Did you find what you needed?”

  “No. Fuckers don’t have Snapple Apple. Who doesn’t sell Snapple Apple? That shit is awesome.”

  Gracie shoots a glance toward the front of the store where the cashier eyes us both with caution. “Raven, you’re being really loud. Maybe you should dial it down a little.”

  “Oh, yeah?” I ignore her and turn toward the cashier. He looks like some college kid with a gym membership. He has muscles and obvious attitude, but I can see he’s just a poser. No guts on the inside where it’s needed the most. “Hey, asshat! Where is the Snapple?”

  “We don’t carry Snapple.” His tone is grumpy, and I figure he needs a nap.

  “Why the fuck not?” I demand. “I want Snapple Apple.”

  “There are other apple juices in the cooler behind you. Get what you need and get out.” He points to the cooler right behind Gracie. “I don’t want any trouble.”

  I roll my eyes at him. “I don’t want that shit. It tastes like ass.” I walk toward the cash register, picking up random snacks from the shelves and dropping them on the floor. I step on them busting them open and kicking the contents around. Yeah, I’m acting like the bitch I claim I’m not. I don’t care. Let this asshole clean up the mess.

  “Raven …”

  “Raven!”

  My head snaps up at the sound of my name in that tone of voice. I grimace when I see Hawk standing by the front door. “What?” I demand.

  “Fucking hell, girl!” he explodes, taking in the shade of red on the cashier’s face and seeing the mess I’ve created. The boy’s holding a phone. Who the hell is he calling? “Are you trying to get arrested?” His gaze moves behind me, narrowing on Gracie. “What are you doing here, Gracie?”

  “I didn’t want her to drive herself. She finished off an entire bottle and was already starting on another … I’m sorry, Hawk.”

  “This isn’t your fault, sweetheart.” Hawk’s tone softens. Oh, for her he gets all soft and nice. He never treated me like that! “You drive on home, baby. I’ll take care of Raven and this mess.”

  Gracie walks out of the store and I see Hawk touch her arm as she passes him. I clench my hands into fists. When she pulls out of the parking lot in my Challenger he turns that evil glare on me. “You are in deep shit!”

  “They don’t have Snapple Apple!” I defend myself.

  “So you destroyed the store?” Hawk points to the cashier. “This idiot was about to call the cops, Raven! If I hadn’t seen your car and stopped in to see what the fuck you were doing, you would probably be in handcuffs by now.” He pulls his wallet out of his back pocket and tosses several hundred dollar bills on the counter. “Clean it up. That’s for whatever she destroyed.”

  Then he tosses me over his shoulder and dumps me on the ground beside his hog. “This is beneath you, Raven.” His tone is calmer now, the hardness gone—mostly. “You think you’re the only girl to have her heart broken? Well, you aren’t. Get over it. Bash has a daughter, deal with it. He didn’t tell you? Maybe it was because you don’t act much older than his kid.”

  I jump to my feet, ready to smack him across his handsome face. Instead his last words scrape over raw, emotional nerves, and I stumble back, pain shooting straight to my heart.

  I burst into tears, hating myself because I know he’s right.

  Chapter 15

  Bash

  I honestly can’t remember the name of the girl I had sex with for the first time. Everyone after her is just as much of a blank for me too. Just plain and simple fucking. I’ve done it a hundred times with just as many different females.

  But the first night I made love to Raven? I’ll remember that moment for the rest of my life. When I’m old and losing my mind I’ll still remember that night. The taste of her lips—sweet with just a little bite of tartness—as I kissed her. The sound of her sighs as I touched every inch of her body. The feel of her nails clawing down my back as I drove her over the edge. Every damn second of that night is forever engraved in my mind …

  It wasn’t easy to get the alone time we needed for a night like that. Raven’s brothers were starting to notice the way Raven couldn’t help but look at me now. I couldn’t blame her. I was finding it harder and harder to not let my feelings shine through my eyes when I looked at her too. The memory of the kiss we had shared on her birthday—and every kiss since—kept my body on simmer with need for her.

  Spider was the only one who knew what was going on. It was crazy. Dangerous. I shouldn’t have involved my friend. Not when Jet would beat his ass just as hard as he would mine if he found out Spider knew. But I needed his help. How else was I supposed to have the time I needed with Raven alone? I wanted her to decide if I was worth keeping, and unless we had some quality time together, she wasn’t going to be able to decide.

  So with Spider keeping the entire club entertained with some new sheep down at the warehouse, I was at Raven’s house.

&nb
sp; Raven smirked at me as she lifted her head from my chest. “Your heart is going to explode if you don’t calm it down.”

  I tucked her in closer. It was insane that I was nervous. I doubted I was this anxious when I had lost my virginity at thirteen. Here I was, twenty-six and about to make love to the girl that owned me body and soul, on the verge of a fucking heart attack. Spider would never let me live this shit down if he ever found out I was such a pussy.

  She shifted on my lap until she was straddling me. Her sleep shirt hiked up her bare thighs, and her hot pussy settled right over my throbbing hard-on. I sucked in a sharp breath, realizing that Raven hadn’t put on any panties after her shower. “Fuck, Raven.” I muttered, letting my head fall back against the couch. “You’re going to kill me.”

  “Maybe. But I’ll make it feel good, baby.” She sucked on the throbbing pulse at the base of my throat. “I need you to fuck me tonight, Bash.”

  I grasped her bare ass in both of my hands, my fingers gripping her flesh hard as I tried to rein in what little control I had when it came to this female. It was no use trying to hold onto control. Where Raven was concerned, I was powerless. With her legs wrapped around my waist, I stood and carried her up the stairs to her room.

  Her fingers combed through my long hair, her face buried into my neck as I closed and locked her bedroom door. I seriously doubted her brothers would bother to come into her room should they come home before dawn, but I wasn’t up to chancing it. As I turned toward her bed, I was already toeing my boots off.

  I was shaking, so turned on, so nervous. It was almost like I was about to have sex for the first time in my life. But maybe I was because this would be the first time I ever made love to anyone.

  As soon as I sat on the edge of her bed, she started tearing my shirt off. I chuckled, soul deep, as I pulled back and took hold of her hands. “Easy, Raven. We have all night.”

  Green eyes on fire with desire met mine. “I’m about to go up in flames, Bash. I don’t have two minutes, let alone all night. Please, I need you.”

  My dick swelled even more, making me wince in pain as it pressed against the metal of my zipper. I stood and laid her across the mattress so I could strip out of my jeans. Her eyes watched me the entire time, taking in the sight of my fully aroused cock for the first time. Over the last two weeks we made out as often as possible, and I let her explore my body as much as she wanted. But it wasn’t until right now that I had let her see what she loved to touch.

  Raven licked her lips as she watched my dick twitch in response to her gaze. Grinning, I cupped my hand around the shaft, stroking to the tip and releasing a few drops of pre-cum. I wiped the clear liquid away with my finger and rubbed it across her bottom lip. Watching her suck that bottom lip into her mouth and moan nearly put me over the edge.

  Growling, I spread her thighs and settled between them, letting her heat envelope me as I kissed every inch of her beautiful face. She helped me pull her shirt over her head and I buried my face in the valley between her ripe tits. Her back arched, silently begging me to suck her nipples, but I didn’t give in. Instead, I sank my teeth into the flesh of the mound and sucked.

  When I released her with a loud, wet pop I was satisfied with the love bite it left behind. Only I would know that mark was there, and it made me even harder as I kissed away the sting of the bite. I did the same to the other tit, sucking harder than I had the other, making her beg for me to stop.

  Even as she clawed at my back, asking me to stop and begging me not to in the same breath, I felt her growing more damp against my shaft as it rubbed up and down her sweet smelling clit. She wasn’t going to last long, and I doubted I would either. I was cool with that. We needed to take the edge off or I was going to end up hurting her. “Bash!” Raven’s nails sank into my biceps, breaking skin even with her short nails.

  I relished the sharp pain as I lifted my head and watched her come apart for me for the first time. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Lower, where my dick was still rubbing up and down that slick little clit, I could feel her pulsing and thrust two fingers deep so I could feel her clenching around me as she came.

  “That’s it, Raven. Come for me.” I pulled my fingers free and sucked her sweet release from my fingers. Fuck! That taste could become addictive if I wasn’t careful.

  She gasped for breath, lying there soft and spent. I had never seen a more beautiful sight in my life. It was with that thought that I thrust against her hot clit and came. Her name left my mouth on a growl, and she lifted her head to watch my dick spasm a thick, hot release and shoot it across her stomach.

  She rubbed her hand across the thick stickiness, rubbing it into her skin. The scent of my release filled the air and I groaned as the smell mingled with her own arousal, making me hard all over again.

  “Okay, now fuck me,” she commanded, pushing me onto my back and straddling my waist. My dick twitched against the seam of her ass. “And I want it more than once. Don’t disappoint me, Bash.”

  I slapped a hand across her sweet rear. “How about you call the shots tonight, baby. Then I know you won’t be disappointed.”

  I saw her eyes darken and she bit her lip. “I might be bad at it …” she murmured.

  “Raven, you’re perfect at everything. This, you and me, you could never be bad at that. Take what you want of me.”

  Damn, did she ever! She took and took and still we were both begging for more as the night wore on. Around four-thirty I finally pulled on my clothes and left her nearly unconscious with exhaustion. I hated walking out of that house that night. Even if I was only next door, it seemed like a million miles were between us. I couldn’t breathe right until I saw her again the next day.

  The next night, and every night thereafter, I snuck next door and climbed into bed with her. Some nights we made love until the sun came up. Others I just held her, rubbing my fingers up and down her bare back. We would talk until one of us fell asleep, and then I would sneak back to my cousins’ house at dawn.

  I grimace as I let the memories fade. If nothing else Raven and I had made magic when we were together. All I need to do is remind her how perfect we are together. Then we’ll be able to work through everything else.

  Raven

  I wake with a splitting headache.

  My eyes won’t completely focus on any one thing. Muttering a curse, I force myself out of bed and down the hall to shower. Damn, I’d made an ass out of myself last night. Thankfully, only Hawk and Gracie had seen my childishness.

  I owe them both an apology this morning. Fuck! I hate saying I’m sorry, but I’ll do it. It’s about time I grow up.

  Maybe it has been all my fault that Bash hadn’t told me about his daughter until he was forced to. I need to talk to him about it. Can we work things out? Will he let me help him take care of his little girl? Sure I’m not much of a role model, but I can change. We can even become a family …

  By the time I step out of the shower I’m a little more clear headed, even if there are little green men drilling holes into my brain. I pull on a pair of sweats and a tank top and head downstairs.

  The smell of frying bacon and eggs turns my stomach, but I push through it. Bacon grease will help with the hangover. I open the kitchen door to find Hawk, Tanner, Raider, Matt, and Colt all seated at the kitchen table while Gracie stands at the stove fixing breakfast. It’s an odd sight, seeing little Gracie wearing a pair of Hawk’s sweatpants and one of his T-shirts—that swallow her whole—while she cooks. I wonder if he slept in the same bed with her again last night, but decide I don’t want to know.

  “Morning, sunshine.” Tanner greets me with that cocky Reid smile that on his cousin, makes my heart race. “How’s the head?”

  “Fuck off, Tanner,” I mutter as I drop down into one of the chairs between Hawk and Colt.

  “Temper, temper.” Matt wags a finger at me before snatching a freshly backed biscuit from the bread bowl. “We have officially locked up all the vodka in a fifty mile radius.”<
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  I shoot him the finger and pour a half glass of orange juice. I notice a fresh twelve pack of Snapple Apple sitting on the counter and shoot Tanner the finger as well. “Hawk tell you about the trip to the convenience store?”

  “Nope.” Tanner shakes his head. “Bash dropped that off on his way out this morning. Figured you needed some more Snapple if you were drinking Grey Goose last night.”

  My eyes narrow on him. “Out? Where was he going?” It’s Sunday. Where does he have to go on a Sunday?

  “To pick up his kid. Figured since you already knew about her, he would bring her home.” Tanner shrugs. “I guess he’s bringing Tasha’s sister with him too …” Someone kicks him under the table and he grunts in pain. “Or maybe not.”

  “Tasha’s sister?” I demand, looking at Colt who’d been the one to kick Tanner. “Tasha’s sister?”

  I know of Tasha. It’s only natural that I would know about the daughters within other clubs. The Red Dragons, the Vegas club, is something of a sister club to Angel’s Halo and known for dirty dealings. Tasha had been as dirty as they came. Just a few years older than me, she was also known for her sociopathic tendencies. She could gut you and smile so sweetly while she did it. Her sister is maybe a year older than me, perhaps two. Her mother doesn’t let Willa associate with the club life like she did Tasha, so I don’t know much about Willa.

  Except that she’s rumored to be drop dead beautiful.

  “Why would Bash bring Willa here?” I demand, only to regret the loudness of my own voice. Those fucking little green men!

  Colt gives Tanner a look that promises a slow and agonizing death before blowing out a long breath. “Because Willa has been living with Bash helping him take care of the kid. We figure that since he’s bringing the kid, he’s going to bring her too to keep up with the little girl.”

  Maybe it’s because my head’s hurting so bad. Maybe it’s because I’m still so hurt that Bash didn’t tell me about his daughter. I feel tears sting my sinuses and rush from the kitchen before anyone can see them fall. I believed him yesterday when he had said there hadn’t been anyone since he left me, but he’s had another woman living with him.