Angel's Halo

by Terri Anne Browning

  “Please.” I think I whisper the plea, but suddenly he’s pulling off the main road onto a secluded path that leads into the woods. My heart’s racing even faster, and my breath comes in little pants that tell him how needy I am without my having just begged.

  Bash wastes little time once we’re away from the main road. He turns the bike off and toes down the kickstand. Then he offers me a hand to assist me before getting off himself. His hold on my hand tightens when I try to step away to put some space between us so I can think clearly once more.

  He doesn’t give me that chance. Pulling me against his rock hard chest, he releases my hand and grips my ass in both of his big hands. Bash lifts me until my core is right over his erection. I’m unable to contain the pleasure filled moan that escapes me. I press my forehead against his chest as the trembling begins. I shake like a junkie needing their next fix.

  Bash has always been my drug of choice.

  “I want you so fucking much, Raven.” He growls, rubbing me against his throbbing hard-on. “No matter what, this has always been our best way of communicating. I was always able to show you how much you mean to me when I’m deep inside of you.”

  “That won’t solve our problems now,” I whisper even as I grind myself against him, seeking any relief he can give for this ache that’s starting to consume me. “It won’t make them disappear.”

  “I know. I know.” Bash buries his face in my neck, his tongue sneaking out to taste me. “We can deal with all of that later. Right now I want inside of you, Raven.”

  I catch his hair in my hands and pull his head back to force him to meet my gaze. It’s nearly pitch black here in the woods but the half-moon shines down on us, and I see his face, his eyes. “You tell me right now. Swear to me on the club that there hasn’t been anyone else since us.”

  “I swear it, Raven. On the club, on my life. On yours. I swear on everything I love that I haven’t had sex with anyone since before the night you stitched up my arm. Not Willa, no one.” Silver-blue eyes are on fire with desire, blazing with a need as strong as my own. “You are the only fucking female I want. Do you hear me, Raven?”

  The only answer I can give him is to press my lips hard against his own. Bash must be satisfied with that response because his hands start pulling off my clothes. I don’t try to help, knowing that I will only hinder him. Instead, I get lost in his taste, in the feel of his hands over every part of my body.

  I barely register the sound of his zipper lowering, don’t even notice when he moves me to the damp ground. I’m still kissing him when he thrusts into me. I release his hair to rake my nails down his back, knowing that it will only drive him insane with desperate need. I’m rewarded with a growl and a hard thrust deep inside of my body.

  My legs wrap around his waist, and I meet him thrust for thrust, taking him as deep as humanly possible. “Yes, Bash. Yes!” I cry, feeling my inner walls starting to contract all too soon. “Bash I…” I shake my head “…I’m coming.”

  “Good,” he growls, biting into my shoulder making me clench even harder around his engorged cock. “Let me feel it, Raven. Let me feel you coming for me. I love how wet you are, baby, how much wetter you’ll be when you let yourself go.”

  My nails stab into the muscles of his back, sinking deeper with each thrust that takes me closer to the edge. I shatter, convulsing with my release. I don’t hear the roar that comes from Bash as I take him with me, don’t hear him curse as he empties deep inside of me without a condom for the first time ever. I’m blind, deaf, and mute as the pleasure pushes me over and I float out of my own body for a moment.

  “Raven?” Bash brushes a kiss over my sweaty forehead. “Open your eyes. Baby, did I hurt you?”

  I blink my eyes reluctantly. “Can’t we sleep here?” I whisper sleepily.

  He grins. “Maybe next time. Let’s go home and sleep in our own bed, baby.”

  “Um, are you planning on tossing Willa out of my bed?” I haven’t forgotten that the other female is in my room now.

  “Flick has been sharing news I see.” Bash kisses my lips quick and hard before pulling away. “Yes, Willa and Lexa are sharing your room. But we have our own bed, Raven. The master bedroom is ours, courtesy of your brothers.”

  I blink, not sure I hear him correctly. “My brothers are letting us have my parents’ room?”

  “I might have persuaded them that it was in everyone’s best interest to let me have my way.” He rolls onto his back, stuffing his still half-hard dick back into his jeans before zipping them up. “It’s the best solution I could come up with until I find us a house, baby.”

  “Who do you mean when you say we?” I demand, rolling onto my side to watch him, not caring that I’m completely naked or that the grass is cold and damp. If it doesn’t include me, I can’t be responsible for punching him in the balls.

  “Considering how our long overdue talk goes? Lexa, Willa, me … and you.”

  I sit up, reaching for my T-shirt and jerking it over my head. “Take me home, Bash,” I tell him as I stand and pull on my jeans. I can’t see my panties anywhere, but I’m not worried about them.

  “What?” Bash demands as he sits up but makes no further move to stand. “What now, Raven?”

  Jealousy eats me up inside, and I hate how weak it makes me feel. I comb my fingers through my tangled hair and pull a hair tie from my jeans’ pocket to pull it into a ponytail. “Why Willa?” I ask, finally turning to face him. “Why will she be living with us?”

  “Because I promised her I would take care of her.” Bash reaches for me and I hesitate for only a second before I let him pull me down onto his lap. “She’s not like Tasha, Raven. You’ll see that if you give her a chance. Willa has known from day one how I feel about you, and she understands that and respects it. She has only ever wanted to help me with Lexa. That’s it. Nothing more.”

  I don’t say anything. How can I take his word on this or anything else? I don’t trust him. Will I ever trust him again? So why am I already considering him a part of my future? Why am I already thinking of Lexa as ours and not just his?

  Because I’m an idiot. Because I love him, and by proxy his daughter.

  Chapter 17

  Willa

  The house is quiet when I slip out of bed beside Lexa and make my way downstairs. I’m not sure why, but I feel all kinds of off today. I’ve had nightmare after nightmare all night long. Each time I woke up I was covered in sweat, my heart racing. Every time I drifted back off I ended up right where I had left off in the dream.

  Pulling my long dark hair into a ponytail, I reach into the fridge for the milk and pulled down a box of Lexa’s favorite cereal. Lucky Charms are the one food she and I actually agree on. After putting everything away, I sit down to attempt to enjoy my breakfast.

  If I’m honest I know what my problem is. Just as I know that my dream—nightmare—has everything to do with it too. Spiders all over me, pulling me apart are only a metaphor for my anxiety over seeing Spider again. I wish I had the guts to just go over to his place and get it out of the way, put myself out of my misery.

  But I don’t have the guts. I’m a scared little girl still quivering at the thought of the man that broke my heart.

  Grimacing when the cold cereal hits my stomach and only increases my unease, I push the bowl away. The thought of coffee only makes me want to gag, and I search the pantry until I find a box of tea. This is ridiculous. I should not be this sick over a man. Especially that man.

  Gracie is in the kitchen when I open the pantry door again and step out. I liked Gracie on sight, not something that I normally do when it comes to females. My sister had turned me off the whole “Let’s be BFFs and tell each other all our secrets.” Tasha was a sadist. Thankfully that bitch died and Bash can keep his daughter from turning into her.

  “Morning, Willa,” Gracie greets me with a sleepy smile. She’s dressed for her morning classes in a pair of jeans and a simple tank top, showcasing her femaleness with just a
little curve. She’s small with deep red-brown hair and big soulful eyes the color of well-aged bourbon. My first impression of her was that she was innocent, which surprised the hell out of me, especially since she’s sharing a bed with Hawk Hannigan.

  Talk about confusing. I can’t keep up with the drama surrounding these people. Apparently, even though those two sleep in the same bed, there’s nothing else going on. They’re friends. Nothing more. Or so they’ve both told me on countless occasions. Of course I’ve started to believe them. That doesn’t mean that those longing looks that Hawk gives Gracie when she’s not looking doesn’t go unnoticed. Or the almost hungry way Gracie follows Hawk with her eyes when she assumes she’s not being watched doesn’t escape my attention either.

  The drama doesn’t stop with those two. Watching Felicity is like watching a Lifetime movie. She’s broken inside, hurting for something I will never understand. Maybe because I’ve never carried life inside of me and then lost it. Felicity is in misery, but she’s really good at hiding it. Or maybe it’s because half the Hannigan household doesn’t pay that close attention to her. Looking at Felicity makes me ache.

  Then there’s Bash and his woman. I have never met Raven Hannigan, but the few pictures I’ve seen around the house of her are really hot. Yeah, I can honestly say that I find a chick hot. My sister would have been so scandalized—not. Bitch had been into all kinds of kink, and I’m sure that floating both ways had been one of the more mild things she experimented with.

  Raven looks nothing like her namesake. When I first listened to Bash talk about her, I pictured her in my mind. Long raven black hair, curves in all directions, maybe a few tattoos and piercings. The female in the pictures has golden hair halfway down her back, eyes that are as olive-jade as her brothers, and while she’s curvy, she’s also slender, almost willowy. There are no tattoos in any of the photos I’ve seen, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have any. Any piercings she may have are covered up as well.

  I haven’t seen Raven smiling in any of the pictures. Not a real smile anyway, the kind that goes all the way to her eyes. Her smile makes her look lonely, craved something that she’d been denied for so long she gave up hoping for it. Affection? Love? I’m not sure.

  “Morning, Gracie.” I put the kettle on the stove to heat the water for my tea. “How many classes do you have today?”

  “I only have one on Fridays.” She grimaces as she turned on the coffee pot. “But it’s also my least favorite class. I hate chemistry.”

  “I don’t know anything about it.” Chemistry wasn’t part of the online homeschool program I’d taken a few years back. My mom was been paranoid about protecting me, and I only saw my dad and sister every few weeks with the exception of the few weeks she relented and let me stay with my dad at the Red Dragons’ warehouse. After that disaster, she didn’t even let me see my dad unless he came to the house.

  “It’s ugly. So ugly.” Gracie gives a mock shudder, making me laugh.

  “What’s ugly?” Hawk asks as he walks into the kitchen in nothing more than a pair of sweat pants. He scratches a hand across his wide chest making both mine and Gracie’s eyes follow the motions.

  Whoa! HOT! Muscles in every direction. Hard, well defined abs. Beside of me, I see Gracie’s cheeks fill with a pretty pink color before she turns her head and busies herself making both Hawk and herself a mug of hot coffee. “I was telling Willa about my Chemistry class.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t go today,” Hawk mutters as he takes a swallow of the coffee she hands him. “I don’t like that that guy is in your class.”

  Gracie sighs. “I only have a few more weeks until break, Hawk. I’m not going to drop a class I have fought so hard to keep an A in just because of that scumbag.”

  “If he even looks at you wrong, you tell me,” he growls before storming out of the kitchen.

  Oh fuck! The back was just as awe-inspiring as the front had been. Forcing my eyes away from that sculpted back, I turn to pour the hot water into a mug before the tea kettle whistles. “He’s a little intense at times, huh?”

  Gracie shrugs. “Seems like it.”

  “Some guy giving you a hard time?”

  “I didn’t realize it, but one of the guys that tried to …” She breaks off, her eyes growing haunted. “It wasn’t until yesterday that I figured I’d have to face him.”

  “Maybe Hawk should teach you to defend yourself. I heard that Raven is a badass no one wants to mess with, maybe she will teach you if he won’t.” I take the tea bag out of the mug after it’d been in it for a little over a minute, then blow over the top of the weakened tea.

  “That isn’t a bad idea.” She takes two more sips of her coffee before pouring the rest down the sink and rinsing out her mug. “I better go. Felicity is giving me a ride today and her class starts an hour before mine.”

  “Good luck,” I call after her as she opens the back door.

  A glance at the clock over the sink tells me that it’s past the time Lexa should get up, and I head toward the living room and the stairs. As I walk through the living room the doorbell rings and I frown. It’s the first time all week I’ve heard the doorbell. Most people just walk in and make themselves at home.

  When I don’t immediately head for the door, whoever it was starts pounding on the door. It sounds more like they’re using a sledgehammer to knock, the way it shakes under the force of it. Muttering a curse because I’m not sure what kind of madman I’ll find on the other side, I cross over to the front door and open it just an inch or so.

  The fist falls away from the door even as I open it a few more inches. My heart stops. My lungs quit working. My mind flashes over every second I’ve ever spent with this man.

  Dammit! Why does he have to look so good?

  He’s the scariest man I’ve ever seen. From his shaved head—always covered with that stupid bandana—to his bull ring, all the way down to those size fifteen shit kickers. He screams scary. No one can look at him and not shake with fear … or in my case—because yeah, I’m a screwed up idiot—shake with desire. I can remember every time I traced my fingers over that smoothly shaved head. I hate how just the sight of that nose piercing makes me want to reach out and touch his slightly crocked nose. The goatee? I both love and hate it. Dammit, I want to see the dimple underneath.

  “Willa …” his voice is rough, full of gravel, and strokes down my spine like a silk glove. He turns his head ever so slightly, giving me a glimpse of the Black Widow that’s crawling up his neck. How can something that scares me so badly look so beautiful on this man’s flesh?

  “James …” I whisper and he flinches. “Spider …”

  He just stands there staring down at me. His black eyes don’t give me so much as a hint as to what he’s feeling and after only a few moments he shakes his head, as if to clear it. “Raven. Is she here?”

  I blink, feeling suddenly gutted. Will I ever get over the pain he could cause me? Will I ever get my act together and move on from the fact that I was never enough for him? “I…” I clear my throat “…I don’t know. I went to bed before Bash got home last night.”

  At the sound of his friend’s name, Spider’s eyes narrow to mere slits. “Go wake his fucking ass up!”

  “Why?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest. He’s going to just barge in and start ordering me around. I’m not that stupid little girl that can be controlled so easily anymore.

  “Because he and I have business to deal with.” When I just stand in the doorway with my eyebrow arched, he grasps my hips and lifts me out of the way. I gasp, unprepared to deal with the physical contact. Liquid heat pours between my legs, making me tremble with a need that I’ve suppressed from the day he shattered my heart into a billion pieces. “Fine,” he grits out. “I’ll wake him up myself.”

  Raven

  The heat coming off of Bash’s body wakes me. Seriously, the man radiates heat without even trying. It’s both comforting and annoying. I can’t sleep when I’m hot, and it’
s way too early to be this awake, especially when I hadn’t fall asleep until dawn because someone kept me up fucking my brains out.

  I kick behind me and land a solid hit to his shin. He barely grunts and wraps his arms around me tighter. Despite everything, I can’t keep a smile from lifting the corners of my lips. Sighing, I wiggle until I can turn around and face the beast holding me so snug. His jaw is shadowed with almost a full day’s worth of beard, his forehead wrinkled with stress even in sleep.

  “Bash …” I stroke a finger over the wrinkles and bury my face in his chest. Damn, he smells so good—a hint of sweat, a dash of whatever cologne he’s always worn, and completely male. My pillows smell like him for the first time since he’d left me. My chest ached every time I laid my head down to sleep, and I fought myself when it came time to change my sheets and pillowcases. It was the last connection I’d had to our relationship and I hated myself for even thinking about wanting that last link severed.

  “Raven.” Bash’s body quickly come alive. He pulls me against his hard length, his fingers twisting into my hair and pulling my head back so his sleepy gaze captures my own. His stone-hard dick twitches suggestively against my core. “I want you so bad I hurt, Raven.”

  My pussy clenches at just the thought of him taking me all over again. I grow drenched with need and my legs open, letting his cock rest right where I want it. “So do something about it.”

  His nostrils flare, silver-blue eyes firing lightning down at me. “Are you okay? You aren’t hurting from last night?”

  I’m not going to get all mushy over his concern for me. I’m not! “I ache,” I tell him honestly. It’s been a long time since I’ve been fucked so hard repeatedly, especially by something as big as Bash’s beautiful cock. During the time we’ve been apart I’ve only gotten off with the little vibrator that he gave me his first run after we started sleeping together. “But it’s a good ache.”

  His lips attack mine no sooner than the words leave my mouth. He pushes me onto my back without breaking the kiss, his left hand moving between us to see how ready I am for him. I feel, more than hear, the growl he releases when he finds how wet I am for him. His tongue thrusts deep and hard into my mouth as his dick does the same with my wet pussy.