“Not a peep since we got him in there,” Tig replies. “But then again, my orders were to stay here,” he points down to the floor. “Have you heard anything yet from Silas or Atticus? I’ve been waiting for a call to let me know where I go from here. I was hoping you’d heard something that you could relay back to me.”
“Nothing yet. I’m sure they’re all fine, though. Smokey, Capone, and Chef went up to help Jaxson and Maxum and now Silas and Atticus are on their way. No way that fucker will get away this time.”
“I want some time with Junior,” Tig announces. “He hurt my best friend and nearly destroyed her.” The anger that is palpable on his face has chills running through my body. He’s ready for his own brand of revenge and I can’t say as I blame him any. If the things that happened to Ralynn happened to any of the women in my life, I’d be ready to fuck someone’s world up as well.
“Since you’re here right now, I think we can give that to you once they get him here,” I state.
“Good.” He’s a man of few words which I appreciate. Giving him a nod, I head back upstairs to find my wayward woman.
I find her in the kitchen, slamming pots and pans around as she works on dinner. “Need any help?” I ask, coming alongside her and dropping a kiss on her shoulder. Her skin tastes so good on my tongue that I run it underneath her ear.
“Nope. I’m good,” she replies, her voice snippy. She tries to pull away from me, but there’s no way in hell I’m allowing that to happen.
“Raven, you know what you tried was wrong.” The glare she gives me would kill a lesser man, but I was raised by a hardass and give no fucks if she is upset right now. I’ll break those walls she’s trying to erect back down. I’ve done it before and I can do it again. There’s no way in hell I’m gonna allow her to become an ice queen towards me. I’ve skated on thin ice with her before, so the act doesn’t faze me anymore.
“Maybe when you have a child that’s nearly killed, you can explain how you’d feel if the person who did it was nearby and you weren’t allowed to hurt him. Until then, I’ve got nothing to say to you.” Yep, the bitch...I mean witch, of the wicked west has come out to play. I’ve got this.
“Is that the way it’s gonna be? It doesn't matter that I was right there at your side searching for Damien? Risking my life going down that embankment to make sure he had someone’s arms wrapped around him? I guess my feelings for him and you are nothing...huh?” I’m done with this conversation. I throw my hands up in the air and walk away before I say something I’ll regret later.
Nineteen
Raven
Well, now I feel like fucking shit. I was trying to make a point not push away the man I’m falling...have fallen in love with. What the hell am I gonna do now? I don’t like this feeling of my heart in my stomach with fear. I haven’t ever experienced the love and laughter, safety and comfort, the way I have with him, especially while lying in his arms at night. We’ve developed a level of intimacy that goes beyond sex, and I can’t lose that. He’s the first man that’s made me want to live for myself and not just for Damien. How do I fix this? Can I fix this? Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I’m so lost in thought, with tears streaming down my face, that I don’t hear Destiny come into the kitchen or feel her arms wrap around me. “Shh, it’s okay, Raven. Whatever’s going on, we can fix it,” she croons.
“I fucked up, Destiny.” As much as I wish it was, I don’t believe this is going to be easily fixable.
“Nothing’s unfixable. Tell me what happened, and we’ll see what we can come up with to repair the situation.” She has so much on her plate already, do I confide in her and take a chance of adding to her issues, or do I hold it to myself and try to figure out a way to fix this on my own? Man, being a grown-up is hard as hell sometimes. “I’m not a china doll that’s easily broken, Raven. Let me help you?” I give her a funny look and she rolls her eyes before saying, “it’s written all over your face. I’m stronger than people give me credit for. Yes, I went through something horrible, but it could’ve been so much worse. I am fine, I’m happy again. I’m ready to keep moving forward with life. Don’t treat me like I’m not a grown-ass woman.”
“Wow, I kinda like this side of you, Destiny. You need to let this part of you out and open for the world to see. Then, I promise you, no one will treat you as if you’re made of glass again,” I encourage her.
“Thanks, Raven. I’m starting to feel more like myself again. Now, spill, we can’t problem solve if I don’t know what the issue is.” I nod my head, walk over to the counter where the paper towels are and pull off a sheet. I wet it down and wipe my face, then grab another one and dry off.
We walk over and sit down at the kitchen island and I share with her everything that has transpired today. I start with being called by Jonas to do some research to him walking away from me. “So you see, I royally fucked this entire thing up,” I reiterate.
“Nothing is set in stone, Raven. We’ve got this.” She places her finger underneath her chin as she begins to think of what I can do to resolve what I did. “Here’s what you need to do.” We lean in towards each other, then we begin whispering quietly to each other, so no one overhears the solution we’ve come up with.
The two of us trudge up the stairs to my room where my laptop is sitting on my desk waiting for us. Grabbing my laptop, I open up the browser and research sexy lingerie in our area. They’ll have to ship it since us women are on lockdown here at the house. Literally, the guys sat us down and informed us that we weren’t to leave the house unless we had one of them with us. I’m a little old for a babysitter, but I understand where they are coming from, so I kept my smart-ass comments to myself. I’ve never bought sexy underclothes specifically for a man before, but for Jonas, I’ll do just about anything.
“Look at this one,” Destiny exclaims, pointing to my screen. “It’s sexy but not slutty.”
“That’ll work, I don’t want anything that screams ‘stripper pole ahead’, I want to be a little classy and a little intoxicating. I want his eyes to pop out of their sockets and his tongue hanging to the ground when I enter the room, but at the same time, I want him to see me as the elegant woman I am. I want him to worship me the way I do him.” Nervous now that I may be making a mistake, I begin to chew on my fingernail. Destiny pulls my hand from my mouth and smiles at me, making her look younger than she has looked lately. She doesn’t look like the weight of the world is heavily sitting on her shoulders.
“You’re going to look beautiful in this. He won’t even remember his name once you walk into the same room as him wearing this.” She points to the screen where I just hit order.
“I hope you’re right, Destiny. I have a lot to make up for.”
“You can show him then that there’s more to your mouth than sass,” she winks at me and for the first time today I burst out into uncontrollable laughter. Not too long after, she’s joining me and we’re rolling around the floor like a couple of teenage girls.
“I think I need to talk to him too,” I state. “I don’t want to leave this hanging until my order arrives.” It doesn’t sit right with me that a lot is left unsaid. I don’t like tension, and if I leave things for a couple of days, things could be thick enough that we wouldn’t even be able to cut through it with a knife.
“Well, you know where he’s at,” she replies. “I’m gonna go check on Damien and his tutor to see how they’re doing. As soon as that’s done, I’m gonna go help Piper with a shower. She doesn’t care for the nurse helping her, so I’ve agreed to be her personal shower aide when Atticus isn’t around.”
“Thank you.” I like Damien’s tutor, Athena. She’s quiet and respectful, and Damien has blossomed even more since she started working with him. Taking a deep breath, I head to Jonas’ batcave. Seeing the door is closed, I knock.
“Go the fuck away,” he yells through the door. Well, this is starting out well.
“Jonas, can I please talk to you?” I plead. I really, really hate t
his piece of processed wood between us. If I had more muscles, I’d knock the damn thing down. I need him to understand where my mind was at when I was acting like such a bitch.
Silence. I hate that sound, it’s how Sinclair and my father used to punish me when they perceived I did something wrong in their eyes.
Just when I’m about to turn around and head back to my room, the door opens and he’s standing there, his face closed off and his arms crossed over his chest. I can’t read his expression and feel my face fall. “Never mind,” I mumble. I need to get the hell out of here before the tears that are welling up fall.
He reaches out and pulls me into his chest, quickly kisses the top of my head, then he laces our hands together and drags me into his batcave, where he kicks the door shut with his foot then locks it behind him. Both of our chests are heaving heavily with the stillness and quietness that surrounds us. Still not speaking, he leads me over to the couch which is positioned in the corner of the room. He sits down, yanking me with him as he maneuvers me so I’m placed securely on his lap. We end up face-to-face.
“You said you wanted to speak to me?” he inquires. His voice is a monotone and I feel my heart shatter.
Nodding, I start speaking. “I can’t apologize enough for acting like such a bitch to you earlier. There’s nothing I can say to take back what I said and how I acted towards you. There aren’t enough words in the English dictionary to describe how I’m feeling right now. Everything you’ve done for me, have done for Damien, over these past weeks has shown me how much you do care about the two of us. I have no defense for my actions other than the fear that has held me captive ever since the accident, but that’s not really an excuse I should be using. With you...damn, this is hard for me. With you, I have gotten something I’ve never had before in a relationship, whether it’s platonic in nature, or romantic. I feel accepted, cherished, safe, and in a lot of ways, that freaks me out since it’s not been very long since we met. I’ve only ever had myself and Damien to worry about and suddenly, you’ve woven yourself into the fabric of my life and buried yourself deeply inside of my heart. It’s so ingrained inside of me and I don’t want to lose that. I can’t lose you, Jonas, you mean everything to me and to my son. I’ve genuinely fallen passionately in love with you.” My tears are flowing down my face and I can’t look at him to see how he is reacting to my words.
His hands come up and cup my face, wiping away the tears. “God, beautiful, you’re going to cripple my manhood here. I’ve never done the whole feelings thing before, that’s not how my brothers nor I were raised, but you and Damien have become my entire universe. I don’t give a flying fuck if it’s only been a few weeks. Since the first time I saw a picture of you, I’ve been entranced. You’re mine now, you’ll be mine for eternity.”
* * *
Jonas
* * *
I know I may have possibly acted hastily earlier when I walked away from my woman. But I knew that if I didn’t, she’d hurt my feelings so phenomenally, that I feared I’d say or do something that’d push her away from me forever. And I’m not willing to let her go, no matter how much she manages to piss me off. I love her, I knew it from the first time I not only saw her beautiful face staring back at me, but the moment I heard her voice, heard her laugh, and saw her interacting with her son.
“C’mere, beautiful,” I whisper. “Time for you to learn all about the inner workings of make-up sex.” Her eyes light up as I lean in to kiss her.
Stunning.
She’s absolutely out of this world sexy.
Twenty
Jonas
After sating my woman, I sit at my computer contemplating where we go from here. I’m taken out of my head when I hear the alarm on my computer alerting me to the gate to our property opening. Looking over at my woman, I see her chest rising and falling, knowing that she won’t be waking up anytime soon, I stand up and walk over to her. Leaning down, I kiss her on her forehead. “Baby, the guys are back. Now would be the time to go down and get your retribution if you’re still needing that.” I pray she’ll say no, but deep down I know better than that. She’s not going to let this one go, and I’m not sure that I can blame her any for it.
“I need to, Jonas. Please understand.” Her voice is husky, whether from sleep or from screaming my name a short time ago, and I find myself hardening again. I find it’s becoming an issue since I’m in a constant state of need whenever she’s around. Especially if she’s in the same room as I am.
“Then let’s do it, beautiful.” Whatever she needs, I’ll be there to back her up or if necessary, take over.
“I need a belt, preferably one with a wide buckle,” she states. My eyes widen at her words, but I lead her to my room where I dig around until I find a belt. It seems my woman has been thinking long and hard about how she’d like to take care of Senior.
“Will this one work?” I ask, handing it over. It’s my dad’s, my brothers and I have been on the receiving end of this one plenty of times, and I know for a fact it hurts like the hounds of hell are chewing your skin off from your body.
“It’ll do,” she replies, snapping it. The evil gleam in her eyes has me taking a second look at her expression. This is a side of her I’ve never witnessed, and I’m worried she may not leave any piece of them unmarked. If that’s the case, my brothers, Tig, and I won’t have much skin left to leave our own stamp.
We walk down to the basement, entering the room where my brothers now have Junior trussed up like a turkey, sitting beside his father. Both are stripped down to their boxers, leaving plenty of available skin. “So, we’ve got some questions for you, but first, Raven has something she needs to do.” I’m not sure if I should stand witness for what she has planned or turn around. I don’t know that I want my eyes to see what she’s capable of when her mama bear comes out to play.
She walks over to Welch, Senior, and hauls back and slaps him. The sound of her hand hitting his skin reverberates throughout the small space. “You stupid motherfucker!” she screams. “You could’ve killed my son in that accident. You did hurt my friend and it’s a damn good thing that you didn’t hurt her unborn baby. Filthy piece of shit, thinking you’re better than everyone else. You are a coward raising an even bigger piece of shit.” He doesn’t respond but is watching her cautiously, his eyes never straying from her movements. I see the hint of a smirk on Silas’ face as he watches her. When she takes the belt I gave her and rears her arm back, I see the wince that he strategically masks. We know how bad that particular belt can hurt, and we all bear the scars of our father’s handiwork.
The first strike, across his chest, leaves a red welt. As she continuously rains blow after blow all over his body, blood begins to appear where the skin breaks. When I see her arm begin to tremble, I walk up to her and wrap my arm around her waist. “You did good, baby,” I whisper. “Now, let us get what we need from them so we can take this trash out for good.” As she gives me a small nod and begins to walk away, I witness her turn the belt around and swing the buckle smacking Junior in the face.
“Oops,” she says to him with a smug look on her face. “That was a complete accident,” she goes for the innocent look that I know is anything but. Then she turns to me and smiles that killer smile in my direction. “Thank you for letting me do this. I needed to and I know you didn’t have to, but I’m grateful that you did.”
“I’d do anything for you, beautiful.”
“Thank you. Love you, Jonas,” she casually throws over her shoulder as she saunters out of the room taking my heart with her.
“Now it’s time for us to play,” Atticus states, clapping his hands together. “It’s really easy to comprehend and understand. We’ve got a few questions that we need answers to, and we expect you to answer them the first time. If you choose not to, we have something special planned to force you.”
At his words, Silas goes over to the closet and pulls out two life-sized clear boxes similar to coffins. Once he and Tig drag them into
the middle of the room, Silas and Atticus hold up Junior and we let Tig get his pound of flesh for what was done to Ralynn. They’re as close as brother and sister and when he found her, it tore a piece of his soul to shreds. With that over with, we place each of them inside of the boxes. Silas then walks to the table where there are a bunch of tin cans with holes in the lids. You can hear the shrill squeaks coming from them and the sound has goosebumps appearing up and down my arms. Atticus snags a package-sized crate and when I see the writing on it, I want to go back to my batcave. No fucking way, I think my brothers may have gone over the edge this time.
“Who wants to go first?” Silas asks, looking from one to the other.
“It would be my pleasure,” Atticus pushes forward. I happily move back and let him take the lead. “You see, these ‘surprises’ we have in store for you will definitely encourage you to speak. If not, that’s okay, I’d love to show you why I feel this is.” I’m sure he would. He can be a sick son-of-a-bitch some damn times.
“I ain’t telling you shit,” Marcus Junior mouths off.
“What about you?” Atticus points at Senior, asking him.
“Fuck off, there’s someone else that scares me a fuck of a lot more than dying. I don’t care what you do to torture me.” This intrigues me, I make a mental note to find out who else’s name pops up that I’ve possibly overlooked. As far as we’ve been able to find, he was the head honcho. The man in charge, but maybe he’s just a scapegoat in this entire thing.
“Well, now I would like you to answer that first statement for me,” Silas informs him. “Who the fuck would scare you more than my crazy as fuck brother here?” he pats Atticus on the shoulder. Atticus lets out a maniacal laugh that you imagine the bad guy in a horror movie would use.
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