by Terri Lane
“As you wish Ma'am.” His voice had teased.
“I’m just getting out to buy some gas, you don't have to go with me.” Raven said as she pulled over at a gas station. She hadn’t used her car in a while and was taken aback by the very little gas left. The plan had been to first rush to the grocery store and buy some uncooked food to make, but the thought of all those women looking at her, talking about her had been too much, so new plan; she was gonna get some gas, drive to chilies a few miles over, and treat herself.
That sounds like a good plan right? Thought Raven, as she refilled and paid for the gas with her card—under Jet's watchful stares.
Raven was driving when she spied an ATM, she would need some cash sooner or later and she was all out. She usually didn't withdraw from this side of town, but she wasn't against trying anything new, that was why she pulled over, got down—totally ignoring Jet—and proceeded to the ATM.
She felt it on her back first, the smooth open mouth of the gun, and then came a creepy voice. “Withdraw everything you have in your account or I will blow your guts out.” God she just couldn’t catch a break! Why were these things always happening to her? It was ridiculous, first the bookstore and now this? She tried to look over at her car, to catch Jet‘s eye or something, and was met with a threat. “You move, you die, lady.” The guy pressing a gun to her back had a British accent, people always said the British accent was one of the sexiest things they had even heard, well now Raven could attest to it also being one of the scariest things she had ever heard. Raven knew that if she couldn’t catch Jet’s eye, then he was gonna be none the wiser because to him and anyone else who may be looking, this was just a man in line at the back of the queue.
She fiddled with her card trying to place it in, her hands shaking like a junkie. She didn’t want to die like this, Oh God please help me. She made a silent prayer, calling out for help. If the incident at the bookstore had taught her anything, it was never to play the hero. No amount of money was worth your life, money could never be made back if dead. It was with that mentality that she summoned strength and pushed her card into the ATM slot, she was at the verge of inserting her ATM pin when poof, the barrel of the gun was gone, and replaced by a loud thud on the floor. Raven felt instant relief knowing what had just happened—even without looking—and who was responsible for it, Jet.
*
“Are you ok?” She felt his voice on her skin before she saw him, the anxiety of the whole experience leaving her numb. Oh God, she was going to be sick. She looked around trying to get some air and spied the culprit lying on the floor unconscious. His face was hidden from his position on the ground, His body was covered in black from head to toe in clothes that looked like they had once been very expensive. The gun that had been pointing at her lay a few feet away from either of them, Raven suspected it was when Jet had taken him down that it had occurred, there had been no fanatics, no preamble, just poof and he was gone.
“Raven, answer me.” There was more than a light shake of her shoulders by Jet as he tried to get her attention. “Answer me, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She lied, just before her stomach rejected its contents, right on Jet’s white shirt! It was so fast, that it took the both of them by surprise, and it embarrassed Raven. “I’m so, so sorry,” She stuttered, taking off her scarf so she could wipe it off. She couldn’t remember the last time she had thrown up in the toilet, talk less of on someone else “I am just a little frightened.” She added, hoping he would take that as an explanation for the now dripping throw up at the front of his shirt and forgive her. “I'm really sorry.” Raven dared to look up at him for the first time since the incident, and what she saw surprised her, she had just spilled her smelly guts on him, the guy could be furious or disgusted and trying to hide those emotions away from her, maybe a little hostility, those were emotions that she would expect, but instead, the eyes that stared back at her were filled with concern and worry. She felt a need to reassure him. “Seriously, I’m fine, I just wasn't expecting to get robbed from by two different people in the same month.” It sucked to feel this unsafe, did she have a huge fuck me over sign written somewhere on her back or something? Why were people so quick to take advantage of her. She had never felt this unsafe in her life before in a short amount of time, and she hated the feeling. It made her more dependent on Jet than she already was, it made her feel both grateful to him and wary of him at the same time, she didn't want to feel indebted to him, but then again her debt was his salary, something she had already paid for one month, and it hadn't come cheap as well, she might as well make good use of it.
“So,” Raven asked when they reentered the car. “Where are you from?” She was trying to make light of the situation, maybe with small talk. She was looking for anything that could distract her from what may have happened to her a few moments ago. They had left the body of the man lying there, Jet had tried to call a buddy of his but it had reached voice mail. The smart thing to do right now would be to call the police, she didn’t understand why he had made no move to do so, but she wasn’t going to question him about whatever decision that he may even right at that moment be making.
Jet just grunted to her question. He didn’t know how to respond, he didn’t want to respond. It was the first time Raven had cared enough to ask him about himself, and a warm feeling spread in his chest by the thought of her actually caring.
The past few days with them together had been awkward at first for them, he may have been comfortable in that awkwardness, but that didn’t distract from the fact that it existed.
Jet reflected on what had just happened. He had taken the eye off the ball for a millisecond and everything had almost gone to shit.
My God she was trembling! He wanted to put his hands over hers and tell her that everything would be ok, it had taken a lot of his SEAL training not to put a bullet in that guy’s head with his own gun.
Jet was thrown out of his thoughts as huge giant sobs started to come from the other end of the car, he looked over at Raven to see fat tears escape her eyes. He couldn’t help it, he had his hands over her head instantly and brought it to lie on his shoulders, encouraging her to cry on the same shirt she had just thrown up on.
He wondered if this little vixen had somehow vexed a genie and had been cursed with bad luck, because he couldn’t imagine all that had happened to her in such a short period of time.
“Dear, dear.” He said, as he patted the back of her head, the act seemed to make her brawl her eyes harder, he was lost on ideas to comfort her so he latched in on the first thing that came to mind; words of assurance. “Everything is going to be alright.” He said, rubbing his hands slowly through her hair. He loved the feel of her hair, it was so soft and so springy, and he had never quite felt anything like it. “No one’s gonna hurt you ever again.” Jet meant it too. He was determined to make sure that this bastard was thoroughly dealt with, a warning to any other person that tried to hurt his Raven. It didn’t register to him that he had started treating Raven as his, all he felt at that point was a need to take her tears away.
“I'm fine now, Jet.” Raven said, freeing herself from his hold. “Really, I am.”
She didn’t look fine, she looked like she was trying so hard to be fine immediately and failing at it, but who was he to tell her how he thought she was feeling.
"Ok." He said, moving out of the way so he could watch her. She cleaned her eyes, straightened her face and composed herself once again like she hadn’t just be harassed at gun point.
*
Jet looked down at the disgusting creature that had found it appropriate to harass someone like Raven, she was so small already that the guy using a gun on her just seemed more like bullying than anything else he had done, and made the act even more irritating. It didn’t matter that he was still unconscious from the blow he’d received when he had been caught, this man was scum and he was going to make sure that he was dealt with.
Pulling out his phone for t
he second time that night, Jet dialed another of his buddy’s at the police station. He had called one when the incident had first occurred, but had been unable to talk to him, this one was just as good, and he hoped the call connected. He wanted this dealt with the utmost severity, and he didn’t want it to affect Raven at all. Just as he had been about to give up, his friend‘s croaky voice reached his ears. “Hello.” Matt said. “It's been a long time, Jet! How are you?” They had both served in the navy together, where one was cautious and calm letting nothing penetrate his hard-core demure, the other was swayed by emotions more times than he would like to believe, that had been what made Matt a great friend and person. "Yeah, Matt, how’s it going?" He said into the receiver, taking a casual glance in Raven‘s direction. She was on the phone now, "Yes, girl, I’m fine." He heard her say, Jet absentmindedly wondered who she was talking to, it could be anyone in her life, they all seemed to really care about her wellbeing. "Don’t worry about me." She sounded fine too, like this had just been a minor setback in her life and she could go ahead like nothing had happened.
"I need a little favor, Matt," Jet continued. "A friend of mine just got attacked at gun point… no, no, she’s fine… I was able to catch the culprit… yes, uhun… ok… was wondering if you could come get him and we‘ll email you the report or something..."
"Sure, Jet." Matt said always willing to help while knowing what kind of job Jet had and his clients‘ need for privacy. "Give me your address and we‘ll be there in 15-30 minutes."
“Ok man. Sure… thanks.” After Jet rounded up his conversation with Matt and moved over to where Raven sat, he was more relaxed in the fact that justice would be achieved. From this angle, she looked so frail, he felt like taking her in his hands and telling her that everything would be ok. She noticed his presence and looked up at him, plastering a fake sunny smile on her face. "Ready to go?"
That was how Jet lost it, before he knew what was happening he was leaning in through the window and capturing her mouth in his.
The first thing that registered was how soft his lips were. Like new born baby tushy soft, they were so soft that Raven found herself wrapping her hands around his neck to get more out of the encounter. She felt his hand move to the back of her neck even as his tongue probed her for access, Raven gladly opened her mouth and instantly appreciated it as his tongue darted into it. This wasn’t a rough kiss or even a steamy one at that—although her pussy clearly didn’t get the message—but it felt so amazing that her lips sort out more. It felt so good, feeling the inside of his mouth, feeling his tongue invade her mouth was the best feeling ever. Raven didn’t know how long they were like that, or how her hands found their way under his shirt or when exactly she leaned half her upper body out the window. All she knew was that there was an annoying blaring and it was taking away the best thing to ever happen to her since sliced bread. They pulled apart.
“Ehen.” Jet said adjusting his pants as the police officer stepped out of his car. He gave a half smile at Raven‘s direction, obviously not repentant and then turned toward the police officer.
"Matt." He called, shaking the other man’s hand when they got close. Raven observed the encounter, as she was loathe to leave the comfort of her car. There were two cars and two cops in the car. Matt looked like a detective and he had come with his partner who was such an apparent knockout that for a second Raven wondered if there was something going on between them. “Jet!” The guy named Matt said. "Good to see you." They did that funny half hug thing that Raven always found silly, but on them it looked so manly.
The one named Matt nodded in her direction, she nodded back. They moved off out of earshot leaving her in the dark as to what they were saying. There were a lot of hand gestures and nodding in the direction of the assailant who was still unconscious, and then a final handshake. From her rearview mirror Raven saw Jet moving towards her, she adjusted on her seat as if she hadn’t been trying to read their lips through her rearview mirror a few seconds ago.
"Do we need to go to the station?" She asked.
"No, it has been taken care of." He said, those final words made everything better, she had been dreading the trip down the popo lane, mostly because she was tired and a lot because she was black and a woman. The police wasn’t your friend if your skin tone looked like the most exotic edible chocolate color, as far as she was concerned. She had seen more than one of her friends get unjustly treated because of the color of their skin, and had almost encountered the same treatment when she had been in college. Of course now, with all the money she had there was no reason for her to be scared of anything—she knew how much people respected money even when they claimed not to—but she just couldn’t forget the past and their past— and sometimes present—mistreatment of the people she loved and called her family.
The fact that Raven could trust Jet, even while knowing that he had worked in law enforcement of some kind, even if just for a period of time was a testament of how much she liked him and how much he had come to mean to her in such a short period.
The next few days for them were more relaxed for Raven and less uptight for Jet. After that kiss he had thought he would stay away from her so as not to complicate things, but that hadn’t been the case. They had begun kissing much more regularly, all over the house. Jet was forgetting his duty and he was disappointed in himself that he wasn’t able to control his urges. Usually he was good at these things, but the day at the ATM had caught even him by surprise. Raven was now more flirtatious with him, light touches, boob rubs, and skimpy clothes round the house. It was like she was urging him to finish what he started or face dying from a bone, Jet chose the bone.
*
Raven had succeeded in writing a whole page out of her book and hadn’t let him hear another word after it. She had called everyone she knew and kept repeating it, by now Jet knew the whole sentence by heart, he was surprised people kept on picking her calls, in fact her family kept calling back that they had heard the good news and congratulating her on another bestseller, the book wasn’t even out yet and they were asking to plan a party for her.
“Yes, Mom.” He heard her say over the phone. “One whole page.” Jet rolled his eyes. She had said that line like 100 times, to 30 different people each time. “No, I don’t need a party, Mom.” It was scary to imagine what it would be like when she succeeded in writing the whole book. “Yes, I am sure.”
“Ok, Mom.” He looked towards her to see her smile. “Bye, Mom, okay.” She sounded happy, so happy that Jet found himself being happy as well.
“Are you gonna finish that?” Raven looked over at Jet’s remaining slice of pizza. They sat on her balcony and he had been nursing it on his plate all this time.
“What do you want my pizza for? You already had the whole box.” Raven laughed. Jet had suggested they order pizza, paid for it, and then proceeded to set rules for the pizza. He had done it in such a funny way that it had been hilarious to see the look on his face when she had bypassed him and taken the largest slice. One month was drawing to an end, and while Raven may have achieved quiet a lot in terms of her progress in her book writing, seduction of Jet had been going at an increasingly slow pace. They were closer now than ever before, with him revealing more about himself to her, and she revealing her fears and insecurities. He had told her his father had survived cancer, that had been such amazing news, but his voice had sounded down. Raven hadn’t known what to make of it.
When he had talked about his dad and his recovery process, she had been so happy for him. It wasn’t every day that someone recovered from cancer, the fact that his father had responded to treatment and there was no residual signs of the cancerous cell left had made her feel so much joy for the man and his family even without knowing them. But when the conversation had drawn close, it had sounded like a warning, like a goodbye when he had said; “I need to catch the people that hurt you at the bookstore immediately, tell me everything about your encounter.” It had sounded like it was something he wanted t
o have on lock before his time with her ended. Raven didn’t want to think about an end.
Everything was so much better than it had been a few weeks ago, so Raven for the life of her couldn’t figure out why Jet was pulling away. That’s how it felt to her, his time with her was drawing close and while he was advising her to get a bodyguard for at least one more month, he himself was not saying that he would be available. Every time they talked she got the sense that he was hiding something from her, like he felt it wasn’t the right time to say it or like he was holding back. She didn’t know which it was, but she didn’t like it one bit.
She needed him to be as open and honest with her as possible, any other alternative was unacceptable. I mean for God’s sake she thought. The man was acting like he hadn’t had his tongue dipped into her throat before. He had made the first move, so Raven was positive that he at least found her attractive. He was the one that had kissed her first, even if it was a feel better kiss, two seconds into the kiss it had changed for the best. But he was staying away, keeping his distance. Even now he stood at his perch at the corner of the room while she wrote, his stance king-like. His gaze fixed in the distance but Raven could swear that he was aware of every move she was making, every sound, maybe even her heartbeat rate. Any time she touched him, even when her touches were genuinely innocent, she could feel his muscles bulge under her touch, feel him restrain himself from leaning into her touch or even touching her back.
Raven stood up and moved across the room, feeling his gaze upon her body. She changed her steps, to more of a slow catwalk, swaying of her hips as she walked and gently moving her butt. She knew the effect her body had on men in general, and how to work her body. She was no stranger to making a man want her, and she knew how to tell if a man wanted her. This man wanted her badly... she just had to figure out why he wasn’t making a move.