Ravens Ruin MC: The Complete Series

by Marie James

  The get-togethers were over yesterday, but Lynch still hasn’t said anything about heading home. After the incident in Parker’s house four days ago, he hasn’t said much to me. The tension is almost as unpleasant as the time he nonchalantly informed me that the only reason I’m the club’s VP is because Professor turned the position down.

  My phone buzzes, and I’m slow to pick it up from the bedside table. Lynch gives me the side-eye from his bed in the hotel we’ve been camped out in for days when it buzzes the second time as if I’m irritating him. He’s been watching reruns of some stupid show from the nineties all damn day.

  When I see that it’s a video from TJ, I’m reticent to open the damn thing. It could be anything from a stupid cat video to a clip of someone getting disemboweled.

  Bored, I press the triangle. Cherry Pie by Warrant blares through my phone even though the damn thing is on silent. When Lynch grunts in agitation, I hit the tiny speaker on the corner of the video to silence it.

  A growl erupts from my throat at seeing Molly shaking her sweet little ass, sandwiched between two hangarounds I’ve seen in the clubhouse before. They aren’t touching her, and she isn’t swaying her hips as provocatively as I know she can, but being here and not there to watch it live is enough to make me spit fire.

  “I hate that fucking song,” Lynch says.

  I thought Molly hated that song too, but telling by the loose smile on her face, she’s had a few drinks so she may not even realize what’s playing.

  ME: And where is Zoe?

  If TJ sends me a picture or video of Zoe wiggling on some guy, maybe Lynch will want to get home quicker. He sure as fuck wanted to rush back when we were in Richmond, and I have a sinking feeling that the only reason we’re still here is because he’s punishing me.

  My phone buzzes again, and a picture of Zoe fills the screen. She’s sitting at a table with a bottle of water clasped in her hands as she smiles at a familiar looking blonde girl.

  “Fuck,” I grumble. Well, that idea won’t work. Zoe is being a good little girl while her man is away.

  “What’s up?”

  “Nothing.” I darken my phone and rest it on my chest. I’m turning over, ready to just fucking go to sleep to pass the time when Lynch speaks.

  “Don’t knock out. We’re leaving after this episode is over.”

  That gets my attention, and like a suspicious fool, I jump up from the bed. “I’ll pack.”

  I don’t even know why I said those words. I don’t have shit to pack in this room.

  “You’re way too excited for a man that’s about to ride over twelve hours on a damn bike.”

  “I like riding.”

  “Funny.” He doesn’t look at me. “You didn’t want to do it last week in Richmond.”

  He’s needling me, the exact way he has been for the last two weeks. I’m ready to get some distance between the two of us. It’s getting harder and harder not to tell him how I feel about Molly. I might have survived the conversation if I had fessed up the very first time he said, “You have something to tell me, Brother?”

  He might have considered giving us his blessing if I had done it then. Now? After touching her, after tasting her sweet mouth, I’m pretty sure he’ll hang me and let TJ gut me. Molly will end up with the vet at Lynch’s insistence, and I’ll be hating him from hell.

  “Where are you going?”

  My hand is on the doorknob before I realize I’ve crossed the room.

  “Gonna take a quick walk.”

  “We’re hitting the road in fifteen minutes.”

  “I’ll be back in ten.”

  I swear I hear him laughing when I walk down the hall and out the front door of the hotel.

  Instead of walking around, I check the oil and tire pressure on both of our bikes. We’ll have to stop for gas, but I don’t want any other issues coming between us and getting back to the clubhouse.

  Having taken more time than expected, Lynch meets me outside just as I’m lifting the gauge from his back tire.

  “Tampering with my bike?” There’s humor in his voice. No matter what shit is going on between us, he knows better.

  “You know me,” I tell him as I stand and put the tire gauge in the pocket inside my cut. “Always looking for a way up the totem pole.”

  Lynch huffs as he climbs on his bike. “I already turned in the keys, so you’re fucked if you left anything in the room.”

  It’s like his asshole level has doubled by the day since we left Sutton. At least back at the clubhouse, Zoe distracts him and keeps him off my back.

  “I didn’t ever unpack.”

  Joke’s on you, motherfucker.

  I sling my own leg over my bike, feeling childish and loving every damn second of it.

  Well, the joke is actually on me because Lynch is riding up front. When we ride south out of Detroit toward Toledo instead of getting on Highway 401 toward Niagara Falls, I know he’s purposely taking the long way home.

  “Why did we come this way?” I ask a couple hours later when we stop to fuel up.

  Lynch shrugs as he places the nozzle in his fuel tank. “I wanted to ride on the south side of the lake.”

  Darkness wraps itself around us. We lost the daylight about an hour ago, and technically the wider lanes on the interstate are safer than the highway, but I know safety wasn’t on his mind when we left Detroit.

  His eyes burn a hole in me as I pump my own gas.

  “Where are you going?”

  My leg hangs over my bike as I look back at him.

  “Let’s grab something to eat.” Looking past him, I see the flickering lights inside of the small café beside the truck stop.

  My lips are in a flat line when I lower myself on my bike and crank it only to move it thirty yards away to the gravel lot in front of the diner.

  By the time we get on the road over an hour and a half later, my skin is itchy.

  When we pull up to the clubhouse, the sun is already lighting the horizon with pinks, oranges, and yellows, but I can’t enjoy the beauty of it. A twelve-hour trip has turned into over fifteen. My back is killing me because Lynch decided he needed to stop in every single town on the way back that had a population over two hundred.

  I knew he was just doing it to fuck with me when we stopped in Springfield, an hour from home to get a pack of fucking chewing gum. We’d both still had a half of a tank of gas.

  “Wanna grab a beer?”

  I don’t even look at him before walking up the front steps of the clubhouse. “Fuck you.”

  He laughs at me all the way inside. When he’d first mentioned driving home, I had all sorts of devious thoughts. Waking Molly with my head between her thighs was winning out over all of them. Now, all I can think about is going to sleep. Which is exactly what I do. At least I manage to get my boots and jeans off before falling into bed and passing the fuck out.

  Chapter 27

  Molly

  Unable to sleep, I’m in the kitchen making a pot of coffee when Lynch and TJ walk in from outside.

  “Hey,” my oldest brother says as he kisses my temple.

  “Want a cup?” I offer, hoping he can’t see the excited shake in my hands. They weren’t supposed to be back for a few more days according to TJ. Knowing Briar is in the clubhouse makes my body thrum with anticipation.

  “No, thanks. We rode all night. I’m just gonna crash.”

  “Like that’ll happen when you get upstairs,” TJ taunts as he grabs a cup from the cabinet and holds it out to me.

  I fill his cup and wait for Lynch to leave the room. He eyes me and the coffee pot several times before deciding something he doesn’t voice and heads toward the stairs.

  “You look well rested after a night of heavy drinking.”

  “I haven’t been to sleep yet.” TJ winks at me as he blows on his coffee.

  “Really?” We stayed at the bar until nearly three in the morning before finally heading back to the clubhouse. I’d still be drunk right now if I hadn’
t vomited twice before we even left. “You know Dad used to stay up for days at a time, too.”

  “What are you trying to say?” He knows exactly what I’m implying, so I don’t bother answering him.

  “I don’t touch that shit,” he says with more anger than I’d expect from my fun-loving brother. “You should know better than to even think something like that. Besides, you’re up, too. Is there something I need to worry about with you? I know a couple of the girls were passing around party favors last night.”

  He’s right. Vixen was passing around tiny bags of coke last night. Drug use in the club has never really been hidden, but it shocks me how much I didn’t pay attention before. Since coming home from school, I’ve seen more than I ever had before. Maybe they’re just not hiding it from me as much.

  “I’m not on drugs,” I mutter.

  “You seem strung out on something.” Humor plays in his ice-blue eyes, but I refuse to engage.

  “I’m not on drugs,” I repeat.

  “Virus told me you ran into the vet at the mall.”

  “Virus has a big fucking mouth.” He frowns at the cuss word but doesn’t chastise me like I’m a child. See? Some things have changed. “His name is Owen.”

  “He also told me you didn’t go to work last week. Did you take some time off? Are you heading in this morning?”

  “What’s with the million questions?”

  “I’m just trying to play catch up.”

  “How did your run go? Did you get everything to New York safely?”

  His eyes narrow as he lowers his coffee cup to the breakfast bar with a snap. We don’t talk business. Hell, I’m not even supposed to know anything about business, but there are members with flappy jaws and club whores with even looser lips.

  “Okay,” he concedes, failing to hide the twitch in his lips. “I’ve asked enough questions.”

  He stops me when I try to walk around him. “You need to think before you do something stupid.”

  Looking from his grip on my arm and back up to him twice isn’t enough of a hint to make him release me. TJ has never been physically assaultive to me, but I know what he’s capable of. I leave my arm in his grip and wait for him to speak again. When he doesn’t, I cave.

  “I’m not on drugs.”

  “I’m not talking about drugs, and you damn well know it.”

  “I’m not seeing the vet anymore,” I confess, answering his earlier question with hopes of distracting him.

  “I know.”

  “I’m not working there anymore either.”

  “I know that, too.”

  His grip loosens but he doesn’t release me completely.

  “I’m just trying to be happy,” I whisper. “I just want to be happy.”

  His eyes soften, his throat working on a swallow, and I tense waiting for him to issue the command he knows I can’t abide by.

  He doesn’t say another word, merely leans in and kisses my temple before letting me go and leaving the house.

  On shaky legs, I walk back upstairs and silently close my bedroom door. TJ was right. Lynch, telling from the noises coming from his room, wasn’t able to just go upstairs and crash. For over an hour, I distract myself with music and a stupid game on my phone until silence fills the house once more. For good measure, I wait another thirty minutes to see if Zoe is going to come out of her room. When she doesn’t, I tug on some clothes, and as stealthily as possible, slide out of my room.

  It’s broad daylight, and any other day I wouldn’t be concerned about walking around at nine in the morning, but my ulterior plans can only come to fruition if I don’t run into anyone.

  Betting on everyone still being asleep after such a wild night of drinking and partying, I make my way out of my house and slip through the back door of the clubhouse.

  Other than a muffled cough coming from one of the rooms, I don’t hear a sound as I creep down the long hallway and pull my keycard out. When the light turns green on the top of the box, I could kiss Virus for providing me with a card that grants me access everywhere. I knew the second he handed me the card last night what I’d use it for.

  Standing stock still in the doorway, I take a long moment to appreciate the serene look on Briar’s relaxed face. Hearing the cough again, I step further in the room and close the door. He doesn’t move. His arms are stretched over his head, and one leg is pulled up. Even in sleep, the bulge in his boxers is formidable, terrifying even, but fear isn’t ruling me today.

  The thrill of being here with him heightens my senses. Sounds are sharper, the scent of his earthy cologne fills my nostrils, and I can see the tiny dust motes floating in the sliver of light the blinds allow. Knowing I made it this far and didn’t get caught makes me want to test my luck even further.

  Quietly, I cross the room and begin to tug free Briar’s belt from his discarded jeans. My head snaps in his direction when a handful of change falls from his pocket and clinks to the floor. His lips close as he swallows, but he makes no move to open his eyes or roll over.

  He must be exhausted because he doesn’t flinch or even try to swat me away when I lean over him and wrap his belt around his wrists and attach them to the wooden slat of the headboard.

  Unable to be this close and not touch him, I lean in and brush my lips against his.

  It’s now that his eyes flutter open. Rather than shock and anger, a slow, sexy smile spreads his lips.

  “Hey, baby,” he whispers. Confusion marks his brow when he realizes his arms are restricted.

  “Shhh.” I press my finger to his lips before running my hand down his eyelids. “You’re dreaming.”

  “Molly?”

  “Dreaming,” I repeat. I know, from the last time we were together, that keeping his eyes closed helps him control the monster he believes lies in wait inside of him. I know better. This man isn’t evil, and in the bottom of my soul, I know he’d never hurt me.

  He settles, eyes staying closed. My entire body is shaking when I lie half on him and half on the bed. I didn’t think things through this far, certain he was going to make me leave the second he realized I was here. I’d expected him to break the bed and insist I go back home, not compliance.

  “I missed you,” he says as his head turns in my direction, moaning deep in his throat when my mouth meets his.

  The kiss is languid, soft. There’s no urgency or desperation between us. We explore each other’s mouths like we have a lifetime to do just this. The false sense of security is the best we can hope for.

  He grunts his displeasure when I pull my mouth from his, but lifts his chin higher when I lick the scruff on his jaw.

  “Molly, please,” is his response when I reposition myself so I’m straddling his thighs.

  My mouth never leaves his skin as I whisper against his throat. “Keep dreaming.”

  “Cover my eyes.”

  “Keep them closed,” I challenge.

  “I can’t. Molly, cover my eyes.”

  The insistence in his voice helps me to climb off of the bed. The man wouldn’t be caught wearing a scarf or a necktie, so my creativity is challenged when I go to dig through his closet.

  “There’s a mask in my bedside table.”

  Turning back to face him, I’m not surprised to find his ice-blue stare on me. With a little distance, he’s able to control himself better. He’s perfected the art of watching me since I came home from school, and I wonder if the thickness behind the fabric of his boxers was a problem he dealt with while keeping his eyes on me in the clubhouse. Knowing he doesn’t have as much control as he pretends, that just the sight of me causes his body to respond this way is just another boost to my self-esteem. He wants me. He’s always wanted me.

  “And why do you have a mask?” I tease as I walk to his bedside once again.

  “To wear with all the hookers I fuck.” My eyes narrow on him, hating that he’s even joking about stuff like that.

  Before opening the bedside drawer, I twist his exposed nipple just enoug
h to get a reaction out of him. “You better be thinking about me when you sleep with them.”

  “Ouch!” he hisses when I twist harder. “I’ll get you back for that.”

  Releasing him to get the mask, I feel his eyes on me when I bend over more than I need to. Coolness from the room creeps down the gap created between my shirt and my flesh with the action.

  Without another word, I place the mask over his eyes, and before climbing back in bed with him, I run my finger down his rippling chest to the thickness hidden by only one thin layer of clothing.

  “Molly,” he warns, “don’t.”

  And you know me. I’ve never been very good at following instructions.

  Chapter 28

  Briar

  “Molly?”

  Her hand disappears altogether, and I can sense her still beside me, but her not touching me is more torture than when she had her hands on me seconds ago.

  “What, baby?” I love the pet name out of her mouth, even better that it’s being whispered against my lips.

  “Kiss me,” I urge, needing her minty tongue brushing over mine again.

  “Oh, I’m going to kiss you, alright.”

  Her lips find and soothe the nipple she twisted earlier. I acted offended, threatened retaliation, but the truth is that violent little tweak made me rock hard, something I didn’t think possible since waking to her hovering over me. I’ve been leaking for her ever since, the dampness a cold reminder that biology and need aren’t always controllable.

  Her tongue swirling and then sucking me into her mouth is like a cattle prod to my spine, a bolt of electricity strong enough to light up the sky even when it’s competing with the sun. Her warm breath escapes her nose, tickling the dusting of hair on my chest and I feel her everywhere, from the top of my messy head to the soles of my tired feet.

  The exhaustion I felt when I opened my eyes to find her here dissipated instantly.

  Warm, wet kisses forge a trail down my skin, but I don’t anticipate her making it very far. A clubwhore I’d fully expect to go for the goods, but Molly, being a virgin, will be more cautious, more in need of asking questions than just diving back in. I both love and hate the notion in equal measures.