by Hannah Ford
“Fine, ruin your career, then. Throw it all away on some fling with a prostitute—“
Jake punched him.
It was so fast that Raven hardly even saw it.
One moment, Kurt was talking, and the next he’d fallen backwards, into the wall, and dropped to the floor. He was dazed, rubbing his jaw and trying to stand, but losing his balance. “You hit me,” he said, his voice betraying his shock.
“Call her that again and I’ll do it again,” Jake replied coldly, standing over him.
“You hit me,” Kurt repeated.
“Jake, please,” Raven said. She got off the couch. “Don’t fight him over me.”
Jake turned and looked at her, his brown eyes burning. “I’m going to protect you from now on,” he said. “I should’ve known better than to let you out of my sight.”
Kurt was standing again, still rubbing his jaw, but his eyes were clear. “If you don’t trust me then just fire me already. Don’t keep me on out of obligation.”
Jake opened and closed his hand, flexing it as if it was sore. “I don’t keep you on out of obligation, but you need to remember one thing. I run this show, not you. Not anybody else.”
Kurt nodded. “Okay. I get it. Loud and clear.”
“Unfortunately, we’re cancelling the show tonight,” Jake told him. “I need to be with Raven. I can’t go on.”
Raven couldn’t believe her ears. “Jake, what are you doing?”
He looked at her. “Getting my fucking priorities straight for the first time in a long time.”
“You can’t cancel this show,” Raven said. “Kurt’s right about that.”
“I’m not going to go out there and do a show knowing you might be in trouble, you might still be hurt. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let anything else happen to you.”
“I’m fine,” she said. It was partially a lie, but it was true enough. “I swear to you that I’ll be okay while you perform.”
Kurt just stood and watched them, his expression inscrutable.
“I can tell that something’s wrong,” Jake said, watching her closely. “Tell me what it is. Are you hurt and you’re just not admitting it?”
She tried to laugh. “I’m shaken up, of course. But physically, I’m more than okay. I swear.”
He stared at her a long time. “But if you feel weird. If anything feels off, or you start to have a bad headache, anything—then you need to tell the doctor.”
“I will,” she promised.
Kurt started to leave the room and as he passed by Raven, he gave her a sidelong glance that seethed with hatred.
If looks could kill, I’d be dead right now, she thought.
Kurt left the room, closing the door quietly, and then Jake and Raven were alone together.
“Jake, I’m sorry I disrupted your show,” she said.
“Fuck the show,” he replied, and then he was closing the distance between them, and his lips were on hers, and he was holding her around the waist. His arms wrapped protectively around her, his body heat enveloped her like a cocoon.
Jake’s soft but firm lips pressed against her lips and then he was sucking her top lip slightly, before his tongue finally slid into her mouth. She could feel his hunger as his body hardened in response to her body.
She melted into his arms, relaxing, swimming in his desire, soaking up his strong, masculine energy. She could smell him, taste him, and in that place she was truly safe, no matter what else was happening.
But you’re not really safe, a little voice said, disturbing the safety of what Jake had created.
You’re lying to Jake again. And you’re both in danger.
Raven broke off the kiss. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I just—it’s all a lot to take in right now.”
Jake ran his hand through her hair, giving her chills. “I want you to watch the show from backstage,” he said. “You’ll be able to stand right next to the stage and see me perform, and more importantly, I’ll be able to keep an eye on you too.”
“Are you sure I won’t be a distraction?”
“No, you will be a distraction,” he said. “A welcome distraction.” And then he smiled at her, and his eyes told her that what Zeke had implied was very true.
Jake hadn’t stopped caring about her. Not one bit.
* * *
It was late by the time they got back to Jake’s hotel suite.
Raven was completely wiped out, despite the excitement of being together with him again. The events of the last couple of days had taken their toll, and she was practically a walking zombie.
“I need a shower,” she said, “and then I think I might just fall asleep. Is that okay?”
Jake laughed, as he grabbed a bottle of wine and poured himself a glass. He was still full of energy, as the show had been a huge success and the fans had gone wild, giving him standing ovation after standing ovation.
“Of course it’s okay,” he said. “Go right ahead.” He gestured to the bedroom. “You can grab a t-shirt and a pair of my shorts if you want, to change into after.”
“Thanks,” Raven told him. She went to the bedroom and found a pair of shorts and a plain white t-shirt. As she closed the bathroom door behind her, she couldn’t help but bring the shirt to her face and smelling his scent. Even though it was clean, she could still smell him on it.
It was such a relief to be with him right then, even though she knew that nobody could truly protect her from Club Alpha.
Are you sure about that? Maybe Jake could protect you, if you’d trust him.
She wanted to, but another part of her wasn’t so sure. Jake was a soldier, and his first instinct was to attack, as he’d done the other day in the restaurant, or when he’d punched Kurt in the jaw for calling her a nasty name.
The problem was, sometimes going on the attack wasn’t the solution. Club Alpha was an enormous, powerful organization and they weren’t going to back off because Jake beat someone up. And what would he do when she told him about Zeke’s threats, Max tossing her out of a car?
He might kill somebody.
He really might kill someone.
Raven didn’t know what to do. She certainly wasn’t going to feed Club Alpha information about Jake’s military service or what he’d done in Afghanistan. She wasn’t going to spy for them. But maybe she could pretend, lie to them, hold them at bay for a while until some other solution presented itself.
You know that will never work. They’re not going to believe it, they’ll know if you lie to them.
Raven decided to stop thinking and obsessing over what to do about Club Alpha. Right then what she needed more than anything was to relax, have a hot shower, and fall asleep.
Maybe in the morning things will be clearer.
She got into the steamy, hot shower and luxuriated in the water pouring down on her, massaging her skin, as her shoulders dropped and her entire body loosened.
She’d begun shampooing her hair when there was a noise. Someone was opening the door. Her heart went into her throat.
What if some assassin from Club Alpha had killed Jake and was now coming to kill her?
“Hello?” she said, her voice shaking slightly.
“Hey,” Jake’s voice floated into her, echoing.
“What’s up?” she called out. “Is everything okay?”
“I kind of need to shower too,” he said.
Raven’s heart sped up again, but for a different reason this time. “I’ll be done in a couple of minutes.”
“Good,” he replied, and then he walked to the glass door and opened it, already naked, his heavily muscled body a revelation to her, as he stepped inside the steamy shower with her.
“That was quick,” she said.
“I didn’t want to waste any time.”
“Or water,” she smiled.
Jake looked at her and his brown eyes were intense as he looked her body up and down. The steam had already made his skin slick and glistening, and Raven found that she w
as slick too, between her legs.
Just looking at him made her want to moan, made her want to come. That was the effect Jake Novak had on her.
He stepped closer to her, his naked shoulder touching hers as he playfully fought for position under the showerhead. He let the water run over him, like a waterfall it fell down over his amazing body, and Raven could only stare.
His eyes were closed, and he looked like something out of a magazine.
“I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me, Jake,” Raven said.
Jake opened his eyes and then his hand was reaching out, wrapping around the back of her head and pulling her into him.
His mouth was on hers again, only now there was nothing to separate their bodies. No clothes, nothing in between them. His hard shaft pressed against her belly as he kissed her. She ran her hands down his taught chest, then his stomach.
Finally, she dared to touch his cock with one trembling hand.
He continued to kiss her, more deeply now, allowing her to gently stroke him, and she felt his hardness increase.
As she stroked his shaft, she got more and more wet.
I want him to fuck me. I’ll take him inside me right here, right now. I would give anything to have him right this moment.
Instead, she stroked him faster, her hand sliding down the shaft to his balls, working the root of him.
“Fuck, Raven,” he hissed. “Goddamn I want you.”
“I need you inside me,” she said.
“Not yet, it’s too soon,” he told her.
“In my mouth then,” she begged. “Let me take you in my mouth, Jake.”
He didn’t answer, and she stroked more insistently, knowing that his resistance was crumbling. She didn’t quite understand why he was so reluctant to go further with her—what he was afraid of.
It had something to do with Peyton, his deceased fiancé. She was certain of that, but the reason didn’t matter anymore.
Raven slowly sunk to her knees, kissing down his chest and stomach as she went, still caressing his hard cock. Finally, her mouth was level with his shaft, and it was huge, monstrous in her vision.
“Raven,” he said softly. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes I do,” she replied, and then her mouth was on the head of him, taking it in, stretching her lips over his perfection. He tasted good, slightly salty, and the excitement of having him in her mouth made her pussy start to contract and tighten.
She felt completely alive, her body was wet and pulsating with knowledge that felt like it had lived inside her forever, but was finally being unlocked for the first time.
Raven let go of all her fears, all her insecurities, and just basked in the pleasure of this one moment in time when she was letting go.
She began sucking Jake Novak’s cock, slowly at first, but then gaining confidence as his moans and grunts told her that she was doing it right.
“Christ,” he said, at one point, as she managed to send his erect penis all the way into her mouth, tickling the back of her airway. She was surprised that no gag reflex was triggered.
Turns out I have a talent, she thought, laughing inside.
Raven began moving her head faster and faster, taking him in and out of her mouth, her lips suctioning against his impossibly hard dick.
His hips began to thrust in time for whenever she slid her lips down to the bottom of his shaft, forcing himself that much further into her mouth.
And then he grabbed the back of her head, as his excitement finally seemed to get the better of him. Raven sensed that his own dwindling control had snapped, and the animal inside him had taken over.
He began pumping himself into her mouth over and over again, holding the back of her head, and she let him do it. There was no fear, even though he’d taken control of the situation entirely.
She liked knowing that she was getting him off.
In fact, it got her off even more, and her pussy quivered. She began using her own fingers, playing with her clit, rubbing it, as Jake fucked her mouth.
“I’m going to come,” he told her.
She moaned deep in her throat and purposely slid her lips as far down on him as she could, creating as much suction as possible. Raven didn’t know what it would feel like, and she worried a little that she wouldn’t be able to handle his orgasm.
But it was all too exciting to back away now.
Jake released into her mouth, and there was a lot of it. For a very brief moment, Raven felt panic, as if her airway was being blocked by the liquid and his enormous cock, but then she swallowed and swallowed again, and it was better.
Some of his come spilled out of her mouth, because she couldn’t possibly take it all.
Jake’s body was rigid, shuddering as he climaxed. “Oh fucking hell,” he cried out, shuddering even more violently. His legs turned to stone as he gave a few last thrusts into her mouth and then withdrew, breathing heavily, like he’d just been sprinting.
“I’ve never felt anything like that,” he said. “Oh my God, Raven.”
“Me either,” she said.
That was true for any number of reasons.
* * *
They didn’t bother getting dressed again after the shower.
Instead, Raven and Jake climbed into bed together, snuggling their naked bodies close, and Jake held her tightly, spooning her perfectly.
This feels right. There’s no way it can be denied. This is where I belong.
“How’s Skylar?” Jake asked, as they both started to drift towards sleep.
“She’s doing well, I think,” Raven said. She gave him a very brief recap of the day, including telling him about the ambush by the journalist in the cafeteria.
“That’s ridiculous,” he said, his voice tightening with frustration.
“Is anything she said true?”
“You mean about me being with Courtney Taylor? Are you serious?”
“She’s beautiful, sexy, talented and obviously likes you,” Raven said.
Jake laughed. “Not my type.”
Raven had to smile. “That’s what I thought.”
“And you know what I mean,” Jake said. “I don’t mean it like…” his voice trailed off.
“I get it,” Raven said. “You mean it the normal way.”
“Yeah. Exactly.”
Jake kissed the back of her head and his arms wrapped even tighter around her. “You see, that is exactly why I can’t let you out of my sight. Things happen, people try and plant bullshit stories and mess with us. They all want to tear us apart for some reason.”
Raven thought about how true that really was and how Jake didn’t know the half of it.
And that made her think of Zeke, and all of the awful things he’d said to her. Was there any way to fight back against all the different forces that seemed to be against them?
She didn’t know.
She didn’t know anything anymore.
Except that she was tired.
So tired.
It seemed like only seconds had passed, when she was awoken by the sound of a phone buzzing. Raven got up, surprised to find that Jake stayed asleep.
She went out and found her phone. It was just past six in the morning. She’d received a series of texts from an unknown number.
Now that you and your man are all cozy together we thought to give u a nice housewarming present.
The next text said
Because you 2 together really warms our hearts
And the final one said:
Remember what we want. Next time, they wont be so lucky.
Raven had no idea what these texts were about. They were like riddles, but they had the impact of a knife sliding into her ribs. She could hardly breathe.
Something terrible was happening. But what? What could it mean?
She held her phone and tried to wrack her brain for answers. Somebody was in trouble. Was it Skylar? Was it Jake?
And then her phone was ringing again, only this time it was he
r brother Danny’s cell number. Raven picked up instantly.
“Danny?” she said, her voice already fearing the worst.
Please, don’t let anything have happened to Dad. Please God.
“Raven, there’s been a fire,” Danny said.
“Oh, no! Please! No!” she cried.
“Everyone’s okay,” Danny told her. “We were all able to get out in time, but the house went up. Everything’s gone. Everything.” His voice shook.
“What caused it?” she asked, but she already knew the truth.
It had been a housewarming gift.
“We don’t know,” Danny said. “I just wanted to let you know in case you heard it on the news or someone else told you. We’re all okay. We’re safe.”
“I’m coming right away,” she said.
“Raven—“
“Danny, just stay safe and I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She hung up the phone and turned to find Jake standing in the doorway.
“Tell me what’s going on,” he said.
She looked at him. “There’s been a fire,” she said, “and I have to go home.”
“I’m coming with you,” Jake replied. “We’re in this together, Raven.”
She wanted to believe him, she really did. But for the first time, Raven had started to question whether that would be enough.
For the first time, Raven was starting to think that Club Alpha was going to find a way to get exactly what they wanted after all.
End of Book Five
THE DEBT 6
She was still in shock.
The news that Raven’s parents’ house had burned down was absolutely shaking her to her core. It seemed impossible, like a bad dream come to life, and Raven was still trying to somehow wake up.
Jake got dressed and then came out of the bedroom to find her still standing there, phone in hand, her eyes wide open and staring into the distance. She looked at him and her voice sounded strange in her own ears. “I don’t understand what happened.”
Which wasn’t really true. She did understand all too well what happened—and yet—in another way she really didn’t. Her mind refused to accept that it was reality.