by Hannah Ford
“I’ll have one of my guys push him,” the security team leader said.
“No, I’m staying with my father,” Danny snarled. He glanced angrily at Raven and then the entire group began moving away, towards the fleet of cars that awaited them.
“Where are they going?” Raven asked Jake.
“Somewhere safe,” Jake told her.
“And us? Shouldn’t we go with them?”
“No,” he said. “Come on.” He pulled her gently back to the car, where their driver waited.
They got back inside and closed the door.
“Jake, shouldn’t you at least tell me what the plan is? I have no idea what’s going on.”
“Trust me,” he said, staring into her eyes. “Will you trust me, Raven?”
“Of course,” she whispered.
Everything in her was alive with fear and sadness and terror, but also delight at the way Jake Novak had taken charge and finally showed his true feelings.
Maybe it’s all worth it, she thought, ashamed at herself for being as happy as she was in the midst of this chaos and tragedy.
But maybe it will all turn out all right. Maybe in the end we’ll all be closer for it.
* * *
They were driving for a long time, into the woods of upstate New York. Jake refused to tell her exactly where they were headed. A few hours into the trip they stopped at a small diner and had a cozy meal, just the two of them.
Raven had coffee and looked out the window at the pick-up trucks pulling into the lot, and the burly drivers getting out, some of them congregating and chatting beside the entrance. Occasionally a large semi would fly by on the road beside, and the sky overhead was a light charcoal color, and Jake was sipping coffee too and watching her with a smile on his lips.
“What?” she said.
He just shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Your expression doesn’t look like it’s nothing.”
He started to grin slyly. “I suppose I’m just surprisingly happy.”
“And why is that?”
He looked at her. “My whole life’s falling apart around me and I’ve never felt more myself, more free, more relieved. And I think it’s because of you.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
He nodded, his expression growing serious. “No, it’s true, Raven.” He lifted the cup to his mouth. “As long as I have you in my life, I really could give a shit what happens with everything else.”
“What about your tour, Jake? You can’t just cancel it again.”
“Can’t I?” he asked her, lifting an eyebrow.
“I don’t know. It would seem to be a big risk.”
“Losing you is a risk I’m not willing to take,” he replied. “Losing my career, on the other hand…well, maybe that doesn’t concern me as much right now.”
Raven couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her cheeks flushed. “You still won’t tell me where we’re going?”
He pointed towards the window and she looked out again.
In the parking lot, there was another sedan beside their car now. Someone she didn’t recognize was unpacking luggage and boxes from the new car and Jake’s driver was taking the luggage and boxes and packing it into the trunk of their car.
“What’s going on?” she asked him.
“That’s our clothing and supplies,” Jake told her. “Everything’s been arranged, Raven.”
“By who?”
He laughed. “By me, of course.”
“We’re going into hiding,” she said, finally turning from the window to look at his face, watching his reaction.
He looked at her and his sly grin had returned. “Think of it as a well-deserved vacation.”
Raven shook her head, but her cheeks were still flushed. “Will there be anyone else staying with us?”
“Do you want there to be?” Jake asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously. “I can make some calls, get Cirque Du Soleil to swing by or order up some tourists to stay on the property. You name it.”
“Of course I want it to be just us,” Raven told him. She shivered a little, but it was a pleasant shiver, as she looked around at the quaint environment. A waitress was picking up a few empty plates from the counter and a couple of old men were arguing politics with the chef, who stood nearby with a stained apron, his grizzled face a testament to a lifetime of hard work.
Outside, the small congregation of truck drivers had started to make their way into the diner.
They entered and sat down in a couple of booths not far away from where Raven and Jake were seated.
Jake had fallen silent, seeming content to just sit and sip his coffee.
Raven felt the same way. Somehow, despite everything, she’d never been more secure and happy than she was at that very moment.
And it was because of Jake.
A few minutes later, he paid the bill in cash and then they left and got back in the car. Jake gave the driver an egg sandwich and a coffee in a Styrofoam cup, and the driver seemed grateful for it.
Before long, they were driving again.
They went deeper into the country, and the towns got smaller and the houses spread further apart.
Before long, they were traveling on roads that were unpaved and the car bounced along like they were driving on railroad tracks or something. Eventually, they were going into the forest on a road so narrow the car could hardly pass though.
The trees were thick and dense and the road grew narrower still.
“Is this even legal?” she asked Jake.
He just laughed.
Finally, the road—such as it was—came to an end. The driver parked and turned the car off. There was nothing in sight. They were at a dead end. “Jake, I’m starting to get scared,” she told him.
He turned to her and smiled, putting his hand on her thigh. “Don’t worry, Raven. We’re close.”
“There’s nothing here.”
“It’s a little hike, nothing more.”
“A hike?” she said, her stomach rolling anxiously. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“That’s kind of the point. Come on.” He opened his door and slid out, and beckoned Raven to follow. She got out of the car and her feet stomped on a bunch of wet leaves.
The driver was already starting to unload their baggage from the trunk of the car and placing it to the side of the rutted path.
Jake helped him with the last of the boxes and bags and then they shook hands. “I really appreciate all of your help, Russell,” he told the driver.
“My pleasure, Jake. You got my number if you need anything else.” The driver then got in the car and started it up. He needed to perform a very difficult turn, and Raven thought for sure he was going to get himself stuck, but he executed it perfectly and managed to turn the car around.
She watched with mounting dread as the car disappeared down the rutted path. Then she looked at the pile of luggage and boxes. “What do we do with all this?”
Jake leaned down and picked up two pieces of luggage, one suitcase in each hand. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Jake, I’m not letting you carry this stuff all by yourself.”
He gave her a stern glare. “This is the least I can do for you. Just focus on walking. This ground is soft and there’s no path to where we’re going.”
She followed Jake as he led her through the forest, walking about four or five minutes before they entered a small clearing and came upon a beautiful cabin. It was obviously well made, and although not very big, Raven was just happy that it wasn’t a tent.
She’d been starting to think they were going to sleep under the stars that night.
Jake opened the door to the cabin. “We need to get the heat going in this place,” he said. Inside, there was mostly a large open space with some basic furniture. A few chairs, a couch, a wood stove.
In the kitchen, there was a refrigerator and another stove.
“Do we have running water and electricity?” she asked.
“We’ve got a generator that’s good for powering some things like the stove and we’ve got well-water access.” He looked around, coughing. “It’s musty in here. I haven’t used this place in a long time. Need to air it out a bit.”
Raven wasn’t sure what she thought, but then she reminded herself that she was here with Jake. Alone. That was something, wasn’t it?
“And nobody else knows we’re here except your driver,” she said slowly.
Jake nodded, hands on his hips. “That’s it. And Russell is a good guy. He’s been my driver for years. I don’t think we have anything to worry about from him.” Jake crossed the room and pulled a large wooden chest into the center of it. “Besides,” Jake continued, as he pried the lid open and looked into the chest, “I’ve got ways of dealing with any unwanted intruders.”
Raven watched in shock as Jake pulled an arsenal of weapons out of the wooden chest and laid them on the floor of the cabin.
There were handguns, machine guns, rifles, and more ammunition than she could even believe one person would ever need.
Seeing the weapons filled her with chilling cold, knowing that Jake had stored them in this place for one very obvious reason. At some point in the past, he’d thought a time like this might arrive.
He’d known that some day in the future he would need these weapons and this remote location to hunker down and fight off whoever might be coming after him.
“Jake,” she said, her voice soft with anxiety.
He was busy kneeling down and examining his guns and ammo. “Everything looks to be in great shape,” Jake announced.
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
He glanced up at her. “Don’t be scared. I’m going to make sure nothing happens to you.”
“But why did you have all that stuff here? You knew this might happen?”
He sighed and got up from the floor, walking towards her. More than ever, she thought, Jake Novak resembled some movie superhero, a man who could handle anything and everything life threw his way.
He was muscular, graceful, handsome and completely sure of himself.
Perhaps this was really when he was in his element, even more than when he was performing on stage. Maybe being at war was truly where he felt most to be his real self.
It made her nervous that that might be the case.
And then Jake’s hands were on her arms, holding her as he looked into her eyes. “Of course I knew this day might come.”
“How could you know that?”
He licked his lips. “Because,” he said, “the things I did in service of my country placed me at risk. Not just at the time I did them, but for the rest of my life. We hurt some very, very powerful people—some powerful groups that I knew wouldn’t just sit back and watch from the sidelines. I figured they might try and get revenge at some point.”
“And these powerful people you hurt,” Raven said, her skin breaking into gooseflesh—“they somehow knew it was you personally who did these things? Whatever you did to them? How could they know it was you?”
Jake smiled and put a hand on her cheek. “Don’t worry about the details,” he told her. “I understand it’s frightening. Club Alpha scared you with their tough talk and then what they did to your parents’ house. But Club Alpha isn’t anything but some bullies with more money than sense. They’re nothing.”
“If they’re nothing, then why are we in hiding?”
Jake broke away from her, slowly, and walked back to his weapons, staring down at them like a bunch of Christmas presents that needed wrapping. “We’re in hiding because they don’t know yet how easily I can destroy them.” He looked up at Raven and winked. “It will all make sense soon enough.”
Raven hugged herself, shivering in the cool of the cabin, and with the knowledge that this situation was going to get violent and scary very soon. “There has to be a way to avoid hurting anyone, Jake.”
He chuckled. “I highly doubt that.”
“What if you get killed?”
“If they couldn’t kill me in Afghanistan, I highly doubt Scott from Club Alpha’s going to finish the job.”
“I’m serious, Jake.” Raven walked towards him. “Look at me.”
He looked up at her again with his brown eyes, and she saw that he was filled with an intense need and there was nothing stopping him anymore.
“I’m looking at you,” he said softly, and his voice was deep and throaty.
Her body started to tingle, especially between her legs. “I need to know that you’re going to stay safe because I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to you.”
“And I can’t bear the thought of not holding you naked in my arms right now,” Jake replied, a sexy grin spreading across his face.
“This isn’t the time for that,” Raven told him.
But Jake had already turned and grabbed her forearm with his strong hand. “I’m going to get the rest of the luggage and supplies. But when I’m done, I bet I’m going to have worked up an appetite.”
Her nipples stiffened. She wanted him badly, she realized, despite the nature of their circumstances. She was excited too, and it was amazing to Raven how she could still feel so turned on in the midst of this strange and chaotic turn of events.
But that was just the effect that Jake Novak seemed to have on her.
He let go of her forearm slowly, his fingertips trailing down her wrist and across her palm as he let her loose. And then he immediately left the cabin and back through the woods.
Over the next hour or so, Jake worked doggedly to drag the supplies and luggage back to the cabin.
Raven tried to help him, but he mostly refused any assistance. He seemed to enjoy trudging through the forest like a workhorse, bearing load after load. By the time he was done, his body was soaked in sweat. His shirt was stuck to his chest and back and nearly transparent.
Watching him work and sweat, his chest and neck glistening, Raven found herself anticipating what he promised to do to her more and more.
It was almost too much, because it flashed through her mind more than once that this was Jake Novak, the celebrity who every woman wanted here alone with her—protecting her—his mind and body hers to explore in this remote location that was every girl’s fantasy.
But am I enough? Am I truly enough for him? How could I ever be?
Finally, Jake stopped working. He stepped inside the cabin and dropped the last box heavily onto the floor and then stripped off his wet shirt, tossing it at his feet and staring directly into Raven’s eyes.
She felt her mouth dry up.
Jake was shirtless, his slick chest still rising and falling as he recovered from his efforts. His abs were tight and smooth and seemed to be beckoning for her to touch his flat stomach, run her fingers over his smooth skin.
“I need water,” he said, his eyes still focused only on her.
She could hardly breathe, and her knees were literally weak. “I’ll—I’ll get you some,” she said, her voice sounding hoarse as she tried to speak clearly despite her excitement.
“There’s mugs in the kitchen,” he said, “and the tap in the sink should work.”
Raven walked into the kitchen and opened the old wooden cabinets until she found where the mugs were located. There were only a handful of them. She grabbed the biggest mug and then went to the sink and turned the tap on.
At first, nothing came out and there were simply strange, muted sounds coming from the faucet. But then, the sounds grew louder and a sputter of brown, murky, rusty water began jetting out in short, erratic bursts.
Raven made a grimace as she looked at the brown water.
It didn’t look very drinkable.
Slowly, though, the water started to flow more regularly and the color changed to normal. It seemed that the faucet just hadn’t been used in a very long time. She stuck the mug in and filled it nearly to the brim.
Then she turned the faucet off and turned to bring it to Jake. He was waiting for her, sti
ll naked from the waist up, and the look in his eyes was the same. He watched her coming towards him like a lion watching a gazelle.
He took the mug from her and began drinking from it. Some of the water poured down his chin and neck as he gulped quickly. In seconds, he was done. He swallowed, letting the mug hang down from his hand at his side. “I needed that,” he said simply.
“Good. I’m glad I could at least do something.” She smiled nervously. The tension in the air was so thick that she could practically taste it.
Jake stepped closer to her. “Are you afraid to be completely alone with me? No distractions? Nothing to keep us apart?”
“I should ask you that question,” she said, but her heart was beating fast enough to give the lie away.
Jake smirked. “I’m not afraid.”
“Neither am I,” she lied again.
“You wouldn’t be afraid if I ripped your clothes off right here and now, put you on the floor and kissed every inch of your naked body?” he asked.
“That’s a loaded question.”
“Yeah, it is.” Jake dropped the mug on the floor.
“Hey, we don’t have too many of those,” she said, bending down to pick it up.
As she did, Jake grabbed her from behind by the hips. She stood up straight and his arms encircled her waist, and one hand grabbed her breasts as his lips brushed her neck and then her ear.
“I can’t take it anymore,” he whispered. “I want you so fucking bad.”
“Jake,” she sighed. “We’ve got a lot to do. We need a plan.”
“My plan is to make you come so many times you can’t think straight.”
She giggled and tried half heartedly to get away, but his biceps expanded against her as he easily controlled her. Now his lips were far more insistent, and her will to fight was weakening.
Why am I fighting him off? She wondered. Somehow, it just seemed the right thing to do. What kind of girl just instantly stripped naked and gave in?
“I don’t even know what we’re doing or how long we’re staying here,” she said. “You need to clue me in.”
“Here’s your first clue,” Jake said, and his tongue licked her earlobe, and then he was sucking on it. “This is what your days and nights will consist of.”