by Jenna Gunn
I spin a jar of rainbow sprinkles around. “I don’t know. I’ve put out the word to my contacts that I’m looking for a job.”
“Oh, hun. I’m sorry. What about Bryce?”
“I hope he’ll get his job back.”
She walks slowly to me and extends the mug. “But this is your dream job.”
“Yeah, but it’s his legacy.”
She wraps an arm around my shoulder and pulls me into her side. “Aww, hunny. Does he know you resigned?”
I sigh. “No, I just did it this morning. I don’t have a clue what to say to him.”
She squeezes me then goes back to the task of icing the cinnamon rolls. “Don’t give up hope. This will all work out.”
“Maddy, he doesn’t know I’m pregnant.”
I hear the quick intake of her breath. “I see. Are you afraid to tell him?”
“Terrified.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know my father. He didn’t stick around, and I’m terrified Bryce will do the same.”
“Raven, the Archer men are honorable.”
I feel my lip quiver. “Does honor equate to love?”
30
Chapter 30
Raven’s Honda is nowhere in sight, but it doesn’t stop me from sprinting up the steps and pounding on the door.
I give her sixty seconds. That’s all, then I jam the key in the lock and shove the door open. “Raven!”
Rushing from room to room, I pray she’s there. There’s one last room…a closed door at the end of the hallway. It’s unlocked.
I can smell her shampoo as I charge in. This is her room. I know it as sure as I know my name.
Her discarded uniform is on the floor. I flip the light on in the bathroom and jerk back the shower curtain.
Her soap and shampoo are still there.
But did she forgot them in her haste to leave?
“Where the hell are you?” I growl.
I’ve been trying to reach her for 8 hours now. When I glance in the mirror, I see the wild desperation in my eyes.
Turning on the water, I splash my face before muttering to myself. “Get a grip, man. Slow down. Think. If she left, she would take her things.”
I start opening drawers. And I shove open the closet. Men’s clothes fill almost all the spaces. What the hell?”
Finally, in one drawer, I find a single pair of panties—the red ones she wore for me.
I go back to the bathroom to see if I can find any other hints. I see the earrings she wore at the banquet lying on the far end of the counter.
My wheels turn. Is she still here? Or on the road back to Texas?
“Dammit, Raven.”
Nothing is ever clear with that woman.
I charge back to the living room. There’s nothing there that makes me feel better.
My phone starts ringing in my pocket. I fumble and barely save it from flying onto the hardwood floor.
It’s Jeremy.
I bark, “She’s not here.”
“I know. I just saw our girl. She’s at Maddy’s cafe. I just watched her walk in.”
“Don’t let her leave. I have to talk to her.”
“I’ll try.”
When my truck bounces into the parking area of Beach Vibes, I see Jeremy standing by the curb. Everything about him says he’s pissed. The crossed arms, and the scowl on his face. “She still inside.”
I move to storm past him, but he gets right in my way. “Does she want to see you?”
“I don’t care right now.”
Jeremy’s calm green eyes study me. “Are you cool, man? You’re not a threat to her safety, are you?”
I draw up to my full height. Jeez, does he really think I’d hurt her? “I might break my brother’s nose, but I’d never hurt a woman. I’ll never hurt Raven.”
He measures me up for a second, then says, “She deserves a good man.”
I’m sure that crazed look is still in my eyes. There’s no wonder he’s worried.
I breathe and try to let some of the energy loose. Relax, I tell myself. Everything is okay. Raven is right inside.
I force calm into my voice. “It’s okay. We’ve got some problems, but I’m not a threat to her. I’d do anything to keep her safe, including rip apart anyone who hurts her.”
Jeremy angles his head. “She’s got potent magic, that woman.”
I nod. “Yes, that she does.”
“Keep your head on right,” he says as he steps out of the way.
My hand is slick with cold sweat as I open the door. The bell jingles and I hear voices in the back workroom.
Maddy breezes around the corner, and her eyes widen when she sees me, giving me my answer—Raven’s back there.
“Bryce,” she breathes.
“Maddy, I’d like to talk with Raven.”
She eyes me hard. “You look like a mess.”
“I am.”
“So is she. If I so much as hear you raise your voice at her, I’ll call the cops, do you understand me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’ll be outside on the patio.”
She steps outside, letting the door close quietly.
I swallow hard.
What is that feeling in my gut? Relief, maybe. Terror, definitely.
I push back the shimmering rainbow of beads.
My heart is lodged crosswise in my throat.
Raven’s eyes rise to meet mine.
My voice comes out thick as tears well in my eyes. “Why did you do this?” I hold up half of her resignation letter.
The silence splits my heart open.
Then Raven’s lip trembles as she says, “Because you should try to keep the job. It’s your legacy. I’ll be gone, and you can continue to do your job.”
“I quit.”
“Bryce, why?” She breathes heavily as a fat tear leaks from her eye, drops onto her cheek, and rolls down her neck.
“Because I want you to have the opportunity you’ve always wanted.”
She lowers her lashes. “Bryce, you shouldn’t.”
I take a step toward her, but she turns her head away.
“Raven, what is really going on? Why wouldn’t you return any of my messages?”
Her shoulders shake with silent sobs.
“Babe, what is happening here?”
Raven’s whole body begins to tremble. But before I can do anything, she holds up her hand to stop me.
I reach out to her anyway and lace my fingers in hers. “Raven, we will figure this out together.”
A loud sob escapes her throat. “Bryce…”
“Please, god, let me hold you.”
“I can’t. I need to tell you something.”
I drop to my knees and pull her hand to my lips. “Raven, what is it? Tell me. I’m here. What’s wrong?”
She squeezes her eyes shut and covers her wet lashes with her free hand.
My insides are shaking so hard that it feels like an earthquake.
“Babe,” I inch closer and rest my other hand on her knee. “It’s okay, just breathe. I’m right here.”
Her hand falls away from her eyes then, and those huge midnight pools pull me in when they meet my eyes.
“Bryce, I’m pregnant.”
The world spins.
To keep myself upright, I cling to her leg.
My heart pounds so hard in my chest it might rip my ribs wide open.
“P-pregnant…?”
She nods. “I need to get a blood test, but the home tests were positive.”
My voice cracks when I stammer, “W-we’re going to have a baby?”
A thousand emotions dance across her beautiful face, but one particular emotion spears right into my heart. Love.
I gather her in my arms in the next instant. “Raven,” I breathe against her temple. “Don’t ever scare me like that again. I couldn’t reach you. I couldn’t find you. I thought you’d left.”
Her arms wrap around my waist, and she’s tremblin
g.
“Bryce, I can’t live with this horrible uncertain fear inside me. Do you want to be a father?”
I lean back and look at her when I tell her, “Babe, look at me. I can’t wait to be a father to our child.” I tip her lips up to me and kiss her lightly before I continue, “And I can’t wait to make you my wife if you would have me.”
Then, I kiss her with all the emotion that’s filling my heart. I taste her tears and feel her fingers gripping my shirt tightly.
As I cup her face in my hands, my eyes fill with tears of gratitude. “I love you, Raven Carson. Come with me. Come home. To our home.”
31
Chapter 31
Bryce’s words echo in my mind. “I love you, Raven Carson. Come with me. Come home. To our home.”
We cried tears of joy together before he dragged me out the door. He had me in his truck before I could even shout goodbye to Maddy.
His strong hand has been wrapped around mine since we left. The man refused to let me drive my own car back to Pelican's Roost.
Fine by me. I much prefer being right here, next to him, with his fingers laced with mine.
The whole drive home, he’s been quiet, his face serious like he’s sorting out a million things in his head.
Me on the other hand, I feel light as a feather.
As soon as we’re parked in the driveway by his home—our home, he leans over and places those sexy lips of his on mine.
His big hand twines in my hair as his mouth devours me.
Oh, yes.
I needed this.
It’s been too long since I felt the heat he stirs inside my body.
“Mmmm, I missed your kiss,” I murmur.
My fingers search for the hem of his shirt, my palms itching to feel his bare skin.
“You have no idea how much I want you, Raven. I can’t wait to get inside so I can get inside you.” He smiles against my lips.
With an impatient growl, I pull away, throw open the door, and make a dash for the house.
“You little devil,” he laughs as he runs up the walkway behind me.
We’re both breathing hard when the door closes, locking the world out.
He brushes my hair aside as his gaze moves over me, full of hot emotion. “You’re so beautiful. I can’t believe you’re mine.”
“I love you, Bryce. I am yours. Completely,” I whisper.
He crushes me to him as he sighs in contentment. His strong arms band around me, lifting me off the floor as his mouth melts me.
My body turns into one liquid pool of need.
He marches me backward until the sofa bumps my legs, and we fall together, his arms protecting me as we land on the soft leather.
“Mine,” he purrs as the rough calluses of his hands graze my flesh. He goes crazy, trying to get my clothes off.
I shimmy his soft t-shirt up to reveal the strong tan muscles of his chest and his eight pack abs. My fingers dance along his muscles.
Lord, how I love his body.
He works my panties off—the final piece of my clothing—as my impatient fingers try to unbutton his shorts.
“Brrrycccee, help me…” I plead.
But he ignores me as his eyes feast on me from my beaded nipples to the pink skin of my labia.
“Raven, my god. Look at you.”
He slides his thumbs up my inner thighs until they reach the juncture of my sex. I shiver, and my clit pulses deliciously under his devastating gaze.
Then he spreads me wide open with those talented thumbs.
I’m already so hot and wet for him, which I know he can see.
His tongue swipes over his lower lip.
I almost come at the thought of his mouth on me.
He raises his eyes to mine. “I’m going to make you come so many times that you’ll beg me to stop.”
“I’m already ready to explode.”
He slides his hands beneath my butt and lifts me right up until his mouth collides with my clit.
“Bryce!” I scream.
But he just moans against me, his tongue lashing at my wetness without letting up.
It’s too good, too intense. My hands search for something to cling to. I try to shimmy away, but he just pulls me back and laps at me harder.
“Oh, god. Oh, Bryce.”
His tongue swirls and dives deeper into me.
Far back in the recesses of my mind, I register that I’m sliding off the sofa, or at least my head and shoulders are. But he has me firmly grasped to his mouth with my legs wrapped around his head.
Lord, I love how this man rules my pleasure.
His thumbs massage at the lips of my center as he continues to suck my clit into this mouth.
I’m so close.
My legs tremble wildly against him.
“Yes, yes, yes,” I chant.
Then, all of a sudden, the world ceases to exist because I’m a pinpoint of explosive pleasure.
My back arches, and a scream tears from my throat as I’m consumed by the rush of release.
In the next instant, Bryce is on top of me, pinning me to the floor with his body.
Yowza, when did we get here?
His mouth finds mine. “I fucking love making you come,” he murmurs against my lips.
All I can do is mumble some nonsense in reply.
Lowering himself to me, he presses the head of his rock hard shaft against my quivering opening. “I need to be inside you.”
“Yes, you do,” I manage, my breath still rasping in and out.
The muscles deep inside me are clenching and pulsing as he begins to shove himself into me.
I lift my shaking legs to wrap around his waist, opening myself to him.
So big. His cock impales me. Fills me. Stretches me. Owns me.
With his first full thrust, he whispers, “I love you.”
Then his second thrust, he finishes with, “I love you.”
And his third, “I love you.”
Tears burst into my eyes. “Bryce, I love you. I love us,” I say as I look into his amazing Caribbean blue eyes.
He rocks into me so hard, I gasp.
“Come for me, baby.”
“Oh yes, I will, soon.”
He curls his arms around me and pulls me flush against his big body. His heat envelopes me, warming me all over.
We’re deliciously wedged between the sofa and coffee table. The world outside doesn’t exist. Just me, Bryce, and the simmering heat between us.
With a few more thrusts, I’m hurtling toward my next earth-shattering O.
“There you go, I can feel it building,” he growls.
I gasp for air as I moan, “Deeper, go deeper.”
His hands bite into my legs as he spreads my knees further apart and opens me up more. “You want deeper?”
He rocks into me so hard and so deep, a scream tears from me. His every thrust slides me backward along the cold tile. He growls, punctuating each powerful hit.
Every crushing lunge of his body rockets me closer to the edge.
Suddenly, my entire body spasms and my legs clench around him. “Ohhhh. Don’t stop. Don’t stop…don’t…”
“Never,” he groans, his voice all gravelly and hot.
Bryce pounds right through my orgasm, and it takes me to another world. The release is so powerful that I lose all control over my body, my mouth, my heart.
When I float back to earth, back to the living room floor, I hear Bryce’s warm laugh. “That was something to see.”
“Mmm.”
“I love making you lose it like that.”
My words are lost, gone with my big fat O. All I can do is groan, “Uh-huh.”
‘Look at this, Raven.” He slides his slick, hard shaft from my body and grasps it in his hand. “See what you do to me. Two orgasms for you already, but I’m just getting started.”
Sometime later, I find myself in the bed—my brain totally fried by pleasure. Bryce curls around me, spooning me to his big warm body.
I’m smiling. “California, you’re cocky as a rooster.”
“Rightly so,” he says with a kiss to my neck.
“I don’t know which is bigger, your ego or your cock.”
He laughs again. “Thought you Texans liked everything big.”
I just shake my head.
He pulls me tighter to his chest and says, “Speaking of Texas, my heart feels as big as that right now.”
“Mine too,” I confess.
He brushes my hair back and nuzzles against me.
“We have a lot to talk about.”
I yawn. “Right now?”
Bryce nibbles my ear. “Soon.”
“Like what?
“You know, things like when is the wedding, what are we naming our child, what kind of ring you want…”
My eyes bolt open. “Well, thanks for killing my nap.”
He laughs, and it’s a warm, deep sound that I want to hear over and over. “Sorry, I have a lot on my mind.”
“And now I do too.”
Rolling me over in his arms, he turns me to face him. “For so many years, I didn’t know I could have something like this.” His voice is so soft, so sincere that it metals my heart into a big gooey puddle.
I hold my breath as he continues, “You swept into my life and were everything I didn’t expect. I don’t care what happens from here on out. All I know is I want you by my side, in my bed, and in my heart. Forever.”
A smile as bright as Californian sunshine lights up my face. “Bryce, I never even knew what I wanted until now, and now, all I want is you.”
He pulls my fingers to his mouth and nibbles on my knuckles. “About that…” His grin is full of mischief. “With me comes the whole Archer clan.”
With a wink, and in my deepest Texas drawl, I reply, “I ain’t afraid of y’all.”
Epilogue
I place my hand on the back of Raven’s dark grey dress as we walk into the room where Ocean County’s council is meeting.
We take a seat side-by-side at the small table—a microphone on the table points toward us on a slender bendy neck.