Page 10 of Raven’s Claw (Raven’s Cliff #2)
Getting it right? She wasn’t sure what he thought he’d done wrong, but she wasn’t going to argue if it meant he’d love her like that a second time.
Damn. She’d used that word, again, even if it had only been in her mind.
Kash guided her into the shower, blocking most of the spray as he backed her against the wall — kissed her as if he’d already forgotten the way she tasted.
She hadn’t forgotten anything. Not a second.
A kiss. How he’d made her feel safe for the first time in her life.
Even before she’d ended up at that group home, she’d never had any sense of security.
Had been an afterthought most days. So, lying there on that stupid ottoman with him staring down at her, what looked dangerously like the inklings of love gazing back…
It had changed something inside her. Filled a hole or maybe healed a wound she hadn’t realized was still festering. The kind that infected every other aspect of her life.
Until now.
Jordan kept him close when he would have stepped away, resting her head on his chest. Allowing herself to just be. To drink in the pure scent of his skin. Savor the strong weight of his arms wrapped around her. And for a moment, that future he’d talked about seemed almost real.
Kash held her tight, drawing easy patterns on her back until she exhaled a long slow breath. Then, he smoothed a bar of soap across her skin, doing the bare minimum before shutting everything down — stepping out.
He had them both fairly dry and heading back to the bed before her head caught up as he placed her in the middle of the mattress, fanning out her hair before claiming her mouth. Taking her to the brink from the kiss, alone — the way he smiled once he’d straightened before moving lower.
She closed her eyes, pushing her head into the sheets as he kissed his way down her body, licking and sucking every inch until she practically vibrated.
At some point, her hands landed in his hair, all that thick mass wrapped around her fingers a moment later, the damp strands adding another layer of sensation.
Was this normal?
The way her heart couldn’t decide whether to speed up or stop dead. How her skin burned beneath every swirl of his hands. Or the sobering realization that the more he loved her, the more she needed him.
Because she’d spent twenty years preparing for any possible scenario…
Except him.
Kash hummed against her skin, drawing a strangled moan from deep inside her. The same guttural plea he’d made when she’d been touching him. He took that as some kind of sign, dipping lower, then swiping his tongue along the length of her.
“Christ.” The word tore free. Raw. A testament to how far he’d pushed her.
He repeated the motion, teasing her with a bit of penetration.
Nearly sending her over as all the heat billowed up through her core.
She moaned his name, arching into the next pass — all but grinding herself on him.
He placed one massive forearm across her hips, holding her still, drawing a growl, this time.
He eased up, snapping her back from the precipice a moment before she soared off. “Someone’s got their claws out.”
Jordan managed to pry her eyelids open and push onto one elbow. “I swear to god, I’ll use every skill at my disposal if you don’t freaking finish this.”
He merely arched a brow. “I thought women were all about foreplay?”
“Well, this woman’s about to kick your ass if you leave her hanging like this.”
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Has anyone ever told you that patience isn’t your strong suit?”
“A few, but they didn’t live long enough to regret it.”
That smile he’d held back flourished. “Damn, I’m crazy about you. Fine. Relax. I’ll give you what you need.”
She fell back on the bed, promising to get revenge as soon as she could string together a thought that didn’t start and end with his name. That didn’t feel like the beginning of forever.
Kash held true to his promise, lowering his head and taking her back to that edge a second later.
Licking and sucking and something that had her fingers fisting in his hair — her eyes rolling.
She fought against the surge of heat, everything closing in around her.
Cutting off her ability to breathe before her muscles clenched tight, holding her captive as she teetered on the brink…
She broke.
Died.
Shattered into a million pieces.
All that heat exploding outwards until she laid there in a numbing haze, her heart thundering in her chest. Her pulse pounding so hard it felt like one long beat.
She came back to her senses as Kash moved over her, thrusting inside as he ate at her mouth. Setting her off again before she’d even recovered.
He didn’t stop, pumping his hips, shaking the bed as he slid his hand behind her head — fisted her hair.
The firm tug had her crying his name, her fingers digging into his shoulders, her heels notched around the small of his back.
He picked up the pace, changing the angle, hitting that spot like he had before.
Dead.
She had to be dead because nothing but heaven could feel this good as her release shot through her, stealing her breath as she clung to him, every nerve firing at once.
Kash gave a few more forceful thrusts before his head tipped back, and he emptied inside her. Hips jerking. The muscles in his neck cording.
He collapsed a second, hour, maybe week later, crushing her into the bed. Sliding everything into place with the warm caress of his breath against her skin. The firm weight of his body on hers.
She shifted just enough she could draw in a bit of air before wrapping her arms around his back. Holding him close.
Kash nuzzled her neck, kissing the curve of her shoulder before rolling enough to look down at her. His hair a tousled mass of brown locks, his skin flushed a healthy pink as he smiled, drawing his finger along her jaw. “Christ.”
She smiled, wondering if she’d float away as soon as he moved. “Is that a step up from damn?”
“More than a step. That…” He leaned down — claimed her mouth in a kiss so soft, she couldn’t breathe past the lump in her throat. “You okay?”
“Perfect.”
“Damn straight. Hang tight for a second.”
He rolled off the bed, striding into the bathroom. Water splashed in the background, shutting off a minute later. He returned, a cloth in one hand before he settled on the bed next to her — cleaned away the proof that she’d definitely lost her mind.
He tossed the cloth back toward the bathroom, indifferent when it landed on the tile floor. Then, he trailed his fingers along her hip, smiling when she inhaled. “So, naked or tee?”
The words bounced around in her head, but she’d sworn he’d spoken another language. “What?”
“For sleeping. You strike me as the kind of person who wants the minimum on in case you have to take out a wet squad in the middle of the night.”
She blinked. Sleep? As in together? All night in the same bed?
Which, honestly, she hadn’t really thought through — what happened after they’d had sex.
Which was another issue because it hadn’t been just sex.
Not with how her heart pounded. How she already wanted him, again.
Like a drug that just kept her coming back for more.
Kash frowned at her silence. “You have slept over at a guy’s house before, right?”
This was why she wasn’t fit for regular life. Nothing about her past was remotely normal. “Will you freak out if I say, no?”
He coughed, eyes wide as he waved between them. “But this wasn’t…”
“Wasn’t, what?” She groaned. “The first time I’ve had sex? I’m thirty-two.”
“I realize that, but…”
Great. Now she’d completely embarrassed herself. “Yes, I’ve had sex. Nothing in the last… It’s been a long long time and it’s never been…” She huffed. “You’re… different. Special, I guess.”
She pushed her head back, laying her arm across her eyes. “Do me a favor, and just shoot me, now.”
The mattress shifted, then he kissed his way up her ribs, pausing at her breast before gently nudging her arm aside. “I’d say you’re special, too, but you’re so much more than that.”
He held up one of his shirts, helping her slip it on before climbing under the sheets, then motioning her to join him. She settled in next to him, not quite sure whether to roll into him or just stay on her back, when he gathered her in his arms, resting her head on his chest.
Talk about damn …
She placed her hand over his heart, counting each strong beat, when the door creaked as Nyx bounded in, leaping onto the bed then jumping over to them. She licked and yipped, tail swishing as she stood over them, looking as if she was trying to figure out the best way to squeeze between them.
“Nyx—”
“It’s fine.” Jordan gave the pooch a scratch, smiling when the canine finally circled, then curled up at the foot of the bed. “I assume she usually sleeps with you?”
“She does, but?—”
“No buts. Besides, it’s kind of nice knowing she’s there keeping watch.”
“Nothing can get within fifty feet of this place without her knowing. Promise. Which reminds me… Will you do me a favor?”
She glanced up at him.
He looked her in the eyes. “If all those voices in your head get too much and you bolt, take my truck. The keys are in a bowl by the door. I can grab it later at the café. And the alarm code’s one, one, seven, three.
So, you don’t have the rest of my team racing over thinking we’re being infiltrated when it sends out a blanket nine-one-one. ”
“You want me to take your truck if I bolt?”
“The roads are shit, so yeah.”
She was so screwed.
“I won’t leave. I might have to do a perimeter check.” She sighed. “To quiet those voices.”
“I can live with that. And take Nyx if you do.”
“I’m not a handler let alone hers.”
“That’s okay. She’s very adaptable. And it’s not like it’s a mission or anything. She can do a lap around the house without needing me at her side or losing her shit.”
“Do you tell that to all the women who’ve stayed over?”
He just smiled. “Haven’t had any besides you, here. Sleep. I’ve got plans for breakfast.”
Jordan relaxed against him, letting the quiet whisper of his breath soothe her to sleep.
She’d worry about how to leave in the morning.
But for now, she’d bleed out every second of being in Kash’s arms because she knew, the moment she let herself believe she had a chance at a future, the past would come for her.