Page 30 of Special Agent Raven
“And I, you, son.” Winona stared deeply into his eyes, hers tearing over. “There’s no words to tell you how much it meant to be able to soothe Josh and Ami yesterday and see their crushing fears begin to fade. They know they’re safe with me, and that means the world to an old lady who loves children.”
Standing, he reached for her hand to help her to her feet, and they stepped into the room where the children were still fighting over who’d won the most games.
It didn’t surprise either of them when Josh faked his groan before yielding. “I guess you’re right, Ami. You did beat me a lot.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Raven hadn’t felt this safe and warm for such a long time that she hated to open her eyes and let the world in. Hard arms held her against a hot body that dug into her backside in an alarming way.
Cane. He was spooning with her. Was he awake? Should she move? Did he know that his body had hardened with passion and was nestled against hers? Surprisingly, his desire had started a powerful blaze in her own belly, and she began to crave more. She stayed still and waited to see if he would wake up on his own. But that didn’t feel right either.
“Chloe.” The sudden groaning of a woman’s name startled her still. Was it his wife’s name? He’d obviously remained in love with her even though she was dead. What should she do? The man might be dreaming of her, but it was Raven’s body that soared from the intimacy.
Christ, suddenly his warm hands had started skimming over her body, scooping her closer, moving under her clothes,touching her in places men didn’t get to touch without her say-so.
With her senses heightened, and her skin pebbling with desire, she bit her tongue to stop from spoiling the moment… yet knowing it belonged to another woman wasn’t acceptable either. Just as she’d decided to put a halt to his hungry embrace, his lips began searching her neck, finding all the erogenous places she kept hidden from most. God, how the hell was she supposed to stop him now?
Now… when his hot body and raw seduction had convinced her that nothing mattered but having him fill her emptiness. On fire, breathing harsh and raw, she moaned, and the sound seemed to galvanize Cane. He stiffened and his groan of pleasure turned into a grunt of disbelief.
Yanking back from her, he rolled on his back and pushed his hands over his face while muttering, “Christ, I’m sorry, Raven. Goddammit, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to attack you like that. I was dreaming.”
Lying never came easy to Raven and was seldom allowed, but at this moment the need to pretend overcame honesty. “Cane. Oh my, I was having such a nice dream. You awake?”
“Ahh… yeah. Sorry, I woke you up. I think I was dreaming of… of my wife, and I might have taken advantage of your closeness. I’m really sorry.” He pulled his legs up into a sitting position and Raven had sympathy for his dilemma, but shyness had overtaken her, and she had no idea what to say.
Slipping from her side of the bed, she pretended a chuckle and turned to leave him while she took her robe and headed for the door. “I’ll get out of your way and ahh… help Nana. It’s well past supper time, but I’ll fix us something to eat before we head back to town.” Babbling, she slid out of the room and closed the door… her weak body leaning back on it. Shaky, hands grippingeach other, she caught a deep breath before she swung in the direction of the kitchen.
***
Devasted, Cane had no idea how to deal with the huge lie he’d just told Raven. Sure, he’d imagined Chloe in his arms, but only for the first few seconds. Once he’d put his hands on Raven’s skin, he’d known instantly it hadn’t been his deceased wife.
First of all, she hadn’t responded to his lovemaking even slightly in that way since their first year of marriage before her pregnancy. Once she had her wish of being a mother, she’d let him have his way with her and even seemed to enjoy the sex, but any kind of a shattering visceral reaction had never been a part of their relationship.
And secondly, he’d never experienced that kind of seductive energy toward any woman ever. God, if someone had told him it could be like that, he’d have called them romantic idiots to their faces. In his past experiences with women, the act itself gave one a few moments of relief and if the other person responded with any spirit at all, it could be fun.
But in all his years of sexual encounters it had never felt almost spiritual and that shocked the hell out of him. Worse, it made him want… no, hunger for more. Remembering how heaven had felt a few minutes ago, he leapt from the bed, locked the door behind him in the bathroom, and headed for the shower once again, knowing he’d need to deal with this jolting discomfort himself.
By the time he joined the others in the kitchen, he had control again only to find Raven in deep conversation with Noah. The sight didn’t shock him. What did was experiencing his innards clutching to an almost painful degree. Filled with a jealousy he’d never felt before, he didn’t quite know how to deal withit. No woman had ever tied him in so many knots that it made a difference if she found another man interesting. Yet this had happened earlier with Henry and now again with Noah.
What the hell was wrong with him? Just because he couldn’t have her for himself didn’t mean he had the right to stand in her way of finding romance with another. The woman deserved happiness, didn’t she? He watched her laugh at something Noah said, and her whole face lit up… no ingenuine behavior from her. No putting on an act. This lovely woman didn’t need to play games or roles. Her honesty shone through, and one felt they could not only believe her, but depend on her to be real with any issue.
Giving himself a shake to stop with the childish behavior, he joined the other two at the table. “How are you feeling, Noah?”
“Hey, Cane. Couldn’t sleep more than a few hours, but otherwise, I’m good. The kids are cozy with Winona… she kindly offered to take them for a walk in the woods with Koda so I could rest.” He rubbed his face using his fingers to knead at his forehead, something Raven often did too he’d noticed.
“I’m not surprised, bro. It’ll take time for your system to relax after the trauma you suffered.”
“Yeah, too many nightmares intruding. And too much to do in town. As I was just telling Raven, I feel horrible for having left them with no sheriff over the worst time in decades.”
“Not your fault. Anyone in your shoes would have done the same. Remember, when you left to help your wife, you didn’t know there’d be a flood. No one did.”
“True. And that kind of emergency won’t happen again without notice. Once we get over this calamity, we’ll be taking measures to set up a proper warning system.”
“Trust me, the folks in town will be with you on that project.”
Noah smiled and arched his back before standing, “Knowing my kids are safe and taken care of, like I told Raven, I’ll be happier back at work. Can we head out soon?”
Raven smiled gently, “Of course.”