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RAVEN

I t’s still dark outside, and I’m half asleep, safely wrapped in Wraith’s arms when the phone rings.

“Who’s that?” Wraith mumbles, his breath warm against my neck.

I fumble around in the dark and turn the ringer off.

“Ignore it. It’s early,” I say sleepily. The sun isn’t even up yet, the apartment still cast in darkness. And I really don’t feel like talking to anyone. Fen is safe in his bedroom, which is all I need to know.

We ate here last night, enjoying Fen’s excitement with the new bedroom setup. Wraith told me that he’d thought about buying him a proper bed set, but that he figured he won’t need it for long.

Because he sees a path to where we might live with him before the fall because he felt the apartment would probably be freezing cold in winter. When he told me his plans to sell his home and buy somewhere we could have a fresh start, I tried to tell him he didn’t need to, but he reassured me he was ready to let go and move on.

I almost died of shock when he admitted I’d been right to insist he bring Fen and I back here. Marco would never have admitted that. Wraith explained how he didn’t want us to move too fast, given we both had a lot of adjusting to do and feelings to process. That what we have is too precious to rush. But he couldn’t stand the thought of me cramped up in this space without furniture to make it feel like a home, in between.

And when he was done explaining, he also shared that it was also a mercenary decision. He intends to stay over here.

A lot.

And that he isn’t spending the next however many months fucking in the bathroom.

So, we did that. We worked hard to make the place feel more like a home. Sectioning off the back corner of the space to make a separate room for me was such a good idea.

Wraith had also bought us some additional supplies. Extra towels, for one. A rug for where Fen sits and colors. An extra set of bedding covered in animals for Fen’s air mattress. And a curtain rail and drapes to help partition off where we are sleeping.

And while we worked, I told him about the visit I’d had from Margie. Apologizing and making sure I knew I was still very much wanted at the diner.

I wiggle even tighter back against him. “Sorry it woke you up.”

Wraith kisses the side of my neck. “Not a problem. Probably a spam call. Let’s go back to sleep.”

I’ve just closed my eyes when the phone rings again. The screen illuminating and casting a light into the dark.

“Urgh. One second.” I reach for it and see that it’s my husband.

Ex -husband.

“It’s Marco,” I whisper.

“Get it if you feel like you have to,” Wraith says.

“Marco, why are you still calling me?” I ask when I answer. “What do you want?”

“I’m desperate,” he says. But this time, the tone in his voice matches the words. “Please, Raven. I need those things from the house. I’m begging you. It’s the only way I can get out of the mess I’m in. And I…”

Wraith sits up and switches on the small lamp he loaned me to put next to the bed.

“I can’t. And I wouldn’t even if I could.”

“You don’t owe that fucker shit,” Wraith says, rubbing circles on my back with his palm.

“Is there someone with you?” Marco practically barks.

“Obviously,” I say. There is no point pretending there isn’t. I’ll worry about what this revelation may do to my divorce proceedings in the morning. But my travel plans show I couldn’t have met Wraith until after I travelled here.

Which is well after Marco left me.

“You’ll go down with me, Raven.” His volume increases. “You owe me. I gave you and Fen everything. I?—”

Wraith takes the phone from my hand. “You gave your wife and kid nothing, you fuck. Left them alone to pay for your sins. What kind of man does that to his family? Get the fuck out of here and leave Raven alone.”

I lean my ear close to the phone, and Wraith tilts it a little so we can both hear.

“Who am I talking to?” Marco asks.

“Name doesn’t matter,” Wraith says. “What do you want with Raven?”

There’s a pause. “Put her back on.”

“He doesn’t know where I am,” I whisper to Wraith.

Wraith runs a finger over the frown lines on my forehead. “Not gonna do that, Marco.”

“Where is she?” he asks.

“In bed with me,” Wraith answers unhelpfully. “You got something to say to her, you say it through me.”

Wraith strokes a hand along my hair, and I lean into it.

“You’ve got some fucking nerve sleeping with my wife,” Marco yells.

“Axel,” I plead quietly. “Don’t make it worse.”

“Somebody had to, seeing you weren’t around to do it. And she’s your ex-wife,” Wraith says.

“Not yet.” Marco’s staccato response snaps through the line.

“But the fact she wants rid of you is enough for me. She isn’t coming back to you. She isn’t helping you with anything. And she sure as shit doesn’t need to speak with you in the middle of the night.”

“So, she’s on the West Coast somewhere, because it’s early morning here.”

“Shit,” I mutter beneath my breath, though I know he’s guessed wrong. I’m not on the West Coast. And this country is so huge, he’s still no closer to finding me.

But a band tightens around my chest.

“Tell you where she’s not,” Wraith says. “She’s not with you anymore. And you asked who I am. I’m someone you don’t want to mess with. Because those Russian fucks on your ass? I’m their nightmare. They sleep with one eye open because of me. You do not want me as your enemy. Don’t dial this number again.” Wraith hangs up before switching my phone off. “That fucker been bothering you?”

He opens his arms so I can curl up against his chest. “When I decided to run with Fen, I opened the safe that usually kept cash, passports, and some of my more expensive jewelry, but it had been emptied. Only things like mine and Fen’s passports were left behind. But there was a second safe I didn’t know about. One hidden in his closet. He thought I was still in the house, and he needs everything that’s in there.”

Wraith strokes the side of my head, gently. “If he’s up against the Bratva, he’s out of his league. Where is he?”

“New York. At least that’s what he said the last time he called.”

Soft lips plant a kiss at my temple. “In the morning, we’ll block him from contacting you. But for now, we need to get back to sleep.”

I sigh. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to.”

“You want comfort or a distraction right now?”

I glance up at him. “I might need examples to choose.”

Wraith leans closer to my ear to whisper, “Comfort is cuddling and shit. I hold you until you feel safe enough to sleep. Distraction is me guiding your head to my cock so you can suck me off and get familiar with my piercing.”

I go to answer, but Wraith puts his finger over my lips. “I’m gonna give you twenty seconds to think about it.”

“Why?”

“Strikes me you haven’t been getting what you need from your man. And now you’re going to bring that shit to our bed. You’re gonna think about what you should do instead of what you want to do. You’re gonna think you should say yes to sex, even when you don’t feel like it. So, I want you to just sit here, in my arms, and think about what you want. I’ll tell you when I want an answer.”

I sigh as I snuggle up against his bare chest. His warmth envelops me, and my first thought is I feel safe with him.

The second is about my options.

Cuddling or…

I swear my pussy leaks as I think about wrapping my lips around his cock.

Blow jobs have never been my favorite thing. Marco never respected my boundary of not swallowing. I’ve never particularly liked it. But he’d never warn me, or he’d say it came on too fast to react.

I sometimes tried to guess, and then he’d get sulky that I used my hand for too long to get him there.

The temptation is to simply say cuddling, just because it’s easier than having to explain all that, which would be an instant mood killer.

But I also want what Wraith laid out. A life with complete honesty. Something I have lived without.

And the idea of sucking his cock, of reducing this man to pure pleasure, is a head rush of power.

Be brave.

“What are we doing, Blue?”

“I don’t like swallowing,” I say.

Wraith taps the tip of my nose. “Was that hard to admit?”

“You don’t want to know the whole thought process I had to go through to say it.”

“So don’t swallow. Can’t help the pre-cum that leaks out while you’re sucking, but I sent you the bloodwork results, and you’ve nothing to worry about. I’ll let you know when I’m close. You don’t move, that’s on you.”

He wiggles down the bed a little but lifts his pillow, so his head is raised. Firmly, he takes his cock in his hand and gives it a slow and steady stroke.

I crawl down his body and move my hair so it won’t get in my way. Not that I need to worry about it when Wraith gathers it in his hand and wraps it around his fist.

“Don’t overthink it,” Wraith says. “Your mouth on my cock is going to feel good no matter how you do it.”

I listen to his words, knowing he’s telling me the truth. It’s reassuring to not have to second-guess or interpret hidden meaning.

When I run my tongue along the thick vein with a grin, Wraith sucks in a breath.

The sound reassures me that what he said is true. I can’t do this wrong. I lick the underside of his head and even playfully bite the ball on one end of his piercing.

His cock throbs in my palm as I take his head into my mouth, running my tongue over the small slit already leaking pre-cum.

My saliva lubricates him such that I can take him a little farther every time I lower my head. The piercing catches on my teeth, and Wraith’s abs flinch.

“I’m sor?—”

“Do it again,” Wraith instructs.

This time, I have to bite back a grin when I repeat the action. Knowing he enjoys it, that the flinch is pleasure, not pain, or at least maybe a mix of both, buoys my enjoyment.

I speed up my strokes, and Wraith’s hand tightens on my hair.

“Fuck,” Wraith curses. “Feels really fucking good, Blue. Suck it harder.”

I do as he asks. My cheeks hollow out as I suck down on him. Saliva drenches his cock, making my palm slippery.

The slurping noise I make should embarrass me, but it doesn’t. It feels raw. Basic.

Wraith starts to thrust upward to fuck my mouth.

“Ah, fuck, yeah,” he says quietly, somewhere between a moan and a sigh.

I grab his balls and tug on them.

“Gonna come soon, Blue,” he manages to say, the words punctuated by grunts.

I move off and keep stroking. Wraith’s hand clasps over mine, forcing me to squeeze him tighter. I suck one of his balls into my mouth and feel it jerk as Wraith starts to come in heavy spurts.

And I realize, as I listen and feel this man come apart beneath my hands, that I haven’t thought about Marco once.