Page 13 of The Raven

Memories

The Raven

Unbearable suffering dominated my entire body, making it impossible to move, to even think straight. I didn’t know where I was or how I’d managed to leave the alley after ending Buck’s life. My mind was completely consumed by reminders of the night he and the others raped me.

The hurt they caused.

The way my heart shattered when Eric’s blood flowed from his throat.

The helplessness I felt.

The desperate pleas for my life to end.

The images wouldn’t leave. Buck putting his hands on me had unleashed every single one, bringing them to the surface, and I was reliving every second of the trauma they had caused.

My body trembled furiously as my strength diminished, and haunting memories seeped into my every pore.

As if I were on a rollercoaster, dropped from a great height, I was suddenly back in my own apartment on that fateful night, desperately trying to suck in air despite the plastic bag preventing me, Grim’s menacing face sneering at me.

My eyes closed as the darkness swallowed me, and I began to allow myself to succumb to the peace the black hole offered, no longer wanting to feel everything coursing through my body like blazing heat.

But before I could fully succumb, a woodsy scent wrapped around me, pushing the shadows away infinitesimally.

I would have known that scent anywhere.

“Help me,” I croaked, forcing my eyes to open, and trying my hardest to reach out to the blurred figure. “Mason, please. Help me.”

He was by my side in a heartbeat, his brows pulled together in worry. “Raven, shit! What’s happened? Where are you hurt?”

Panic laced his tone as his hands began roaming my body, attempting to find the source of my agony.

“Everywhere,” I whimpered, tears streaming down my cheeks, my chest burning savagely as if a knife had been plunged through my heart.

“Okay, it’s okay. I’m going to help you,” Mason replied, tugging at my leather jacket and slipping the sleeves down, the warmth from his palms brushing over my skin.

Desperation coated his voice, just like it had when he pumped my chest and begged me to return to my body.

With my jacket removed, Mason’s fearful gaze raked over me as he continued looking for injuries, but as he moved his hands from me, the shadows burst forward again.

“No,” I breathed through the fire. “Keep your hands on me.”

Giving me a quizzical look, Mason returned his hands to my forearms and began running them lightly up and down the length of my arms.

I closed my eyes, savouring the feel of his fingertips on my heated skin and the way the dark shadows threatening to pull me under began to lighten. But it wasn’t enough. The pain wasn’t fading. “I need more.”

Mason didn’t need to ask what I meant. He quickly sat next to me and pulled me into his lap, wrapping his arms around me and holding me against his chest. I nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck, wanting as much contact as possible.

Needing to remove the image of Buck tearing through me.

“Is that better?” Mason asked after a minute of holding me.

“No… I still need more,” I replied, my voice breaking.

Why wouldn’t this torture go away?

“Fuck,” Mason whispered. “Okay, let me try this.”

He shifted and removed his arms from around me, my body instantly bereft of his touch as he hurriedly unbuttoned his shirt and removed it, revealing his muscular chest and defined abs.

Warmth radiated from his body, circling me like a comforting hug, and pushing the shadows away a few inches. The vice-like grip painfully squeezing my body loosened when he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him.

Skin against skin, his heat seeped into me. And yet, it still wasn’t enough to drive the agony away. I lifted my hand and pressed it against his chest, his racing heart beating against my palm.

Our eyes met, my anguished-filled ones boring into his concerned ones, and with every exhale, his breath caressed my face. Unable to stop myself, my gaze dropped to his lips, and instinctively, I knew that if I were to press my lips against his, it would help to make the pain leave my body.

Not giving myself a second to think better of it, I leaned forward, my lips delicately touching his as tingles spread through me, dousing the fire raging in my veins.

Mason’s entire body stilled, but as I was about to pull away, his hand moved to the back of my head, holding me in place as his lips grew firmer against mine. Our mouths opened at the same time, a groan leaving him as his tongue swiped against my bottom lip before meeting mine and gently twirling.

As our kiss deepened, the vibrations coursing through me intensified, gradually forcing the darkness away. Needing more, I repositioned so I was straddling him, my legs on either side of his.

When I felt his hardness settle against my core, instead of the fear I felt when Buck’s erection had ground against me, something different happened. An intense feeling of want swept through me, driving the pain even further away from my bones.

“Raven,” Mason moaned, gripping my hips.

“More,” I breathed against his lips, grinding my core against him.

He found the hem of my top and lifted it over my head, his gaze dropping to my bra-clad breasts. “How the fuck is this even possible?” he muttered, almost to himself.

Not having an answer to give him, I laced my fingers in his hair and tugged his head back, demanding his lips on mine again.

This time, when our tongues clashed, there was a sense of urgency.

It was as if we were both scared that the powerful connection growing between us with every kiss, every touch, would be severed at any moment.

“Mase.” The abbreviation of his name fell from my lips, feeling so damn right.

He pulled his head away. “You called me Mase?” he said, his voice husky as his brows furrowed in confusion.

“You…you don’t want me to?”

A small smile lifted his lips as he rested his forehead against mine. “I didn’t think I’d ever hear you say it again.”

Before I could ask what he meant, his lips were on mine again, claiming them, and pushing the lingering shadows away.

Both of my hands cupped the sides of his head as our kiss continued.

This time, when his tongue brushed against mine, somewhere in the deepest recesses of my mind, a memory flashed to life.

Two young teenagers, a girl with long dark hair, and a boy with brown hair, lying next to each other in a field, holding hands, and surrounded by vibrant purple flowers. “Promise you’ll come back for me, Mase?” the girl said, her eyes brimming with tears.

The boy turned on his side and stroked a strand of hair off the side of her face. “I promise, Blackbird.”

The memory elicited something inside of me, the nickname ‘Blackbird’ sounding ever so familiar.

Emotions that had been locked away bubbled to the surface while images of a time before lingered out of reach.

As our tongues continued to explore each other’s mouths, realization hit that Mason wasn’t just the cop who’d tried to save me.

He’d been something more.

So much more.

Questions flooded my head, but now was not the time to ask them.

I didn’t want to break the bond flowing between us.

In fact, the more we kissed, the more our hands raked over each other’s bodies, the more I wanted, no, needed, to keep the bond alive.

Although the pain had dulled because of Mason’s touch, it still smouldered underneath my skin, flaring every so often when one of the Vipers’ faces appeared in my head.

I needed to remove them from my body; that was the only way I could rid myself of the remaining hurt. Each one of them had taken something from me, not just my life, but my consent.

My free will.

In a way, that was worse than them taking my life.

A formidable determination zapped through me like lightning. I wanted to take back what they stole from me.

Breaking our kiss, I held Mason’s eyes. “More, Mase,” I whispered, gripping his shoulders and grinding my hips against his cock, letting him know what I needed.

An insatiable lust flashed in his eyes, and without me saying another word, he gripped my hips and stood, taking me with him. My legs wrapped around his waist, my mouth finding his again. As he carried me to his bedroom, another memory materialized in my mind.

A flower shop, the beautiful perfume of a variety of flowers filling the air. Me, as an adult, standing behind the counter, wearing an apron and making a bouquet, throwing my head back and laughing. Mason, on the other side of the counter, grinning, adoration shining in his gaze as he watched me.

The picture disappeared when Mason lowered me down onto his unmade bed and hovered above me, uncertainty flashing in his eyes.

“Are you sure about this?”

The feeling that he had been something more to me when I was alive streaked through me, more intense than before. I reached up and stroked a finger down his cheek, butterflies dancing in my stomach.

“I knew you. Before that night, I mean,” I said softly. “You weren’t just the person who found me, were you?”

He hesitated a few seconds before answering. “No.”

“What was I to you?”

He lowered himself down so our foreheads were once again touching, his gaze peering right into my soul. “Everything.”

There were so many things I could have said in response. Instead, I slid my hand behind his neck and pulled his lips to mine. Raw passion flowed between us, and an ache grew between my thighs. An ache I never thought I’d want to feel again after what the Vipers did to me.

Refusing to let their evilness ruin another moment, I shoved the faces of the Vipers away and reached down for the button on my leather pants. Mason’s eyes tracked where my hand had gone, and pulling himself up, he knocked my hand away so he could undo them for me.

With the button and zipper undone, I shimmied out of them with Mason’s help before he tugged his own pants and boxer briefs off, his erection springing free. Instead of fear of what was about to happen, exhilaration rushed through me.

Settling between my spread legs, Mason positioned himself at my entrance, pausing to look down at me. “Raven…we don’t have to do this. If it gets too much-”

I placed my finger against his lip, silencing him. “I want this, Mason… I need you.”

His features softened. Somehow, he knew I was asking him to replace memories of those who had taken from me with memories of me taking what I wanted.

He pressed his hips forward, slowly stretching my core and giving me time to adjust. Instead of the agony I felt the last time someone was inside me, all I could feel was warmth so bright that I thought I was going to burst.

“Fucking Christ,” Mason hissed, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke.

“I always thought I’d never get to experience this.

” He pulled out before tenderly thrusting back into me, his eyes fixed on mine the entire time.

“All this time, I thought you were a ghost, but now I’m not so sure. You feel so fucking real.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck. “It doesn’t matter if I’m a ghost or not. For now, I’m yours.”

As if my words snapped something inside of him, the pace of his thrusts increased. His mouth dominated mine, our tongues enjoying a slow, sensual dance. Pressure built in my core, and with every thrust, Mason pushed me toward a cliff’s edge.

Reaching down, he grabbed my thigh and lifted it to wrap around his waist, driving his cock in deeper as his breaths came in short, sharp bursts.

My hips ground to meet his thrusts, and when Mason pulled his mouth away from mine and placed delicate kisses along my jawline and into the hollow of my throat, my orgasm detonated.

Every muscle in my body turned rigid as pleasure wiped out the remnants of the pain, and as Mason thrust one last time, his release spilling into me, another memory came to mind.

Him. Me. Tears rolling down my cheeks as he held me in his arms and comforted me by stroking my hair. “It’s okay, Raven,” he said, hurt lacing his tone. “It’s my fault I’ve lost you. I waited too long.”