Page 34 of Thorns of Deceit

Mother had been upset over my marriage, I could only imagine the chaos that would follow once my sister found someone to settle down with. Knowing Mother, she’d try to take control of everything—and Margaret would never stand for that.

I finally gave up and headed for the bedroom. But no sooner had I made it halfway across the penthouse than a noise in the kitchen stopped me.

And that was where I found her.

I leaned against the arched doorway and cocked a brow, watching her move around the kitchen.

“Hungry?” I asked. “Or intent on burning down our state-of-the-art kitchen?”

“I won’t comment on your latter comment because I’m in a good mood.” She whirled around and smiled. “But you’ll be hungry when I make us breakfast.”

I masked a wince.

I hadn’t learned all there was about Raven, but I knew she couldn’t cook for shit. She attempted it yesterday, and it was a disaster. I had a feeling it wasn’t a one-off. No matter though, I would have DoorDash on speed dial for a backup meal.

She sighed happily, rummaging through the drawers. “Are you hungry for some eggs?”

I opened my mouth to lie, but my fucking stomach decided to growl at that moment.

“Starving,” I retorted, smiling sheepishly while praying I wouldn’t contract food poisoning. I would have to make sure to adjust her makeshift recipe when she wasn’t looking.

She cleared her throat. “Great, sit down and I’ll fix scrambled eggs with oven stir-fry. The internet claims it’s impossible to mess up. The recipe is simple.”

She turned around before I could say another word, and I watched her flit around the kitchen. I should have focused on what she was doing, but her long legs that I imagined wrapped around my head as I ate her out were too distracting.

She hinged at the waist to extract a frying pan from the oven and my dick hardened.

Her ass was sheer perfection. The sight of her bent over like that made me want to fuck her so hard that, for a second, I felt like a rabid animal, unable to control my urges. It didn’t help that I now knew how she tasted, the sounds she made…

My fingers contracted into fists before I forced them loose. But then she wiggled her hips, taking a step back from the stove, and she straightened with a glowing expression that hit me right in my chest.

I gritted my teeth, wondering how long I’d last like this.

“Let’s eat,” she said triumphantly, completely oblivious to what she was doing to me, as she placed the plate of a mixture of runny eggs and burnt veggies in front of me.

Maybe it would be best if I ate whatever this was and got sick. Then my focus would be on a different kind of pain: the kind that wouldn’t threaten me ravishing my young wife and taking her virginity in the most fucked-up ways imaginable.

THIRTEEN

RAVEN

The air in New York was heavy—too heavy for being this high up. Summer had the city in a chokehold, and honestly, my anxiety wasn’t far behind.

I had left the balcony door open, hoping for a breeze, but all I got was the sound of sirens and the faint smell of street food drifting up from below. The penthouse looked golden in the evening light—too perfect, too still—and I couldn’t help pacing, phone in hand, waiting for the call to connect.

Then the screen flickered to life, with the group photo my best friends and I had taken before we all went to our own homes for the summer. And just like that, I wasn’t alone.

I pressed the answer button and Athena’s face appeared first, glowing in the soft light of a morning wherever she was in the world. Behind her, I could see pastel rooftops and laundry swaying like flags of freedom. Reina and Phoenix’s window popped up next, followed by Isla.

“Raven!” Reina beamed, signing at the same time for her sister Phoenix’s benefit. She was deaf and all of us had learned ASL when we met. “You look like you’re melting!”

“That’s because I am melting,” I groaned, wiping my forehead with the back of my hand. “It’s ninety-five degrees, and even up here, the city smells like sweat.”

Isla laughed, adjusting her camera. “That’s a way to advertise New York City.”

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help smiling. Just hearing their voices felt like shade in the heat.

“Where are you?” Athena asked. “That doesn’t look like your usual background when we FaceTime.”