Page 15 of Twist’s Raven (31 Days of Trick or Treat: Biker & Mobster #6)
Chapter Thirteen
T wist lay still for a second, trying to figure out what had woken him up. Raven’s whimpering had him starting to sit up.
A small flashlight clicked on by the bed, and Snipe’s face shone in the light.
“She’s not awake. Just wrap your arms tighter around her and tell her everything will be okay. She’ll settle down and drop back into a deep sleep. Once she does, come see me in the front room,” Snipe whispered, clicked off the light, and disappeared.
What the actual fuck was Snipe doing in the house, and how did he know Raven would be whimpering in her sleep? He’d worry about that in a minute after he did what Snipe said.
He pulled Raven tighter in his arms. Her head was already on his shoulder. “Everything will be okay. Sleep, baby,” he whispered, continuing to repeat the words quietly until her whimpers ceased and she was breathing deeply.
When he and Raven had crawled into bed earlier after he’d tasted his woman for the first time, he hadn’t imagined waking up with Snipe beside the bed.
Raven had worn a T-shirt and sleep shorts to bed.
He hadn’t wanted to walk over to where his extra clothes were, so he’d made do with his underwear.
He worked his way out from under Raven and slipped on his jeans.
He walked out into the front room to find Snipe sitting on the couch. Twist walked over and sat in a chair across from him. He cocked his eyebrow, waiting to find out why Snipe was in Raven’s house at night.
“Buzzard and I discussed what, if anything, we needed to tell you. Seeing her still having trouble with you here tells me I need to share a little,” Snipe said.
The front door quietly opened. Buzzard walked in, dropping onto the couch beside Snipe.
“She doesn’t know she still has nightmares.
She used to scream and still didn’t wake up.
We thought possibly once we moved here that they’d quit.
They aren’t every night but at least three to four times a week.
Buzzard and I take turns staying the night either on the front porch or we sneak into the house and sleep on the couch.
If we hear her, we hold her and help her fall back asleep,” Snipe said softly .
“I’m guessing it’s trauma-related. Does it have anything to do with the raised scars I felt on the back of her thighs and buttocks?” Twist asked.
Buzzard nodded. “It has everything to do with that. We both agree you need to know enough to take care of her but that the whole story needs to come from Raven.”
“I would agree with that. I don’t want her to feel as if people spoke to me out of turn. So, what are you going to tell me?” Twist asked.
“She was asked out by a prominent individual when we were on leave. She’d met him when he was hanging at our base doing a story.
He drugged her and was assaulting her when Snipe and I broke in.
We wanted to kill him, but multiple people had seen them together.
She never reported it, but she still suffers from what happened,” Snipe said.
Twist thought through what they hadn’t said—the man’s name, job, and exactly what he’d done. But Twist knew enough to help Raven. He wasn’t so sure keeping her in the dark about her screaming or whimpering was a good idea.
He tamped down the anger because there was plenty of time for that later. Now he needed to get back to bed with his girl and let these men know how much he valued their commitment to Raven.
“Okay. I appreciate everything you’ve done for her. You’ve truly been brothers to her, protecting her. And just so we’re clear—Raven’s mine, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy and keep her safe,” Twist said, holding his hand out.
Buzzard and Snipe stood. Snipe grasped his hand and pulled him close. “Of course you will, fucker. Because if you don’t, you won’t live to see the sunrise.”
Twist chuckled quietly. “I wouldn’t expect any less. Go get some sleep. I’ve got this.”
Twist locked the door after Buzzard and Snipe left, though obviously, a locked door hadn’t kept them out earlier.
He walked back to the bedroom and slipped off his jeans.
He crawled back into bed, moving Raven back on his shoulder and holding her close.
He breathed in the scent that was Raven and vowed he would keep her safe.
But more importantly, he was going to make sure his woman got to face her abuser.
It would take planning, but from what he’d gleaned so far, Raven was amazing at planning, and Twist wasn’t too shabby himself .
But for now, he was going to enjoy his first night sleeping with the woman he planned on making his wife and his Ol’ Lady. He’d worry about how that would work with the two clubs later.