Reaper: A raven paranormal romance (Crookshollow ravens Book 2)

by Steffanie Holmes

  Tony’s eyes rolled back in his head. He opened his mouth in a silent scream, and thick, viscous black fluid bubbled out. He gurgled, his hands flailing wildly for some purchase, but there was none. Cole scrambled across the floor, shifting back into his human form. He wrapped his arms around me.

  “Come on,” He dragged me towards the window. “It might take him some time to die. You don’t want to see it.”

  “But Tony—”

  “He’s a vampire, and I’ve staked him through the heart. He was dead already, I just made sure he stayed that way. He won’t be bothering you ever again.”

  A shiver ran through my body that had nothing to do with the cold. I’d wanted Cole to avoid becoming a murderer, but then I’d helped him kill Tony. But there wasn’t any time to contemplate what we’d done. Cole pushed the window open as far as it would go. “You should fit through here,” he said, motioning for me to get up on the sill.

  “And we’re back to this again. We’re three storeys up. I can’t jump out this window. I’ll break my neck.”

  Cole grabbed my shoulders, wrenching my head towards him, his eyes burning into mine. “This is important, Belinda. We have to move quickly. Do you still trust me?”

  I had a split second to consider it. I was still reeling from seeing him kill for me, and from his mistrust about Tony, which had turned out to be completely founded. Here he was, and he didn’t have fangs. He wasn’t trying to drink my blood. “Yes.”

  “Then jump out the window.”

  I heard footsteps running down the hall, people shouting. All the shouting and fighting must have woken others up. Victor’s two remaining Bran might even be on their way, and I didn’t want us to meet them. Legs shaking, I pulled myself up onto the sill, wincing as I cut my finger on the sharp edges of the glass. I ducked my head through, and looked down. I saw a strange shape wobbling below me, like a large waterbed. Beside it was Alex. She flicked the light of her mobile phone up at me and gave me the thumbs up.

  I took a deep breath, pushing my mind through its unwillingness, and jumped.

  The wind rushed up around me. I screamed as I fell through emptiness. Then, I hit something, and bounced high in the air. I gasped as I hit again, and flopped on to my stomach. I was lying on a huge inflated bounce pad, like the kind used in stunt shoots on movies.

  A hand reached out and pulled me towards the edge. “Quickly,” Alex gripped me under the arms while I steadied myself. I wanted to ask where on earth she’d got that huge bouncy mat from, and how she’d got it into the courtyard without one of the ravens poking a hole in it with its sharp beak But there wasn’t time. She dragged me towards the gate. “Before they come back.”

  “Where’s Cole?” I glanced back behind me, just in time to see a black raven soar from the window and fly over our heads. It was heading for the aviary.

  “He’ll take care of himself,” Alex dragged me out the open gate of the courtyard. We met no resistance. The raven guards were nowhere to be seen.

  Alex and I raced along the side of the castle, as security lights flickered on all around us. Behind us I heard the flapping of wings. I turned. Two birds swooped around the side of the tower, heading straight for us, their beady eyes gleaming in the moonlight. I caught the glint of a ring around the first bird’s inner wing.

  Pax and Poe.

  “Duck!” I forced Alex’s head down just as they swooped over us, talons thrust forward. The wind of their wings sent shivers across my skin. They spun around in the air and swooped for us again. I grabbed Alex’s arm and dived behind a flower bed.

  “Simon is waiting out there.” She pointed to the north gate. But how would he get there without being skewered by a Bran? The birds arced through the air on their return journey, and Alex and I dived for the shelter of the next flower bed.

  Raaaarrrrrrraooooow!

  Just as the birds soared past us, two cats leapt out of the roses and pounced. A calico cat swiped at one bird and it flew off, squawking in protest. The fat tortoiseshell hit the other bird square in the chest, knocking them both to the ground.

  Chairman Meow!

  It really was him, tumbling with that raven, howling with rage as he swiped at it with all claws drawn.

  Before my eyes, he began to shift, his cat paws growing long. He held the Bran’s black ring between his two fingers and yanked it hard. The Bran squawked in terror, and beat its wings furiously, trying to escape.

  “Go, now!” The Chairman yelled at me. “Don’t wait for me.”

  What do you do when your cat is trying to save your life? We ran.

  The wrought iron gates at the end of the garden had been flung open. Outside the gates, Simon sat in the car. As soon as he saw us coming, he gunned the engine. As we raced between the high stone pillars, the gates whirred to life and swung shut behind us.

  “Cole, Chairman … the others are still in there,” I gasped as I yanked the door open and flung myself across the back seat.

  Simon, as usual, didn’t reply. The wheels squealed as we pulled a three-sixty and took off. I stared back at the house just as the gates clicked shut and a huge flock of birds rose into the sky with a cacophony of squawks and caws. A bike zoomed past us as we pulled out onto the road. The driver wore a familiar leather jacket. On the back perched a dishevelled-looking raven and two very terrified cats.

  “Are you OK?” Alex leaned over and squeezed my hand. “Did they hurt you? Should we take you to the hospital?”

  I gripped my neck and pulled my hand away. There were only a couple of drops of blood. From where Tony had scratched me. Nothing to worry about. “I’m fine.” I said, leaning over and embracing my friend. “Thank you for saving me.”

  “Don’t thank me, it was all Cole and Libby.”

  “Who is this Libby?”

  “She’s Sir Thomas’s fiancée, and Cole’s new master. Don’t give me that look, I think you’ll like her when you meet her.”

  “But what about—”

  Alex held her finger to her lips. “Stop talking. You’ve had a terrible ordeal. But you’re safe now, and so is everyone else. Relax, and try not to think about it too much. When we get back to Raynard Hall, Simon will run you a nice scented bath, and I will pour you a glass of wine, and then you and Cole can do whatever it is you two do … and you can ask all your questions in the morning. I know Ryan and Cole have a lot of questions for you, too.”

  I opened my mouth to protest. I was worried about the birds on the loose, but weariness washed over my whole body. I couldn’t do anything from the car. My eyelids fluttered shut …

  … they didn’t open again until the car stopped. Someone opened my door and pulled me out of my seat. It was Cole, now dressed in a black shirt and jeans, his face badly scratched and bruised, and his eyes gleaming with joy.

  “Welcome home, Nightingale,” he grinned, pressing his lips to mine. My body flared with heat at his touch, and I thrust my tongue between his, pouring all of my relief and joy at being out of there into the kiss.

  Cole pulled away, his breath hitching. “Woah,” he grinned. “Are you ever glad to be home!”

  “Tell me about it,” I laughed.

  Cole carried me up the stairs, through the foyer, and into the main living room, where he laid me out on the couch and plumped the pillows behind my head. I heard Alex humming as she bustled around the kitchen.

  Something furry jumped up on the end of the couch and wrapped itself around my feet – Chairman Meow, back in his cat form.

  “I can’t believe you’ve been a shifter all this time,” I croaked at him. He folded his paws beneath himself, and yawned pointedly.

  “Here you go,” Alex set down a tray next to the table. On it stood a glass of red wine, and a plate of something meaty and delicious. Oh, how I’d missed Simon’s cooking. All the food I’d been given at the Morchards’ was expensive and tiny and weird, except what Tony and I had saved for ourselves.

  Tony. I couldn’t believe I’d been so easily deceived by him. I
thought he was a friend, but all along... My face burned with shame at the thought of it. It was Ethan, all over again. I wasn’t able to trust my own judgement about people.

  If I was wrong about Tony, and Ethan, was I also wrong about Cole? What about all my friends, who’d worked together in order to break me out of Morchard Castle. Was I wrong about them, too?

  My head throbbed. It was too much to think about right now. I reached for the plate, dragging a warm bread roll through the stew and lifting it to my mouth. God, that was good. Gravy dribbled down my chin.

  “Careful,” Cole helped me sit up. “You don’t want to rush yourself.”

  I ignored him, and cleared the plate. “Is there any more?”

  “Why don’t you come back for seconds later?” Cole grinned, stroking the inside of my wrist with his fingers. “I heard there was a scented bath waiting for you.”

  “Mmmmm, that sounds heavenly.” I let Cole carry me upstairs to my room. I noticed as we entered the familiar guest wing hall that the door to his room was badly damaged, and hanging off one hinge. I opened my mouth to ask what had happened, but all thoughts fled when Cole swung me into my room. There were fresh flowers in the bedside table, and towels folded on the chair. Steam rose from the rose-scented bubbly water in the egg-shaped bath in my en-suite. All the doubts running through my mind evaporated. Never had a body of water looked so inviting in my life. Every bone and muscle in my body ached from days of stress and fear.

  “Allow me to help you with your bath, madam.” Cole said in a posh voice.

  “Cole, I have been bathing myself since I was a kid.”

  “I know, but remember, a Bran is born to serve. And the only person I really want to serve is you.”

  That sounded good. I lifted my arms and grinned at him. “Fine. As you wish.”

  Cole undressed me slowly, savouring every layer with his eyes and his tongue. He pulled the pajama top over my head, sliding the soft fabric over my skin, then tracing those same lines with his fingers. He bent down and nibbled on my neck, sending a shiver of delight down my back. I thought that the only thing I would want to do was wash off the stench of Morchard Castle and fall asleep, but one kiss from Cole and my whole body coursed with fire.

  His tongue circled my nipples, first one, and then the other. I gasped as he pulled the tip into his mouth. My fingers pushed through his hair, enjoying the way his black ringlets fell through them like water. I pulled him closer to my chest, encouraging him to continue to pay attention to my breasts.

  “We’d best get you in that bath,” he murmured against my skin, as he rolled my pyjama legs off, and then tugged the edges of my knickers down, trailing a line down my thighs with his tongue. I gripped his shoulders and pushed my body against him, my core pulsing with desire. But Cole didn’t give me what I wanted. Instead, he threw me over his shoulder and deposited me into the bath. The heat rushed my body, only enhancing the throbbing between my legs. Water sloshed over the edges, soaking the tiles and the fluffy mat.

  Cole knelt beside the bath and picked up the bottle of body wash and a loofah. He squirted some of the liquid on to the loofah and started to run it over my body. “Lift your arms, Nightingale. I’ve got to get your all squeaky clean for what I want to do to you.”

  I obeyed, my whole body singing as he ran the loofah all over me. Having a bath was such a luxury – I used to have them all the time after a hard day at the shop, back when I lived in the apartment with Ethan. But, of course, my crappy flat didn’t have a bath.

  And as nice as a bath with scented candles and a glass of wine and a good book was, it had nothing on a seriously hot raven man soaping you down.

  While Cole rubbed my body with the loofah in one hand, he used his other hand to tease me, rolling my nipples around his fingers, stroking the inside of my thighs, touching me everywhere except the one place I wanted to be touched.

  “Cole ... ” I begged.

  “Come on now. Don’t whine.” He lifted my foot and slid the loofah between my toes. I groaned in delight as he massaged the bottoms of my feet. “I’m just trying to make sure you’re really clean.”

  “You missed a spot.” I pointed to my mound.

  “Oh, no. I am getting there.” He placed my foot on his shoulder and soaped all down my leg, then the other, slowing moving towards the apex of my legs, then rolling away again.

  “Cole, please …”

  “Lie back,” he grinned. “Let the water keep you afloat.”

  I obeyed, lying right down in the hot water and releasing all the air from my lumps. I sank a little, but then bobbed on the surface. Cole wrapped his arms around my ankles and pulled me forward, so my legs were out of the water. My core pulsed with anticipation.

  Something warm slipped over my mound, the touch sending a shudder of delight through me. Another stroke along the whole length of my slit, and then something soft rubbing over the sensitive skin, dancing in wonderful circles.

  I couldn’t tell what was his tongue, and what was the loofah. But whatever he was doing there, it felt amazing. He alternated lapping, sucking and stroking, his expert tongue undoing me completely. Heat rose from the water and washed over my skin. Every lap of the water against me sent heat racing towards my core. My body hummed with energy as the heat enveloped me completely. I was suspended in the warmth, growing hotter, hotter, melting into a pool of molten lava.

  “Oh!” I cried out as Cole sucked my clit into his mouth, and I came. The force of the orgasm soared through my body. I arched my back to take the force of it, and sank into the water. I grabbed the sides of the bath to keep my head afloat as my body convulsed with pleasure.

  “Are you OK?” Cole dragged me from the water.

  “Yeah,” I spluttered. “That was amazing.”

  “I nearly drowned you.”

  “That’s what I like about dating a bad boy,” I grinned, bracing myself as another convulsion wracked me. Damn, he was so good. “I’m living on the edge.”

  “Are you sleepy? Do you want to go to bed?”

  “Oh, I want to go to bed all right, but not to sleep.”

  Cole leaned down and kissed me, finally releasing his own passion. His kiss grew deeper, more intense. He picked me up, still dripping wet, and threw me over his shoulder again, then dropped me on the bed. I watched as he tore his shirt off, flinging it across the room. His pants came next, and then he was on top of me, his warmth enveloping me, his unique scent invading my nostrils.

  I ran my hands across his back, over his ink, committing his body to memory. I never wanted to be without him again. He stroked my hair as his kissed me again, deep and long. I opened my legs and wrapped them around his, pulling his body tight against mine. He broke apart for a moment to pull on a condom, then sank into me again, his thick cock sliding inside me.

  “You feel so good,” I whispered against his lips. His eyelids fluttered. His fingers dug into my shoulder.

  “Belinda, oh Belinda.” Cole wrapped his arms around me, pressing his warm chest against mine. His legs entwined with mine, we became one single entity, a mess of limbs and heat.

  I closed my eyes, breathing the scent of him deep into my lungs, his cock filling me with each glorious stroke. After all those days of fear and wondering, I’d all but lost hope he would come for me, and now that I had him again, it was so perfect. We were made for each other.

  “Belinda,” Cole whispered in my ear as he ground his body against mine. “I love you. I’ll never leave you.”

  The heat swelled inside me. My core throbbed with longing as my heart exploded with joy. I never thought I’d hear those three simple words again, and believe them.

  “I love you too!” I cried out. I had promised myself I’d never say those words again, but they came out so easily, they were so true. Cole was with me now, and he’d never hurt me like Ethan did.

  I had never been this happy.

  9

  Cole

  I glanced down at Belinda’s sleeping face, her featu
res soft, content. She’d fallen asleep the second we’d finished our lovemaking, her hands folded under her cheek like a cherub sleeping on a cloud. She looked so beautiful lying there, a perfect angel.

  It tore my heart. Because I knew then that we could never work.

  You’re no good for her. Look at what’s happened to her since she met you. Her livelihood is ruined, she’s kidnapped and nearly killed, a vicious avian virus is now loose in the world, and all her friends are in danger. It’s all because of you.

  The pain gnawed at my chest. The pull of Gillespie’s power, reminding me constantly that I was his slave, his and Libby’s, that saving Belinda had only happened because of his good graces, that my life wasn’t my own to do with as I pleased.

  She’d be better off if she’d never known you.

  I was not worthy of her. She deserved a prince, and I was a slave.

  But you can’t desert her. Looking down at Belinda, I saw her for what she really was. A hurt, fragile woman, teetering on the edge of her own fierce resilience. She needed me; she needed me in order to heal.

  No. I shook my head. You can’t think like that, just because you need her. Belinda is stronger than anyone gives her credit for, and she has all her friends here to support her. She will survive without you. And you have to go, you know you do. You can’t continue to love her as a slave. It will tear you apart.

  I’d said those words. I’d told Belinda I loved her. I’d been thinking them ever since I’d met her, but saying them was another matter entirely. I promised myself I wouldn’t say them until I was free. And I had to keep that promise now, for both our sakes.

  Tearing myself away from Belinda. I gently slid my arm out from beneath her, and climbed out of bed.

  You could just ask Libby for your freedom. The voice in my mind chirped hopefully.

  That would never happen. She is a fine mistress, but she would never offend her husband by giving away his cherished gift. She likes having you around too much. No, if you want your freedom, you have to take it for yourself.