Sanctified

by Maggie Blackbird

  He slid his mouth along Raven’s puckered lips. A sweet sensation dribbled down his back. The lushness of her flesh and the moistness of her skin seemed to skim his spine. The heat of her breath dusted the dip below his nose, even caressed the small indent.

  She moved her lips in rhythm with his slow strokes.

  The door burst open, and a shot of icy wind followed.

  Jude jumped to his feet. Raven yanked her knees to her chest.

  Emery gaped at them.

  “What’re you doing here?” Jude sputtered. A church, of all places, his little brother thought to interrupt.

  “I... I...” Emery stamped his boots on the mat. “I wasn’t sure who was here. I came to... I came to think... upstairs.”

  “Think?” Jude kept the growl from popping out of his throat. “It’s...” He scrambled for his phone on the table. “It’s nine-forty at night.”

  Raven scooted into her mukluks and yanked on her parka. “I should go.” She squared her shoulders. “Good seeing you, Emery. Bye, Jude.” She tilted her gaze his way, raising her sleek brows.

  Awesome. She wasn’t offended at being caught by dumb ol’ Emery, which was expected since she was a bold woman, unashamed or unfazed by anyone or anything.

  “I’ll... text me if you need help with your lesson. I mean it.”

  “I will.” Raven marched to the door, head still held high, and vanished.

  Jude snatched the coffee cups from the table. “Well, go upstairs if you need to pray bad enough to come here at this hour.”

  Fine, he was complaining and behaving like an ass, but dammit, his crotch continued to throb. Raven’s kiss, the velvet taste of her lips, and the warmth of her mouth kept taunting his heated skin, heated blood, and heated dick.

  “I’ll... I’ll go upstairs.” Pain reflected in Emery’s green eyes. His pale skin was paler than usual.

  “No. Wait. Gimme a second to tidy up.” As the eldest, Jude must put his younger brother first.

  “I’m fine. Go on ahead.” Emery lifted a shaky hand at the door Raven had used to leave, taking her yielding mouth, yielding body, and yielding boldness with her.

  “My ride split.” Jude headed for the kitchen.

  No footsteps followed, but the light sound of Emery ascending the carpeted stairs where the lift chair was located carried to where Jude emptied the cups into the sink.

  Something terrible must have happened. After accepting his sexual orientation and marrying Darryl, the confusion and bleak stare that had once kept Emery from Mass for two weeks had resurfaced tonight.

  Jude tidied the kitchen in under five minutes and darted up the stairs. Emery sat in the front pew. Head bowed. Hands clasped in prayer. Only the emergency lights saved the church from being engulfed in blackness. The red hues cast the odd silhouette here and there.

  “Hey...” Jude plopped in the pew. “What’s up?”

  “I need time to pray.” Emery lifted his head. Pain still lingered in his eyes.

  “What’s going on? Did you and Darryl have a fight?” Boy, could Jude relate. Fights were a normal part of marriage.

  “Uh...” If light was present, Emery’s face would come up red. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

  “Ignoring problems gets you nowhere. I speak from experience. I spent over a year ignoring problems in my marriage. Lookit where it got me.”

  “I’m still trying to digest everything.” Emery fingered his lower lip.

  “What happened?”

  “We were talking about the election and if anything... Remember what you said about skeletons?”

  Jude braced himself. “Darryl has skeletons?”

  Emery’s jawline hardened. “I’m not ready to talk about it.” He held up his hand, clearly stating there’d be no more discussion.

  They had the drive home from Thunder Bay to talk. If Darryl had done something to hurt Emery, there’d be hell to pay.

  * * * *

  “Where were you? It’s ten o’clock. I phoned your sisters and your brother. None of them saw you. How’s my truck?” Mom sat on the sofa, still threading the needle through the deerskin.

  Raven removed her parka. She should’ve taken a drive, because Jude’s kiss still lingered on her lips. He was the kind of man who took charge and was probably the same in bed—yanking her against him, smothering her mouth with his, but gentleman enough to let her come up for air. Most likely he fucked the same way, with nibbles on the neck, low groans by her ear, coaxing her to open to his cock, even whispering for her to lock her legs around his hips while he teased her with sassy pumps that became plunging, fast thrusts.

  He probably ate pussy the same way. Licks and pecks to her thighs. Sweet kisses on her cunt lips. Tongue moving slow and easy around her clit, even suckling it. Maddening. Did he like to slide a finger up a woman’s coochie and asshole while feasting? Raven shivered. If she kept this up, she’d have to rub one out before going to sleep.

  And damned Emery. Maybe the interruption was a treasure in disguise. Coyote loved to thwart or confound situations for a good reason. But kissing in the seating area at the church was far from a situation. More like a make-out session. She hadn’t made out in years. Kissing led to sex. But this time she’d been cock-blocked by a little brother.

  “You never answered me.” Mom kept sewing.

  “I went for a drive.”

  “I loaned you my truck to go to school. We’re in Old Main. It’s a ten-minute walk, so I expect you to drive it to the school and back.”

  If Mom was giving Raven this much grief about taking the truck out late, the family would disown her if they found out she’d gone on a date.

  What could she do? She had nowhere to live. She depended on her siblings for rides or the use of vehicles. Clayton had gotten Raven the job at Kiss the Cook, asking Cookie to give her a chance.

  After completing step nine, making amends to those Raven had hurt during her addiction, she’d hoped Mom, Clayton, Fawn, Lark, and Wren would’ve forgiven her, but they still didn’t trust her. She might as well be newly clean for all it mattered.

  The program said actions spoke louder than words. So Raven’s actions had to convince her family she’d changed. And there was only one way to convince them.

  Chapter Nine—Heavy

  Emery drove, having taken over the wheel upon meeting the ice road at Manidoo Lake. Jude covered his mouth to stifle the big yawn leaving his throat. What a long day. They hadn’t left Thunder Bay until after breakfast, when they’d seen Noah and Rebekah off at the airport. Thank God they’d gained an hour, since they were in Central Standard Time now.

  When they’d left the city, they’d traveled the Trans Canada until they’d hit Ignace, where they’d turned off on Highway Five-Ninety-Nine, which ended at Frog Lake First Nation. From there, it was a snow-covered bush road up until the junction.

  First thing that morning, Bridget had asked Jude about Emery. He’d reassured her he’d talk to their little brother on the drive home.

  News squawked from the radio, the only sound in the truck, except for tires rolling over snow.

  Jude reached for the thermos in the backseat to pour them another refill. “You finally gonna talk to me?” He’d made sure to keep his voice gentle, which wasn’t an easy feat. Damn his natural direct, authoritative tone.

  Emery drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. The high beams caught the endless sea of spruce trees and snowbanks, since they were cruising over land to get to the next lake. “Darryl...” He took a big breath. “Darryl has an enormous skeleton in his closet.”

  “What skeleton?” Jude refilled Emery’s travel mug and then refilled his own with a good helping of Reggie’s Donuts special brew he’d bought, all to please his little brother.

  “I don’t know if anyone will find out. And if they do, I don’t know if they’ll use it against him during the election.”

  “Did you want to tell me?”

  �
��Don’t go all Dad on me.” Emery’s quick-snapping answer was a dog’s jaws clamping onto Jude’s hand.

  “Whoa. Easy. I was only asking a question.” For Emery to lose his temper, the skeleton had to be the size of the Sleeping Giant, a massive rock formation of a man resting on his back out on the bay of Lake Superior, one of Thunder Bay’s main attractions. “I’m trying to help, if you’d let me.”

  “Sure, like you let me help you through your divorce.” Emery flicked his hand resting on the steering wheel.

  “Whatever it is, I’m sure it can’t be that bad.”

  “Easy for you to...” Emery leaned his head against the headrest. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have... Lookit what you went through. My problem seems minor compared to what’s happened to your family.”

  “Never mind. What’s going on?”

  “Darryl...” Emery moved his head off the headrest and re-gripped the steering wheel. “Darryl hired a... he hired a... he hired a prost-prosti... he hired a pr-pr-prostitute.”

  Jude jostled to balance his travel mug before it fell in his lap. “Wh-wh-what?” He slammed the mug into the cup holder. “That son of a bitch—”

  “No. Put your rifle away. It’s not what you think. It happened a long time ago.” The words raced from Emery’s mouth. “His buddy was getting married. Darryl served as best man. This was during his university days. When he was finishing his master’s.”

  Jude’s rising temper returned to its proper spot. “What happened exactly?”

  Emery made a pfft sound full of revulsion. “I guess they were drunk. Riding around in a limo. Someone dared someone to stop where the prostitutes hang out. They called one over. And they paid this guy... he serviced Darryl and one of the groomsmen... as a joke. Some joke.”

  Typical of a bachelor party? Yes. But still not good. It was time to slide into big brother mode. There wouldn’t be another Matawapit getting a divorce—not after Emery and Darryl had only clocked in a year and a half of marriage.

  “He didn’t even tell me. He never planned on telling me, otherwise he wouldn’t have kept this from me until Thursday night. The only reason he said anything... he was scared someone might find out and use it against him.” Disgust spat from Emery’s mouth.

  “I know it’s a shocker. I’d be pretty upset, too.” Jude must make sure and take Emery’s feelings into consideration. Darryl had been hurting big-time after the nasty breakup when they’d been teenagers, which had kept the two estranged for ten years. “But try to remember how he was feeling then, and why he felt that way.”

  “It doesn’t excuse what he did,” Emery muttered.

  “No. It doesn’t. But he went on a splurge because he couldn’t have you. Do you think he would’ve behaved like a man-whore if you two had stuck to your original plan and gone to university together?”

  Emery frowned. He raised his hand. “I don’t want to hear it.”

  Nope, little brother wasn’t ready for reasoning. He needed time to lick his wounds. “Pride can be—”

  “Yes, my pride. One of the seven deadly sins. But I’m a man, not a saint. I can fall victim to my pride, just like everyone else. And my pride is hurting big-time. Not only did he hide this from me, what am I supposed to do or say if anyone finds out? He not only embarrassed himself, he embarrassed me. I’m married to a pervert who cruises the red-light district for—”

  “I know you’re hurting. I know you’re angry. I went through the same thing with Charlene. She kicked my pride into the ground when I confronted her.”

  Emery stroked his mouth. “Is that why you divorced her?”

  Jude gazed out the passenger window. “Darryl never cheated on you.”

  The radio continued to squawk, and the squashing noise of the tires rolling over the snow-covered road kept carrying into the vehicle.

  “No, he didn’t.” Resignation filled Emery’s reply.

  “How was he when you left him?” Jude turned to face his brother.

  “I don’t know. I crashed in the spare room.”

  “The spare room?” Jude’s words formed into an exclamation. “I can’t see Darryl letting you get out of the house without talking.”

  “Oh, he tried—when I returned from the church on Thursday night. I told him to get the fuck in the bedroom and leave me alone or I was going to your place to sleep. He listened.”

  Oh man, little brother was taking up his lance and tomahawk. “You cussed him out?”

  “Yes.” Emery’s answer was a fast snap.

  “What about the dogs? The cats?” Dumb question, but for once Jude had no idea what to say.

  “They slept with me. They’re my dogs and cats. Not his.”

  The dogs and cats belonged to the two of them, but if Jude pointed out the obvious, he might get a punch in the face. He’d better save the it happened a long time ago, and has nothing to do with your marriage because you two were estranged, since Emery, the most logical of the family, wasn’t ready for logic.

  “Enough about me. What about you?”

  “What about me?” Jude lifted his travel mug from the holder.

  “Thursday night. The church. Raven.”

  “There’s nothing to speak about.”

  “Do you see what I mean?” Frustration crept into Emery’s tone. “You’re always ready to dole out advice, butt your nose into my business, but you don’t let me near your problems.”

  Jude sucked in his cheeks. He wasn’t about to hear a lecture from a brother who was nine years younger. “Like I said, there’s nothing to discuss.”

  “Then I don’t have anything to discuss either.”

  “You’re not the kind of man who huffs off to pout.”

  “Pout? I don’t pout. I deal with problems. You hide from them.”

  Indignation erupted in Jude’s chest. “I don’t hide from anything.”

  “Did you ever think... “ Emery clucked his tongue. “Charlene sent me a lengthy email.”

  “She did what? When?” Jude almost dropped his coffee again.

  “After the divorce was finalized. She asked if I’d, well, uh, consider being a witness for the annulment.”

  “A witness?” Blood-red hate boiled in Jude’s gut.

  “I told her I couldn’t.”

  “Thank you.” The balls on that woman.

  “But she had a lot to say in the email.”

  “I can well imagine.” Jude sneered.

  “You do know it takes two, right?” Emery’s voice relaxed to its natural gentle tone.

  “Okay, if it takes two, I’ll talk if you talk.”

  “Talk about what?”

  “Maybe you’re overreacting? What Darryl did is in the past. I don’t think he owes you an explanation about his sexual extracurricular activities while you two were estranged.”

  A very rare scowl, ferocious enough to punch someone, formed on Emery’s face.

  “Admit you’re jealous.”

  “I’m. Not. Jealous.”

  “Look, you pretty much lived like a monk. I think you might have regrets. Hey, we all do. Maybe you wanted a chance to fuck around.”

  “Fucking around, as you so nicely put it, goes against my beliefs,” Emery coolly replied.

  “It goes against mine, too, but we’re men, not saints, as you like to put it. There were times I was tempted. Can you say the same?”

  The radio kept squawking to fill the silence of doom that confirmed Jude had hit a nerve.

  “If I throw on the light, will I see a red face? Am I right?” Jude inched his hand to the light between them on the roof.

  “Fine. There were times I was tempted.” I give up filled Emery’s answer.

  “It’s not easy following one’s beliefs.” Jude rested his hand on the console while still facing Emery.

  “Speaking of beliefs...” A very un-Emery-like sly grin wiped away his look of resignation. “What about Raven then?”

  Jude flopped back in the seat. �
�Let’s say I’m pretty damn tempted.”

  “You’re looking for an... extracurricular activity?”

  “That’s a very tactful way to put it.”

  “You used it first, not me.” Emery turned his head, smiling.

  Jude sank in the seat. He could admit the black gut of doom had lifted after finally speaking about what he kept hidden to his little brother. Maybe there were times he needed an ear instead of always being the ear.

  But would he have unzipped his mouth if he was still married? His stomach re-blackened. Probably not. It took a divorce to make him understand there might be changes he needed to make. Like Raven. She’d been easy to talk to. Something he’d never done with Charlene.

  “Okay. Lay it on me. What’d she say?”

  “Who?”

  “My ex-wife. I can take it.”

  “She explained her side. Why she had the affair. Why she felt you weren’t right for her anymore. Why you two weren’t right for each other anymore.”

  “Did she admit to pursuing Stephen? The jerk was very interested in Bridget before Charlene picked up her chess pieces and got in the game.”

  “She told me she simply wanted a man who would take her out for dinner and truly listen, instead of always feeding her directions, trying to solve her problems, always giving his opinion on everything.”

  Jude winced. Maybe he wasn’t ready for the truth. He wasn’t some ogre like Charlene was painting him out to be.

  “And she admitted she was jealous of Bridget.”

  “What? Bridget?” Jude hadn’t seen that coming.

  “Think about it. You married while you were finishing your teaching degree. Charlene had started working at the hospital. That’s awfully young to be tied down.”

  “I see...” Jude ground his teeth. “She had regrets, hey? Didn’t get to screw around. One dick wasn’t enough for her.” My dick wasn’t enough for her.