Raven's Revenge: Paranormal Prison Romance (Paranormal Prison Series Book 2)

by Naomi Martin

  I know he wouldn’t want to live like this. The boys are right… he wouldn’t want to live in a world where he couldn’t be with me any more than I want to live in one where I can’t be with him. I won’t let him continue to exist like this. I can’t. But I’m not ready to give up yet. I won’t give up on him. I will push myself past the point of exhaustion and sanity to find a way to bring him back to me. He deserves no less than everything I have in me.

  Gray has always encouraged me to test my limits. To push my boundaries. He has always told me I’m the only one holding me back and that I am capable of far more than I let myself believe. He’s made me want to believe that my powers are limitless, and that I’ve only scratched the surface of what I’m able to do. He’s had a large hand in helping me develop my confidence and trust in my abilities. He’s helped me learn to trust myself.

  So, if that’s true, and I’m able to accomplish everything he thinks me capable of, then I’m going to be able to crack that shell and yank the weave out of him. If my only limitations are the ones I impose upon myself, then I should be able to do this. If I’m half as capable as Gray thinks I am, I can figure this out.

  I get up again and wipe my eyes. I’m not going to stand here and feel sorry for myself. The boys have fought for me more times than I can count, and I’m not going to let this happen.

  As if picking up on my vibe, Kayla looks at me. “What are you going to do?” she asks.

  “I’m going to fix this,” I growl. “I’m either going to burn that fucking thing out of his head, or he’s going to die. I won’t let him exist in this in-between, puppet state. I either want my Gray back, or I’m going to say goodbye to him.”

  She watches me as I slip a weave of Spirit into his head. I slide it around the hardened weave, knowing instinctively that I can’t just rip it out. I know that will kill him every bit as much as plunging a knife into his heart. But I need to do something. I need to be creative and find an outside-the-box solution to an outside-the-box problem.

  “Trust yourself, Raven.”

  I channel a thread of fire into the weave surrounding the shell and at first, nothing happens. Then, I feel something shift. It’s slight. It’s not much. But I definitely felt something crack. I open my eyes and look at Kayla.

  “It’s working,” I gasp. “I think I’m doing it.”

  Kayla looks at me, her eyes wide, a smile on her face. “You’re channeling fire into the weave. That’s brilliant, Raven!”

  I’m dimly aware of the sound of the doors opening behind us before I’m hit with something heavy that blows me off my feet. For a moment, I’m weightless as I feel myself flying across the room, confusion wrapping itself around my mind, gripping it tight. But then I slam into the wall with a hard crunch and something inside of me snaps, making me cry out. I feel the weave pinning me to the wall, keeping me from moving, making me feel like a butterfly on a stick pin in some high school biology classroom.

  Ironically, the sharp, throbbing pain in my arm helps me to focus and I see Coral standing in the center of the room, next to the table Gray lays on. She’s got one weave around me, and she lashes out with another weave to slam Kayla against the wall. Kayla rebounds and slumps to the ground, not moving. A crimson rivulet slides down her face and I can’t tell if she’s breathing.

  “You bitch,” I scream at Coral. “What in the fuck are you doing?”

  “Following orders,” she sneers. “You should try it sometime.”

  “Orders? Whose orders?” I grunt. “Dora sent you to kill me?”

  “Dora—”

  Her words are cut off by the window in the observation room exploding outward. Shards of glass spray across the room, some of them puncturing Gray, others piercing Coral’s body. She lets out a high-pitched scream and hits Zane with a thick weave of Spirit as he leaps through the window. He struggles mightily, but she has him around the throat and is trying to choke him out. I thrash against the bond she’s holding me with, trying to slash her weaves, but she manages to block every one of my attempts.

  But Coral is so occupied with Zane and I, she doesn’t see Elliot leap through the shattered window. I want to cheer when I see him. Coral’s eyes widen when she finally spots him, but it’s too late—a fireball as big as her head is already streaking across the room. It slams into her chest and blows her backward. She hits the wall and even from where I am, I hear the snapping of bones. She lets out a strangled yelp, and then the pressure is gone. Her weaves have been cut.

  I stagger to my feet and race toward her, channeling a weave of Spirit to bind her, but I’m too late. She lashes out with her power and slashes the bonds that hold Gray to the table. I turn as another of her weaves enters his body and I see him spasm.

  “Oh, shit,” I mutter, but nothing happens. He’s still out cold.

  I let out a sigh of relief and turn to handle my business with Coral. As long as she draws breath, she’s dangerous. Though her chest smolders, her skin is charred, and there is a large, bloody hole in her body, Coral laughs. I look down at her, a weave of Spirit ready. Her laughter, her voice, is crackly and dry.

  “Villa is coming for you all,” she rasps. “He’s going to kill every last one of you. Except you, Raven. Your boyfriend is going to kill you.”

  “Why did you do this, Coral? You were one of us,” I say, grappling for meaning.

  “I was never one of you. I’ve never believed in your cause,” she rasps. “I’ve been working for Villa all along. I hate what I am. At least he gives me a chance to do something about it—the opportunity to channel my hate.”

  I shake my head in disbelief. To have lived and fought alongside a mole—a traitor—this whole time leaves me completely dumbstruck. That I never knew or even suspected Coral makes me want to kick my own ass. She apparently sees the emotions scrolling across my face and lets out a hoarse laugh that quickly devolves into a fit of choked coughing.

  I release the weave and bind her. She’s going to die anyway, but until she does, I’m not going to let her cause any mischief. I turn and am suddenly lifted off my feet. I hear both Zane and Elliot yelling Gray’s name, but he pays them no heed as he slams me into the wall. His lips curl back into a sneer and his eyes narrow in on me, filled with fear. Filled with hate.

  Gray throws me across the room and as I hit the ground, the sudden impact jars whatever is already broken, filling my body with a blinding pain. I cry out, but Gray is already on me again. He picks me up and slams me against the wall hard enough to drive the breath from my lungs.

  “Please, Gray. It’s me,” I croak. “It’s Raven.”

  He growls. “Must kill Raven.”

  I shake my head. “You don’t. You don’t have to. You love me,” I say. “I love you. We’re a part of each other, baby.”

  Zane and Elliot are moving slowly, closing in from behind. But I call to them.

  “Don’t,” I warn them. “It’s fine. We’re fine.”

  “Like hell you are,” Elliot says.

  “Stop, El,” I spit, keeping my eyes focused on Gray’s. “Back the fuck off.”

  I see Zane motion to Elliot to stop. Gray leans closer, his warm breath washing over me. I focus on his lips, recalling how soft they are. How they feel pressed to mine. Missing that. Wanting it.

  “You don’t want to hurt me, Gray.”

  He gives his head a shake and I see confusion rippling across his face. He sets me down on the ground, but he keeps me pinned to the wall with an arm across my throat. I open my hand and channel a flow of Spirit.

  “I can help you,” I tell him. “I can make everything all right again. Trust me, Gray.”

  His eyes narrow and he sneers at me. “I need to kill you. The colonel said I have to kill you, or you’re going to kill me.”

  I shake my head. “I’m not going to hurt you. I swear it,” I tell him. “I only want to help you.”

  Gray’s features smooth out and I know his programming is taking hold. He’s going to kill me. Feeling the pressure
on my throat increasing, I see the depth of his fear, his hatred. They’re both artificial responses—commands implanted in his mind—but standing so close to him, they feel real enough to me.

  With a roar of rage, Gray draws his arm back, ready to lash out and strike me. Before he can, I unleash my weave and wrap him up in it. I draw his arms down to his sides and pull the thread tightly around him. He howls in outrage as he falls backward, hitting the ground like a falling oak tree.

  I jump down and straddle his chest as he thrashes under me. Then, Zane and Elliot are both there, pinning his legs down. I cast a glance up at Kayla and see her stirring. Thank God, she’s alive. She holds her hands to her head, looks at the blood on her fingertips, then looks up at me. Elliot sees her and nods to Zane before jumping off Gray’s legs and going to help her.

  Over my shoulder, I cast a glance at Zane, and he nods. “You can do this.”

  I turn back and channel a weave of Spirit into Gray’s brain. Once I have the hardened shell enveloped in my weave, I start channeling Fire into it. It’s a slow, tedious process, but I can feel it shifting, bubbling, cracking. I have no idea what will happen once this hardened shell breaks, and that worries me. It could expose the weave, which I can then undo. Or, it could fry Gray’s brain completely. It could do any one of a thousand things. I just don’t know yet.

  But I have to try. For Gray’s sake, and for mine.

  In for a penny, in for a pound.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Gray

  I wake up and once again find myself staring at a strange ceiling. I’m inundated by waves of disorientation and confusion. I don’t know where I am, or how I got here. I try to move, but find my arms and legs bound to the bed. At least this is a bed and not some hard-ass table.

  “Hello?” I call out.

  I take stock of my body and though I’m still a collection of aches and pains, the pulsing pain in my head is gone. That’s an improvement. And while there are still some large blank spots in my memory, it doesn’t feel like my head is going to explode when I try to remember. The memories just don’t come. That’s an improvement, too.

  “Hello?” I shout again.

  I hear the click of a door opening and look up to see Raven standing in the doorway, half hiding behind the door. I give her a smile as I feel a rush of love and affection wash over me. She’s standing there in a loose T-shirt that’s way too big for her—mine, obviously—and a pair of boxers. Even dressed like that, with her hair askew and no makeup on—obviously having just woken up—she is easily the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

  “It’s you,” I say. “Why are you hiding from me?”

  “Because I’m not sure yet if you’re going to kiss or kill me,” she replies.

  “Kill you? I’d never hurt you. Why would you say that?” I ask.

  A shadow crosses her face and she looks down for a moment, leaving me to wonder what in the hell happened in those moments I can’t recall—what in the hell I did.

  “I love you, Raven,” I say.

  Her smile was wide and warm. “You certainly seem like you’re back to your old self.”

  “I’m not sure what my new self was up to, but I gather from your reaction that he was kind of an asshole,” I tell her. “And for whatever my new self did, my old self apologizes profusely.”

  Her laughter is high-pitched and sounds like music to my ears. It’s like I’m hearing it for the first time. It’s addictive; I can’t get enough of it. Raven bites her bottom lip as she looks at me, her eyes shimmering with tears.

  “You’re really back,” she says.

  I nod. “It would appear that way.”

  She runs over and leaps on top of me, straddling my stomach. She hugs me tight and I feel immediately comforted by the familiar warmth and softness of her body. She sits up and leans forward, her mouth crashing against mine. She kisses me like a woman who hasn’t seen her man in a year. Her tongue pushes past my lips, swirling around mine with a ferocity that makes my head swim.

  Raven sits up and smiles down at me. “You have no idea how good that feels.”

  “Actually, I do.”

  And I mean it. While I always enjoy her kiss, this time it felt like water to a man dying of thirst. A banquet for a starving man. I would have been happy to spend the entire day kissing her. I look pointedly at my arms, which are tied to the headboard by a weave of her power.

  “You know, I could probably show you just how much I enjoyed that kiss if you cut the weaves,” I say. “Just a thought.”

  She gets a mischievous glint in her eye and a devilish smile on her face. “Actually,” she says, “I think I have you right where I want you.”

  She slips her hand beneath the sheet that covers my waist, and grabs hold of my cock. Squeezing it tightly in her fist, she starts to stroke me. My eyes roll back in my head and I let out a long, languid groan, the feel of her hand on me sending electric sparks of desire flowing through my veins.

  Raven slides down my body, that devious grin on her lips, and my cock—now rigid as steel—still in her hands. From the base, she runs her tongue all the way up, teasing that spot beneath the head with the tip of her tongue and making me writhe beneath her.

  “Get rid of these bonds,” I whisper.

  “Not a chance,” she says with a sultry grin. “I’m in charge here.”

  She leans down and swallows me whole, sliding her lips down all the way to the base of my staff. She starts to move her mouth up and down on me, gripping my cock with her hand, squeezing it tight as she strokes me.

  I press my head back against the pillows, my body tingling from head to toe as Raven works me over with her mouth. Still gripping my staff, she swirls her tongue around the head of my cock, making my entire body twitch beneath her.

  “God, that feels good,” I groan.

  Raven tightens her lips and her fist around me again, licking and sucking on me like she has something to prove. I tremble beneath her, liquid fire flowing through my veins. I long to reach out and touch her, but the bonds hold me tight.

  She keeps working me over, stroking and sucking, and I feel myself hurtling toward the precipice already.

  “Wait,” I croak.

  She pulls me out of her mouth, that devilishly sexy grin on her face. She gives the head of my cock another lick, teasing that sensitive spot again, and very nearly makes me burst. But she slides back up my body, her mouth finding mine. She kisses me with an intensity and a passion that leaves me breathless.

  Raven sits up, straddling my lap, and takes hold of my cock again. She rubs the head against her clit, throwing her head back and moaning. I feel her body shuddering as she teases herself. Raising herself up, she slips the tip between her slick, velvety folds, then slowly starts to slide down on me.

  A long moan passes my lips as she sinks onto me; the feeling of my shaft slipping along her inner walls is exquisite. Raven’s eyes find mine and she holds my gaze. Her lips are parted, and when she’s fully seated on top of me, she gasps. Her whole body tightens around me and she leans forward, planting her hands on my chest.

  A quavering smile touches her lips and then she starts slowly moving herself up and down on top of me. I long to feel my hands on her body, to run my fingers along her skin. But Raven has other plans. She bites her bottom lip, slowly rising and falling on me, taking my staff deep into her molten core.

  Then she quickens her pace and starts to ride me harder. Faster. Her muscles tighten and I draw in a sharp breath as her fingernails dig half-moons into the skin on my chest. I grab hold of her hips, my fingers pressing hard into her skin as my desire for her becomes almost unbearable. I long to grab hold of her, take her from behind, pull her hair, and drive myself into her. As if she can read my thoughts, she smiles at me.

  Raven thrusts herself down, impaling herself upon me. She holds herself there and shudders, a stuttering gasp bubbling out of her throat. Her entire body is taut and then she cries out. She digs her nails into my skin as she sh
akes wildly on top of me, caught up in the throes of her orgasm.

  She keeps moving on top of me, and I feel her gripping my staff harder with her inner muscles. Raven moans, moving faster. She pounds herself up and down on me, using her hands on my chest for leverage. My entire body feels like it’s on fire and all of my muscles grow tight. I feel my pulse racing, my breath growing ragged, and my body trembling as she rides me.

  “Raven,” I groan. “Oh God.”

  “Yes,” she cries. “Come for me, Gray. Come for me hard, baby.”

  I feel my cock swell and a moment later, I burst. I erupt inside of her, filling her warm, wet core with my seed. I shudder and gasp, my orgasm more powerful than I expected. And as it fades, and I’m left trying to catch my breath, I can’t help but feel the smile on my face.

  “I think I like it when you’re in charge,” I say.

  She laughs and lays down on top of me, nuzzling into my neck. I feel the bonds around my wrists and ankles disappear, and suddenly I’m free. There is nowhere else I’d rather be, though. I wrap her in my arms and hold her tightly to me, finding comfort in her body pressed to mine.

  “I’m glad you’re back,” Raven says.

  “If I go away again,” I say, “can we do that again?”

  She looks up at me and smiles. “We can do that whenever you want.”

  “God, I love you.”

  “And I love you.”

  She lays her head back down and we savor the sensation of being so close, slowly drifting off together.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Raven

  “It’s true. Villa is bringing his entire force here. Or near enough to it,” Dora announces, her face tight and her voice grim. “They’re going to try to wipe most of us out in one fell swoop.”