“Carson, I really don’t want company.”
I open the door and flip on the light. Raven covers her tear-swollen eyes. “Carson, I said I don’t want company.”
“You know what, I don’t give a fuck what you want right now. You are going to sit and eat. You have been locked in this room for too long. Now sit up!” She slowly sits up in the bed and I set the plate on her lap. “So is this going to be your existence? Are you just going to lay in bed and waste away? I thought you were a fighter, fighters don’t give up. Did you even love him?” Raven looks at me, as if I had slapped her across the face. “Because the Raven I know would be fighting for what she wants, so obviously you don’t care enough.”
“Carson, that’s not true, I do care and I do love him. What am I supposed to do? I don’t know where he’s at, and how dare you walk in here and tell me I’m not a fighter. I would do anything for him, you bastard!”
I smile at her. “What the fuck are you smiling at, Carson?”
“You, baby girl, you. Welcome to the living.” She throws a piece of her bread at me and I catch it, and then sit on the bed. “So you did know that I was a computer tech, correct?” Raven is now eating her soup as she nods her head yes and looks up at me. “I know you know about the GPS app that I developed. Maybe you should … hum, like ask me for it? You think?”
“I forgot you had that,” she says, around a mouthful of bread.
“As long as his phone is on and a satellite can reach him, then we can track him. Does he have more than one phone?”
“I don’t think so, and if he did, he always carries his main phone.”
She finishes the last of her soup and I take her plate and phone. “I want you to lie down and sleep. I will get a cold cloth for your eyes to bring down the swelling. Then, after you have rested we will track him, but only if you sleep. Okay?”
“Thank you, Carson, I love you.”
“I love you too, baby girl.”
I turn off the light as I leave her room. I place the plate on the countertop. I get a cloth, place it under the cold water, and place some crushed ice into a zip-lock bag and wrap it in a towel before taking it back into the bedroom. Here, place this on your eyes.” I lay the towel over her eyes and shut the door on the way out.
Char walks in about five minutes later. Katie leaves a few minutes later. I give Char a kiss hello and tell her what I did and that Raven just went to sleep. I set the GPS tracker on Raven’s phone and see that Toby is moving. It looks like he has been in the mountains.
“I brought home some soup. Would you like some?”
“Yes please, thank you, Zain.”
“Anything to take care of my ladies.” I walk into the kitchen and repeat the process that I did for Raven. As I am waiting for the soup to get hot, Raven’s phone rings.
“It’s Toby.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Charlie
I ANSWER IT on the first ring. “Hello?”
“Hello?”
“T?”
“Charlie?”
“Hi T, yeah it’s Charlie. I just got Raven to sleep. She hasn’t eaten or slept. This is the first time she’s allowed herself to sleep since you left. Are you okay? Are you coming home?”
“I’m on my way home now, but I have to work off some steam first. I don’t know why she’s so upset; she acted as if I was the last person she wanted to see. She was so mad that I fixed it for her to meet her mother, I …”
“T, a lot happened after you left. Michelle went outside, we brought of them both back inside. She explained how concerned you were. That you wouldn’t let her meet Raven until you had checked her out and made sure she wasn’t going to hurt her and … Listen, she’s the one that needs to talk to you not me. She’s been so upset about how she treated you, she’s heartbroken.”
“Well, that goes both ways, Charlie. I never thought she would treat me like she did, and that just ripped my heart out. I don’t know … I don’t think I can do this. I would rather be alone than to go through something like that again, it … it hurts to fucking much.”
“Toby, you have it all wrong. Love isn’t what hurts. It’s the loneliness that hurts, rejection, losing someone, that’s what hurts, don’t get it confused with love. Love is the only thing that covers up all the pain and makes you feel wonderful again. Toby, you told Zain and me that this wasn’t about us. If we can sit and talk our problems out, then you can work them out with Raven. I’ve never seen her as happy as I have since she met you. She loves you, Toby. I don’t want you and Raven to go through what Zain and I have for the last six years. Don’t waste the time you can be spending with each other because you got your feelings hurt. I’m not saying that you both don’t need to talk … Listen, I know better than most, life is too short to waste it, because none of us know how long we will be here for.”
“I’ll have to think about it,” he says quietly. “Just tell her I called when she gets up. Thanks, Charlie.”
“I’ll let her know. Bye T.”
“Bye, Charlie.”
About a half hour later, Raven comes out into the living room. Her eyes aren’t quite as swollen as they were earlier. “Are you ready to go fight?” Zain asks. “He’s coming into town and he is going to go work out. Do you know where he goes to?”
“Yes, it’s over by Harlow’s bakery.”
“He’s going over there to work off some steam, so I would get something girly on and go beat the shit out of him.”
“You really think I should go?”
“Do you want to show him that he’s worth fighting for?”
“Yes.”
“Then yes, I think you need to go. In fact, why are you still here?”
Raven comes out of her room a few minutes later after washing her face and brushing her teeth. She’s in a pair of black yoga pants with a hot pink stripe down the side and a matching sports bra and she walks out for our approval. “Perfect, now get out of here!” Zain says. “If you need anything, we will be a call away.
“Thank you, both,” Raven says, as she pulls us both into hugs before running out the door.
The door shuts and Zain and I look at each other. We have purposely kept our physical actions to strictly kissing to respect Raven these last couple of days, and I don’t know about Zain, but I am about to lose my sanity.
Without saying a word, we are clawing at each other; he is pulling up my dress at the same time as I am pulling up his shirt. Our mouths are on each other kissing, licking, and nibbling. It is mad aggressive, it is feral. We are wild; I can’t get enough of his touch, his taste, or the feel of his skin on mine. That skin-to-skin contact I was craving. I reach for his belt, then his button fly. I slide his jeans down his legs as far as I can without letting my lips leave his, as he toes off his shoes and steps out of his jeans.
I stop, as if reconnecting with my brain, and pull away. My fingers go to my kiss-swollen lips, as I look up at Zain.
“What is it, baby?”
“I’m not on anything, I didn’t go on the pill because … well, because Braydon was gone, and I … I didn’t think I would … I would ever find anyone like you again,” I say as I look up at him, and a tear escapes from the corner of my eye.
Zain cups my face with his hands, kissing me lightly, then brushes my tear away. “What do you want, Char? Tell me. I will do what you want. The last thing I want to do is rush you if you’re not ready.”
“God, Zain, I do want you, I want you so bad it hurts. I miss your touch on my body, I miss the way you know all the spots that make me go wild and I miss your taste.” Zain steps back into his jeans and buttons them, then buckles his belt. He sits on the couch and puts his shoes on. He picks his shirt up and starts to put it on as he walks to the door.
“Zain?”
“I’ll be right back.” He walks over and kisses my cheek, then turns and walks out the door.
Tears burn my eyes as I think that I have lost him because I said no. I walk into the bathroom and start the shower. I re
move my panties and bra, step into the shower, and it’s not until then that the tears start to fall. I slide down the wall, wrapping my arms around my knees. I bury my face in them as the last year of emotions seems to come out in sobs. I don’t know how long I was sitting there when Zain entered the shower, turning off the water and picking me up, cradling me like a baby and walking me to my bed. “Whha … What … ar … are … yo … you do … doing he … here?” I say, as my voice shudders through my sobs.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Charlie
“CHAR, WHAT HAPPENED, why are you crying?” He sets me on the bed, walks back into the bathroom, comes back with a towel, wraps it around me, picks me back up, and starts to rock me, kissing my head.
When I have finally calmed my sobbing down, I look up at him and say, “I thought you left me; I thought you didn’t want to be with me because I said no.”
“Baby, I left to go to the store. After our conversation about no birth control, I knew I needed to go pick something up. I didn’t want you to feel obligated to go on something when I could take responsibility for it. I remember the time we showered together and I hadn’t used anything, I didn’t want you to worry.” He pulls a box out of his jacket pocket and he raises his eyebrows up and down with a devilish grin on his face that makes me giggle. “God, I’ve missed that giggle of yours.”
“Thank you, Zain.”
“For what.”
“For caring for me.”
He takes my face in his hands and lifts it so I’m looking into his eyes. “I’m not going anywhere, baby, nowhere.”
I lean forward and take his lips with mine; I run my fingers through his hair and pull him closer to me. I am still only in a towel. I feel his erection getting harder against my hip. My breathing is fast and shallow and my heartbeat is steady with Zain’s. He pulls away and looks at me. “What do you want, Char? Tell me what you want.”
I place my hand on his cheek. “Make love to me, Zain. I need to feel you, I need to know you are mine, I need you to make me yours. Please.”
“I will, and so much more, Char. I will never let you go.” He picks me up and places me in the middle of the bed. He pulls his shirt over his head and slowly unbuckles his belt and unbuttons his fly, slowly slipping his jeans and boxers down at the same time, as his erection springs free. He sits on the edge of the bed and removes his shoes. God, I forgot what he looked like, and with the tattoo and the nipple piercing, fuck me. His erection is so hard I can see the veins pulsing, and I start writhing thinking about him being inside me.
He takes the towel off me and stands frozen.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, as he slowly lifts his eyes to mine.
“Jesus Christ, Char, do you have anything else pierced?” His eyes drop again to my pierced nipples.
“I guess that’s what you will have to find out.”
He moans as he brings his eyes back to mine. “Then one day you will have to tell me the meanings of your tattoos.” He lifts my foot, licking, kissing, and nipping at it, as he makes his way up my shin to my knee. He stops at my knee and pays special attention to it, and I’m already moaning and moving. “Oh Char, how I’ve missed you.” He makes his way to my pussy, and he pushes my legs apart, spreading me open. “You’re dripping wet, baby.” He licks his lip, then bites it. “I have to taste you, I’ve dreamed of your taste. Do you remember our first time? God, I can’t tell you how many wet dreams I had thinking of you giving yourself to me like that. I had to live off that dream for six years.”
“You don’t have to wait or dream anymore, Zain. I’m right here, for you to do as you wish.”
“Fuck baby, don’t tease me like that.”
“I would never tease you about what I want you to do to me.”
“I can’t stand it anymore, I have to taste you.” He places his hand under my behind and tilts my hips. He then licks me from the back to the front and a low growl comes from inside him as he licks me again, but this time he pushes his tongue inside me, as I let out a moan. My hips are moving to his ministration, as he starts to circle my clit with his tongue. He releases my hip and slowly inserts a finger inside me.
“Oh God, Zain, that feels so good.” My hips are circling around his finger. I push against the headboard of my bed to push harder on his finger. There’s a constant moan escaping my lips now. I feel the muscles tightening in my core, as it starts to build. My legs are starting to quiver. Zain pulls his finger out of me, and I moan for the orgasm that fades away. “Oh God, Zain, please.”
“Please what, baby?”
“I need to feel you, Zain, please.”
“Oh baby, I’m just starting to rock your world, I have six long years to make up for.”
He starts to kiss his way up my body. He stops at my right breast, licking it, and then pulling on the nipple ring between his tongue and teeth, and again it’s making me writhe under him. He pulls and rolls my other nipple, making it painfully hard. Then he switches sides. He slowly moves up my neck, kissing and nibbling that sensitive spot just under my ear. He moves up to my ear. As he gets to my ear, he whispers, “I’m going to have you now, I can’t wait any longer.” He pulls a condom from the box and rips it open with his teeth and rolls it onto his long hard cock. He positions himself at the opening of my sex and slowly starts to push in. We both moan together. God, he feels so fucking good.
He pushes in more as my body stretches to his size and I reach for his earlobe, as he slowly moves. It’s been so long, it doesn’t take much for my orgasm to build. “Oh God, Zain, you have me on the edge, you feel so fucking good.” My hips are moving in unison with his. I reach down, grabbing his ass, pulling him harder into me.
“God, Char, yes.”
“Ah, oh, God, I’m going to cum. Oh, Zain, now, God, oh God, now. Yes!” He thrusts harder into me, making my orgasm last longer.
“Oh Char, that feels so good. Oh, oh God, you’re so tight. Yes!”
Zain takes my face in his hands and kisses my lips. “God Char, you are so good, I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Zain. Please, never let me go again.”
“Oh baby, that will never be a problem.”
Zain slowly removes himself from me and throws the condom away. He slips into bed with me and for the first time in a long time, I feel safe, home. I never thought I would feel this way again.
Chapter Thirty
Zain
I’M IN THE MIDDLE of one of the best dreams. It’s so vivid, I can even smell her, feel her beside me nuzzling me. God, I’m so hard, even my nipple piercing feels like it’s being played with. Shit, if I don’t wake up, I’m going to have a wet dream. I moan as I dream of Char pulling on my nipple ring, then, Oh My God! I feel like I’m a teenager again. I know I’m going to blow. Shit! My hips are moving, then I feel the vibration of a moan, but I know I didn’t just moan. It’s a constant moan. My balls are being massaged. I know I didn’t go out last night drinking. I open my eyes trying to recognize anything around me. It’s so dark. I look down my body as my eyes adjust to the darkness and see the most beautiful blue-green eyes staring up at me. Sweet Jesus.
“My God, Char, you’re going to make me cum. Come here so I can take care of you.” Char’s hold on my leg gets tighter, and her suction stronger. I feel her flicking her tongue over the head of my cock. She’s stroking me with her free hand, shit. “Oh Char, God, Ah, Ah, FUUUCK!” Oh God, it has been so long since I felt how good Char makes me feel when she goes down on me, the way she flicks her tongue and the buildup, my God. I sit up and pull Char to me. “I have never felt anything like that before. That was amazing.”
I take Char’s mouth in mine, consuming her, fucking her mouth with my tongue. I am so turned on, a primal growl escapes my throat. Char is straddling me as I flip her to her back and I’m on top of her. My hands are on her breasts massaging them as I run my fingers over her nipples, rolling them, playing with her nipple rings as a soft mewl escapes her mouth. I reach for the nightstand, rippi
ng open the foil packet. Char takes the packet from my hand and pulls out the condom and places it over my erection, slowly stroking it as she rolls it on. Fuuck! Who would have thought that having her roll on a condom would make me even harder?
She then leans forward and takes my nipple ring in between her teeth and tongue, gently pulling it, then licking it and pulling it again. My God, what this woman does to me.
Char and I hardly left the bedroom all weekend other than to take care of Jaxon and to eat, well, eat food, that is. Luckily, I had fixed extra chicken and we ate the leftovers and went back to bed.
“Can I ask you something?” I say to Char.
“Sure, what?”
“Well, I don’t want to upset you, because it is about Braydon.”
“Okay … What do you want to know?”
“You said the guy that killed him was only sentenced to nine months?”
“Yes, and then he was supposed to get out earlier for good behavior. Why?”
“I was just curious if there was a restraining order or anything that was made out to keep him away from you.”
“Not that I know of. Why?”
“Well, maybe I will talk to Toby about it. It doesn’t seem right that this guy could be anywhere and stalk you or harass you.”
“I’ve never thought about it before. Now you’re scaring me.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just want to make sure you are protected.” I drop the subject, not wanting to upset Char more than I have bringing up the past.
Monday comes far too fast and I find it hard to leave the cocoon I have felt like I’ve been in this last weekend. One thing that I do know is that I want Char and Jaxon to move in with me, and the sooner, the better. I know that it won’t be too long before Toby asks the same of Raven.
“I’m working a long shift tonight. I go in early so Katie will have Jaxon at her house so she can study better.”
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