Read Jade Archer - Sandpipers 2 - Raven's Mark Online
Authors: Jade Archer
A little over twenty minutes later, Mark watched Raven walk away. While he wished he’d been able to convince Raven to stay, managing to keep him as long as he had was a huge step forward. And he couldn’t deny he thoroughly enjoyed the view. Raven’s tight, rounded ass was just something else.
With a sigh as Raven finally disappeared around a bend, Mark thought back through their morning together. Most of the time had been spent simply sitting together, watching the gulls squabble over scraps in the park. And Mark hadn’t pressed for more. In fact, he’d actually enjoyed the quiet restfulness of just being with Raven under the trees and watching the birds. He’d never taken a lot of time to chill out in the past. It seemed like there was always something that needed doing—another crisis to manage at home, extra hours to put in at work. He was a little surprised how much he’d enjoyed doing nothing and how relaxed he felt right now.
Mark wondered idly if Raven liked fishing. It was something he’d always wanted to try, but could never spare the time for. He was going to have to remedy that. He didn’t want to end up one of those guys who got so wrapped up in his work he neglected everything else. Life was too short.
He suspected he’d enjoy going fishing with Raven. A river, perhaps. Somewhere quiet and peaceful away from the hustle and bustle. But it would have to wait for now. At the moment it was a case of seizing whatever opportunities came his way to spend time with Raven and patiently convincing him he was not only serious, but worth the risk.
Of course, he didn’t think for one second Lark casually mentioning Raven’s habit of running each morning after dropping Ryan off at preschool had been an accident. The man was about as subtle as a kick in the head. But once again, he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth—even if it did come in the form of a meddlesome, match-making twink.
He was still kind of stunned it had worked, though. Not only had he managed to drag his sorry ass out of bed at the crack of dawn, he’d actually spotted Raven on the boardwalk. Considering how long the running path was, it was something of a miracle to have bumped into him…something he hadn’t considered until he was well into his run and finally awake.
Heading back towards the boardwalk and ultimately home, Mark reflected on their time together in the park. Reaching out and taking Raven’s hand, even if it had only been for a few moments, had definitely been a risky move—one he didn’t regret for a second, but he knew he’d taken a chance. He needed to take things slow and easy or he risked scaring Raven off. He knew that. But it was hard. Patience wasn’t really one of his strong suits.
Settling himself on a chair at the kitchen table, Raven stared around the warm, comfortable room. The apartment above Sandpipers Restaurant was spacious and well appointed. But more than that, it felt like a home—lived in and loved in. Hearing the sound of Wolf and Ryan laughing happily in the background only reinforced the image. He’d never experienced anything even remotely like it when he was growing up, but this was exactly what he wanted for Ryan. A home. A loving family. A haven.
Without meaning to, his mind strayed to thoughts of Mark. What sort of family did Mark come from? Did he have a happy home growing up?
One of Raven’s biggest fears had always been that, while he wanted to be a good father, he didn’t really know how. He didn’t have much personal experience to fall back on. He didn’t know what one did or even looked like. Although, on that score, watching Brody, Lark and Zak with Wolf certainly helped.
What would Mark be like with kids?
Of course, gazing around the kitchen and thinking of Mark quickly led to the memory of him bent over at the oven the weekend before. Raven realised he’d probably never be able to walk into the room again and not remember that moment…or what had happened directly after.
Still, Mark really had been pretty incredible about the whole panic attack thing that day. Not many guys would have been so understanding and—
“Thanks for bringing Wolf home again today,” Brody said as he pulled two cups out of an overhead cupboard.
Heat rushed into Raven’s cheeks. Brody had invited him in for a cup of coffee. It was the same every afternoon he brought Wolf home from preschool—a gesture that had slowly made him feel welcome and almost at ease in their home. It had also relieved some of the loneliness that plagued him at times. And yet here he was, lost in his own head thinking about Mark…again! He’d never make friends—never mind keep them—if he kept zoning out on them.
Raven shifted self-consciously in his seat. “You’re w-welcome.”
Looking down at his hands, he tried to concentrate on the here and now and push all thoughts of Mark to the back of his mind.
The whole situation was getting completely out of hand. All he seemed to do at the moment was think about Mark. Well, Mark and the unexpected attraction that had sprung up between them. He was starting to fall behind in his work too—constantly slipping into daydreams and random deep thoughts. It—
“White with two sugars, right?” Brody asked, reaching for another cup.
Damn!
Raven cleared his throat. “Yes p-please.”
“You want a cup of coffee, Lark?” Brody called out, although it looked like he’d already anticipated the answer as he pulled Lark’s cup out.
“Yes, please!” a disembodied voice shouted back from somewhere in the direction of the living room. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Several squeals and a barrage of high-pitched giggles followed as Lark let out a dramatic roar.
“Sounds like the children are all playing nicely.” Brody grinned, setting down the third cup and turning to start working the fancy coffee machine in the corner.
With Brody occupied as the beans ground and the water heated, Raven found his thoughts drifting again. The scene in the park—a constant distraction—replayed in his mind.
“Just think about it.”
And the real kicker…
“Please.”
Raven stifled a snort. He’d been doing nothing
but
thinking about it for days. He heard the soft plea over and over. But it was crazy. He hadn’t even considered…whatever it was he was supposed to be thinking about in years. Hell, he couldn’t even
think
the word ‘date’. So why couldn’t he get Mark out of his head? And why did his cock start to stir and want to come out to play every time he even thought of the man, never mind set eyes on him? He hadn’t had a libido in forever. Why now?
“Earth to Raven. Come in, Raven,” Lark suddenly said, breaking into his heavy thoughts.
“Huh?” He hadn’t even heard Lark enter the room.
Looking up, he caught the tail end of Brody scowling at Lark, before his expression cleared and he turned to face Raven, handing over a steaming mug. “Everything okay?”
“Yes.” But Raven couldn’t hold Brody’s gaze long enough to make either of them believe it. Taking a deep breath, he knew he needed to do something. To take the plunge—if only to try and save what was left of his sanity. “I was wondering, w-would you… That is…”
“What?” Brody prompted gently when the silence stretched out too long.
“Would you guys maybe…l-look after Ryan for me one evening for a f-few hours.”
“Sure. Anytime.”
“Any date in particular?” Lark asked with a sly grin.
“Lark!” Brody admonished.
But Lark looked wholly unrepentant. “What?”
“I h-haven’t decided yet.”
“Well when you do, just let us know,” Brody said, fixing Lark with a stern glare. “We’d love to have Ryan over.”
“Thank you. I’m just th-thinking about it.”
“Ryan would be fine if that’s what you’re worried about. He seems right at home here,” Brody reassured in that gentle, quiet way of his.
Raven nodded. He knew and trusted Brody, Lark and Zak. He’d seen first-hand how they loved and treated Wolf. But more than that, Brody was right. Now that he stopped to think about it, while the party had been a challenge—a strange, noisy situation that Raven completely understood Ryan being nervous about—ordinarily his son was very comfortable here. “Thank you for h-having him over so often. It’s nice to see him so…h-happy.”
“Ryan’s a great kid. And Wolf’s completely taken with him.” Brody blew gently across his coffee cup. “Ms Gwen says they’re virtually inseparable at preschool.”
“And you know, we’d be more than happy to make it a sleepover,” Lark suggested with an enthusiastic grin and a cheeky waggle of his eyebrows.
Raven felt himself flush to the tips of his ears.
“Lark, give the guy a break, huh?” Brody mumbled.
“I’m just saying he should go for it. A good looking guy like Mark…well, they don’t come along every day. Present company excluded, of course.”
Raven watched as Brody grinned and shook his head at Lark, but he didn’t look at all shocked that Mark’s name had been mentioned.
“I d-don’t know what you’re talking about,” Raven finally managed to stammer.
Two sets of eyes swung around to stare at him. Neither looked like they believed him for a second.
“Yeah! Sure,” Lark drawled.
Raven lowered his eyes and fiddled with the handle of his coffee cup. Apparently— somehow—they knew. Maybe Mark had said something. Maybe he just wasn’t as inconspicuous about his attraction to Mark as he thought he was. Either way, it was obvious he wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all himself. And in the end, Lark was probably right— Mark wouldn’t hang around forever. He needed to make a decision—
No!
On second thought, he just needed to do it. Life wasn’t meant to be lived scared of your own shadow all the time. It was no example to set for Ryan.
“Is Mark w-working tonight?”
“No. It’s his day off,” Brody supplied quickly, eyeing Lark the whole time.
Raven slumped a little. This was hard enough. If he didn’t do it right now, he’d probably chicken out. And funnily enough, deep down he didn’t want to, and it had nothing to do with setting an example for Ryan, or any other flimsy excuse he might come up with. He didn’t want to let the chance slip away. He didn’t want to miss out on seeing what might happen. It was a quite liberating realisation.
“You don’t have his phone number?” Lark asked, sharp blue eyes boring into him now.
“No.”
“Mmm…tricky,” Lark murmured, pulling out his mobile phone. “And we can’t just give it to you. Staff confidentiality and all that.” But even as he spoke, Lark’s thumb was flying over the keypad. Within seconds he lay his phone down on the table beside Raven’s hand, the screen lit and showing a number ready to be dialled. “Hey, how about we take the boys out for a walk along the esplanade before dinner, Brod?”
Brody chuckled and shook his head at Lark’s antics. “You’re such a pushy bastard sometimes.”
“But you love me.”
“Yeah,” Brody said, letting out a long suffering sigh.
“Good boy,” Lark said, moving to snuggle into Brody’s side.
Brody smiled down at Lark, and Raven’s heart contracted with longing. He wanted that sort of look directed at him one day. And he had a sneaky suspicion he knew just who his heart was craving it from.
“So is that okay with you, Raven? If we take Ryan for a walk with us?” Brody asked, breaking into his deep thoughts.
“Um…s-sure.” He stared back down at the glowing LCD screen by his hand warily, hoping he could go through with it. And not just because he didn’t want to disappoint them.
“Excellent!” Lark crowed, already heading for the door. “Wolf! Ryan! Who wants to go for a walk?”
Enthusiastic squeals greeted the question followed by the pounding of feet on floorboards.
Ryan flew through the door, barely missing Lark and skidding to a stop in front of Raven, a huge smile on his face. He was the most relaxed and lively Raven could remember seeing him in…well, ever. Which was both sad and wonderful at the same time. Wolf, Lark, Brody and Zak were good for both of them, apparently.
“Can I? Please,” Ryan begged.
“Sure. But no r-running in the house.” Raven brushed back a wayward lock of Ryan’s black hair.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Raven gave his son a reassuring smile and it warmed him right through when Ryan returned it easily. Maybe he could do this parenting thing after all. “Off you go. Make sure you m-mind what Lark and Brody say.”
“I will.” With that Ryan threw his arms around Raven’s neck for a quick, brutal hug and disappeared out the door again, following Lark and Wolf in the hunt for shoes.
As he passed, Brody squeezed Raven’s shoulder. “Do it. Really. You deserve to be happy too.”
Yeah. Maybe I do
, he realised.
Still it took him half a dozen attempts to finally let the call go through.
Mark put the finishing touches to the vegetarian lasagne he was experimenting with, sprinkling crumbled feta cheese evenly over the pre-roasted vegetables before popping the pan into the oven. He knew most people would think he was crazy working on refining recipes and creating new menu items on his day off. But quite honestly he enjoyed the thrill of creating or improving something to be just that little bit better than it had been before. Plus it took his mind off waiting for Raven.
It had been three days since their talk in the park. Three days of watching and waiting. Sure, he’d seen Raven a couple of times, and the lingering looks suggested Raven was thinking hard about what he’d said, which was a huge relief. Raven had even managed a shy smile at him yesterday. Mark thought he’d end up going into cardiac arrest his heart had started pounding so hard.
Unfortunately, waiting wasn’t really something he was naturally good at. He liked to jump in and get on with things. Only his promise to be patient kept him in check. He prided himself on never breaking a promise. And he suspected Raven’s past included quite enough broken promises already.
Fortunately, before he could really start to fret about should haves and could haves, his phone started vibrating and the sound of
Trouble
by Pink brought a smile to his lips.
Lark.
He might be quirky and meddlesome at times, but he was still always guaranteed to distract and lighten the mood. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Mark flipped it open and answered with a grin.
“Hey, Lark. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Um…hi… I m-mean…it’s not Lark. It’s—”
“Raven?”
“Yes?”
“Oh! I mean, wow. That’s…wow, that’s…great.” Mark cleared his throat and tried to kick some brain cells into action. “It’s good to hear from you.”
Mark winced. That sounded lame even to his ears.
“It is?”
“Yes. Definitely,” Mark rushed out. “I was just thinking about you. How’d you find my number?”
“I um… I b-borrowed Lark’s phone.”
Mark resisted the urge to smack himself in the forehead as a hot flush of embarrassment crept up his neck. His only defence was that he’d become so tied up in knots to find himself suddenly talking to Raven after spending days thinking about him, he’d completely forgotten about hearing the distinctive ring tone he’d assigned to Lark’s mobile number. So much for engaging brain cells.
“I’m s-sorry,” Raven murmured. “I shouldn’t have—”
“No, it’s cool. Really. I mean, it’s just great to hear from you.”
Mark closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He hoped he could stop sounding like a complete moron sometime soon.
“R-really?”
Despite his embarrassing gaffe, a small smile tugged at Mark’s lips. The innocent surprise in Raven’s voice was both a relief and a turn on. “Yes, really.” Mark swallowed against the sudden dry knot of nervousness lodged in his throat. “I’ve ah…yeah, I’ve been thinking about you a lot.”
“Me t-too.”
As suave and sophisticated conversations went, Mark wasn’t sure he could have made a worse impression if he’d tried. Or a bigger fool of himself. And yet, Raven’s soft admission still managed to make him feel like a king as his heart started to race wildly. He grinned, probably making him look like an even bigger idiot than he felt, but he didn’t care. He felt so good right now he was surprised he wasn’t floating.
“So, what’s up?” he asked, hoping his voice didn’t give his stupid expression away.
“Well… I was just w-wondering…if the offer’s still there…if m-maybe you’d like tto…you know. To m-maybe…go…out.”
Raven suddenly growled in frustration—a soft adorable little sound that made Mark’s cock instantly take notice. He wondered what other noises Raven might be capable of, given the right incentive.
“I’m m-m-messing this all up.”
Mark managed to drag his mind back out of the gutter. “No. Honestly you’re not. I’d love to go out. The offer’s definitely still there.”
“Oh!”
Mark smiled at the sweet sound of surprise again. He only wished he was there to see the expression on Raven’s face right now. If he looked half as cute as he sounded…
Mark cleared his throat, trying to get back on track. “Would you like to come over to my place and I’ll cook for you, or would you like to go out somewhere?”
Both ideas had merit. At Mark’s house Raven wouldn’t have to cope with a lot of extra people—something Mark had noticed Raven sometimes had trouble with. But at the same time, he might not be comfortable being alone with Mark on his home turf, so to speak, either. It might imply a whole different level of pressure. And he knew Raven wasn’t ready for anything like that.
Mark could see a lot of cold showers in his future.
“I…ah… I think m-maybe going out somewhere. If that’s ok-kay.”
“Sounds wonderful. Do you want to pick where we go or can I surprise you?” Mark held his breath. As trust went, it was a minor, almost inconsequential testing of the waters, but he really hoped Raven would let him pick somewhere special for them. For him.
Baby steps
, he told himself.
“I…ah… I don’t know many p-places around here yet. Maybe you should p-pick.”
“I’d love to.” Mark let his very genuine pleasure at the idea fill his voice.
“Oh! I mean, that’s…g-good. Um… Th-Thank you.” Once again there was that surprised little sound Mark would have given anything to be able to see.
Mark swallowed down the impulsive urge to jump in and suggest they go out tonight— right now before Raven could change his mind. He wanted to, but it felt too pushy. Too desperate. And probably wouldn’t be at all practical considering Raven would need to find a babysitter for Ryan.
“Does next Monday sound okay? It’s my next night off,” Mark suggested instead.
“Um…s-sure. At least I think so. I’ll have to ask B-Brody and Lark. They said they’d look after Ryan for me.”
“Okay. Let’s make it Monday and if something changes you can let me know.”
It seemed the safest way to go. He wanted to make sure they had a date fixed, even if it needed to change later. Ambiguous just wasn’t going to work for him right now.
“That s-sounds…yeah. Ok-kay.”
Mark didn’t want to end the conversation, but it was rapidly coming to a natural close. “So, will you be at Sandpipers this weekend with Ryan?”
“Yes. I’m looking after the b-boys Sunday morning again. Just for a few hours.”
“Hopefully I’ll get to see you then.”
There was a long pause, and for a worrisome moment Mark thought he might have pushed too far, too fast.
Then he heard Raven murmur, “I’d l-like that.”
It was such a small admission, but Mark wanted to pump his fist in victory. Instead he contained his sense of triumph and offered a calm, “So, I guess I’ll see you then.”
“Uh huh.”
It was a start. A good start, he promised himself. Considering only a week ago he would have been lucky to catch a glimpse of Raven before he disappeared out the door again, and now Raven was initiating phone calls and agreeing to a date. It was an incredible achievement, really.
Yeah, baby steps, but a good start.
“Bye, Raven.”
“Bye, M-Mark.”
As soon as Raven hung up, Mark set to work finding the perfect place for their first date. It had to be just right. He had a really good feeling about this. About Raven. He needed their first date together to go off without a hitch.