“Yeah, I’m aware of that,” Jake told
him.
“But at this moment I really
couldn’t care less about the concert.”
Kurt’s face went so red it was almost
purple.
“You don’t care?
Are you kidding me right now?
Do you have any clue what your antics
have cost us these last couple weeks?”
Jake turned away from Raven to face Kurt.
“If you have something you want to get off your chest,” Jake told him, “then go
ahead and do it.
You seem to have a
lot of opinions about me.”
Kurt’s chest puffed out.
“I’m your best friend.
I’ve been through shit with you that
nobody’s been through.
And you
think you can just treat me like I’m your maid, or your personal assistant.”
“You work for me,” Jake told him, walking
closer.
“Don’t forget your place,
Kurt.”
“The only time you ever question my
loyalty is when she’s around,” he replied, pointing at Raven.
“I know you don’t like her,” Jake
said.
“And I understand you don’t
approve.
But you know what?
I don’t give a shit what you think
anymore.”
“Fine, ruin your career, then.
Throw it all away on some fling with a prostitute—“
Jake punched him.
It was so fast that Raven hardly even saw
it.
One moment, Kurt was talking, and the
next he’d fallen backwards, into the wall, and dropped to the floor.
He was dazed, rubbing his jaw and trying
to stand, but losing his balance.
“You hit me,” he said, his voice betraying his shock.
“Call her that again and I’ll do it
again,” Jake replied coldly, standing over him.
“You hit me,” Kurt repeated.
“Jake, please,” Raven said.
She got off the couch.
“Don’t fight him over me.”
Jake turned and looked at her, his brown
eyes burning.
“I’m going to protect
you from now on,” he said.
“I
should’ve known better than to let you out of my sight.”
Kurt was standing again, still rubbing
his jaw, but his eyes were clear.
“If you don’t trust me then just fire me already.
Don’t keep me on out of obligation.”
Jake opened and closed his hand, flexing
it as if it was sore.
“I don’t keep
you on out of obligation, but you need to remember one thing.
I run this show, not you.
Not anybody else.”
Kurt nodded.
“Okay.
I get it.
Loud and clear.”
“Unfortunately, we’re cancelling the show
tonight,” Jake told him.
“I need to
be with Raven.
I can’t go on.”
Raven couldn’t believe her ears.
“Jake, what are you doing?”
He looked at her.
“Getting my fucking priorities straight
for the first time in a long time.”
“You can’t cancel this show,” Raven
said.
“Kurt’s right about that.”
“I’m not going to go out there and do a
show knowing you might be in trouble, you might still be hurt. I wouldn’t be
able to live with myself if I let anything else happen to you.”
“I’m fine,” she said.
It was partially a lie, but it was true
enough.
“I swear to you that I’ll
be okay while you perform.”
Kurt just stood and watched them, his
expression inscrutable.
“I can tell that something’s wrong,” Jake
said, watching her closely.
“Tell
me what it is.
Are you hurt and
you’re just not admitting it?”
She tried to laugh.
“I’m shaken up, of course.
But physically, I’m more than okay.
I swear.”
He stared at her a long time.
“But if you feel weird.
If anything feels off, or you start to
have a bad headache, anything—then you need to tell the doctor.”
“I will,” she promised.
Kurt started to leave the room and as he
passed by Raven, he gave her a sidelong glance that seethed with hatred.
If
looks could kill, I’d be dead right now
, she thought.
Kurt left the room, closing the door
quietly, and then Jake and Raven were alone together.
“Jake, I’m sorry I disrupted your show,”
she said.
“Fuck the show,” he replied, and then he
was closing the distance between them, and his lips were on hers, and he was
holding her around the waist.
His
arms wrapped protectively around her, his body heat enveloped her like a
cocoon.
Jake’s soft but firm lips pressed against
her lips and then he was sucking her top lip slightly, before his tongue finally
slid into her mouth.
She could feel
his hunger as his body hardened in response to her body.
She melted into his arms, relaxing,
swimming in his desire, soaking up his strong, masculine energy.
She could smell him, taste him, and in
that place she was truly safe, no matter what else was happening.
But
you’re not really safe
,
a little voice said, disturbing the safety of what Jake had created.
You’re
lying to Jake again.
And you’re
both in danger
.
Raven broke off the kiss.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“I just—it’s all a lot to take in
right now.”
Jake ran his hand through her hair,
giving her chills.
“I want you to
watch the show from backstage,” he said.
“You’ll be able to stand right next to the stage and see me perform, and
more importantly, I’ll be able to keep an eye on you too.”
“Are you sure I won’t be a distraction?”
“No, you will be a distraction,” he
said.
“A welcome distraction.”
And then he smiled at her, and his eyes
told her that what Zeke had implied was very true.
Jake hadn’t stopped caring about
her.
Not one bit.
***
It was late by the time they got back to
Jake’s hotel suite.
Raven was completely wiped out, despite
the excitement of being together with him again.
The events of the last couple of days
had taken their toll, and she was practically a walking zombie.
“I need a shower,” she said, “and then I
think I might just fall asleep.
Is
that okay?”
Jake laughed, as he grabbed a bottle of
wine and poured himself a glass.
He
was still full of energy, as the show had been a huge success and the fans had
gone wild, giving him standing ovation after standing ovation.
“Of course it’s okay,” he said.
“Go right ahead.”
He gestured to the bedroom.
“You can grab a t-shirt and a pair of my
shorts if you want, to change into after.”
“Thanks,” Raven told him.
She went to the bedroom and found a pair
of shorts and a plain white t-shirt.
As she closed the bathroom door behind her, she couldn’t help but bring
the shirt to her face and smelling his scent.
Even though it was clean, she could
still smell him on it.
It was such a relief to be with him right
then, even though she knew that nobody could truly protect her from Club Alpha.
Are
you sure about that?
Maybe Jake
could protect you, if you’d trust him
.
She wanted to, but another part of her
wasn’t so sure.
Jake was a soldier,
and his first instinct was to attack, as he’d done the other day in the
restaurant, or when he’d punched Kurt in the jaw for calling her a nasty name.
The problem was, sometimes going on the
attack wasn’t the solution.
Club
Alpha was an enormous, powerful organization and they weren’t going to back off
because Jake beat someone up.
And
what would he do when she told him about Zeke’s threats, Max tossing her out of
a car?
He
might kill somebody.
He
really might kill someone.
Raven didn’t know what to do.
She certainly wasn’t going to feed Club
Alpha information about Jake’s military service or what he’d done in
Afghanistan.
She wasn’t going to
spy for them.
But maybe she could
pretend, lie to them,
hold
them at bay for a while
until some other solution presented itself.
You
know that will never work.
They’re
not going to believe it, they’ll know if you lie to them.
Raven decided to stop thinking and
obsessing over what to do about Club Alpha.
Right then what she needed more than
anything was to relax, have a hot shower, and fall asleep.
Maybe
in the morning things will be clearer.
She got into the steamy, hot shower and
luxuriated in the water pouring down on her, massaging her skin, as her
shoulders dropped and her entire body loosened.
She’d begun shampooing her hair when
there was a noise.
Someone was
opening the door.
Her heart went
into her throat.
What if some assassin from Club Alpha had
killed Jake and was now coming to kill her?
“Hello?” she said, her voice shaking
slightly.
“Hey,” Jake’s voice floated into her,
echoing.
“What’s up?” she called out.
“Is everything okay?”
“I kind of need to shower too,” he said.
Raven’s heart sped up again, but for a
different reason this time.
“I’ll
be done in a couple of minutes.”
“Good,” he replied, and then he walked to
the glass door and opened it, already naked, his heavily muscled body a
revelation to her, as he stepped inside the steamy shower with her.
“That was quick,” she said.
“I didn’t want to waste any time.”
“Or water,” she smiled.
Jake looked at her and his brown eyes
were
intense
as he looked her body up and down.
The steam had already made his skin
slick and glistening, and Raven found that she was slick too, between her legs.
Just looking at him made her want to
moan, made her want to come.
That
was the effect Jake Novak had on her.
He stepped closer to her, his naked
shoulder touching hers as he playfully fought for position under the
showerhead.
He let the water run
over him, like a waterfall it fell down over his amazing body, and Raven could
only stare.
His eyes were closed, and he looked like
something out of a magazine.
“I’ll never forget what you’ve done for
me, Jake,” Raven said.
Jake opened his eyes and then his hand
was reaching out, wrapping around the back of her head and pulling her into
him.
His mouth was on hers again, only now
there was nothing to separate their bodies.
No clothes, nothing in between
them.
His hard shaft pressed
against her belly as he kissed her.
She ran her hands down his taught chest, then his stomach.
Finally, she dared to touch his cock with
one trembling hand.
He continued to kiss her, more deeply
now, allowing her to gently stroke him, and she felt his hardness increase.
As she stroked his shaft, she got more
and more wet.
I
want him to fuck me.
I’ll
take him inside me right here, right now.
I would give anything to have him right this moment.
Instead, she stroked him faster, her hand
sliding down the shaft to his balls, working the root of him.
“Fuck, Raven,” he hissed.
“Goddamn I want you.”
“I need you inside me,” she said.
“Not yet, it’s too soon,” he told her.
“In my mouth then,” she begged.
“Let me take you in my mouth, Jake.”
He didn’t answer, and she stroked more
insistently, knowing that his resistance was crumbling. She didn’t quite
understand why he was so reluctant to go further with her—what he was
afraid of.
It had something to do with Peyton, his
deceased fiancé.
She was certain of
that, but the reason didn’t matter anymore.