Echoes & Ink: Raven by Emily Rose

Chapter Twenty-Three

RAVEN

Iknow he’s right. Deep down, I know, but the guilt and worry are there. Will they ever go away? Will I ever be able to let them go? My head is spinning with so many emotions and questions. Including panic. Not at Falcon, but with Sloan.

Is knowing this about me going to change how he looks at me? How he feels about us? When he touches me, will he see a broken little girl instead of a strong woman who’s built herself up from the gutter?

“I know you’re right,” I answer, “but it’s hard to not worry about it.”

“I know,” he murmurs, cupping my face with his hand, and brushing away a stray tear from my cheek. “Falcon is a good kid, Raven, and the more you get to know him, the more you’ll see it. I imagine right now, he’s worried about what you’re thinking of him, just like how you’re worried about him thinking of you.”

“He is a good kid,” I agree, closing my eyes and nuzzling into the warmth of his palm; the comfort it’s offering. “I just hope I don’t screw up.”

“You won’t,” Sloan says confidently. “You’re a badass, Raven Dixon, and if anyone is going to show that kid how to be a badass himself, it’s you. You’re strong, Raven. So strong that I’m in awe of you. That you’re standing here, with a career you’ve built, with a bunch of people at your back that look up to you. I see you for who you are. Nothing can take that away from you. Because you don’t need anyone to help you. You do it on your own.”

His words are powerful and I drink them in and hold them close. I don’t know why they mean more coming from him, but I need them. More than I realized.

“I’m sorry I dumped this on you,” I whisper, opening my eyes to look at him. “This wasn’t what you were looking for tonight.”

His bright blue eyes are intense as they look down at me. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else, Wildcat,” he promises. “You needed this. You’ve held it in too long, and I’m glad I am the one here for you to vent it to. That you trust me to be that person for you.”

“I don’t want you to look at me differently.” Vulnerability sneaks into my voice before I can hold it back.

“The only thing that changes the way I look at you, is knowing just how brave and strong you are.” He hauls me into his arms and presses me tight to his chest. “Your past is terrible, Raven, and I won’t pretend to understand. Because I don’t, and I never will. I won’t ever make it seem little or unimportant, because I know it made you the person are now. Do I want to go and kill your parents, uncle, and all those assholes who hurt you with my bare hands? You bet your pretty ass.”

I chuckle, unable to help myself. “You and me both.”

He chuckles too. “One call to Bullet and I bet all those problems would disappear.”

“One call to Rose,” I correct. “If she knew the whole story, she would lose her shit.”

Sloan nods his agreement. “Have you told me everything, or is there more?” he asks me softly.

I stiffen at his question. Shit, I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “There’s more, but I don’t want to get into it tonight.”

He nods, agreeing, but I see the curiosity in his eyes. Thankfully he doesn’t press. “Just know I’m here to listen when you’re ready,” he offers.

I believe him. For whatever reason, I know he’s telling the truth. “Thank you,” I whisper, looking up at him for a moment before going on tiptoe to press my mouth gently to his.

Sloan kisses me back, tenderly, and oh so gently that I feel the tears burning behind my eyes again. My emotions are all over the place, and I don’t know how to bring them back under control. Or if I even want to.

His lips move over mine like they’re trying to savor and comfort all at once. It’s nothing I’ve felt before. He moves the arm wrapped around my waist down below my ass and lifts me up against him. I wrap my legs around him and hold on, even as he turns his head to deepen the kiss, careful not to push for too much too fast.

He turns us and then lays me down gently on the bed, pulling his mouth from mine. He looks down at me, eyes warm. “Are you sure?” he asks me.

I nod, needing this. Needing to feel something other than the pain and guilt that are still at war inside me. “I need you, Sloan. Make me forget,” I beg.

Sloan doesn’t hesitate. Oh so slowly, he strips me out of my clothes, kissing exposed skin as he goes. It’s a whole other side to him that I haven’t seen. That I didn’t know I needed. Or wanted. When his mouth fastens over my breast, I moan and arch into him, my own hands sliding over the warmth of his back and up into his hair. It’s not the clawing need that burned between us before.

It’s a slow burn. As if we both know there’s no hurry now. There’s something else that’s needed at this moment, something that neither of us want to name. I relish the feel of the pull of his mouth on my breast, the way his hand moves reverently over my ribs, down to my hip, and then over my thigh. A tingling flame follows the path, until I’m fevered with it.

When he presses a finger to my clit, I cry out, shocked at how wet I am. “That’s right, Wildcat,” Sloan murmurs, as he pulls his mouth away from my breast and watches me. “Let me hear you. Tell me what you need.”

“I need you,” I whisper, arching into his fingers.

“You have me, baby,” he promises, moving his finger down to my entrance, and slowly pushing inside. It’s not enough, but it’s too much all at once. At the same time, he moves his mouth over to my other breast, laving at my nipple with that masterful tongue. Worshiping it.

I whimper when he adds a second finger and slowly starts moving them in and out. “Sloan,” I hiss, arching into him again.

“You’re so perfect, Raven,” he whispers as he pulls his mouth away and moves down, kissing along my waist, my stomach and then above my mound. “Gorgeous, strong, and all mine.”

His words do something inside me. Something soothing and freeing. I cry at the feel of his mouth wrapping around my clit, sucking it as he moves his fingers. Working me up to that edge at a maddeningly slow pace. As if he wants me to feel every sensation.

“Sloan,” I plead, not above begging at this point. I need him too much.

“Beautiful,” he murmurs, pulling his mouth away for a moment before moving down to plunge his tongue inside me, making me cry out. “You taste so fucking good, Wildcat. I could stay here for days and never come up for air.”

“Do it and I’ll kill you.”

He chuckles, the vibrations over my skin making me shudder and clench hard around his fingers. “Can’t have that, now can we?” he taunts softly, before pressing his lips over my clit again and working his fingers inside me faster and harder than before.

I moan, my entire body shaking with the need working through me. When he adds a third finger and sends me over the edge, a scream erupts from my throat. Pleasure rushes through me like nothing I’ve felt before. It’s all consuming, and the only thing that matters.

“That’s right, baby,” I vaguely hear him urge. “Come for me again.”

Again? Is he crazy? I can’t come again after that.

My body proves me a liar as a second orgasm washes over me when he expertly curls his fingers inside me, pressing against the bundle of nerves that has me seeing stars. When I finally come down, I realize he’s up and moving. I watch as he strips out of his clothes, his erection up and slapping against his lower belly. He looks down at me hungrily.

He grabs a condom from his pants pocket and hurriedly slides it down his length. I hold out my arms to him, feeling weightless, and draw him in as he climbs over me. I feel him press against my engorged clit, and moan into his mouth as he kisses me. He reaches down and aligns himself with my center before slowly pushing inside.

I relish the full feeling, wrapping my legs around his hips as he pushes further and further inside until he’s fully seated. Sloan pulls his mouth from mine and he looks down at me. His bright blue eyes hold mine and my heart starts pounding as he refuses to look away. Not even when he pulls his hips back until he’s almost out of me before thrusting slowly back inside.

We start a rhythm. Unhurried, and so tender I feel tears leaking out the corner of my eyes. Every nerve is alive as we move together. Sloan’s entire body is hard and in full control with each thrust, sweat starting to slick on his brow at his control. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so cherished and needed.

I can’t look away from him; from the emotions moving over his face. Lust, tenderness, need. It’s all there, and it touches something inside me. Something that has me moving faster, urging him on.

Sloan takes the hint and picks up the pace, though still not as fast as I want. He slowly builds the orgasm inside me. Stroke by stroke, until I’m a trembling mess. My entire body is rising to meet it, reaching out for it.

“Sloan,” I groan. “Please. Please.”

“What do you need, Wildcat?” he pants, angling his hips and hitting that spot inside me that has me gasping, and my inner walls clamping down on him.

“You, I need you,” I cry, meeting him thrust for thrust, desperate.

“I have you, Wildcat,” he growls. “I’ve always got you.” Then, as if sensing I’m about to reach my breaking point, he rears back and thrusts quicker.

Oh yes. Yes, that’s what I need.

He moves harder and harder inside me, growling my name as he reaches between us and rubs my clit with his thumb. I scream as I erupt. He roars his own release, his thrusts jerky as he presses himself as deep inside me as he can go.

When we collapse, I welcome his weight, burying my face in his neck and breathing him in. We’re both slick with sweat, but I don’t care. I need this as much as I need Sloan. To know he’s here to ground me.

Exhaustion overtakes me and I can feel my eyes getting heavy. “I need to get rid of the condom, Wildcat,” he murmurs.

“Okay,” I mumble tiredly, forcing my arms to let him go. I moan when he pulls out of me. “Don’t leave,” I whisper as I roll over and bury my face in my pillow. “I don’t want to be alone.” I don’t want nightmares tonight.

“I’m staying, Wildcat,” he promises me softly, leaning down to kiss my shoulder. “You’re not alone anymore.”

I want to believe him, but the only thought I have before I succumb to sleep is will he still be here when he finds out what I’ve done? That my baby is dead and it’s all my fault?