Page 96 of Raven

Callie bursts out in laughter. It’s hard to pinpoint the moment in time when Callie stopped blushing around Kai and started openly kissing him.

Kai pulls her into his lap. “Nah, I’m vanilla. Like, with chocolate syrup and marshmallows. Right, petal?” He winks at Callie. But the way her gaze slides possessively over Kai’s body tells me she might be the sex machine after all.

“What about Archer?” Marlow asks, flicking a piece of a shell at Kat, who arranges paper plates and appetizers on a folding table.

“Like you don’t know,” she retorts.

“She pussified him,” Kai says, making everyone sneer.

I see Marlow’s eyes narrowing on me, and before he can bring up Raven, I get up and go to the table to help Kat with food.

“So, Maddy…” she drawls.

I know Kat’s “soooo.” I don’t respond.

But she is insistent. That’s Kat for you. “You are playing house with Raven?”

“I have some private things going on.”

“I see. I saw it on cameras.”

“Of course you did.”

Kat is becoming the all-seeing eye of Ayana. I’m not blaming her. She is perceptive and nosy, also straight as an arrow with others and about who she is. I’ve made my motto on the Eastside “be kind.” Katura’s motto is “be kind of a bitch.” Which suits her.

“Archer is obsessing for obvious reasons,” she says without looking at me. “And Raven ordered several bodyguards for you. But…”

“But?”

“What is it about Raven?”

There we go. “You really think I need to explain myself.”

“No, of course not. I’m just wondering. He is a fascinating man.”

“Fascinating?”

“Yeah… You know what my father said when Arch and I got out of that kidnapping mess? He said it’s not Archer who rules Ayana but Raven.”

Every time someone mentions his name, I start thinking about him, us, me splayed on the bed, legs bent at the knees, panties gone, as Rave orders softly, “Use your fingers, beautiful, spread yourself open for me.” The way he licks and teases, and works on me until I come, sinking into the bliss. The way he orders me on all fours and plays until I hear him unzipping his jeans behind me. The way he slides inside me, filling me up, always watching my face when he does so, every single time. His hot whisper in my ear when I come, “There you are, Mayflower."

His words haunt me. The visions of what he does to me slip into my daily life, instantly making my panties wet.

I check the phone religiously, waiting for his usual message. Tonight…

When it's not there by the time I leave my work shift, I hang out with everyone else so as not to think about him. When he does show up at my bungalow, I try to get to know him. I feed him food and then my stories, hoping for him to open up. Every day, I crave more and more.

"Maddy?"

The voice snaps me out of my thoughts.

It’s Kat, but I missed her question. I don’t want to talk about what I do with Raven and how I feel, so I divert the conversation to other topics.

By the time I get home, I’m tired. Raven doesn’t call me. There’s no meeting. He is odd. Sometimes, he comes every night, occasionally, to the hospital ward. Then, he disappears for several days, and there’s no word from him, except when Little comes and tells me what they did together.

I take a shower and stand by the mirror for some time, brushing my hair.

Then I open the newly arrived package. Besides new underwear, there’s a white string dress. It’s not an expensive one. I can’t afford expensive clothes even with my generous Ayana salary. At least, not the labels I used to have in my walk-in closet back on the mainland. I don’t even know why I ordered this white dress, but it’s so pretty. I slip it on over my naked, tanned body, slick my damp hair, twist the length of it over my shoulder, and stare at myself in the mirror.

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