Page 11 of Sins of Seduction
Leaving only me
To rip out your whorish heart.
Jax angled his body so he was standing in front of Raven as he held out his hand for his longtime friend, but he knew it wouldn’t do much to stop the animosity that radiated off of Daniel when his eyes collided with Raven’s. The temperature in Lush—once hot and tempting—had dipped to near arctic bitterness as the two most important people in Jax’s life had come face to face once again.
There was too much bad blood between them that went beyond bickering. Daniel always believed Raven was poisonous to him—tainting him in a way that made him unfamiliar to Daniel. And Raven? Her views on Daniel had been a tug of war between him being an all-around piece of shit or he was in love with Jax and didn’t know what to do with his emotions.
Jax abruptly pulled his hand out of Daniel’s, not concealing his wince when he realized why he didn’t want to touch Daniel. Old habits and ideas were going to prove tiresome to bury and ignore. Even if Daniel was in love with Jax, what did it matter outside of the actual feelings? Jax had just spent the better part of his night with a man’s lips wrapped around his cock—his taste was still on his tongue—Jax had no room to judge.
Daniel cursed under his breath as he took in Jax’s attire. “Again, Pierce?” his chuckle was bitter and his eyes narrowed on Raven. “Your pussy must be made out of gold,” he spat just as Raven’s assistant gasped at Daniel’s vulgar opinions. The man was here on official police business, not as a civilian, and he should have had a better handle on himself.
“Cruz,” Jax growled, taking a step forward. “Mind your mouth,” his voice dropped—his intent was clear. This wasn’t the time to dig up old issues nor was it the place.
“My pussy is spun of gold.” Raven’s chuckle skirted along Jax’s spine as if her lips had kissed a path down his back. She hadn’t moved completely from behind Jax, but he could feel her anger—if he wasn’t standing in between her and Daniel, he had no doubt that she would gladly sink her claws into him.
“You know, I used to think the reason you hated me so much was because you were in love with Jax, now,” she stepped around Jax to stand beside him. “Now, I’m wondering if you’re mad because his cock has been inside me. His lips have touched my skin, and it’s his name that leaves my lips when I cum.” Raven placed her hand on Jax’s shoulder. To an unseen eye, the move would have been harmless, but to Jax and even Daniel, knew it was a show of possession. Whatever remained between Jax and Raven was irrelevant, right now, Jax was hers and his cock hardened in his pants at the thought of belonging to Raven.
This woman had owned me the day she collided into me.
The tension in the room simmered on a low boil. Jax, Raven, and Cruz stared at each other, none willing to break the silent challenge that Raven had dropped at Cruz’s feet.
“As interesting as this is,” Jax could hear the amusement in Danielle’s voice. “I would think there were better things that need to be addressed, like how the rose petals were loaded into the vents and all that fancy police work one would have to do to reach detective level.”
Jax swallowed the smile tugging at his lips. He rarely had any interactions with Danielle in the time he’d dated, courted, and fucked Raven, but hearing the sarcasm drip from her tone made it clear why Raven had made her an assistant and kept her close. She politely handed Cruz his ass with a smile on her face and shattered the tension surrounding them.
Raven dropped her hold on Jax and he instantly missed her touch—he had to fight to keep his hands to himself when her fingertips brushed up against his own. The need to close his hand around hers felt automatic—there was no conscious effort to be affectionate with her. One night and already his body fell right back into recognizing her as his.
Cruz cleared his throat. “Right. Well, we should be able to—” There was a shout from one of the rookie officers calling for Cruz to take a look at something.
Cruz went to excuse himself, but Jax and Raven shook their heads and followed behind him silently. Jax was aware of all the eyes on him. The customers and employees of Lush had glanced in his direction when the cops he’d been familiar with approached him about the case. He was used to Lush under the dim lighting—in the shadows he’d been able to shed his inhibitions and move around Lush as freely as he wanted. It had been a completely different feeling once the bright lights were kicked on to expose him.
The spotlight shone bright on Jax, making him take center stage when all he wanted to do was hide in the shadows again. He could practically hear the hushed whispers, the taunting behind the customers’ and employees’ curious glances. He knew it was in his own mind, but that didn’t stop the sudden vulnerability he felt from seeping into his bones. There was nowhere for him to hide under these lights. His every thought, desire, and insecurity lay bare for the world to see, and it made him want to rage against them. He wanted to shout promises that his demons had no power over him, that the darkness that resided in him was chained up and couldn’t escape.
But those were all lies.
His time in Lush proved that his darkness was its own entity refusing to be kept hidden.
The looks from the customers—the man who had been in the threesome Jax watched when he first got here, stared at him knowingly, as did Kit and Mr. Steele. There was a hint of a smile that touched Kit’s lips—the same lips that had been wrapped around Jax’s cock. The memory sent a rush of blood to Jax’s lower body, making him ache to bury himself in a willing and wet mouth again. It was the glint in Kit’s eyes that had Jax fighting back a groan and flinching in the same breath.
As much as Jax would welcome Kit to touch him again, it didn’t stop the old fears and ideas that had been branded into his brain by his parental figures from coming up. He was at war within himself, two opposing forces fighting for dominance, and that scared Jax because a man at war with himself was left in a weakened state. There wasn’t enough energy to focus on the outside world, and given the trail of blood in front of Jax, he knew whatever this incident was in Lush, it wouldn’t be a one off.
Raven’s sharp inhale had Jax glancing behind him. Her face had gone pale as if her real life terror had just waltz in front of her, and she had nowhere to escape. Jax followed Raven’s line of sight, and he saw what spooked her. It was faint, the blood hadn’t been enough to write out the message, but the message was easy for Jax to decipher.
Can you see me?
He had no idea what it meant, but going by the way Raven had started to shake, he knew that she did, and for the first time since Jax quit the force, he wished he was still a detective so he could solve whatever this was to put Raven’s mind at ease.
“Rave?” Jax called her name, and she continued to stare at the words as if hypnotized by the writing. He could see her lips moving but couldn’t hear anything she was saying. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Raven in this type of shock, if ever, and it worried him.
Raven didn’t scare easily; if anything, she did the scaring. If four measly words made Raven look pale and shaken to her core, Jax wasn’t sure he was ready to meet the monster that scared Raven Wright.
Broken, broken, Raven
Surrounded by the boys in blue
They’re meant to protect
But you and I know the truth
