Page 12 of Sins of Seduction
Broken little Raven
Lonely as can be
They can’t stop what’s coming
My pretty little Raven
I already have your taste on my lips
Soon I feel your warm heartbeat
Pulse between my fingertips.
Cops moved around Raven, and she could feel Jax’s eyes on her and saw his mouth moving, but her mind had escaped, burrowing itself somewhere it thought it was safe and leaving her body rooted in place. Her eyes were glued to the bloody message that had been waiting for her outside the Paradise room.
Can you see me?
A golden sun will die.
The last line of the message had been barely visible, but Raven could guess what it said with the white blood rose petals and now this message, it seemed more that this was targeted toward her specifically and less about Lush as a whole.
When Raven first opened Lush and news spread about what type of club it was, she had protestors outside day and night shouting Bible verses and saying that what the club represented was morally wrong. There had been a few crazies who had broken through the protest line, throwing fake blood on her customers and Raven herself to prove that she was a sinner, because all those who stood behind the picket line were the saints that needed to show her the devil would not prosper. There had been a few threatening and overzealous letters dropped off with the mail. So that there would be a record should anything happen to Lush, the cops had gotten a copy of all of the letters, except for one.
One letter had been delivered a couple of years ago—that seemed out of place at the time, but now she was wondering if she shouldn’t have brushed it off. The letter had been typed up on lavender paper demanding Raven to‘see me before the golden sun died.’Raven didn’t know what it meant, and when she didn’t receive another letter, she chalked it up to an overzealous religious person intent on trying to scare her to shut Lush down.
She shouldn’t have freaked out seeing the words again, but the white rose petals had put her on edge. This wasn’t the first time she’d gotten a bouquet of white roses delivered anonymously to Lush. They’d been coming every month for the past year, wrapped in a black box with a purple ribbon around them. There were never any cards, but the messenger who dropped them off said they were for Raven Wright and disappeared before she could ask any questions. She didn’t know what flower shop they’d come from either; the boxes were void of any advertising names or symbols.
Raven tried not to let her imagination run wild, and she really wanted to chalk all this up to some religious nut sneaking into Lush, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was only the beginning to a game she hadn’t realized she’d been playing. Even now she felt like a mouse under a cat’s claw being toyed with right before the death bite.
“Raven.” Jax’s warm hands squeezed her shoulders, pulling her from the prison she was in. All at once the sounds of Lush had rushed back in like she’d just broken the surface of the water she’d been held under.
Her gaze looked around wildly as cops in uniform rushed to the back of Lush. She could feel Danielle at her back and Cruz’s harsh eyes on her, and still she couldn’t find her voice. Her walls were closing in on her, and she couldn’t find air. Lush had grown hot, and she gasped struggling to tell Jax she couldn’t breathe.
Can you see me?
The taunt had repeated itself over and over again in her mind, dragging her further into a darkness she didn’t know. She could no longer see Jax even though he was standing right in front of her. She was no longer in Lush surrounded by people, she was utterly alone with only the words replaying over and over again and the feeling of a threat that loomed in the air.
Raven jumped at the sound of something—her body posed and ready to run but her feet wouldn’t move. It was a nightmare that she couldn’t wake up from. Something was here with her, breathing down her neck. She could feel the claws wrap around her throat, digging into her skin and slowly suffocating her.
This is how I’ll die.
The morbid thought slipped into her, panic pulling her back under the surface. She couldn’t figure out why she couldn’t escape her mind, but she was desperate to get out of the hell loop she was in. She knew she was in Lush and that Jax was within reach, but she couldn’t wade through the darkness to find him.
Can you see me?
Open your eyes, my pretty little Raven.
The taunts had grown louder, but she couldn’t lift her hands to cover her ears.
What the hell is wrong with me?
She felt it then.
Warmth spread into her body as air rushed her lungs. Big hands had gripped her shoulders pulling her toward a hard body, and she melted into him. Raven knew it even before opening her eyes that Jax had broken whatever spell she’d been under with the press of his lips against hers. She drunk him in, getting lost to the taste of the whiskey and Kit that still lingered in his mouth.
Her breathing began to even out, and when she felt steadier, she broke the kiss with Jax. She opened her eyes to see the concern in his gaze as he stared down at her. “You good?” His breath tickled against her skin, and her heart started to race for a whole other reason.
Raven closed her eyes, taking a couple of deep breaths before she opened her eyes again, noticing she was no longer on the main floor of Lush. She couldn’t remember moving, her mind had been trapped in the area behind the Paradise room, but now she was in the women’s locker room, sitting on Jax’s lap as he cradled her close to his body.
