Page 28 of Sins of Seduction
Danielle rushed through the emergency doors of Hillcrest Hospital. She’d been going over the paperwork Diane had sent her regarding Louis Bastillo, and Lush’s insurance policy regarding any injuries sustained in Lush when she got the surprising phone call from Jax, telling her that Raven had been rushed to the emergency room. He hadn’t given her the specifics of what happened, but Danielle’s mind had gone into overdrive. Her imagination ran rampant, thinking about all sorts of shit that could have happened to her, especially after what happened in Lush. It took Danielle three tries before she could get her hands to stop shaking to be able to drive to Hillcrest in one piece. She almost forgot Raven’s insurance card, which was the whole reason Jax had called her to begin with.
“Um, excuse me.” Danielle stopped at the front desk, trying desperately to steady her chaotic heartbeat. Raven was fine. Jax had said so himself, but that didn’t stop the worry that coursed through Danielle. Raven had been her only friend since moving to Ivywood a few years ago. They had met in a coffee shop bonding over their love of matcha lattes and coffee cake. One thing led to another, and Raven offered Danielle a job at Lush. It was mostly to help Raven with paperwork, but that had quickly morphed into personal assistant and best friend.
“I’m here for Raven Wright? She was brought in by Jax Pierce. I’m not really sure what happened, but they told me she was here.” Danielle spoke to an older nurse who told her she could check the system to see if Raven had been admitted for anything.
“A Ms. Wright was admitted on the third floor. Room E34. You’re going to take this elevator up, and it’s to your left when you step out.” Danielle nodded her thanks and turned, barreling into someone who nearly knocked her on her ass if it wasn’t for the harsh grip of fingertips on her arm.
She murmured her apologies until she looked up and saw Detective Cruz and her eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?” Danielle snapped, wondering if he was here because of whatever happened to Raven, and she wondered how quickly Diane could get to Hillcrest.
“Not that it’s any of your business but interviewing a witness to a car accident.” His tone felt like acid against her skin. His angry eyes scrutinized her, and it was then that she realized he was still holding onto her arm.
“Why are you here?” His question came out more like a demand, and she slowly extracted herself out of his hold, putting some much-needed space between them. Cruz made her nervous. He was like a wounded animal that had been cornered. He struck out hard and fast and his dislike toward Raven didn’t help matters.
“Here to see a friend,” she brushed past him, not wanting to stick around for whatever conversation he may have attempted to have with her. She wanted to put as much distance as possible between them. Danielle kept her head down as she made a beeline for the elevators, praying they would open as soon as she got there in case Cruz had any funny ideas about following her up to see Raven.
As soon as she hit the elevator area, one of the elevator doors began to open. She slipped right in as soon as the last person stepped out, feeling the eyes of someone on the back of her neck. She waited till she heard the doors start to close before she turned around to see Detective Cruz standing in front of the elevator. His eyes, still angry, looked like a storm was on its way.
Danielle felt a lick of fear creep down her spine. Whatever demons Daniel Cruz was dealing with, she wanted to be as far away as possible when he let them loose.
Raven did a lot of stupid shit in her life, and not once had she felt an ounce of embarrassment from it.
Until now.
She looked down at the IV plugged into her arm pumping fluids into her system while she waited for the doctor to come back with her test results. The doctor already said it was probably severe dehydration, but he wanted to run tests to be sure. A small part of her kind of hoped it was something else and not because she forgot to drink some water.
“Well, I feel all kinds of silly. I’m sorry I had you worried,” Raven whispered up at Jax who had taken residence up against the wall by the window. He’d been silent as the doctors and nurses had come in and fussed over her, but she felt his presence—his gaze on her body the second he handed her off to the doctors. She could tell he was worried, and it made her feel worse.
Raven kept herself pretty healthy and up to date with all medical and health issues, given the business she ran. She knew how important it was to keep herself safe if she ever entertained anyone. Raven should have known she had missed a few essential things, like eating an actual meal or staying hydrated, but with the chaotic events that happened in Lush—starting with Jax’s insistence he was ready to dive into her world up until Cruz’s delightful chat—Raven’s mind hadn’t stopped spinning long enough to get anything in her system. The coffee and ice cream she had didn’t do anything but dehydrate her more.
“It’s all good, Rave. Just glad I was there. Danielle said she was on her way with your insurance card.” That was just one more thing Jax had taken care of. He filled the doctors in on her symptoms, and as soon as he had a moment alone, he reached out to Danielle because he knew Raven well enough to know she only ever carried her driver’s license and one credit card. They spent more time apart than they did together, but Jax had always seemed to remember the little things.
Raven looked Jax over, thinking about the conversation they were trying to have before her head felt like it was going to explode. She’d been ready to tell him why she didn’t think this would work, but the longer she was around him, the easier it was for her to want to slip back into their partnership. Everything about their relationship had been relatively easy, except when it came to Lush and how she liked to fuck. The whole basis of their fights and break ups had been based on Jax’s religious beliefs—beliefs he seemed to no longer believe in.
She reached her hand up, hating the physical distance between them. She wanted him to climb in the hospital bed with her so she could bury herself in his warm body until the doctors told her it was okay to go home.
Jax uncurled his body and walked the short distance to the hospital bed. His fingertips touched hers first, before he slowly pushed his hand against her palm, up her wrist, and up her forearm. He flipped his grip, letting his thumb drag down the center of her forearm, over her wrist and down the center of her palm, causing her breathing to become erratic.
The air had evaporated from the room as she looked up at the walking temptation Jax was. He leaned down, placing his other hand just outside her leg, and kissed her, shocking the breath back into her lungs. The kiss was slow, but she felt it in every inch of her body. He explored her mouth with his tongue, melting her resolve to want to push him away.
Jax pulled away first, resting his head against hers. The sound of their heavy breathing overshadowed everything else in the room, and just like that, there was no one else in the world but them.
That place inside of Raven’s heart that had belonged to Jax long before she uttered the words ‘I love you’ had broken free. That part of her heart had no caution and no restraint. It was the part of herself that jumped back into a relationship with Jax every single time she said no more.
He had called her an addiction once—the reason he had fallen from grace—but maybe Jax had been the real addiction. His potency had been so strong Raven had thought to give up who she was in favor of who she needed to be for him. It never came down to that, but it didn’t stop her or him from finding each other again and again.
Maybe this time would be different.
Maybe Jax and Raven were finally in the right place at the right time to make it work.
“I guess we should continue that conversation, huh?” Raven whispered and Jax pulled back some, sitting on the hospital bed.
“There’s no rush. You know where I stand, Rave.” He’s hand gripped her thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You’ve waited for me to get my head out of my ass for how many years now? I think I can wait a little while for you.”
“I don’t think you need to wait.” Raven’s voice was steadier than she felt. She could hear her heart beating wildly in her chest. There was a small part of her that felt like this would just end the same way it had before—with her heart broken—but it wasn’t enough to stop what came out of her mouth next.
“We can try again, Jax, but what I was trying to say before we landed here was that what happened at Lush between us and the throuple, while it doesn’t need to happen every day, I do want it to happen often.” She held her breath and waited to see how Jax would respond. He visibly seemed to relax when she said they could try again, but words really didn’t mean shit if there was no action to back it up.
Jax leaned in again. He was close enough she could already taste his skin on her lips. “Set it up, Raven, and I’ll show you just how serious I really am.”
