Page 69 of Sins of Seduction
Jax had gone right back into detective mode. Before the doctor could ask, Jax had taken charge and told her to write down everything she had consumed in the past twenty-four hours along with lotions and things she put on her body, and if she could remember, what she ate throughout the week. The only thing on her list had been coffee and the name of her body lotion.
She waved the yellow pad in front of her face. “No, I haven’t really started it either. We’ve been eating the same things, Jax. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around all of this.” She dropped the pad into her lap as Jax came around to lean against her hospital bed.
He gripped her thigh—the contact sending a bolt of warmth into her body. “I know it’s gotta be hard, Rave. But we have to figure out where it came from so you don’t come in contact with it again.” His tone had softened the lingering anger still hot behind his lids, but the concern for her wellbeing shone through. All she wanted to do was crawl into him—wrap around his warmth, and block out everything going on in her life.
“I’m sorry about all this.” Raven’s voice was steadier than she felt.
“Sorry for what?” Jax looked at her in confusion.
“For all of this.” She waved a hand between them. He’d come back into her life to start over. This was supposed to be two people who never stopped loving each other finding their way back and exploring their sexual desires and fantasies. It wasn’t supposed to be riddled with blood-tipped white rose petals, dead bodies, faulty brakes, and now poison.
“You didn’t sign up for any of this,” Raven continued. “This was supposed to be fun, and I feel like we’ve spent more time at the police station and now this hospital than anything else.”
“Rave.” Jax chuckled under his breath as he leaned his forehead against hers. “You’re getting soft on me. You’re apologizing for something that’s out of your control?”
She cupped his face, loving the stubble that had grown against his skin. “You didn’t ask for any of this.”
“And you did?” He turned, placing a kiss on her palm before pulling away. “None of this is your fault.”
But wasn’t it?
She knew what Jax and the cops had thought. Everything that had happened had been connected to her in some way. Raven knew she ruffled people’s feathers because she didn’t live her life the way they deemed moral. She was the corrupted who took pleasure in damning other souls—or so the religious people outside of Lush had shouted at her. Those had been the kinder words that had been hurled her way. But even so, should the ongoings of Lush be enough to torment her and kill those two people?
What was the end goal?
Was it her death?
She shivered at the thought. The hairs on her arm began to rise as the door handle twitched. Her heart raced, her thoughts generating fear, her knee-jerk emotion pumping through her. It was silly, Jax was in the room with her and she was in the hospital. Whoever was coming in wouldn’t hurt her, but she still felt exposed and defenseless.
Jax stood up and rounded the hospital bed. He must have picked up on whatever she was feeling going by the rigid set to his jaw and the way his hands curled into fists. A knock sounded before the door opened, and Raven couldn’t see who entered the room over Jax’s height and wide shoulders, which seemed to relax a little at the newcomer.
“Is now a good time to talk?” Greyson’s deep voice had calmed Raven’s frantic heartbeat.
Jax turned to look at her, waiting for her to say if it was okay or not. Raven nodded, and Jax stepped around the bed again to come to her side.
“How you feeling, Ms. Wright?” Greyson’s smile was kind, but she could see the sharpness in his gaze as he took in the machines she’d been hooked up to. The doctors had tried to find a treatment of sorts to flush whatever cyanide remained in her system.
Raven shrugged. “I’ve seen better days. Please, call me Raven.”
Greyson nodded as he glanced at Jax. “Pierce here told me to come check in on you. Someone going to tell me why?”
Raven let out a breath. “I’ve been poisoned, and neither Jax nor the doctors think it was an accident, even though they’ve both used the word accident.”
Pretty little Raven
I’m done watching
It’s time to meet the monster you created.
It was born off your slick tongue
From promises you couldn’t keep.
My pretty little Raven
It’s time to find out
How much a false Goddess can bleed
