Page 65 of Taming Raptor

In a bold scrawl it read:

I suck. Please forgive me.

Tears filled my eyes and Niara plucked the card from my hands. “No ma’am. Don’t you dare let him get off that easy. But that is a good start.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m not letting him off the hook that easy, but I would never have guessed he would be the kind to send me flowers.” I sniffled.

“Well, there was also this,” Phoenix held out a small box wrapped with a bow.

“What the hell? How did he pull all this off so quickly?” It hadn’t been that long since I’d arrived. And, somehow, he had found the time to arrange this before ten-thirty in the morning.

Sloane laughed. “Well, the man does turn into a hawk. He probably flew his ass to where he needed to go. I’m a little jealous. Beats Dallas traffic in the morning hands down.”

The corner of my mouth kicked up. Tugging on the end, I untied the satin ribbon that was wrapped a ridiculous number of times around the box. When I lifted the lid to peer inside, I quickly closed it again.

“Well, don’t keep us waiting! What is it?” Niara asked as she strummed her fingers on the table.

“Ummm, nothing, just something silly that was a reminder of our days in Iowa,” I replied in a falsely bright tone, with the smile to match.

Phoenix and Blade both choked on their food. Of course, they would know what Raptor’s tastes involved. I palmed my face.

“I’ll just go put this in my bag. Be right back,” I told everyone and rushed to the room I was staying in. Once there, I sat on the edge of the bed and tossed the ribbon to the side. If I thought my hands were shaking when I opened the card, they were worse as I removed the lid.

With the blood-red ribbon—long enough to wrap around my wrists and forearms—sitting on the comforter by my thigh, I stared into the matte-black box. Nestled in the black velvet was a set of magnetic nipple clamps and a magnetic clit clamp.

The second they registered, my nipples hardened to tight aching peaks and my core clenched.

The card in the box read:

I dreamed of you all night.

The rest of the week was much of the same. Flowers covered nearly every flat surface in Sloane and her mom’s house. It smelled like a floral shop in there. Gifts were lined up on the dresser.

If I had to guess, Blade told him I’d left most of my things back in Iowa, because one gift was the long red La Perla nightgown and matching robe. Though pink had been my favorite color, thanks to Raptor, red was my second. I’m sure it was no coincidence that the gown was the exact color of the ribbon on the first gift.

He had tried to stop by several times, but I refused to see him. Mostly because where he was concerned, I was weak. For as long as I could remember, I had wanted him. For a brief moment in time, I’d had him. Then in a painful stab to the heart, he had gutted me. So, while the young woman in me cried out for me to forgive him, the tough cookie in me dug her heels in.

His latest visit was heralded by the sound of his sleek black bike coming down the road. How I knew it was his when it could’ve been anyone’s, I had no idea, but I sure as hell did. And my heart thumped double time when it pulled in the driveway. While I waited, my pulse increased to a rate that had to be unhealthy.

Excited and anxious, I peeked through the curtains at him standing outside on the porch. It was really kind of sweet, the way he paced, and ran his hand over his beard before seeming to talk to himself. In over ten years, I’d never seen the man so nervous.

Finally, he knocked. I jumped to go get it and Sloane shrieked behind me. Hand over her chest she breathed heavy. “Girl, you scared me!”

“You! How the heck did I not hear you there?”

“Hmpf! Maybe because you were too wrapped up in staring at that fine specimen of man-meat out there.” She snickered and I gave her a playful swat.

“Stop it! You shouldn’t objectify him like that,” I teasingly admonished through my grin.

“Just callin’ it like I see it.” The comical brow waggle she added to her statement had me giggling.

“Am I making the right decision?” I asked, my smile falling and the worried wrinkle in my forehead turning the moment serious.

She sighed. “I wish I could answer that for you, but I can’t. What I can say is that I believe he’s sorry. Phoenix said he’s been especially, um… surly, this week. Now, do I think you need to keep that grovel train rolling? Hell, yeah. Not for the gifts and sweet gestures, but because he needs to make sure his actions sink in—because the next time, he might lose you.”

“What if the only reason he’s doing this is because I’m pregnant?” I whispered. She didn’t say anything, but her worried gaze mirrored mine.

Once I stood before the door, I took a deep breath and fortified my defenses, then turned the knob.

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