Evanescent Ink (Copperline #4) (8 page)

I closed my eyes. “I need to forget.”

For a moment, neither one of us moved, except for a shiver that seemed to bounce back and forth through the cool air. Then I heard the faint rustle of clothing followed by the shuffle of feet and felt something soft hit me in the chest. I opened my eyes and blinked, lifting a small scrap of lace.

Raven stood before me in her short skirt and apparently—since I now held them in my hand—no underwear. She tilted her head slightly to the side.

“You want to forget, huh?” she softly murmured in a low voice. “I seem to recall something working for you before.”

She stood still, not moving towards me. Watching me. Hesitating. Waiting for a sign.

That latent memory of her began to stir, breathing a touch of life back into my dejected soul. Putrid thoughts of Maggie and Phoebe began to fade, pushed into the dark corners of my consciousness as the light of Raven began to filter in.

“Very well, actually,” I finally said with a jagged, hard whisper.

Her tongue darted out to graze her upper lip. “Shall we try it again?”

Fuck, yeah…
it was already working. I sat up straight and reached out to settle my hands at her hips. Her breathing hitched as I pulled her a step closer. Then another. And another until she stood almost over me, one foot on either side of where I sat on the ground.

My mouth went dry, anticipating the delicacy just inches away. The hem of her short, swingy skirt was so close, just below my eye level. By drawing her towards me a tiny bit more and lifting the fabric, I could taste her.

So I did.

Fuck
, so good.

With the first touch of my mouth, she steadied herself, palms flat against the building. My tongue slipped into the bare folds, sweeping along the softness in long, smooth strokes. Her skin felt like satin under my hands as I swept them over her hips, around to her ass to pull her closer. I teased her, licking wide circles around her clit until she was rocking gently against my lips.

Swiping my tongue over her sensitive, swollen nub, I realized she had a genital piercing of her own. Something I’d not noticed before. A vertical barbell ran through her clitoral hood. I toyed with it, tonguing it and sucking it until she moaned over me. With a faint shiver, she gasped into the night air. Her muscles tightened and her hips jerked over my mouth.

Her legs began to give, and I guided her down over me. My lips captured hers, allowing her to savor the rich essence of her arousal. With a moan, she relished in the taste. Her fingers clutched at my shoulders and then skimmed down my body, molding over my throbbing dick.

“Fuck, Drew,” she whispered against my lips. “I need you to fuck me. I need this beautiful cock inside me.” She kissed me again, sweeping her tongue deep inside my mouth. “Nobody can fuck me like you can.”

“Condom… pocket…”

“I’ve got one,” she breathed, grabbing her purse from where it had hit the ground beside me. She dug inside and pulled out a foil packet.

“Jesus,” I exhaled in a choked laugh, “I love that you’re so prepared.”

She exhaled a breathy chuckle and stroked me firmly as she slipped the condom on. Rising up to her knees until she had me covered, she then lowered herself. The heat radiated from her body in the cold night, then sheer heaven rocked me as she took me inside.

“Fuck, Rave,” I muttered mindlessly, “fuck, you feel so…
fuck…
”

Slowly at first, she lost herself in long, smooth strokes, taking me with her into that strange, alternate plane where it was just the touch of our skin. Hot and wild in the chill of the night.

She worked a fucking miracle because, once again, she made me forget everything but her. The moment we lived in. Hard and fast, the frantic release boiled up inside me. I let out a deep groan as I let loose, and she caught the low sound in a kiss. She swallowed it down until I could almost feel it reverberate through her body and back into mine.

I sat there on the ground holding her tight. In the shadows along the wall, dimly illuminated by the exterior lights of the Copperline and the waning full moon. My breath was shaky, and I felt lightheaded.

I also felt a little guilty.

As amazing as all this was, it wasn’t fair to her. I was using her to distract me from the ache of being cast aside. She knew it, she offered it, but that didn’t make it right.

“Rave—” I started, feeling like I had to say…
something
.

She pulled her head back a little, looking into my face. In the shadowy light, the rich purple of her hair looked almost black. Her dark makeup gave her a bewitching appearance, like she could flutter her fingers and cast a spell on me.

Her fingertips traced my jaw in a tender soothing motion.

“Shhh,” she whispered. “You don’t have to say anything, Drew. I’ve told you that before. I know exactly what this is.” She placed a tender kiss to my lips, and it stilled my argument. “Sometimes, you just need a good friend and a good fuck, and I’m happy to give those to you. It’s stress relief. That’s all.” She pressed another soft kiss to my lips with a smile.

So easy with her. All of it. When my discomfort began to rear its ugly head, a few quiet words from her held it at bay. Her whispering caresses created a shield against all the uncertainty. She made me believe that everything would be okay in the end.

My friend. My employee. Both of those roles should have sent me into a tailspin after what we’d just done…
again
. Yet her whole demeanor—all at once comforting and light and nonbinding—made it all seem so right.

“You know,” she whispered, “Maggie’s a fucking idiot.”

If anything should have done it, that should have. If anything could have snapped me out of this post-orgasmic haze, the sheer mention of my caustic ex-bitch who fucked me over and wanted to rub it in should have done it.

Instead, my dick still planted deep inside Raven’s wet warmth, I chuckled. I pulled her close and felt her body tighten as she melted into me, resting her head on my shoulder with a light, girly laugh of her own. A sound that took a moment to register in my mind.

“Did you just giggle?” I asked after a minute of thought. Raven was always so cool and smooth. Not prone to so many little chickish mannerisms.

“Fuck no,” she replied, but sorta did it again as she continued. “I don’t do girly shit like that.”

I pressed my face into her neck, breathing in the erotic scent of her perfume. Nothing light and flowery, but rich and warm. Exotic. Enthralling.

“Okay, just checking.”

Somehow she empowered me. It didn’t make sense, but somehow she pulled me out of the melancholy with so much strength that I went back inside and did exactly what I needed to do.

I played like Maggie didn’t mean a fucking thing to me.

My fingers, still tingling from guiding Raven’s hips—from moving her in slow circles and then hard, frantic thrusts—flew over my guitar strings. I didn’t even see Maggie anymore. I’m not sure if she left or I was just that good at blocking her from my mind. Not a soul in the room could have guessed how close I’d been to breaking, except for the violet gaze from over at the bar. The girl in a short skirt and thigh-high socks…

…with dirty knees.

So it went from there. Casual. No ties. No strings or commitments. Just a warm, wet pussy to sink into every time things got to be too much. Something to take me out of my head, to make me feel a little less rejected.

That’s what I kept telling myself. The nagging hole left by Maggie wasn’t going to disappear, but with Raven it seemed to sting less. Once I got inside her, Maggie was the furthest thing from my mind.

If only her magic worked all the time. If only I could always feel the way I felt when I was inside her. When she was gasping my name and gripping me to her in ecstasy.

Obviously, though, I couldn’t. As much as I would have liked, I couldn’t just fuck Raven twenty-four/seven. She had a life outside of Ink. A life I didn’t know a whole lot about, but it took her away now and then. I knew she wasn’t from Montana, but I thought she might have some family here. A distant relative. Someone who’d made her land here. You don’t really end up in Ophir by accident.

And I had my other life away from Ink, too. My band. We’d gotten together in college with dreams that someday we’d get our fame and fortune. We’d be a bar band that ended up playing stadium rock. It was something I’d aspired to since I picked up my dad’s guitar as a kid. Since I dressed up like Gene Simmons in full KISS regalia for Halloween in first grade. Since I watched every Van Halen video ever to figure out how Eddie did the things he did. Since I first saw the Sinners on tour and dreamed of sharing a stage with them someday. Somehow.

A few years later, though, we were still a bar band. We’d hit celebrity status with some locals, but were nothing like the platinum rockers my juvenile mind had imagined. Being ordinary had begun to feel extraordinary, though. It had brought me Maggie and all the wild sexcapades with her. The stream of girls she brought into bed with us. It felt all rockstar and shit. I’d really thought my life was pretty fuckin’ good.

Now, I just didn’t know what the fuck my life was. There was a weird fog, an unreality of each day that made things feel up in the air.

As for Raven, I didn’t see her often outside of work. She ran in different circles, but it was like she had a sixth sense for my psyche. An awareness of my mood. Whenever the world seemed to darken around me, she would appear to pull me from the shadows, eclipsing the confusion and regret that burrowed into my chest.

Sometimes the casualness caught me off guard. The first time I had her in my bed could have arguably been the best sex I’d ever had. It was a Saturday night, after a rockin’ show.

One of those nights that the band played with an effortless rhythm. Like we were destined for greatness. Fluid and spot on, feeding into the vibrancy of the crowd. It reignited the yearning for fame that still simmered under my skin.

It made me want to fuck. Hard and fast and wild.

Maggie had always used those times to round up a few new
friends
to play with us. One night, she had four girls all over me and each other. A hedonistic orgy of pussy and breasts all around.

The Mofo after party was in full swing when those memories began to filter through my mind. I rapidly began to spiral down, unsure what to do with the energy raging through my veins. Laura caught my arm, but I jerked away from the expression of pity on her face.

So I grabbed the closest bottle I could see and headed upstairs to my room, desperate to erase the sense of loss. Alone. Ready to drink myself into oblivion.

Just as I took the first swig, though, I heard the click of the latch behind me. I didn’t move, thinking whoever it was wouldn’t stay when they saw what a wreck I was. Then the bold scent of Raven’s perfume teased my nostrils. She stepped up behind me and slipped her hands under the fabric of my t-shirt, running them up my stomach to my chest. She held me in silence, tracing the lines of my ink from memory. Drawing me away from the dark.

Turning around, I caught her harshly in my arms and devoured her with my kiss. My fingers tangled savagely in her hair. Clothes flew to the floor and I felt the delicious burn of her skin against mine. We fell to my bed where I covered her body with my own and rode her hard, holding back my release until she’d come beneath me over and over again. With a hoarse groan, I finally collapsed beside her, sated and almost numb with relief.