Jade Archer - Sandpipers 2 - Raven's Mark (11 page)

Mark caught himself pacing back and forth across the length of his small, neat living room and stopped in his tracks. He closed his eyes and shook his head at himself in exasperation. At least doing so forced him to stand still. But it didn’t do much to make him feel any less edgy.

After taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes again and scanned around the room— barely resisting the urge to start straightening the couch cushions like a neurotic housewife. He
really
needed to get a grip. He didn’t even know what he was worried about. This was just a nice little movie night extension of their afternoon date. Raven was putting Ryan to bed in the guest room, then they’d pick something to watch. He’d put on some popcorn and grab a couple of sodas and they’d enjoy a nice, relaxing wind-down to their day together.

Companionable. Civilised. Nice.
Mark really wasn’t feeling it. In fact, he was leaning more towards jumpy and maybe just a little bit raw. Like a bad case of sunburn—all tight and hypersensitive—only on the inside, where it couldn’t be relieved by things like aloe vera and plenty of water.
He wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but something had changed about Raven. And it had all started somewhere between the confrontation with the asshole on the beach and finishing their dinner. The vibes Raven was giving off now were confusing…and exciting as hell at the same time. He just hoped he could keep up with whatever was going—
Sensing someone behind him, Mark spun around. Raven stood in the doorway to the living room, staring at him with an inscrutable expression on his face. It was a little disconcerting. But on the other hand…wow, Raven looked good standing there in his home, wearing the clothes Mark had loaned him.
The T-shirt and sweats Raven had borrowed were too big, but in a weird way that was kind of the appeal. Mark suddenly got a very vivid image of Raven in the kitchen tomorrow morning—swamped in the too-big-for-him shirt, his thick black hair a glorious ruffled mess and his eyes still heavy with sleep. It was completely fanciful, but he couldn’t help hoping it would come to fruition. And if not tomorrow morning, then one day.
Mark realised he was staring and forced himself to concentrate on the here and now.
“I…ah… I washed your clothes. I mean they’re in the washing machine. It shouldn’t be too long before they’re done.”
Well, that was a less than scintillating start to the evening. Damn!
“So…um… Would you like a drin—”
“N-no, thank you.”
Raven started walking towards him, slow and determined with an intense gleam in his eyes. It wasn’t a look Mark was used to seeing from Raven.
“Oh, okay. No drink. Well…um…” The way Raven was watching him and walking towards him—almost a stalk really—made Mark oddly nervous. “Would you like to pick a movie and I’ll…ah… I’ll fix—”
Raven kissed him—hard, hot, possessive, and full on the lips.
As a method of cutting off his uneasy rambling, it was certainly effective. And definitely unexpected. Raven had simply stepped right up and pulled Mark in.
And oh damn!
Oh…
The man could kiss. Mark gave him that. In fact, he was sure several brain cells shorted out and died a happy death during the sensual assault. He almost lost himself completely in the dizzying sensations coursing through his body as Raven pressed up against him. Almost.
“What—?” Mark struggled to say between kisses, but was cut off when Raven sealed their lips together once more, then opened his mouth and invited Mark in with a tempting flick of his tongue.
It was too much to resist. Mark met Raven in a wild tangle of tongues and teeth and hot, wet lips. He pulled Raven in until they were fused together from neck to knees, and Mark felt his cock stir and twitch with the contact. Against his thigh, he felt Raven’s cock give an answering throb of interest.
“What are you doing?” he somehow managed to ask when they eventually came up for air.
“I’m k-kissing you,” Raven breathed against his lips, then dipped his head to feather more kisses along Mark’s jaw.
“I know that. But—”
Another kiss stole the words right out of his mouth.
Mark couldn’t hold back a moan as Raven’s wicked tongue danced along his lips then plunged between them. It was dangerously easy to lose himself in the way Raven touched him—his supple runner’s body leaning in close, his hot mouth open and welcoming, and his eager hands playing across overheated skin and up into Mark’s hair, to weave and tug at the short strands. It was a blissful torture.
And yet somehow, in the larger of Mark’s heads, there was still enough blood left to ask questions. To wonder what the hell was going on. Why was Raven suddenly acting this way? Anger? Fear? Desperation? They didn’t seem like good—or smart—reasons to rush into a physical relationship. Although, Mark could certainly appreciate the desperation. But if that’s all it was, then they needed to stop now.
“Raven, slow down. We don’t…”
Raven tensed and pulled away—irritation clear in his expression.
“I w-want you. Don’t—” Raven took a deep breath. His voice turning soft as he relaxed into Mark again—all warm, sensual and needy. “Don’t make me b-beg. I w-want this. Believe me.”
“I do believe you. And I’m not saying I don’t want this too. But…I’m just a little worried about you.”
“Don’t be. Trust me. I know w-what I want.”
“It’s not about not trusting or believing you.” Mark took a deep breath and tried to calm his raging libido enough to think straight. “It’s just… I’m not sure I understand. I mean, why? Why now?”
“Because I w-want it. I want you.”
Mark wasn’t convinced. There was something more to all this. Something Raven wasn’t telling him. “I’m just not—”
“Because I’m sick of being w-weird and s-scared and—”
“You’re not weird—”
“—and alone, okay? That’s what’s going on. I d-don’t want to be alone anymore. Mark, p-please.”
Mark’s heart ached—he understood not wanting to be alone. Completely.
“You’re not alone. Not anymore.” He cupped Raven’s cheek, trying to reassure them both with the caress. “But there’s no need to rush.”
“I’m n-not rushing. We’ve been together for w-weeks. Why don’t you believe me when I say I w-want this?”
“I just—”
“Please.” Raven thrust up against Mark. “I w-want to feel you deep inside me, M-Mark. Take me to b-bed.”
Oh man!
There were so many reasons why this wasn’t a good idea. Not the least of which was, he had no clue what was really going on inside Raven’s head right now—why the sudden change? But at the same time he couldn’t deny the need he saw in him. And he didn’t want to. What if Raven shut down on him completely?
No, he didn’t want to risk that. He’d just have to make sure they kept things under control. After all, it was just another, natural step along the way towards being truly intimate. Right?
Before he could over think it any more than he already had, Mark leaned in and kissed Raven, soft and slow, making the connection a languid claiming and hoping with every fibre of his being he was doing the right thing. And for a while it seemed to satisfy them. Raven melted against him as they worked together to revel in the moment. But gradually the kisses and caresses became deeper, more demanding, more voracious.
“What about Ryan?” Mark managed, panting for breath several minutes later.
“He’d sleep through a nuclear b-blast,” Raven said, running his tongue along the angle of Mark’s jaw and ending with a nip on his earlobe that sent shivers right down to Mark’s toes.
“Raven! Oh—!”
Raven seemed to grow bolder with each passing second. Nimble fingers started working on the buttons of Mark’s shirt as his earlobes were alternately nipped and laved. But it wasn’t until fingers brushed across his chest and swept over his nipples that something finally flipped inside Mark’s head. Raven pushed back the edges of Mark’s shirt and began exploring, and it was too much.
Mark dived headlong into the moment. He swept in and claimed Raven’s mouth, while at the same time setting to work tugging the borrowed soft, grey cotton T-shirt up over Raven’s head. Finally, getting him bare-chested, Mark ran his hands up Raven’s sides from hip to modestly defined pecs—running his thumbs over his lean torso until they brushed against Raven’s pebbled nipples.
Instantly, Raven jerked and pulled away with a gasp and wide, frightened eyes. Mark backed off, wondering what the hell had happened. Then half a dozen pale circular scars scattered randomly across Raven’s chest caught Mark’s eye.
What the
—?
“Raven?”
Before Mark could process what he was seeing, Raven stepped up and pressed his lips to Mark’s once again. And it was no soft, tender caress. It was hard, demanding and hungry—a kiss designed to distract.
Mark fought against it.
He recalled from their first date Raven’s vague reference to how messed up his childhood had been. He’d even come to suspect Raven might have been physically abused by his parents. But it looked like Raven had been more than hit. These looked like…cigarette burns.
“Raven, wha—?”
“Don’t.”
“But—”
“No. I d-don’t want… I don’t want to t-talk about it. Not now.” Raven stared at him, as if daring him to push it. A stubborn set to his jaw Mark had never seen before made him falter.
He wanted to know everything about Raven eventually, with no secrets left between them. But he wanted Raven to know he accepted every part of him without question or expectation as well. And he wanted to love on the man until nothing else mattered.
Reluctantly, he had to agree. This wasn’t the time.
“Okay.”
“Where’s the bedroom?” Raven asked now that Mark had apparently proven himself smart enough to keep his mouth shut.
“Raven, are you—”
Raven gripped Mark’s face with both hands and kissed him passionately, leaving him hard and breathless when he was finally allowed up for air.
“Don’t m-make me ask ag-gain.” Raven’s eyes were dark and intense.
Mark felt a shiver run down his spine at Raven’s new kick-ass attitude. If this was what the man was like in bed, he didn’t think he’d ever want to leave the bedroom again.
Speaking of which…
Mark leaned in for another kiss as he tugged Raven forward. He wasn’t going to be stupid about it and deny them what they both so desperately wanted. Not now when Raven was looking at him with such raw hunger.
Entering his bedroom, Mark reached for the light switch, but Raven stopped him.
“L-leave it.”
“But—”
“Please.”
Raven’s eyes, illuminated by the soft glow of the living room lights, were beseeching. Mark was completely lost. He did as Raven asked and stepped into the darkened room without further comment.
Raven took a moment to glance around and Mark followed his gaze, seeing the shadowy outlines of the minimalist style he preferred—pale wood nightstands, a dresser set against one wall and a simple queen-sized bed the room’s only features. The plain bedspread was an inky blue-black in the low light.
“So, ah…how—?” Before Mark could get the question out, Raven tugged him further into the room, closed the door and attacked his mouth for another deep, erotic kiss.
As the kiss continued, Raven pushed the shirt from Mark’s shoulders, shoving it none too gently down his arms and tossing it away as if it offended him. His hands traced random patterns across Mark’s skin, exploring and dipping lower until they came to rest at the fastenings of his pants. Pausing for only a second, Raven soon set to work on the belt buckle and button.
Somehow the dark made each touch and caress more intimate—heightening each sensation until it was almost too much. Mark’s cock—now aching and diamond hard— leaked copious clear beads of pre-cum as Raven finally freed it and started stroking him off with a perfect, steady rhythm.
“Raven!”
Mark knew he wouldn’t last long if Raven kept touching him like that. But Raven didn’t heed the desperate, warning note in Mark’s voice. Instead, he made his way down Mark’s body, dropping kisses and nipping gently as he went—completely lost in his ministrations. It was exquisite, but also very obvious that Raven had a final destination in mind as he lowered himself in front of Mark and worked jeans and underwear off with sharp, determined movements.
Before Mark could catch his breath, Raven swallowed his cock.
“Oh my—” Mark gasped as he worked his fingers into Raven’s silky hair and tried desperately not to cum as Raven pleasured his shaft with strong suction, teasing flicks of his tongue and the deep thrust and retreat of his hot, wet mouth.
It was too much. He didn’t want it to end so soon. He wanted more. Needed more from their first time.
“Raven! Raven, stop! I can’t.… I—”
Raven stood in one swift, fluid move.
Now that his eyes had adjusted, Mark could see a little more. Ambient light leaking in around the shades from the street allowed for vague figures and shapes, shadows and pale outlines. It wasn’t enough, but Mark would take what he could get. And right now, as he panted and tried to get himself back under some semblance of control, he was able to appreciate the planes and angles and smooth pale glow of the Raven-shaped figure in front of him. A figure that still had his pants on.
“You too,” Mark murmured as he reached out and gently caressed along the line where Raven’s flat stomach disappeared into his pants. “Take them off.”
Mark held his breath and waited, desperately hopeful but letting Raven make the final decision to join him.
Slowly, Raven reached down and released the button, lowered the zip and eased his pants and underwear down his thighs. Mark felt a pang of regret that there wasn’t enough light to see details.
One day
, he promised silently. One day he would see Raven in all his glory.
“How do you—” Mark started to whisper, but before he could finish, Raven tugged him across the room to the bed and pushed him onto the mattress, following him down as he went.
They bounced, and Mark let out a grunt as Raven landed on top of him. But it was more surprise than anything. He liked this side of Raven. He liked it a lot. Then Raven adjusted to straddle him properly and Mark forgot everything but the way Raven’s groin pressed into him. The way their cocks lay together and worked over each other as Raven settled on top of him. The way Raven’s hands pinned his to the bed.
Then Raven stilled above him.
“M-Mark?”
“Yeah?”
“I…ah… I—”
Mark blinked at the sudden hesitancy in Raven’s voice. He tugged a hand free and carefully ran it along the side of Raven’s face and up into his hair. “Are you okay?”
Raven nodded, but he still didn’t move.
“We don’t have to if you’re not ready.” The words had to claw their way out of him, but Mark meant every one. They could stop now and he would never cry foul or call Raven a cock tease.
“No! I w-want to. It’s just…”
Raven’s voice died away, leaving Mark to try and fill in the blanks.
Maybe…
“Have you ever been with a guy? I mean…like this?”
“Yeah, but…” He felt Raven snuggle into his palm. “N-not for a long time and…only once. It w-wasn’t very…”
Mark’s heart began to pound. The trust Raven was placing in him in that moment…
He gently pulled Raven in for a kiss—a hit or miss affair at best in the dark. It nevertheless seemed to cement something between them. Within seconds they were back to hot and heavy—need and lust driving them on.
“I’ll make it good for you,” Mark swore between urgent kisses. “I promise. I—”
Raven cut him off with another deep kiss as he laced their fingers together and began a slow grinding motion over Mark smearing pre-cum between them as soft moans filled the room.