What He Bargains (What He Wants, Book Nineteen) (58 page)

Raven expected Dave to kick Joe again, as he seemed none to admiring of the younger man’s antics. But suddenly, Dave looked at her and nodded. “I see it,” he agreed.

Raven’s stomach curdled and she was frozen in shock.

“I think we need to show her where she is and how this works,” Joe said. “Don’t you think we should, boss?”

Dave stared at Raven for a long, long while. Finally, he nodded slowly. “Okay.”

Joe grabbed his rifle and walked towards her with it. “Get on your knees, right now. No playing around, bitch.”

“Please, I just want to sleep. I’m so tired.”

“It isn’t hard work for a girl like you. You got the mouth for it. Down on your knees.”

Raven stared at him, her throat tightening. This was it. She was going to die right now, because there was no way she would do as he asked. He’d have to beat her to death to make her.

And she could tell from the look in his eyes that he was quite willing and happy to oblige.

“No,” she told him, her jaw jutting. She stared up at him.

He didn’t seem to be able to believe his ears. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me,” she said, smirking at him. “You don’t scare me one bit.”

Somehow, it was true. Here she was in the middle of nowhere, the dead of night, alone with two psychopaths, and Raven wasn’t really afraid anymore.

Faintly, she remembered Jake’s words about his time in combat.

In the center of battle, I was the eye of the storm.

A feeling of power ran up her spine as she thought of Jake’s bravery. She wanted to make him proud, even if he’d never know what had happened to her.

Joe’s eyes wrinkled in surprise. He didn’t know what to do for a moment, and then he turned his head to his partner. “Boss, she’s getting smart with me. I need your help.”

Dave stood up and dusted off his pants, and then he wandered over to her with the pistol in his hand. “We can make her do it even if she says no. If she won’t open her mouth, there’s other ways.”

Some amount of fear came back now, as she realized what he meant. Joe began laughing as the two stood in front of her.

Okay, now, it’s time to fight. Fight and fight no matter what.

But just as she readied herself to attack Joe with everything in her power—to bite and kick and claw—Raven stopped.

There was a slight ripple of shadow in the trees a few yards behind the two men, right in her eye-line. They had their backs to it.

At first, she thought it was her imagination. Certainly, she was scared enough and had enough adrenaline flowing to be hallucinating.

But then, her eyes seemed to adjust and the ripple became a form, and she could make out Jake, standing amidst the trees where he was ensconced, waiting as still as a statue with his gun extended, aimed directly at the two kidnappers.

Somehow, some way, he’d found her and now he was waiting for his opportunity. Joe was holding his rifle pointed at her, and Dave was loosely pointing his gun at her too. Obviously, Jake didn’t want to shoot either man when they could reflexively shoot her in response.

And then Raven realized what she needed to do.

Her entire demeanor changed, and she pretended to give in, as she looked down momentarily. “Okay, okay, please. Don’t. Don’t hurt me. I’ll do what you want.”

“What’ll you do?” Joe demanded, pushing the tip of the rifle under her chin.

“Get on my knees,” she said, her eyes appearing to look into his, but really she looked past him.

Jake was training his gun more precisely now, and he appeared to give her a nod, almost as though approving her decision.

“I think she’s full of it,” Dave said, but his eyes were hungry, he wanted to believe.

Raven quickly scrambled to her knees, praying Jake could be fast and accurate and do whatever he needed to end it.

One part of her mind was so happy and joyous and wondering how he’d found her, and then the other part of her was so scared because now she was almost free.

What if it didn’t work? What if they killed Jake before he could stop them?

“Me first,” Joe said, putting his rifle down on the ground and unzipping his fly.

“No, me first,” Dave replied, handing Joe his pistol and quickly undoing his pants and dropping them to his ankles, while Joe was forced to place his rifle on the ground.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” Joe said, as the exchange was made.

Just then, a piercing shot rang out, crackling through the air with immense power and vibrating Raven’s eardrums.

Joe shrieked as his shoulder exploded in a cloud of blood and he fell to the ground screaming like a wounded animal, kicking and writhing.

Raven fell backwards as Dave scrambled for the rifle.

“Step back or I’ll kill you,” Jake commanded, his voice booming from the darkness as he crossed the few yards between the trees he’d been hiding near and the campfire. “Step back from that weapon, now.”

Dave looked over at Jake and then glanced to the rifle, as if trying to judge his odds of grabbing it and firing a shot in time, and weather Jake was close enough to take him out for certain.

“One last warning and then I do what I want to do. My finger’s itching,” Jake said.

Dave’s pants were down around his ankles and he knew he didn’t have the time, and he relented, holding his hands up gloomily as his partner in crime screamed and writhed on the ground nearby.

Jake was approaching cautiously, his gun raised and pointed, still ready to fire. He kept his eyes on target but spoke to Raven.

“Are you okay?” he asked her.

“I’m all right—they didn’t get a chance to do anything,” she said, her heart about to break with happiness and gratitude.

Jake closed in on Dave. He looked at Dave’s pants, which were still around his ankles. “What are you waiting for?” Jake asked him. “Pull your fucking pants up, soldier.”

Dave slowly bent down and grabbed his trousers. As he was bent over, Jake kicked him hard in the face, causing the man’s head to snap back so hard that he went unconscious. He was out cold for a few seconds, his pants still down, his body contorted in a strange position. A moment later, Dave woke up sputtering and coughing and holding his nose as he tried to sit up. Blood poured between his fingers.

“I think you broke his nose,” Raven said, walking closer to Jake, the beautiful man who’d saved her against all odds.

Jake glanced at her and smiled. “Good,” he said, and then walked over and rummaged through one of their packs, found a pair of handcuffs and went to Dave, who was groaning and rolling from side to side as the blood continued to pour from his nose.

Joe was still howling by the fire, and Raven looked at him. He was on his back, legs splayed out, holding his shoulder and crying like a tortured animal. She almost—almost—felt bad for him.

Jake put Dave’s hands behind his back, handcuffed him, and left him there with his pants down. Then he crossed to Joe, knelt down and examined the shoulder as Joe cursed him and howled.

“Sit up dipshit,” Jake said, helping Joe to sit. Jake examined the wound closely. “It’s a clean shot, it went in and out.”

“Fuck you,” Joe moaned. “I’m dying.”

“If you’re lucky.” Jake went to their bags and came back with dressing and bandaged Joe’s gunshot wound as if he was also a medical doctor on top of everything else.

Raven simply stood in awe. Maybe she was in shock, too.

“Is he going to survive?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Probably the night, at least. He’s lost a lot of blood and I took out his rotator cuff, so his arm’s useless and likely always will be.”

“Motherfucker…” Joe groaned.

“He’s lucky I don’t just kill him like the dog he is,” Jake said, more for the man’s benefit than hers.

“I don’t want anyone to die,” Raven said.

Jake looked at her and his eyes grew flinty and passionate. “They almost took you away from me,” he said, and his throat worked and she saw that he was emotional after all.

“I’m fine,” she said, and then she went to him and he hugged her tightly.

“I should’ve taken you with me,” he whispered in her ear as he held her in his strong arms that were infinitely protective.

“You found me, that’s what matters.”

“I’ll always find you,” he said.

Finally, they stopped hugging and Raven looked around her at the carnage. “What now?” she said.

Jake looked deeply into her eyes. “Now it’s our turn,” he said.

Raven found herself starting to smile. “I think I’m ready for that,” she told him.

He started to smile back at her. “Good,” he said. “Because we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“Tell me what you need from me.”

“I don’t need anything from you,” he said. “All I need
is
you.”

As they stared into one another’s eyes, Raven realized that he’d spoken the truth and everything else fell away.

Those men who’d come to hurt her had never stood a chance at all, because the man who loved her would never have stopped until he found her again.

Jake’s words echoed and echoed in her ears and the last vestiges of her doubt fell away.

The words faded but the memory of them would remain with her forever.

All I need is you.

All they needed was each other.

And now she was ready to prove it to the world.

T
hree of Jake’s
military buddies had arrived at the cabin.

Raven and Jake hadn’t been back for very long before his friends had arrived.

They were dressed in full gear, with packs and weapons at the ready. Raven was sitting beside the stove inside, a blanket around her, spooning soup into her mouth that Jake had made for her just minutes before.

Now she watched as Jake conferred with his men. They acted as if he was still their commander and this was just another day in Afghanistan. Their bearing was focused, with some of the gallows humor that men like them seemed to naturally possess, joking crudely about the men Jake had wounded in the woods.

Using some piece of equipment that looked like a giant handheld computer one of the men had brought with them, Jake showed his three friends where he’d left her kidnappers. Jake was holding a stylus and pinpointing their location. “Right about there, maybe a click or two North.”

The largest of his three buddies nodded appreciatively. “We’ll handle it,” he said, taking the handheld computer thingy back and studying it momentarily.

Jake folded his arms. “Do whatever you need to do to ascertain who exactly gave them their orders—find out by any means necessary. And then send them home, with a clear message that we mean business.”

“Do we kill if necessary?” the smallest one in the group asked.

Jake shook his head no. “There’s no threat factor posed by those two grunts anymore. Get the info, as much as you need to send the message. And then send it loud and clear. But no kill is required.”

The three men nodded their understanding.

“Message will be sent and received,” the one with the electronic map said, tucking it into his belt line, where it hung easily. “Time to move out, boys.”

“Bud,” Jake said, getting the attention of the big man.

Bud stopped and looked at him. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“You never need to thank me, Sir. Not after what you did for us on the big stage.” He gave a quick salute and then led the others out of the cabin.

After the door closed behind them, Raven stood and watched through the window as they trooped into the woods. It was very early morning, the dawn had only just come. That meant those two men who’d tried to kidnap her had been in the woods, alone, for hours. Jake had left them both immobile, handcuffed, feet bound together so neither could crawl or walk away from their spot.

Jakes unit disappeared and Raven sat down by the fire again.

She spooned some more wonderfully hot soup into her mouth, savoring the taste. Nothing had ever tasted so good, so warm and comforting.

The mug she was holding was hot and the blanket around her was like a hug from Jake, as he was the one who’d draped it over her shoulders.

Now he came over to her again, his grin coming back. “You look happy as a clam right now.”

She grinned back. “Is it weird that maybe I am happy right now, even after everything we’ve been through recently?”

“Definitely,” he said, sitting down next to her, his hand resting on her leg, sending a jolt of excitement up her thigh.

She lowered her mug and looked at him. “What are they going to do with those two men? Torture them?”

Jake watched her evenly. “Do you really want to know? Because I’ll tell you, but I don’t think you want details.”

She thought about it for a moment. “No, I guess I don’t. I just…I hope they don’t hurt them too badly. As cruel and terrible as they were to me, I can’t say I like the thought of us doing the same stuff to them that they threatened me with.”

“My guys aren’t animals,” Jake reassured her. “They’ll do everything the right way, and the force they use will be appropriate for what those clowns deserve, based on their own behavior. If they cooperate, they’ll be treated reasonably. But if they don’t cooperate…” he trailed off, giving a slight shrug, as if to say, they deserve what they get in that case.

Raven realized she was basically okay with the situation. And she trusted Jake implicitly. The important thing now was that they were both safe, and both together.

“And now what?” she asked.

He continued smiling at her. “You’re a piece of work,” he laughed.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because,” he chuckled, “most people—even soldiers—who went through what you went through would be a puddle right now. But you’re fine. You’re already moving on to the next thing.”

She felt her spine straighten as she took in his compliment, remembering how her instinct had been to fight when she’d thought the kidnappers were going to truly force themselves on her. She’d been calm, ready to die in a sense—and Raven had never known she possessed that kind of strength and fearlessness.

But Jake saw it inside her. And he respected it.

Raven felt her cheeks flush. “I want to make you proud.”

He stared at her and reached out, caressing her cheek so softly. “You don’t need to
make
me proud,” he whispered. “You’re the most amazing thing I’ve ever witnessed. I don’t just mean that you’re just the most amazing person I’ve ever met,” he continued. “You’re actually the most beautiful, strangest and wonderful of
anything
I’ve ever come across in my entire life. How could I not be proud just to know you?”

She felt tears spring to her eyes at his words, and then he was leaning towards her and their lips were meeting in a wonderful, passionate kiss.

In that one kiss, Raven felt the emotion of a lifetime, felt the love that had so quickly formed and blossomed between them, and everything in her relaxed and rejoiced because of it.

Finally, Jake broke off from kissing her. “You asked what’s next,” he said, still watching her closely.

“Yeah,” she answered, waiting.

“We should go back,” he said. “This place has served its purpose.”

“Back where, though? Are you going on tour again?”

At this question, he looked away for the first time, his gaze flitting uncertainly to the window, as if contemplating. “I don’t know.”

“Well…don’t you sort of need to? I mean, financially?”

He sighed. “Maybe. That’s part of the reason we need to go back. I have to check on the state of my business and make some big decisions.”

Raven nodded uncertainly. “You know I’ll support any decision you make.”

He smiled briefly. “It’s not you that I’m worried about.”

“That’s a first.”

Jake glanced at her, his grin reappearing. “Don’t be a smartass,” he said, grabbing her waist and pulling her close.

“Careful! My soup’s going to spill.”

“I think it already did,” he said, touching her shirt lightly. “We need to get that off you, it’s dirty.”

“Jake,” she giggled.

But he was already pulling the blanket off her, as she put the mug down on the floor, out of range. And then Jake was tugging her t-shirt off, sliding it over her shoulders, leaving her completely naked from the waist up.

He pushed her gently back, so her head was on the floor, as she looked up at him. His eyes were intense, filled with a need so great that it almost frightened her.

More than that, however, his need seemed to attract and awaken her own need. Maybe that was the scary part.

Raven reached out and touched Jake’s hard chest, running her hands up and down, and then sliding down to his stomach, which tightened in response to her greedy touch.

She spread her legs, tugging at his pants, which he helped her unbuckle and pull down.

They were suddenly frantic, both of them pulling at one another. Jake was trying to take her panties off as quickly as possible.

Raven slid Jake’s boxers down too.

She wanted to feel him now—she couldn’t wait, suddenly, and her pussy was dripping wet for him.

It was as if all the emotion that had been pent up, all of her fears and worries and terrors of the last day were spilling out, and the only cure was him inside her. The feel of Jake’s body pressing into her, his cock pushing into her sacred space, bringing him into her in every possible way.

“I need you,” she gasped, as Jake placed his hands on either side of her body, elevating his muscular frame over her, protecting her from his weight.

She placed her hand on his large, throbbing member and stroked it, feeling the intensity of it, the warmth and hardness of it, pulling it towards her spread legs.

Looking down, she could see Jake pushing the head of his cock ever closer to her bare pussy, until it finally made contact with her quivering folds.

She gasped in ecstasy.

“Are you all right?” he asked, pausing.

“Yes, yes…” she urged him, extending her hips upwards to meet him.

It was exhilarating, thrilling. She wanted to watch it happen, wanted to see him entering her.

Slowly, slowly, he penetrated her, and she watched as her legs opened wider, as if instinctually knowing what to do to fit him into her. Her body could accommodate him, and she let it, let herself do what she desperately needed to do.

Soon, Jake’s entire cock was inside, buried in her, taking up every last bit of space, and they both sighed in unison.

“You feel amazing,” Jake said, looking into her eyes. He wasn’t moving now, he was just waiting.

“You do too,” Raven replied, her breath catching in her chest.

He leaned down and began urgently kissing her mouth, and then he began pumping his hips slowly against hers. Jake wasn’t so much pulling out and going in again. Instead, he kept himself buried all the way inside, slowly rotating his hips, grinding his pelvis against hers.

The sensation was incredible, and an explosion of sensations moved through her, shooting up her torso, lighting up her body with a barrage of pleasure.

Raven moaned, crying out, her hands raking down Jake’s back as he continued to work his magic inside her.

“You’re so fucking tight,” he whispered.

“You’re going to make me come,” she whimpered in return. Her eyes closed, rolling back in her head as Jake slid his hips against hers rhythmically, each miniscule thrust igniting a firestorm in her pleasure centers.

“Raven,” he said, “I’ve never felt this before. Never. I…I hope you know…”

“Oh, God,” she cried.

“I hope you know this is real.”

“Jake,” she moaned, clutching him, grabbing his bare butt in her hands and squeezing as he thrust again, making her come so hard that she lost her breath.

Her entire body shuddered and she couldn’t even scream, it was so intense.

“Holy shit,” Jake said, “Your pussy’s amazing.” He slid out and in again, finally making larger movements with his hips.

Now he was sliding almost all the way out before plowing himself back inside her fully.

Raven opened her eyes wide. Everything he did to her was something new, something she’d never suspected, could never have imagined in her wildest dreams.

“You’re so wet, Raven,” he murmured. His breath was hot on her face and then he was kissing her neck, sucking her skin, as he fucked her harder and faster.

It was true, she was wet. She had almost nothing to compare it to, but Raven couldn’t imagine she could get any wetter.

The sound of his skin slapping against hers was exciting, sensual, and the feelings generated as his pelvis collided into hers was absolutely amazing. She threw her head back as her body was wracked by yet another miraculous orgasm.

This time she had enough air in her lungs to cry out loud.

“I’m coming,” Jake told her, and then he picked his hips up high and slammed them down against her in a series of aggressive motions as he exploded inside her, bursting, pulsing, letting out his essence.

Raven’s body was still shuddering in wonder, every fiber, every cell alive and dancing, a smile overcoming her face as she realized the extent of what he’d done to her.

“Oh my goodness,” she whispered, as Jake collapsed his full weight on top of her and lay breathing as if he’d just sprinted across a football field.

She ran her hands along his back, then scooped a handful of his hair into her palm, stroking his head with love.

Finally, he rolled off her, to the side, but remained close, still breathing quickly. She turned and looked at him.

His eyes were searching the ceiling, as if he could see into the future. A blend of emotions passed over his face, and Raven just watched, in awe of the beauty of him.

“You saved me,” she told him.

He turned and looked at her. “We saved each other, didn’t we?”

And then they both smiled, knowing it was the truth.

R
aven was exhausted
.

They’d trekked from the cabin to the road, where Jake’s driver had been waiting with his car to take them both back to civilization.

She slept for a brief time in the car, but then she woke and noticed all her messages on her phone and knew that she needed to get in touch with people who were worried about her.

So Raven contacted her family and let them know she was all right. They were apparently safe and sound and able to conduct their lives from the new residence Jake and his team had arranged for them. Even her brother had little to complain about.

Raven didn’t spend a lot of time telling them where she’d been or what had occurred in her short time away. She just made sure they were safe and relatively happy.

Danny tried peppering her with questions about the future and she told him she had no idea what was going to happen next. “Jake will figure it out and we’ll be in touch.”

“So we all just wait for Jake to decide our fates?” Danny scoffed.

“Be patient,” she told him. “Soon things will be back to normal.”

She got off the phone with Danny, feeling a little guilty, knowing that she was somewhat responsible for his life and the lives of her parents being turned upside down.

Next, she called Skylar.

“I thought something terrible had happened to you!” Skylar said.

Raven apologized for dropping out of touch. “We’re back now, though, so I’ll be coming around again.”

“You don’t worry about me,” Sky told her. “I’m doing just fine.”