Page 93 of Green Ravens

He and Zorion sat around the fire, eating chunks of the trout and fruit he’d picked from the trees near the waterfall.

“I wanna take another dip before we go—”

Valor caught Zorion’s wrist before he could get up. He slowly pulled Zorion down until he sat between his legs with his back to his chest.

Valor took one of the apples and began to cut it into small wedges.

He held a piece to Zorion’s lips. His gaze locked onto Valor’s with a hunger that had nothing to do with food.

“Eat,” Valor said, his voice rough with authority.

Zorion parted his lips and allowed Valor to place the slice on his tongue. As he bit, the juice ran down his chin, and Valor leaned in and licked away the remaining sweetness from his bottom lip.

The sugary taste of the apple complemented Zorion’s natural flavor so well that he wanted to smear the juices all over him.

An image of Zorion with his eyes closed and mouth open in a beautiful jungle flashed before his eyes.

For a moment, neither of them moved as the world held still.

It was the strongest feeling of déjà vu ever.

Zorion turned and gazed into Valor’s hooded eyes as if he were feeling the same sensation.

Valor sliced another piece and pressed it to Zorion’s soft lips, but this time, Zorion didn’t bite immediately. Instead, he gripped Valor’s wrist and slid the fruit into his mouth with deliberate slowness, sucking on Valor’s fingers.

The gesture sent a pulse of heat straight to his groin.

Valor knew there’d never be a day in their lives where he wouldn’t crave and want to be inside Zorion.

As they moved closer, lips hovering near enough to inhale each other’s breaths, the distant rumble of a helicopter shattered the intimacy of their moment.

That sound only meant one thing.

After two years, Jo was back.

He and Zorion exchanged looks that shifted their minds from love to war. The passion, the quiet comfort, the reprieve, were gone in an instant, replaced by something strong and deadly.

They’d trained for this moment.

They were ready.

It was time for their revenge.

Chief Aiken Oakley

Valor

By the time they arrived back at the main grounds, the chopper had powered down and Jo was being led inside.

Her eyes widened as she took them in, as if registering just how much they’d changed.

After a brief hesitation, she gave a slight bow, acknowledging them as masters of the Order.

“The elders need to be summoned,” she said without preamble. “The Ravens are moving, and the director’s corruption has reached a level we can no longer ignore. We don’t have much time to prevent what’s about to happen.”

She quickly laid out the situation—the director’s failed experiments to create new assassins after his and Zorion’s escape, using the world’s most ruthless mercenaries to bypass the organization’s sanctions, and his desperate attempt to abduct and blackmail a bomb specialist named Zelmir Benton.

“The director contracted Lee Woyashi to kidnap Zelmir, but when Woyashi double-crossed him and took Zelmir for himself, along with his family, the director gave the Blacks and the Browns kill orders.”

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