Page 100 of Stutter

My heart falls out of my asshole and down to the basement. “What do I do?”

“Campus is still closed?”

I nod.

“Darling you need to find that ledger and burn it. Your father, despite what he’s had to do, is a good man and after almost thirty years, I love him more than I did the first day of ourmarriage.Youare a good man. If I could have written my name in that horrid book instead of yours, I would have taken your place. But that isn’t the way this world of ours works. So I need you to find that ledger and burn it to ash, then bury those just to make sure.”

“Okay,” I reply dryly.

“Oh, my sweet boy. What a fucking predicament we’re in.”

My mouth gapes at her cursing and she laughs. “Seems your father will be home for another funeral soon. The poor thing barely flies out of the country and has to return because our darling Raven is a vicious little thing.”

I grin. “Isn’t she perfect, though?”

“Oh Jonas,” she says while turning to the mirror and fixing her hair, “if you would have chosen a different woman, she would have never made you happy. Raven is absolutely bewitching, and I am so glad you found each other – even if it means two more in tow. But we aren’t always fortunate in finding our soul mates in mint condition and without any damage or baggage. Truth be told, if she had been a proper Syndicate princess I probably would have loathed her, much like I did that Paris girl and for good reason.” She blinks at me through her reflection.

“If this is the life you’ve chosen and the woman you’ve chosen, then as long as you’re happy, so be it. I mean that Damon is quite nice on the eyes.” She scrunches her nose in the mirror and turns back to face me, then reaches up to pinch my cheek.

I don’t have anything to say about that last comment, still trying to figure out exactly how it made me feel when he gripped my chin like that in the car earlier.

“Now dear, let’s go have some tea while you figure out a way to tell your…flock, that you need to steal the ledger. That Maverick looks quite daring. Take him with you. Something about him looks a bit lost and you need to include him in your… little activities.”

“He’s former FBI,” I inform her, rubbing where she pinched. “And kind of an ass- ajerk.” I correct myself.

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” she grins, and I can’t help but think maybe she has a screw in her head a bit loose or if she even heard me at all. “Including him means he’s more likely to keep your secrets. That’s the entire motto of the Syndicate, isn’t it? To build a better bond within your brotherhood, let them witness what could be your downfall but trust them enough to not let that happen?”

I grunt in agreement.

“There is nothing more important than your future family, Jonas. Make sure he understands that, yes?”

“Okay.” I agree.

“Okay.” She sighs happily as if we didn’t just talk about something so serious, clasping her hands together and thrusting open the door of the rustic chic bathroom. “Now, about that tea…”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Damon.

“You want me to gowherewith you?”

Jonas stands with his hands on his hips, his sweatpants slung lowon them, sweat dripping down his abs and I swallow the saliva that pools into my mouth. We’re all sweaty, having used the gym in the basement to prepare for the Christmas Eve feast Elena is having her chef prepare for tonight. I called my parents earlier and yes, my father has chosen to resign and retire and stay in Paris with my mother indefinitely, having asked me to sort out his home in Hartford. While Tabi, his chef, will no longer have a job, she’s going to have severance pay that will ensure she never needs one ever again and only has to cook if she wants to.

Raven is on the ground, in ‘corpse pose’ her “favorite” yoga position which just means she’s laying on her back like a starfish, still panting after the rigorous strength and conditioning course Jonas led us through.

“It’ll be quick. But you can get us into the restricted section, can’t you?” Jonas asks Maverick.

Raven sits up. “I can… do… that.” She pants out with nary a stutter, reaching for her leg and rubbing at the tatted-over scar.

I keep my grin to myself, remember when I followed her through the disguised book door and watched from the shadows as my Little Bird rode Maverick on the floor of the restricted section like a wanton slut needing to find God. My dick begins toharden in my sweats just remembering the way her little cheeks turned pink, asking myself if I had a cuckolding fetish and realizing, I simply had aherfetish.

Everything that is her from her little toes, the silver stripe in her hair, and the mere scent or sight of her gets me hard enough to want to fuck her senseless. Detaining myself and watching her get fucked or fuck like she’s searching for her next high tests my willpower and watching her climb through her peak and crash back down to earth is glorious. Every. Single. Time.

So yes, I have a Raven fetish.

I am utterly enthralled and obsessed with watching this woman come like there’s no tomorrow and I have absolutely no remorse or shame of it.

Maverick and Jonas peek over at her and I move to get to her so I can rub at her sore flesh, taking her meaty calf in my hands and pressing my thumbs to her tibia to smooth out her clammy skin over her leg. She moans and her eyes dart over to me.

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