Page 17 of Raven
With that, Bran braced one hand behind her head and... made her forget everything,everythingbut the feel of his body. His heat, his hands, his mouth. His tongue gently, almost lazily, against hers. Raven’s body was slowly burning. She couldn’t breathe. She didn’t care.
A moment or a day might have passed when a throat clearing behind them finally registered. Bran stiffened but refused to release her when she gently pushed to get down. Resting his forehead against her own, he asked, “What in the fuck do you want, Pat?”
“Making sure the girls had everything they needed before I turned in.” Pausing dramatically, he continued, “I can see I needn’t have concerned myself.”
“Correct. Leave.”
Raven couldn’t see Patrick because Bran’s bulk blocked her view, but she heard his chuckle and the retreating footsteps.
“Sorry about him, Raven. Though,” and here he paused to kiss her neck, “we probably needed interrupting.”
“Yes.” Oh. My. God. She was downloading a thesaurus immediately! As Bran slowly lowered Raven to the floor, she felt as though her whole body was boneless.
“Will you call me when you get home tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
Raven slipped back into her room and almost knocked down her eavesdropping sisters. “You little shits!” she hissed at their smirking faces.
“Umm, Row and I are both bigger than you... soooooo... just shits.”
Ravan, face flaming, more because of the kiss than her sisters, sighed, smiled, and admitted, “Best. Kiss. Ever! He wants me to call him tomorrow! Did you hear him ask me?” They both grinned like deranged Cheshire Cats.
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
9
Wednesday night in Eufaula, the sisters were reviewing their schedules, a lowball of whiskey in hand. “Okay, ladies. Current clients are complete or almost. I know we all made sure our schedules were free.”
Raven heard herself speaking, but her mind was ridiculously focused on one thing and one thing only. Bran. They had been texting and calling one another since Sunday afternoon. They were like teenagers for the love of God, but what the hell, she felt like one. He was quickly becoming her epicenter. Bran had driven to Eufaula MondayandTuesday night to take her to dinner.
“Rave,” River began, “I love you, but we all know we have our shit figured out at Triskelion. As far as Row and I are concerned, the only thing left to discuss before we head to Tulsa is what we think Bran’s intentions are toward you and if we are all okay with them.”
Well, then. No beating around the bush. “We’ve known each other less than a week. Hehasno ‘intentions,’ I’m sure.” Except that he appeared to want to see her as much as she wanted to see him. Things were going fast, but it was more like speeddating. Getting to know everything about one another as fast as possible.
Bran had not asked for anything more than to spend time with her. He kissed her goodnight after dinner once he’d walked her home. Thankfully, she knew her sisters were awake and waiting to hear about her dates. Otherwise, she would have been tempted to take things further. She was thrilled he was more interested in her thoughts than getting her into bed, but admittedly, she was ready, so ready.
Exasperated with her merry-go-round thoughts and her sisters, Raven stood and moved to look out the front window. Old-fashioned streetlights lined Main Street. They always looked like aBeauty and the BeastLumiere army to her. She was aware she was trying to distract herself and put off answering her sisters. Sighing, Raven knew she couldn’t get out of it. After all, she had promised to listen to them.
“Raven.” Rowan’s even tone warned her that time was up.
Gathering her courage, Raven turned around and faced the two people she loved most. “Honestly, Bran and I communicate every hour of every day, and he’s taken me out twice already. I admit, easily to you two, that I am... falling.”
Here she covered her eyes, “Jesus, who am I? A Victorian miss? I’m fucking obsessed with him and trying desperately to play it cool.”
A single tear found its way down her cheek, bringing her sisters immediately to her sides. As they grasped her hands, she admitted her deepest fear. “This is probably a simple flirtation to Bran, and he hasn’t a single clue that I’m falling for him.” Raven freed her hands and held both up to stop her sisters from speaking. “How could he? But I don’t believe he is the type of man to lead a woman on. Do you?”
Both sisters shook their heads no.
“Then, how about this... I promise to be careful. To tell you everything and listen to your advice. Let’s enjoy seeing the Wolves’ space tomorrow and meeting James’ sister.”
“And the swanky dinner that follows,” River added. Both sisters hugged her, and they moved on. They trusted her as she trusted them.
Jo was amazing.A badass at business and one of the nicest people Raven had ever met. “You and James obviously have a clear vision of Wolves. I hope Triskelion’s conceptualization of the pub blends with the O’Connors.”
She and her sisters had spent the last two hours walking through the two-story space, measuring, taking notes, and tweaking their initial ideas. Jo told them where the bars would be, the stage, the kitchen, and the bathrooms already being roughed in.
