Evanescent Ink (Copperline #4) (31 page)

She spoke so quietly that I could barely hear her. “I don’t want you to hate me. Not you.”

“Jesus,” I breathed out. “I don’t hate you. I
couldn’t
hate you.”

“Yet.”

“Ever,” I defiantly replied with a shake of my head.

“Everyone does eventually, Drew,” she said in a low voice, dropping her gaze as a fat tear rolled down her cheek. “You will someday, and I can’t stand that from you. I can handle it from anyone else, but not you.”

“Because you love me.”

She looked back up and just stared at me for a minute, trembling. More tears gathered and pooled in her wide violet eyes, spilling down her cheeks.

And then she nodded. Slowly. Purposefully.

Framing her face with my hands, I kissed her long and hard. Deep enough to taste her soul, until she was clutching me rather than attempting to push me away.

“You’re not unlovable, Rave,” I murmured against her lips. She leaned against me, her hands clutching my shirt. “Far from it. I can see how people have made you think you are, but they were the ones who were fucked up, not you.” My words were broken by little, firm kisses. “Let me show you. Let me love you.”

“That’s not what this was supposed to be,” she whispered, but her body betrayed her. She didn’t pull away. Instead, her arms wound around my shoulders as she leaned up to kiss me back.

I lifted my head, brushing her hair back from her eyes. “But it’s what it’s become. It’s taken me a while to figure it out, but that’s
exactly
what this is.”

Because it was. This had become so much more than either of us had intended. Everything about her spoke to me on some deep, inner level that made no sense, but was so fucking real and strong.

“You’re perfect for me,” I promised, “with your mask and without. You showed me what love is. Let me show you. Just let me love you.”

And I kissed her with every intent of doing just that. Of being tender, wiping away the tears in her eyes and pouring everything I felt into her.

Suddenly, my phone started ringing in the pocket of my jacket. I grabbed it and silenced it, tossing it to the counter, and kissed her again. I wanted to lose myself in her. I wanted to seal this fragile truce. I wanted to make love to her until neither one of us could move.

My phone rang again.

This time I glanced at it and saw Justin’s name on the display.

Fucker.

I silenced it and turned back to Raven, but before I could touch my lips to hers, it was ringing again.

“What, you cocksucker?” I answered with a growl.

He only laughed. “I take it I interrupted something.”

“Bye, Justin.”

“Wait, dude, are you coming to the Copperline?”

Fuck.

“Damn,” I sighed, “it’s Friday.”

At my regretful tone, Raven glanced at the clock. “You’re going to be late,” she whispered.

“I don’t care,” I replied.

Justin’s voice came through the phone again. “I'll stall ‘em so you can get a quick make-up fuck in, but you’re going to have to hurry it along.”

I looked down at Raven.
God
, I wanted to savor her. I wanted to take my time and love her with everything in me.

Unfortunately, a quick make-up fuck was all we had time for.

“Buy me an hour,” I told Justin.

Then I disconnected, hauled Raven back to her room, and had the best quick make-up fuck
ever
. I tossed her on the bed and fell over her, kissing her hard and wild as we pulled at each other’s clothes. Her fingernails dug into my shoulder as I sunk into the warmth of her body. It was fast and frantic and,
holy fucking hell
, it was hot.

Even more than that, it was also binding. As the fire built inside us and coursed through our bodies, the emotion flowed freely. The intensity of every caress united us.

And her breathless gasp when she came sounded blissfully like a whisper of love.

It took us a little longer than an hour to show up.

The guys were waiting patiently. The crowd was less patient. Felicity, Sophie, and Ilsa were there as well and welcomed Raven with open arms. Both metaphorically and literally.

“Raven!” Felicity squealed, jumping up to give her a huge hug, the sight of which made Justin groan loudly.

“Damn, girls…” he began. “You should accidentally kiss or something.”

Both Denny and I instantly bristled at him.

“What?!” he shrugged. “Tell me that’s not hot as fuck right there.”

The truth was, they did look really sexy together. The bright scarlet of Felicity’s hair and the steampunk pink and purple and teal of Raven’s. Their tattoos and short skirts.

Yeah…
ooph
.

We just couldn’t let Justin see us sweat. Felicity and Raven were
our
girls.
Fucker
.

“Jesus,” Justin sighed, although his massive grin belied his false petulance, “you fuckers, all tied down and shit.”

The crowd had grown slightly restless, but cheered as the Mofos took the stage. We started into our set, playing like we were on fire, but I kept seeking out Raven’s face in the audience. Sometimes she was watching us in wonder, sometimes in pride. Other times, she chatted with the other girls. She fit. She had a place, and she looked so very comfortable in her skin. More so than I’d ever seen her before.

My family was becoming hers.

At one point, right towards the end of a song, I glanced out to see her laughing outrageously at something one of the others had said. The sheer joy on her face gave me a sense of peace I’d never experienced. A contentment I never even thought possible.

I immediately signaled to Denny as the music died down.

“Five seconds,” I said, swinging the shoulder strap of my guitar over my head.

“Do you need a break?”

“Nope,” I replied with a shake of my head, “just five seconds. I’ll be right back.”

As I set down my guitar and jumped off the stage, half the crowd continued applauding the last song. The other half seemed to be wondering what the fuck I was doing. I made a beeline to the girls’ table on the edge of the dancefloor.

Raven caught sight of me and stood as I came closer, appearing mildly concerned.

“Drew, what are you—”

Pulling her close, I cut her off with a long, deep kiss. The collective sound of
‘awwwwe’
rose through the murmuring voices around us. Her arms slowly wrapped around me, and she kissed me back. At long last, I lifted my head to examine the dreamy look in her eyes that filtered into her smile.

“I love you,” I murmured, and her smile grew wider. “I just had to tell you that… again.”

The faint sparkle of tears lit her eyes. “I love you, too,” she replied.

There it was. The first time she actually said the words. The first time she told me she loved me. Just like that. Like she’d said it one-hundred-thousand times before. Even if she said it one-hundred-thousand times after, that was the first time.

It was a moment I’d remember until the day I died.

Following another hard kiss, I jumped back up on the stage and grabbed my guitar, lining up my fingers on the frets to get ready for the next song. I waited, but nothing happened. Looking up, I saw all three of my band mates staring at me. Cody grinned widely. Justin just shook his head in disbelief, like a comrade had fallen in battle. Denny appeared at first glance to be annoyed with the interruption, but there was a warm laughter in his voice.

“I know she’s a fine bit of stuff and all, but d’ya think you could wait for a break before ya go off snoggin’ yer girl again?” he asked into his mic.

A chuckle rolled through the crowd, growing louder when Justin followed up with, “Yeah… but speak English, you fucker.”

I simply shrugged noncommittally to Denny, and we began to play.

I had figured Maggie would back off… that she wouldn’t come to the Copperline. She knew this was my turf, a place where she clearly wasn’t wanted.

However, she did show up, clearly intent on driving Raven away again. I underestimated how pissed she was. Even though she’d dumped my ass the first time, she was pissed that I didn't just blindly follow her at the snap of her fingers. She wanted some kind of retribution.

She went after Raven to exact it.

Just before we went on break, I saw Maggie in the crowd throwing some serious shade Raven’s direction. Scowling with killer dirty looks.

Glares that Raven had to feel… but simply ignored.

I didn’t trust Maggie not to take it further, though. She could be pretty fucking brutal when it came to skanky comments and cutting remarks. I'd been the victim to them many times in the past, and I'd witnessed them even more. It had taken me a long time to realize just what a complete bitch my ex really was. No wonder my friends had despised her so much.

So, even though Raven seemed unaffected from where I stood, I went straight to her the second Denny told the crowd we’d be back in fifteen. I needed to check her pulse. Things had felt so concrete earlier—so solid—but the newness of our shared feelings made me slightly worried that she may be a bit fragile in Maggie’s presence.

When I stood before Raven, though, my fears proved completely unfounded. She personified absolute calm. Under control. Cool and secure. She tucked herself up against my heartbeat with her arms around my abs.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Of course,” she smiled against my chest.

“I just wanted to check and make sure Maggie’s not fucking with you.”

“Let her try, Drew. She can’t hurt me.”

I pulled back and looked down at her in the low light of the Copperline’s neon beer signs. My tough, tenacious Raven, small and sometimes fragile, exuded a confidence that eased my worry.

She slipped her hand up to cup my jaw and gave me a warm, reassuring smile.

“Drew,” she said in a low, heartfelt voice, “you love me. She can't do anything to change that, and that's all I need. I was a scrappy little shit before, but your love makes me unbreakable.” She leaned up to kiss my lips, firm and just a touch longer than a fast little peck.

She was fine. Better than fine, actually.

She was unbreakable.

My chest swelled with pride in her spirit. Her faith in herself. Her faith in me.

“Do you really think you’ll be enough to keep him?” Maggie suddenly spat from behind me. Her voice was shrill, grating up my spine.

Yet Raven shot me a feisty grin that set my mind at ease. She was geared up and ready, postured for a fight. I smiled down at her, gave her another hard, quick kiss, and leaned back to let her face off with my ex.

Maggie was fuming.

“You?” she continued, glaring at Raven. “A little
freak
like you? You won't make him happy. You're not what he wants or what he needs. Drew likes lots of pussy all at once. He'll miss that. He'll miss
me
!”