In Times of Darkness, page 26
part #1 of Raven Island Series
Silas rinses my hair gently and thoroughly until every bit of shampoo is gone. Then he takes the loofah and begins to wash himself. I don’t want the intimacy to stop. I take the loofah back, and I wash every inch of him. I do an exceptionally good job cleaning his cock, rubbing it with my soap-lathered hands until he comes for me.
Silas is too tall for me to wash his hair easily. He can see me struggling to reach, so he picks me up. I wrap my legs around his waist as he holds me. My breasts are pressed against his face. I feel his beard scratch against them. I think for a second maybe we are going to have sex again. But he doesn’t take my nipples into his mouth. Instead, he lays his cheek against my chest while I shampoo and rinse his hair.
When I’m done washing his hair, Silas lowers me to the ground. I feel every inch of Silas’s muscular frame as my body slides down his until my feet touch the wet slate on the shower floor.
I reach for my conditioner, which Silas didn’t remember to put in my hair. He watches me start to apply it, studying me. Then he takes the bottle from my hand and takes over, gently pulling his fingers through my hair.
The way he touches me is sweet and gentle. I should be cringing and desperate to get out of here. But I’m not. Maybe because we’ve fucked in every way we can think of, some part of me knows that there’s no point in running from intimacy with Silas. We’ve been intimate from almost the first moment we met. I smile thinking about Silas laying me down on that heavy oak table at the Chambers’ cabin and feasting on me that first night.
Even after all the ways Silas has fucked me, I’ve never felt as close to him as I did with his face pressed against my heart like that.
Silas finishes rinsing the conditioner out of my hair and then turns the shower handle, slowing, then stopping the hot stream of water. He opens the shower door and grabs towels for us. He wraps one around his waist, but he’s so big that it only reaches to the middle of his thigh, and barely covers his cock.
He takes another towel and roughly runs it over my breasts and then down my body. He turns me around and uses the towel to wring the water out of my long hair. He takes his time getting as much water as he can out, and then he drapes the towel around me. Silas is gentler than I’ve ever seen him.
He steps out of the shower, taking my hand, and leads me into the bedroom. Silas rifles in the closet and finds a fleece robe in navy and green plaid to put on. The man wears more plaid than everyone I’ve ever met put together. Then he retrieves my rose-colored satin robe from inside the closet and drapes it over my shoulders. He ties it tightly around my waist.
“I’ll build you a fire,” he says, taking my hand again.
Silas leads me down into the living room and pushes me onto the sofa. He goes into the kitchen and comes back with another glass of red wine. He hands it to me silently. Then he disappears out the door to the front porch of the house and comes back with an armful of firewood.
My lips twitch at the sight of him. The man is wearing a fleece bathrobe and carrying what would be three armfuls of firewood for most men.
He’s so fucking hot. I watch him as he crouches down at the big hearth to build me a fire. My pulse thuds between my thighs, so I press them tightly together. It feels deliciously good.
I want him to fuck me again. Now. But I know the longer we wait, the hungrier and more desperate both of us will be. He’ll be rough and demanding, just how I like it. Next time, Silas can be in control.
“I need...” I start to say.
I need sex. And I didn’t mean to say it out loud. The words just slipped out from between my lips. Silas assumes I mean that I need food.
“I’ll make you dinner. The fire’s started. Let me know if I need to add more wood,” he says and walks away to the kitchen.
I relax and enjoy my wine on the sofa. I watch the fire as I was told to, but I don’t really know what I’m watching for. It doesn’t go out. And that’s probably all I can be relied upon to report. I watched Silas effortlessly build the fire, with absolute certainty that I would die of exposure if my life depended on me building my own fire. I have the feeling Silas could survive living in the woods. He would probably have a full house built within a week. And he would doubtless prefer being alone in the woods rather than around people all the time.
We’re so different.
I’m so relaxed from the wine, the fire, and the sex, that I almost fall asleep waiting for Silas to come back to me. When he finally returns, he’s carrying dinner in the form of two bowls heaped with pasta in a creamy alfredo sauce. It looks delicious, and it smells even better.
I greedily snatch my bowl from him. I might have been talking about sex before. But I am ravenous. I take a bite of the penne, and it’s as delicious as it smells. Garlicky and creamy. Silas is such a good cook. One more thing we don’t share in common.
Silas sits down and pulls my legs over his lap. Then he devours the huge bowl of pasta in front of him. He eats quickly, but he’s so big that be probably has to. If Silas didn’t eat quickly, he’d be eating all day just to get enough calories.
The pasta he made is so good, but the serving he gave me was enormous. I eat my fill, and then hand him my bowl. Silas finishes every last bite.
Once our hunger is sated, we both feel the slowness that comes from excellent fucking followed by eating giant bowls of pasta. Silas and I sit together on the sofa in peaceful silence until he I feel his cock harden underneath my legs. Then Silas fucks me again. This time he’s in total control, and he holds me captive with his touch.
The vast distance we had between us for the last two months is gone. Silas was my path back to the light. He found me in the darkness and brought me back with him to the light.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Evangeline
T he next month flies by blissfully. I’m no longer wondering if I could stay here on Silas’s island forever. I can actually see it. I can almost reach out and touch it.
I definitely haven’t been bored, yet. I spend my days and nights fucking Silas. When he’s working, I hang out with the people I’ve come to know and love on Raven Island.
I visit Matilda and sit with her while she tenderly cares for her garden. Or I sit in her kitchen while she cooks and putters around. I love spending time with her. It feels like what having a mother would have been like. She’s even trying to teach me to cook... with mixed results. Silas liked the blackberry pie I made him. The Shepherd’s pie I made, not so much. I didn’t blame him. It was disgusting.
I spend time drinking wine with Delilah and meeting Laurel and her little boy for coffee. I take the dogs for a long walk every day.
I don’t really feel like myself here. Or at least not the same me that I was when I lived in the city. But maybe that’s not a bad thing. I thought I was happy before Raven Island. I was definitely successful. But was I really happy? All I did was work. I fucked men when I felt the urge. But my real relationships were few and far between. My best friend was tied to me by our work. How much of our friendship was based on work in the last few years? Work touched everything we did or said.
Silas doesn’t seem bored yet, either. He still wants to fuck me constantly. I can make him hard just by looking at him. But he’s never said anything about a future further in advance than plans for the next day. Part of me wonders if he would know what to do with me if I stayed?
And who would I be if I stayed?
It would be so easy to disappear onto Raven Island and stay here forever. I could just collapse myself into Silas’s life. I mean, it’s not like it would be a bad life. I would get to keep spending my days and nights in Silas Cole’s arms. But where would Evangeline Waters be? Would I still be her? I was never going to be a stay-at-home anything. Does my whole life have to disappear to be with Silas? That is, if he even wants to be with me past tomorrow.
I keep wondering if I’m only this happy on Raven Island because it feels like I’m on vacation. I haven’t practiced law in over two months.
Technically, I’m still going back to Vancouver and back to my firm at some point, even though there’s no set date for me to return. I can’t stay in this blissful limbo forever. I need to make some decisions about my life. I’m too proud to overstay my welcome with Silas. And if this is all going to end at some point, what kind of life will be left for me back on the mainland if I stay on Raven Island too long?
All I have are questions. I don’t have any answers. Whenever Silas touches me, even my questions abandon me. All I know is that I never want to leave Silas Cole’s arms.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Evangeline
“M y brother’s here to see you,” Silas says warily.
His face looks pained to have to announce the fact that Jacob is here. Jacob has probably never even set foot inside this house. And the first time he does, he’s here to see me. I know how much that reality must hurt Silas.
Silas gets his brother a beer and refills my wine, and then he leaves us alone in the living room.
Jacob motions towards the deck.
“Do you mind if we go outside?” he asks me.
I shake my head and follow him out onto the deck. The sun is out, and it’s been another beautiful day on Raven Island. I swear that it rains less here than it does in Vancouver. I need to spend more time outside on this deck. Silas has this big, beautiful deck, and instead of enjoying it, I was cooped up inside reading all afternoon.
Jacob walks to the very edge of the deck, and I follow him, sitting down on the bench seating around the fire pit.
“I’ve been putting this off until you were feeling better. But you seem fine now…” Jacob says, looking me up and down. “I want you to come work for me.”
“Are you inviting me to be the first female Black Raven?” I ask, laughing.
Being invited into a gang would definitely be a first for me. Jacob smiles back at me, that easy smile of his.
“Of course not. I want to hire you as full-time legal counsel for the Black Ravens. We are frequently and unjustly targeted by law enforcement, and I want to hire the best to defend us,” Jacob says.
He makes it sound so simple. But working for the Black Ravens would be the opposite of simple.
“I live in the city, Jacob,” I say.
“Do you, though?” he replies instantly. “That’s fine. I would prefer that you stay here. But if you decide to go back to the mainland, we’ll make it work. It’s only twenty-five minutes by helicopter or float plane,” Jacob explains to me, like I’m a small child.
“I only do criminal law,” I remind him.
“I’m only looking for a criminal lawyer. We have a good solicitor who handles the civil side of the business. I need a criminal defense lawyer on retainer,” Jacob responds.
If I said eyes, everything would fit perfectly into place. I would stay on Raven Island. I would have a job, a man, and a home. I would fall into a whole new life here.
But what about my old life? If I accept Jacob’s offer and stay on Raven Island, that would mean letting go of my old life in the city. And what about Silas? He won’t want me to work for his brother. He wants nothing to do with the Black Ravens. And if I went back to the city and left Silas, I wouldn’t want to be reminded of him constantly by working for his brother.
I shake my head so that I can think clearly.
“I need to think about it,” I tell Jacob.
I bite my lip as I think it over. I’m different now. If I were to practice law again, things would have to be different.
“Even if I was seriously considering this, which I don’t know if I am, I won’t represent anyone who hurts women, children, or innocent civilians. I would only represent you for alleged criminal activity like moving whatever it is you’re moving in and out of that warehouse down at the docks, and for any violence against known criminals. I don’t care if you kill gangsters, Jacob. But I’m not helping you hurt innocent people. I’m not doing that anymore,” I tell him.
Jacob smiles at me a cold, calculating smile.
“You are seriously considering this. And I figured that you would need time. I accept your terms. But, Evangeline, promise me that you will make this decision. Don’t let Silas make it for you,” Jacob says grimly.
I stand up and arch my eyebrow at him.
“I think you know me well enough by now to know that no man makes my decisions for me. I will make up my own mind about this. Don’t tell Silas about this until I have, ” I say, turning on my heel and stalking towards the house.
Jacob’s laughter follows me. It’s hollow, matching his cold smile perfectly.
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say,” he calls after me.
Silas eyes me suspiciously when I go back inside. I look away so I don’t have to tell him anything. I don’t want to lie to him. And I need to know what I think about Jacob’s offer, before I tell Silas about it.
I see Jacob still standing on the edge of the deck looking out at the ocean, his beer on the railing next to him. It’s hard to believe a man that beautiful and charming is ever lonely, but the way he’s leaning on the railing seems sad. I nod at the beer in Silas’s hand.
“Take your beer and go out there with your brother,” I order him.
Silas reaches his enormous arm around me and pulls me to him.
“You think you can tell me what to do, woman?” he asks in a husky voice.
Then his lips come down on mine for a crushing, devastating kiss. When Silas kisses me, I feel it in every cell of my body. He ravages my mouth, driving his tongue between my lips, until I fall against him and I surrender to his demands. When Silas finally pulls back from me, he keeps his arms around me until I’m steady on my feet again.
“You just made my point for me. That is exactly why I know I can tell you what to do. Go talk to your brother, Silas,” I order him again.
Silas smacks my ass so hard I wince, but then he heads outside like I told him to. I take my wine and sit on the sofa, as the dogs all jump up and root around on the sofa until each one has a cozy spot next to me. Silas tried valiantly, but once these dogs were up on the sofa, they were never going to stay on the floor. I’m happier this way. I like them close.
My eyes are drawn to the two brothers outside on the deck. Silas is standing next to Jacob at the railing. Warmth washes over me at the sight of them together. Silas loves his brother more than anything, but he’s so fucking stubborn. Matilda may have given up on trying to make some kind of peace between her sons, but I most definitely haven’t.
Maybe something good could come from Dean Joras’s death after all? I decide that I’m inviting Jacob to stay for dinner, whether Silas likes it or not.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Silas
“W e need to talk, Silas,” Evangeline announces.
Her words hit me like an icy punch to the gut. It’s been too good having Evangeline here with me on Raven Island – in my house, in my bed – for the last two months. A man like me doesn’t deserve this much goodness.
I know she’s going to tell me that she’s leaving to go back to the city. And I know I won’t beg her to stay. But I’m not letting her go without a fight, either.
We’re sitting on the sofa after dinner. Having Evangeline here, I’ve become used to these cozy evenings where we hang out and read or watch a movie until I can’t keep my hands off her anymore. Then I fuck her any way I want to. She’s always ready and willing for me. She’s always so wet for me that I know she couldn’t wait any longer, either.
I study her. But I don’t say anything. There’s nothing to say. All I can do is show her what she would be missing if she wasn’t being constantly fucked by me. She needs what I do to her. I know she does.
“I’ve been here on Raven Island for months now. You’ve taken such good care of me, Silas. Thank you. You brought me back to life,” she tells me.
Damn right, I did. I fucked her back to life.
She’s smiling at me like she loves me. Like she isn’t about to run away from me again.
I frown back at her.
“I’m sure that you’ve been wondering why Jacob came to see me the other day… He offered me a job. I made him promise not to tell you while I thought it over. He wants me to represent the Black Ravens in their inevitable clashes with law enforcement. He would prefer that I stay on Raven Island. But he’s willing to hire me, even if I go back to Vancouver,” she says.
My frown darkens. I don’t like the idea of my woman getting more entangled with the gang I helped create, the gang I walked away from. You’re either all in with the Black Ravens or you’re all out. And I’m out. I have to be. I don’t want my brother dragging my woman anywhere near this shit.
Evangeline looks at me expectantly.
“Silas, what do you think?” she asks me.
“Think about what?” I answer gruffly.
“Think about me working for your brother and staying on Raven Island… or moving back to Vancouver…” Evangeline trails off.
I don’t say anything. All I hear is that she’s moving back to Vancouver.
“I can get my own place on Raven Island. I don’t want to overstay my welcome here. I know that when you first brought me here, you couldn’t ever have known everything that would happen, and how long I would end up staying here,” she tells me.
Evangeline pauses and takes a deep breath before continuing, “But I don’t think I want to leave Raven Island just yet. It’s so peaceful here, and I’m just back to feeling like myself again. So, for now, I’ll get my own place on the island, and I’ll tell Jacob that I’m taking the job,” Evangeline says, smiling at me like it’s all decided.
“Nothing is anywhere close to decided,” I say angrily. “I brought you here, and you will fucking stay here with me until I decide to let you go. I told you once Evangeline, as long as you’re staying on my island, you’re staying in my bed,” I remind her in a warning tone.
