He realized Raven had fallen asleep on him when he heard her soft level breathing. Shifting slightly, he reached over and flipped off the lamp by the bed. He noticed a new message flash on her screen. He didn’t want to wake her but happened to catch sight of the image that popped up.
Frowning at her uncle’s face, he took up her phone and swiped the image he’d sent her.
The photo was grainy and old, like an old print that had been digitized, but he could clearly make out Joseph Ramsey’s face. The man was much younger in the picture than the last time Cade had seen him before his death. Squinting, he realized that Joseph was naked from the waist down. His back was slightly turned towards the camera, and he looked over his shoulder. There appeared to be a woman kneeling in front of him. He couldn’t make out the face of the woman, but he guessed instantly what she was doing to the guy. It was obvious now that Joseph had just been caught literally with his pants down.
Cade stilled when he noticed the flash of bright red hair.
If this image had been taken when he thought it was, Raven would have been far too young. Sixteen or seventeen at the most. Joseph was easily in his fifties, since the man had been sixty-two when he’d died.
Sitting up quickly, he dislodged Raven from his side.
“Cade?” she asked sleepily. “What’s wrong?”
“What is this?” he asked, holding her phone out towards her.
Raven blinked a few times and then rubbed her eyes before taking her phone from his hands. Her frown was instant as she squinted at the image. The moment the scene registered in her mind, she dropped her phone.
“Why on earth would my uncle send me this?” she gasped.
“You tell me,” he said, trying to hold back his anger. “Is that you?”
She turned to him, her eyes going wide. “Seriously?” she said after a moment.
“It’s hard to tell, but you’d be, what? Sixteen? Seventeen?” he asked. She didn’t say anything, so he continued. “What was Joseph Ramsey? Fifty?”
Without a word, she tossed the covers off her and jumped out of the bed. She quickly pulled on the clothes that he’d peeled from her less than an hour earlier.
He waited until she was fully dressed before climbing out of the bed to block her from the doorway.
“Talk to me,” he demanded in a low tone.
“Go to hell,” she threw back at him. She tried to get past him by placing her hands on his shoulders and pushing. He didn’t budge and she grew more agitated. Her eyes, which had moments ago been sleepy, sexy, and sated, now shot metaphorical daggers at him as she glared at him.
“Raven,” he started, only to have her push his shoulders again.
“Let me go.” She practically screamed it.
“Not until we get to the bottom of this.” He reached out and took her shoulders in his hands to hold her steady.
“You want to get to the bottom of this?” She pulled out her cell phone from her pocket. “So do I.” She pulled up the image again. “Why on earth would you think that this is me?”
He glanced at it again, this time with the help of the bedroom light Raven had turned on. Somehow, he could see more clearly.
“The red hair.” He motioned to the screen. “I thought…” He groaned. “God, I’m so stupid.” He reached for her, but she sidestepped away from him.
“Why do men always jump to that conclusion? Why are women more guilty than men?” She almost hissed the question.
“Raven, I was—” When her eyebrows arched up, he stopped and took a deep breath. “Stupid,” he finished.
“Yah think?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Apparently my uncle and aunt believe it’s me in that picture as well.” She paced towards the door, her shoulders hunched.
He walked over and wrapped his arms around her, feeling her tense at first and then relax against his chest.
“I was half asleep,” he defended. “I know it’s no excuse, but… I wasn’t fully thinking.”
“I never cheated on Reggie. He was my first.” She turned in his arms and looked up at him. “You were my second.”
He felt his heart skip and then jump in his chest as he bent his head and kissed her.
“Forgive me?” he asked when he pulled back.
“I’ll think about it.” She smiled up at him.
In one quick move, he hoisted her up into his arms and carried her back to the bed and then tossed her down on the mattress playfully. “The good thing about me is, I never make the same mistake twice.” He kissed her.
This time when he pulled her clothes from her body, there was a sense of urgency, of need, that hadn’t been there before. As if he needed to prove to her just how much this meant to him. How much she meant to him.
As if she felt the urgency along with him, she pulled and tugged at her own clothes, trying to remove them as quickly as she could.
Finally, when she was naked again, she ran her body slowly over his, her skin vibrating under his touch. When he entered her, he shook with the want and need. His body took over, knowing the moves, as easy as breathing. He knew what he had to do to please them both. Knew just how to fill her entire being with his own. There was too much riding on it not to experience every ounce of pleasure. Every iota of ecstasy.
This time when he emptied into her, he told her just what he felt for her and was thankful when she didn’t stiffen upon hearing his words. It was his turn to fall asleep after, holding her in his arms, tight against his chest, listening to her sporadic breathing, slow and shallow along with his own.
When he woke, his bed was empty and for a moment, only a few seconds, he wondered if he’d exposed too much. If he’d lost her.
Then he heard Blue barking, and Raven’s laughter coming from the backyard, and relaxed. He pulled on his pants and glanced out the window. He smiled down at Raven trying to get a stick from Blue’s mouth, who was playfully tugging on it.
He knew that she had to be at work soon and, since he had the day off, he planned to probe his uncle to see if he’d found out anything else, after his normal Sunday morning brunch.
He’d hoped that Raven would be able to join him, but since Rachelle’s death, Raven had been working overtime, along with his mother. Which meant that his Sunday morning brunch was just going to be him and his gran.
Still, he planned on spending as much time as he could with Raven before she had to head to work. When he stepped out on the back patio, Raven was sitting on a chair, sipping a cup of coffee, with Blue fast asleep at her feet. He’d poured himself his own cup before heading outside.
“Morning,” he said, sitting beside her.
“Morning.” She glanced over at him. “I didn’t want to wake you. I know you have brunch with your grandmother later.”
“I wanted to spend some time with you before you head to work.” He took her hand in his. “I hope we could have some time to talk.”
“About last night?” she asked, her eyes running over him.
“Yeah.” He nodded as he looked down at their joined hands. The more he thought about it, the more he realized she had remained quiet after his declaration of love. Did that mean she’d been freaked out? Was she feeling the same way?
How the hell had he gotten here so quickly, anyway? Especially after spending years believing she was the reason he’d lost Reggie. It had only taken one look at her to know that she was innocent.