Fighting for Flight by JB Salsbury (easy readers TXT) 📕

“Who was that?” My voice is calm, but not in a way that provides comfort.

She places the phone on the bar like it’s made of glass. “That was Dominick.”

Adrenaline rocks my body. My muscles tense. The buzz in my head intensifies with every hammer of my heart.

“He wants to meet with me tomorrow at ten a.m.”

“No fucking way.”

She pins me with a glare. “Why not?”

How can she ask me that? I told her she needed to stay away from that guy.

“Because I said so.” I annunciate every word slowly to avoid roaring in her face, but she still flinches.

“I told him I’d go. I’m going.” She says it with such conviction I can’t decide if I want to shake her or kiss her.

“Fine. I’m going with you.” This woman is infuriating. Why can’t she just do what I say? I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes, trying to numb the all-consuming buzz that makes me want to rip Dominick Morretti apart.

“No, he said I have to come alone.”

My eyes shoot open before they narrow in anger. “What! Why? Who says that unless they’re up to something?” I don’t mean to yell, but my fight or flight reaction is kicking in and flight is not in my vocabulary. “What the fuck, Raven? I told you I don’t want you anywhere near that guy, and you promised you’d stay away from him!”

“I know, I promised but—”

“But what? Do you have any idea what this guy’s like? Word around town says he’s got his hands in everything, not just prostitution. He’s been questioned for murder, drugs, weapons. Shit, Raven, he’s only walking free because he’s got his money so far up law enforcements ass I’m surprised they don’t shit gold.”

“Please, stop.” She whispers to her lap.

“Stop! Stop what? Your psycho dad calls and wants to meet with you alone, and you want me to sit here on my fucking hands and do nothing? God, Raven! This guy’s a criminal.” I pace the around the bar to burn off some aggression. The last thing I want to do is scare her, but fuck. “If you think I’m going to let you meet that dickhead alone, you’re crazy.”

She sniffs and wipes her eyes. Ah, crap. I breathe in and out of my nose and count to ten. My heart rate slows enough that it’s no longer throbbing in my ears as I wrangle my wild impulses.

“Baby, I’m sorry.” I smooth her hair behind her ear. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just lost it for a second.”

She wipes the tears from her cheek. “You don’t understand.”

Closing the space between us, I pull her chin up to look in her eyes. “Explain it to me.”

“Ever since I was a kid, I’d dreamed that one day he would come along and ask for me. Even after I found out what he was, I still wanted him.” Her eyes look away, but I don’t release her chin. “I still wanted a dad.”

Her words shoot through my rage, straight to my heart. I wouldn’t give up the twelve years I had with my dad for anything. And as painful as it was to lose him, I had a dad who loved me. Raven’s never felt that.

Who am I to say that Dominick’s intentions aren’t good? Maybe he does want a relationship with Raven. I’d bet my balls that’s not true, but if I don’t allow her to find out for herself, if I stand between her and the possibility, she’ll never forgive me.

I brush my thumb along her lower lip, feeling it quiver beneath my touch. “Okay, baby. I get it.”

Her eyes smile through her tears and she kisses my thumb.

With a tug, she’s up from her barstool. I wrap my arms around her waist. She locks her hands behind my neck, holding me to her.

“You’ll call me when you get there.” I’m so close to her mouth, I can smell the sweet tea on her breath.

“Yes.” Her answer is breathy and full of need.

My girl. Always so responsive.

She puts pressure on my neck to bring me to her, but I’m not finished.

“And you’ll call me when you’re finished.” I slide my hands down to her ass, drawing her hips closer.

“Mm-hmm.” Her answer comes out on a moan.

“Not when you get in your car, not when you get home, but when you’re walking away, you call me.” I tighten my hold to make sure she understands. I’m not fucking around.

“Yes, Jonah, I’ll do anything. Just kiss me, please.”

“That’s more like it.”

I drop a soft kiss against her lips. She pushes up on her tiptoes, pressing hard against me searching for my lips, but I hold back. She whines adorably, and I reward her by feathering another kiss on her lips.

“Please.”

Her final plea shatters the last of my control. I cover her mouth with mine. My hand slides up her shirt along her spine, desperate to feel her skin. She arches her back, and pulls me in, shifting her weight so that our torsos are touching from chest to hip.

With her body soft and pliable in my hands, the taste of her tongue flooding my mouth, my chest tightens with feelings I’m only beginning to name. She owns me completely. The pull I felt toward her when we met, waking up with her in my arms, my conversation with Owen, my compulsion to protect her, everything jumbles in my head until need coils in my sternum. Not the usual need that rips at me, but something stronger. It’s been seeping in slowly and now crushes me from the inside out.

I hold her to me, hoping the strength in my arms will give me the power to do what I’ve never done before. Breaking the kiss, her eyes lock on mine, questioning. Even through my nervousness, in this moment, nothing has looked as clear or as obvious.

“I love you, Raven.”

She gasps and her body jerks. She