Chapter 7

Ryan

I walked into my apartment and sank down on the couch. It had been a long day. Gracie and I had visited each site that Clarence thought was connected to the arsonist. They were all in places that could have been just as easily attributed to accidents. With the matchstick and the feather, despite her feelings about it, we had a commonality between the fires. It was certainly a start.

The need for a change of pace had surprised me. I honestly didn"t know I needed it before today. But the thrill of a case to solve felt good.

And then there was Gracie. I didn"t know what to do about her. My body knew exactly what it wanted to do with her, but I wasn"t convinced that would ever happen, or that I truly even wanted it.

Checking the time, I frowned. It was half an hour past my targeted dinnertime. I would have asked Gracie to join me, but after she shot me down for lunch, I wasn"t too keen on repeating that.

I should have gotten up and fixed myself something, but I really wasn"t feeling up to it. Instead, I did something I never did—I called my sister and asked her to send dinner home with Kim for me.

There had to be some benefit to living next door to her and my brother.

I knew it would be a while before she got off work, so dinner would be a lot later than I was used to. I hated my schedule being disrupted, but if it needed to happen, today was the day for it.

Grabbing the remote, I turned on the television and started a movie. The main character had silky long black hair and I found myself fantasizing about Gracie again. Why couldn't I just get her out of my mind?

The movie star looked nothing like her, yet it triggered something primal within me. And pretty much every raven shifter had jet black hair. My sister Gia, with her red curls, seemed to be the exception.

Why couldn"t I stop thinking about Gracie?

My body was responding uncomfortably every time I even thought her name and was growing hard quickly.

I reached down to readjust myself and damn if I wasn"t sporting full wood. I was going to have to do something about this. Just as I started to unbutton my pants, there was a knock at the door.

I sprang up like I"d just touched fire or been caught doing something I shouldn"t have. Both scenarios seemed appropriate when it came to Gracie.

For a half a second my heart raced wondering if she was just on the other side of the door. Who else could it be? No one ever visited me.

Fixing my pants, I jumped up and practically ran for the door, but when I swung it open, I was met with disappointment. Elias.

"Um, hi. What are you doing here?"

He held up a bag. "I was finishing up dinner since Kim's working tonight. So she and Gia asked me to play delivery boy for you."

He shoved the bag into my chest as I muttered a quick thanks.

Before I could close the door, he pushed his way inside.

"I knew something was going on with you."

"Why? Because I didn"t want to cook?"

"You never play the delivery card like that."

"Look, Eli, it"s been a long day. I just want to eat and go to bed."

"What"s going on with you and Gracie Montgomery?"

My jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"

"You and Gracie. Kind of an odd match, but I guess I can see it. Is she your true mate?"

I sputtered. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Kim overheard Novaleigh telling Felicity that she saw you get into Gracie"s Jeep and drive off from the diner."

I stared at him for a second and then burst out laughing. "You"re a goddamn gossip. Is this really what your life has become, big brother?"

"Shut the hell up. I am not."

"But she said that she said that she said . . . makes you a gossip."

"What were you doing with Gracie then?"

"Well, I"d tell you, but you"d probably just run back to The Diner to share all the town"s secrets."

He scowled. "I"m not a gossip."

I gave him a knowing look that I thought for sure would piss him off enough to stomp out of my apartment and retreat to his.

"Did Kim and Gia put you up to this then? Because you sound like a gossip."

"What were you doing with Gracie Montgomery, Ryan?"

I hated how my body continued to react to the mention of her name each time he said it.

"It"s not your business."

"So you admit it?"

"I admit nothing."

I sat down at the table and opened the bag, letting the aroma of freshly baked lasagna hit me. It made my stomach rumble. I didn"t even bother getting up to get a plate and fork. I just opened the container and used the plastic set I knew my sister would have thrown in. I never used it, but she always sent it just in case. Tonight was that just in case.

Elias's jaw dropped. "No china and silver tonight? You heathen! What have you done with my brother, Ryan?"

"You"re an ass."

"And you"re acting weirder than usual. What"s going on?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Literally nothing. This isn"t for your gossip train, but we"ve had daily fires for the last few days. Clarence thinks there's too much of a coincidence to be random occurrences."

"Arson? Here in Ravenden? Is it one of the fire witches?"

"I have no idea yet. But Gracie showed me around to the different sites today, so yeah, we met up after lunch at Gia"s place. Nothing more scandalous than that."

"I should have known."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"The girls were just excited about the idea that maybe you"d finally met someone."

"The girls huh?"

"Well, I certainly wouldn"t hate the idea either. You work too much. A good woman to balance you out would do you some good."

"It"s Gracie Montgomery."

"What"s wrong with Gracie?"

"Nothing, I guess. Just never gonna happen. And why does every happily mated person want to see everyone else in their lives happily mated as well? Did it occur to any of you that maybe I"m happy being single? Have you already forgotten what that feels like?"

"Dude, I haven"t been single for a long time. I may not have been officially dating Kim but as far as my bird and I were concerned, she"s always been ours."

"Well, not all of us are that lucky. Besides, I don"t have time for a mate. I don"t even have time for a casual fling or a date right now. I can"t even go to lunch without someone coming over to tell me about a problem. So do me a favor and don"t encourage this sort of gossip. Please."

"I hear you and promise to handle it better next time."

"Thank you. Now go home and let me finish my meal in peace."

He grinned. "Well, that at least sounds more like my little brother."

I groaned, but he left before I could say anything further.

I spent the rest of the night moping around my apartment. I didn"t work out. I didn"t even take a shower before bed. And when I finally did start to fall asleep, her face popped back into my mind and suddenly, I was hard all over again.

This time I didn"t even hesitate. I had to get this woman out of my head. My hand slipped down under the sheets and I freed myself as I stroked up and down, allowing the thoughts to play out this time.

In my mind I was kissing those plump pouty lips that seemed to torment me throughout the day. I moaned, stroking myself faster and harder as I imagined her touching me. And then suddenly, the image shifted and it wasn"t me touching myself, it was her hand.

"So good," I whispered into the dark. "Faster, Gracie."

I imagined she smiled at me and then lowered her head to suck me into her mouth.

My fist pumped harder than ever, and my hips began to buck off the bed.

"Yes," I cried out imagining her sucking me fast and hard, maybe even tickling me a bit with her tongue.

And then she looked up at me and all my frustrations of the day exploded.

Panting and sweating, I laid there in the dark staring up at the ceiling.

"Shit!" What the hell was happening to me?

It wasn"t like I"d never masturbated to vivid storylines before, but it had never been like this.

I"d thought that maybe letting it play out in my mind would somehow help curb the desire I seemed to have for her, but now I feared I had been very, very wrong. Because now I desperately needed to know if my imagination was even close to the reality of her.

And in the dark, alone with myself, I could finally admit the truth—I wanted Gracie Montgomery.