Read Online The Debt 6 by Kelly Favor - Free Book Online Page B

all over the place and I need to know why.   Right now, everything’s amazing and you’ve taken such good care of me.   But somehow I still feel like it could all be taken away at any moment.”
    “That’s not going to happen,” Jake told her, his hand continuing to caress her leg in ever widening circles.  
    “How can you be so sure?”
    “Things have changed,” he said, simply.
    “What’s changed?”
    “Everything.”
    She looked at him, and despite the darkness, her eyes had adjusted, and she could see that he was telling the truth.   Something between them had shifted and now they were connected, deeply connected, and Raven believed him about that part of it.
    “Still,” she said, shifting so that she was up on her elbow.
    “Still you’re worried,” he laughed.
    “Yes.”   She wasn’t laughing.   “I’m afraid about tomorrow.”
    “Tomorrow I need to put things in motion.   It’s not a choice.   Club Alpha made the choice and now I’m going to finish things with them for good.”
    “Are you going to kill people?”
    “If necessary.”   His eyes didn’t waver as she watched him.
    “Jake, you can’t just kill people.”
    “Actually, I can.”
    She sat up now.   “There has to be another way.   Maybe we can cut a deal, call a truce, something.”
    Jake smiled.   “You’re cute when you’re nervous.”   His smile faded.   “But no, there’s not going to be a truce.   When I slapped Scott around in the restaurant that day, it was the best warning I could give them.   I told them very clearly not to do anything else, and they didn’t give a shit.   They took it to the next level and now they’re going to regret it.”  
    Raven shook her head.   “There has to be a better way.”
    “Let me worry about that.”  
    He climbed down next to her and she was happy to feel his body resuming its place next to her.   More than ever, she felt the physical need for him.   Perhaps, Raven thought, it had to do with being vulnerable in the woods, living a more primitive life.   She sensed quite practically how much she needed Jake’s presence to keep her safe from harm.
    Raven clung to his body as he pulled the covers over them once more and held her tightly in his muscular arms.   He whispered softly in her ear, caressing her hair.   His whispers were soothing, and she felt herself relaxing despite it all, letting go once more, and her eyes closed.
    She drifted, smiling as his whispers followed her into the darkness of sleep.
     
    ***
     
    Raven startled awake, frightened.
    It was still dark and the fire had died.   She sat up, hugging the blanket tightly to her, and looking around, knowing he was gone.  
    She couldn’t believe it.   He’d left without a word.
    Her heart was pounding and she felt like everything around her was threatening, dangerous.   The woods outside were alive and she was alone with nothing and no one to protect her.
    And then she heard footsteps and she jumped, yelling in terror.
    “Hey, relax, it’s just me,” Jake said, and she could make out the shadow of him as he walked closer.   He was wearing clothes, boots, and as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, she could tell he was ready to leave.
    He suddenly held aloft a gun and checked it methodically before placing it in the small of his back, stuffed into his waistband.   He pulled his shirt over it and shrugged his shoulders.
    “Were you even going to wake me up before you left?” she said, shivering with dismay and with cold.
    “Of course,” Jake said, kneeling down beside her.   “I didn’t want to wake you until I had to, though.   You were so peaceful.”
    “I don’t want you to leave.”
    “It will only be a little while,” Jake said.   “I think I can get some reception within two or three miles of here, and then once I make my calls, I’ll head right back to the cabin.   All told it shouldn’t take me more than two to three hours at most.”
    “What if you