Raven decided to hang on the other side of the bed and sleep in the room to avoid any drama. Without glancing at Ralph's hot body, she climbed onto the bed and lay with her back to him, hanging on the edge. She closed her eyes shut and prayed that he would just go off to sleep.
"Why are you avoiding me, Raven?" He asked her in a low, raspy tone laden with desire which caused Raven to shudder. She shook her head.
"I'm not avoiding you. Good night, Ralph, " she whispered back. There was a pin-dropped silence as Raven waited for his response. Nothing. She released the breath that she was holding.
"Look at me and say that," he said as if begging her.
"Go to sleep, Ralph, " she told him.
His strong arms scooped her and brought her close to him, almost nose to nose as his hot gaze delved deep into her soul. With his arms wrapped around her like steel bands, escape was almost impossible.&nbs
The next twenty minutes they all were busy with breakfast. Afterwards, they handed the keys over and drove towards home. The air between them was charged since the kiss that they had shared. Ralph seemed to be in a good mood and he joked and laughed more since coming down for breakfast. The drive started in silence but soon, Ralph started showing her various attractions on the way. It was very informative indeed since she had never been here before. Strangely, he didn't mention anything about moving into his house after last night and Raven was grateful."We don't have anything else to do so I'll take you somewhere special. You'll love it," he told her with a smile on his face that reached his eyes that sparkled with excitement. Raven loved this charming side of him when he wasn't teasing her or playing games with her head."Oh! Where's this special place?" She asked, looking at him as he drove. He looked so relaxed and happy. Was she the reas
Raven snuggled closer to the warm chest and sighed contentedly. She had gotten used to the delicious smell of Ralph and the warmth of his arms around her waist. Her eyes flew open at the realization and took in the bare chest of a sleeping Ralph right in front of her. So it wasn't a dream after all. He was indeed on her bed. His arm was around her waist and his sweatpants clad leg was also over her. Raven couldn't move although she really didn't want to. She gazed at his sleeping face, looking so relaxed and happy. She touched his cheek with the back of her hand in a soft touch when to her horror he opened his eyes, burning her with his hot gaze."If you touch me, sweet Raven, I can't guarantee that I'd be able to keep control," he whispered hoarsely. Raven instantly stopped as if stung. Ralph released her slowly, watching her. Too embarrassed at being caught, she retracted her hand and put some distance between them. Then swinging her legs off
"What's the hurry, mom? Can't you wait till I finish my studies?" Asked Raven when she came to her senses."Bella's keen on this, Raven. I don't want you to argue with me. You can continue with your studies even after your wedding," said her mom strictly. "I'm waiting for you to come home before Saturday. There's no need to stay there for so many days. Your wedding's more important than your friend's. Come home as soon as possible, " said her mom, sounding absolutely displeased with her.Raven wasn't happy. She was actually confused. "I'll try to come earlier but I can't promise," she said, warily."You better come back in a day or two. Bella is planning to go shopping with you. I don't want you to disappoint her this time," said her mom, disconnecting the call with disappointment. Raven kept sitting as she contemplated on her next move. Her mom's call had brought her out of her dream world, back to the harsh reality of he
"What happened? Anything wrong?" Ralph asked her gently, as he approached his car. Raven looked up from her mobile. She had been waiting for nearly half an hour for him and her mom had called her during that time. The next ten minutes they simply fought about her return to London. Apparently, her parents still weren't aware of the photographs and Raven was thankful."No just a call from mom. She's mad about my coming here," sighed Raven.Ralph was immediately alerted and he looked at her with dismay. "What did she say?""We'll talk about this later. Let's go and attend the wedding, " said Raven, climbing into the car and buckling in her seat belt."I've got two dresses for you. I want you to change into the lavender dress, please. Wait, let me finish. I'm sorry if I've hurt you in any way. I was actually a little preoccupied. There's something that you need to know, " started Ralph, feeling that he should
The huge wedding cake was cut and an hour later, Ralph led Raven out of the hotel to the parking area. They climbed into his car and he drove her back to their apartment."So did you enjoy the wedding?" He asked her."Yes," she answered. In reality, she was too busy watching Ralph to enjoy the party."Tomorrow morning, we'd be flying to New York in Jaxon's private jet along with them, Giles and Jacqueline," Ralph informed her."Oh, why to New York?" She asked eagerly. She needed to return home to London as her mom was driving her crazy with her calls. "Mom has called me three times already. I didn't respond, she'll be mad at me," said Raven with a sigh."I want to show you our office there. We'll fly to London the next day," he told her. Raven knew her mom would go crazier since she'd reach London, not before Sa
It was a long six-hour flight which Raven spent listening to music or sleeping since Ralph was busy with his laptop the entire time. Finally, the torture ended and they reached London. A car was waiting to pick them up. The ride also was in silence. Raven was sure by now that Ralph was having second thoughts about marrying her. They reached her apartment and Ralph unloaded her luggage for her. "Thank you. I'll manage it from here. Bye," she told him, taking her luggage and rushing towards the elevator. Her mind was made and she was determined to put her plans into action. She unlocked the door of her apartment and dumped her luggage inside. Then freshening up, she picked up her handbag and her keys and went out of the apartment. Ready to go to the dorm room of the University of Manchester where Frank was staying. She wouldn't wait for him to arrive on Sunday to break up with him.She went down the elevator and out of the building in minutes but stopped in
"No, my family want this wedding and it will happen. You have no right to end it," threatened Frank, getting aggressive. Stanley got up and picked up his clothes and walked into the washroom. Raven looked away till he had gone in and closed the door."You think I'll marry you after knowing all this? I'll inform your family and break off formally with you tomorrow in front of both our families, " said Raven, her eyes flashing with anger.Frank laughed, "You think my family doesn't know?" He asked with pure hatred in his eyes, hatred for her.Raven was shocked to hear it. "You're family knows yet they want to ruin my life?" She demanded."They belong to an aristocratic upper-class society and their name will be maligned if everyone comes to know about this. You will be my wife in name. You'd be free to live a life of luxury with everything money could buy. What more can you ask for?" Said the disgustin
"Howard Bradley offered to help when my business was on the brink of bankruptcy. In return, he wanted a fifty percent share of the company. I had no choice but to agree. His company, Apex Corp. invested in our business, brought fresh business for us, marketed our products for the next whole year. I was very satisfied with our successful partnership. However, soon I discovered that he had bought around 20 percent more shares of our company from other shareholders and now he has emerged as the major shareholder of our company," said her dad, as they all sat listening to him intently."I wanted to buy back those 20 percent shares from him but he wouldn't sell them to me at all. He and his wife then came up with this deal that if we get you married to their only son, they would release all claims to our business and leave us in peace. We met Frank and didn't find any fault with him," sighed her dad."We had no idea, Raven. We just thought that
Four Years Later"Ryan you need to leave your mommy's bo*bs now. I'll get you big, colorful feeding bottles. Okay?" Asked a pissed-off Ralph as Raven breastfed a hungry six-month-old, Ryan. Ryan ignored him and sucked even harder while Ralph groaned and watched him suck those creamy, delicious orbs. How he wanted a taste of them but they were oozing with Ryan's food and Raven refused to even let him get a taste of them.So he sighed and watched and again sighed till Raven smiled and looked at him. "He's done. Do you need a taste?" She asked. Ralph jumped towards her. Of course, he needed it. He was dying to get a taste. Raven burped Ryan and placed him on the bed along with his toys. Ralph's fingers stroked her breasts, feeling the rounded orbs thoroughly. After childbirth, he hadn't been able to enjoy at all with an over-anxious Raven
Raven’s eyes filled up with tears of joy. She couldn’t believe that she had finally been able to confess her feelings to him. For the last one year, she had said it a million times in her head, wanting nothing but to apologize to Ralph and tell him how she felt. Now finally that dream had come true. She pulled him into her arms and cradled his head to her chest.“Can you hear my heartbeat, Ralph?” She asked stroking his hair. Ralph nodded but he was more interested in embedding his face in her cleavage than hearing her heartbeat. Staying away from her even for a minute was unbearable for him and he had stayed away from her for a year. A year of celibacy. A year without Raven! But now the torture had ended and he was in her arms again, where he belonged. He would listen to her heartbeat later, right now he just wanted to feel her, taste her, kiss her, devour her, make love to her and
An excited Raven landed in New York City in the evening. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she sat in the cab. The nearer she reached Ralph's apartment, the more excited she became. What if Ralph wasn't there in his apartment? Well, then, in that case, she would wait for him as long as it took. She was determined this time. She wouldn't return home without him. She was his wife and would ask for his forgiveness till he accepted her back into his, if again. At last, she reached his apartment and paid the cab driver. He unloaded her luggage for her.Thanking him, she pulled the luggage into the escalator, her heart thumping in her chest. "Please God, let him be at home. Please help me," she prayed in her head. The escalator doors opened on his floor and she pulled her luggage all the way to his door. Taking a deep breath, she anxiously rang the doorbell. No one opened the door. She waited f
Ralph's chauffeur brought a few clothes for him an hour later. He didn't yet wake up and his temperature didn't reduce. Raven was worried about him but decided to wait for the twenty-four-hour period to be over to take any action. She was just about to take a call from work when Ralph's hand shot out and caught her wrist. "Don't go, please," he pleaded hoarsely.Raven switched off her phone and cuddled with him. "I'm not going anywhere, Ralph," she said lovingly. "You have to eat something. Can I go and get you your food?" She asked him. He shook his head."No, I don't want food. Stay please," he begged hoarsely. Her mom peeped inside and Raven gestured to her to get her Ralph's food. Her mom nodded and left."If I stay will you eat?" She asked him tenderly. He didn't answer, just opened his eyes and stared at her. She felt his forehead. The fever was still there. Her mom brought some porridge and she fed him tenderly. She
"Dear God!" Gasped her mom, seeing Ralph."I just noticed him, ma'am, so I rang your doorbell, " said the milkman."Can you help us get him inside please, Mr. Brown?" Asked her mom. They couldn't manage between themselves since Ralph was too heavy for them to carry."Sure ma'am but shouldn't you inform the police first?" Asked Mr. Brown with concern."No no. We know him," assured her mom. Mr. Brown nodded and the three of them picked up Ralph between themselves and carried him inside to Raven's bedroom and deposited him on her leather couch. They thanked Mr. Brown and he left. Her mom went and got her dad's clothes for him. Raven closed the door and as she changed him into the dry clothes, tears fell from her eyes."I'm so sorry, Ralph. I'm so sorry that I hurt you," she sobbed but Ralph didn't stir at all. Her heart broke seeing his condition and the tears wouldn't stop. She realized how
Six Months LaterRalph continued like an automaton. His life had lost its meaning a year back when Raven had walked out of his life. After an immensely successful Paris trip, he had returned back to London two months back. Ever since he was restless as memories of the times he shared with Raven became more distinct and robbed him of his sleep. He had immersed himself in work while in Paris to the extent that he would just drop off to bed and fall asleep out of exhaustion, but now? What about now that he was back in the city where he had only memories of her? How would he escape now? After his return, when he had followed her to her office the last time, he'd seen that she had lost weight. She didn't look happy as he had expected her to be. He heard that Frank had married Stanley. The news gave him more happiness than any other in the last few months. So she was still his, she was still married to him.He returned tired fro
"Sorry ma'am, he didn't listen to me at all. He just barged in and wanted to wait for you here," said her hassled PA, Stefanie who was a young freshly graduated woman."That's okay, Stefanie. I'll handle this, " said Raven calmly. Frank stood up and approached her."Raven, I'm so glad to see you," he said earnestly. Raven stood with a poker face wondering why he was here in the first place."Why are you here, Frank?" She asked coming straight to the point. She was tired and the faster she dealt with him the better it was for her. She could go home early. Frank looked hurt by her words."Why can't I come to see you as a friend?" Asked Frank, looking hurt."After what you and your parents did to my dad, there's no way I'll have anything to do with you, Frank. You should be glad that I'm not throwing you out. So just stop wasting my time, " said Raven in a displeased tone."P
"No one is responsible for what happened to your dad. It's his fate. Ralph tried to help in his own way. There was no compulsion yet he helped because he cares about you. Any other person would have just shrugged helplessly and left us to deal with our problems ourselves but Ralph didn't. He married you because he apparently cares about you, Raven. Even a blind person can feel his love for you. How can you not? I saw it the day he first came to our house. You've done a very bad thing, Raven. You've hurt a pure heart and pushed away a man who truly loves you, " said Raven's mom, starting her car with a sigh.Raven frowned at her mom's words. Although she didn't agree with her mom, she didn't argue. "Can we stop discussing him, mom?" requested Raven. She didn't want to go into details of her relationship with Ralph. She didn't point out that there was actually no love involved in their relationship, it was clearly a physical attraction right from the start.
Ralph came back from the doctor's chamber to see the accusing look on Raven's face but before he could talk to her, he received a call from Scott. "I need to take this call. I'll just come back from the parking lot in a few minutes, " he told Raven and her mom. Her mom nodded while Raven glared at him, feeling angrier. How dare he show his fake concern when all the time he just wanted to get into her pants? When she didn't give in he tried to manipulate her into marrying him. She seethed with anger. How could she be so blind? He had no motive of helping them out. He used them to get what he wanted but now she saw through him for what he actually was. A selfish man wh*re. She would give him a piece of her mind and break off her fake marriage with him.Having decided that, Raven turned to her mom. "I'll just freshen up and come back," she told her. Her mom nodded.Raven went downstairs to the parking area of the hospital and looked around. S