Flock (The Ravenhood Book 1)

by Kate Stewart

The only love I’ve ever known or craved is the kind that keeps me sick, sick with longing, sick with lust, sick with need, sick with grief. The distorted kind that leaves scars and jaded hearts.

take an extra cigarette break or like your afternoon delight in the janitor’s closet.”

And I would very much enjoy some afternoon delight in the janitor’s closet.”

“You’re fucking adorable. And beautiful. But let’s be honest, a little too young and good of a girl to be hanging out with us assholes.”

“It’s the only measure of time that matters. Time itself is just an invisible line, a measure people made up, right? You know that. And while it’s good for reference, it’s also a major stress trigger, because you’re letting it control you.” I can’t even deny it. The idea of dinner with Roman is ruining my time with Sean. “Okay, sorry.” “Don’t be sorry. Just don’t give it power. Now is now, later will eventually be now. Don’t be a slave to the insanity of keeping time and keeping up. Now is the only thing you have control over, and even so, it’s an illusion.”

leaving me wanton and on the verge of snapping.

Dessert. Boiling over, I move to the kitchen and gather the carrot cake I had frosted earlier, Sean’s favorite, and walk back to where Dominic sits and smash it into the back of his head. He shoots up from the couch as I gather more ruined cake in my hand and slap it into the side of Sean’s smiling face. “Didn’t want to leave you without serving dessert. You all can fuck right off.”

Dominic tosses his remote down, his vengeance-filled eyes attempting to pin me as I drop the pan, snatch Tyler’s keys from the coffee table and make a break for the front door. Sean and Tyler’s laughter echoes through the open door as I climb into Tyler’s truck, start it, and peel ass out of the driveway, leaving it running in the middle of the street. I run toward my car, where Sean stands waiting, shoving a fingerful of icing into his mouth.

“Hell no, we aren’t wasting this,” he walks me back into the house where Dominic hovers over the kitchen sink, peeling his shirt off.

I expect passion and butterflies, and one or two fairy tale moments. When we fight, I want it to hurt. When we fuck, I want to feel it with every fiber of my being. When a man confesses his love to me, I expect him to mean it. I don’t want to question the words’ authenticity. I want to be claimed and owned and ruled and possessed by love.

“You catchin’ feelings for me, Pup?”

All I can do is give him the same honesty. “Yes, of course I am. We . . . I was hoping . . . I don’t know.” “That’s right, we don’t, so let’s not go around getting offended and slinging drama where it isn’t needed. You want to trust me, but you’re not letting yourself, and there’s nothing I can do about that. I can tell you every day you’re safe with me, but unless you believe it, it’s pointless. And for the record, I caught feelings the minute I laid eyes on you.”

“My rainy days are yours, Dominic. If you want them.” “It rains a lot here,” he says after a few long beats. “Fine with me. But my sunny days belong to Sean.”

“I’m all yours, Cecelia.” Words—the perfect words—from a perfect man I no longer feel I deserve. He nods past my shoulder at Dom before whispering a soft, “Night, man.”

“I will drive this car someday, Dominic. Bet on it.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Pup,”

“You’re the only woman who can keep this bird circling back. Know that, Cecelia.”