Read Jade Archer - Sandpipers 2 - Raven's Mark for Free Online

red. “Ryan! I-I… I-it’s—”
Mark couldn’t keep the laugh in to save himself. Oh, Ryan was precious. He loved the little boy already! “Yeah. I’d really like to get to know your dad. If that’s okay with you.”
Looking over at Raven again, Mark tried to convey just how serious he was. He knew Raven and Ryan were a package deal. It didn’t bother him at all. In fact, he kind of liked the idea. Family was important. He liked what he saw when Raven and Ryan were together. A lot of guys he’d met didn’t get it—too busy partying and enjoying themselves to understand why he’d hung around to help raise his brother and sister. The fact Raven had a son certainly didn’t scare him off. After the tearaway twins, not much could.
He watched as wide-eyed realisation slowly crept into Raven’s expression.
Mark smiled. He couldn’t have planned this better if he’d tried.
“You’re not allowed to hurt him. Friends don’t hurt each other,” Ryan suddenly blurted.
What the …?
“Ryan!” Raven looked mortified at his son’s outburst.
As a sick sense of dread filled Mark, he felt the smile slip away from his face. He could tell by the way Ryan watched him—and Raven didn’t—that something deep and dark was festering beneath the little boy’s statement. He wondered what had happened in their lives to provoke such a comment.
“You’re right. You don’t hurt friends.”
“Promise.”
Mark crossed his heart solemnly. “Promise.”
And if it was the last thing he ever did, he would keep that promise. He would never hurt Raven or his son. In fact, he wanted to make sure no one got the chance to hurt either of them ever again.
Chapter Three
    With Ryan safely dropped off and settled in at preschool, Raven headed towards the waterfront. Stretching and warming tight muscles as he went, gradually increasing his heart rate and letting the rhythm of his footfalls take over, he slowly lost himself in building up to a run. At least that was the theory.
    He ran every morning. The temptation to bury himself away and hide inside the vast, anonymous depths of the internet was too strong. In fact, if it wasn’t for Ryan he probably would have succumbed long ago. But he couldn’t let that happen. Ryan needed him. He had to get out and about and, if not mingle comfortably with others, at least not trap himself at home.
    So he ran, letting his feet take him away and his mind clear step by heart-pounding step. Unfortunately, hard as he tried, he couldn’t find any peace in the endorphin release and physical exertion today. Over and over again his mind replayed the embarrassment of Wolf’s birthday party…in vivid, excruciating details that just wouldn’t let him go.
    He couldn’t believe, on top of his stupid, tongue-tied, can’t-get-a-damn-sentence-outright stuttering, he’d had a panic attack. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, he’d had it right in front of Mark. He was horrified with himself. He wanted to crawl away and hide and never come out again. And it had all started over something as stupid as forgetting to take off his boots at the door.
    Damn it! He knew better. Shoes in the house had always been a big no-no. Of course, it was by no means the only trigger that would have brought a world of hurt down on him, but it was certainly one he knew better than to tempt. When he’d looked down at his feet and seen the thick rubber soles against the tiles, something had flipped inside him. He’d been right back there—getting pummelled and screamed at for daring to mess up the floors. And panic had been hard and fast on the heels of the flashback.
    He felt so pathetic. Guys that had been to war zones had flashbacks. Not wimps that didn’t have the balls to just get over it and move on.
Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!
    Finally arriving at the boardwalk, Raven gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists as he ran. All he needed was a chance…an opportunity to get on with it and eventually—just maybe—be