Pet
Chapter Two

-o-

Raven would have never shopped at this store for herself, not in a million years. Everything was neatly organized and shiny, and all the attendants were smiling happily and asking if they could help you. The place didn't smell of too-close-to-expiration food or body odor, it was clean and well-lit, and everything was way far out of her price-range. Not that she would ever have the ability to afford organic, happy, free-range chicken anyway, but it was nice to at least not feel out of place in a store for once.

Garfield was happily throwing anything he wanted into the shopping cart's basket, not even bothering to look at the price-tag as he picked through all the products. Raven managed to gather all the things that Jason had asked for, but Garfield was still wandering the store as if he wanted everything on the shelves and he owned the place. Although, Raven might not doubt that he could actually own the place. So, she let him do what he wanted without raising a single question, but it wasn't until he threw in edible gold leaf and gold powder that Raven finally put her foot down.

"Mr. Logan-"

"Garfield," he corrected with a smile, leaning against the shelves and eyeing her with a hard to read, shadowed expression.

She groaned and pressed her fingertips to the bridge of her nose, trying to ward off a sudden headache. Both of her clients were absolutely insufferable. "Garfield, then. This is getting a little bit out of hand."

"How so?" He moved closer to her, so that she could practically feel his body heat dripping off of him.

"You can't be serious." Raven picked up the package of gold leaf and placed it back on the shelf, keeping her her composure. It was hard when he crowded her space so easily, smelling faintly of mint and lemons and looking at her as if she were positively fascinating. She licked her lips and flicked her eyes to his own, ignoring the way he acted around her as best as she could. "Please don't tell me that you actually need gold leaf for something?"

"Nah." He shrugged nonchalantly and took it off the shelf, placing it back in the cart again in a small act of defiance. "Nothing that comes to mind just yet. But you never know what you might need gold leaf and cold powder for. It can be used in all kinds of ways."

"Really?" Raven sighed in defeat and started walking down the aisle again, feeling him follow her. "What in the world could you possibly need edible gold leaf for? It's absolutely useless."

"That's what you say, but think of all the amazing applications for it though!" He grinned and walked next to her, his green eyes bright as he moved in sync with each of her steps.

She looked over at him, his expression boyish and a little excited, and Raven felt her heart stutter at the sight. That sort of easy feeling of camaraderie seemed to weave between them, and Raven found herself relaxing a bit. The more time she spent with him it was as if those barriers of client and worker were extinguished and he became more of a… friend? Is that what she would have called him? The word wasn't one that she used frequently, and she never used it with her clients, but Garfield seemed to take all her normal boundaries and make them disappear with a flash of that too-bright smile and joyful eyes. Being around him was easy, and after a while, she found she kind of liked it.

"Name one thing, Garfield." She plucked a few jars of pasta sauce from a shelf and placed them in the cart. "Name one real thing you can do with edible gold leaf."

"All kinds of things." He shrugged. "Food, drinks… fun stuff, ya know."

"Fun stuff? Like what? And, you don't bake or cook." Raven pulled the last of the items Jason had requested from the shelf and set them in the cart, maneuvering herself toward the checkout lanes. "The only time I see you in the kitchen is when you're muttering about how empty the fridge is." She paused and reached on her tip-toes to pull her last request off the tallest shelf. "You know that I would be happy to add daily grocery shopping to my duties if you just let me."

"Yeah, I know." He shrugged and shoved his hands back in his pockets cocking his head to the side as he watched her. "You've been telling me all week about it."

"I am perfectly capable of-"

"Ice cream!" Garfield snapped his fingers and leaned forward, pressing his nose close to her own. He invaded her space so easily, and his excited expression made Raven forget how close he really was. He plucked the box of pasta out of her hands and tossed it into the cart with that signature, lopsided grin. "That's what I can use the gold leaf for!"

Raven sighed and took a half-step back, still trying to keep an appropriate distance between them. She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted an eyebrow, her expression deadpan. "Ice cream? That's your idea of using it?"

"Yeah! I saw a show on the food channel where they made an ice cream sundae and covered it in gold leaf." He grinned, as if proud of himself. "See, I told you I could find a use."

"An ice cream sundae? Covered in gold leaf?" Raven sighed and shook her head, rubbing the space between her eyebrows. Of all the things exorbitantly rich people could do with gold, ingesting it was not one of the things she had thought about. Shaking her head, she gave into that boyish smile yet again and ignored the ridiculous idea of a gold-leafed sundae. If that was what he wanted, she wasn't going to fight him on it. "Alright. If that's what you want to do with your gold leaf, then don't let me stop you."

"Or…" He chuckled low in his throat, his expression suddenly turning dark as he leaned closer to her. His warm breath curled over her ear, ghosting down the length of her neck. Garfield rumbled low in his throat, the noise sounding somewhere between a groan and a growl, and he pressed his lips to her ear in a mockery of a kiss. "…I could have a chocolate and gold leafed Raven sundae…"

He blew gently across her suddenly lobe, and Raven felt her heart thunder loudly in her chest. Heat exploded just below her belly button before pooling even lower, and reminding her that there were parts of her that begged to be touched and admired. Her hands wrapped tightly around the shopping cart handle as she began to focus on all of the sensations coursing through her veins. Her limbs were trembling just a little, but she couldn't find it in herself to pull away from him. No, instead she found herself fantasizing about exactly what he was insinuating. She was imagining her body flaked in gold, spread out over his sheets as two mouths completely devoured her.

Two?

Raven shivered again as Jason's dark smile filled the back of her mind, and she pulled herself out of her daydream trying to compose herself. Had she really just been thinking about the two of them? With her? What kind of lascivious person was she? Her breath grew heavy and Raven felt her eyes glaze over as her mind exploded in a million dangerous thoughts that needed to be anywhere other than her imagination.

"Yeah, I think I like that idea…" Garfield nipped a bit at her earlobe before pulling away with an infuriating smirk, effectively breaking the spell he had woven over her. "But, that's just a thought."

Raven's face burned bright red as he walked in front of her, dragging the cart with him. He looked completely nonchalant, as if he hadn't just sent a firestorm raging through her entire being. Nostrils flared, she tried to hold her ground against him, determined to erect those carefully-paced boundaries and expectations again. "T-that's not-"

"Ooo! Mint Oreos! Yum!" He was completely ignoring her protests. Garfield threw a few packages of mint Oreos into the cart and began walking to the checkout lane again, humming a half-joyful tune under his breath.

Raven found herself standing here, helpless, her legs shaking with each passing second. She didn't know what she had gotten herself into, but she certainly knew that she had no idea how to stop it. But the more important question was whether or not she actually wanted to stop what was happening.

His stare caught hers as he looked over his shoulder, and his smile turned dangerous again. "Come on, Raven. We don't want to waste the whole day, right? I mean, we have so much more interesting things to do."

Her heart thudded to life again and she came to a very startling conclusion:

She didn't want to stop what was happening - ever.

-o-

It was a few days later when Raven found herself greeted with a low grumble in Russian while she was cleaning Jason's office. Letting out a soft noise of surprise, she picked herself up from underneath his desk and saw him practically falling down into the armchair tucked in the corner. His arms sprawled over the sides of the chair and his legs spread out wide, as if he was no longer able to fully contain the exhaustion in him. He groaned and ran a hand over his face, staring up into the ceiling as his fingers tapped over his chest. Raven felt a little sympathetic towards him, and she watched him in silence for a long moment. He looked ragged around the edges, as if just thinking about work was wearing him too thin.

"Hello, Raven." He licked his lips and looked over at her as she peeked over the edge of his desk.

"Hello."

She waited for him to speak again, but was met with nothing, and eventually that nothing gave way to silence again. It was low and heavy, and Raven suddenly felt as though she needed to extinguish the quiet as best as she could. "Long call?"

She winced at the sound of her voice. Of course it was a long call. He'd been pacing around the house for the last two hours, snapping and growling in a language she didn't understand, but she caught enough of the tone to know that it wasn't good. He must have been worn thin. Blushing, Raven raised herself to her feet and moved around the desk to stand in front of him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"Mm. You're not prying." He pushed at his hair and looked up at her, cocking his head to the side. His black hair fell into his shadowed eyes, and there was something sort of dangerous about him. He didn't look like the part-owner to a billion dollar conglomerate, instead he looked like a very bad mistake posing as a wonderful dream. Licking his lips, he looked back up into her face. "You're right, it was a long call. A long, horrible call with a bunch of whiny Russians with excuses. Ugh. It's enough to make me lose my mind."

"I'm sorry." Raven shuffled a little, trying not to think about his tongue trailing over his lips they way it had. Instead, she sought to fill the silence again. "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"

"I don't know, Raven… is there?"

His eyebrows shot up as his lips pulled back into a smile, and Raven suddenly realized how lewd her words had sounded. Heart thudding in her chest, her face burned a bright red and she took a step back, holding her cleaning rag in front of her as if it was her only shield against embarrassment. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to imply that you… or I… or we… were… should…" She couldn't quite string her words together thoughtfully, and now she was making an absolute fool of herself. Closing her eyes, she started to pick up her things. "I… should get going."

Jason shifted in his chair and watched her gather her cleaning supplies. A second skipped by before he decided to speak. "You know, Raven, there is something you can do for me."

Raven paused, her hands stilling on her supplies as she heard the dangerous note in his voice. She wasn't quite sure she could meet his stare, and instead she suddenly found her rag very interesting. Shifting again, she finally looked up from her rag into his face. "What can I do for you?"

He motioned to the bookcase across from him. "The bottom shelf of that bookcase, you missed it last week and I'm worried it might get dirty."

"That's it?"

He smiled and nodded. "That's it."

"I'll take care of that." Raven blinked and picked up her wood cleaner and rag. Without questioning him or his sudden motives for a spotless office, she dropped down onto her hands and knees and began moving the things around to dust. A few long seconds passed by before she heard his low grumble again, a sort of raw humming sound that reverberated between them.

"Well, well… it's just as I thought."

Raven lifted an eyebrow, but she didn't stop her movements. "Thought what Mr.-"

"Hm?"

"-Jason," she corrected herself quickly, her cheeks flushing again.

"Your panties are black. Gar thinks they're blue."

"Mr. Todd!"

She blushed and stood up suddenly, realizing that her skirt had ridden up to show off all of her undergarments as if they were there for his perusal alone. He grinned up at her from his spot in the armchair and watched with excitement brimming along the edges of his stare, completely unapologetic for his actions. The nerve! Raven's cheeks burned bright red, watching as Jason loosened his tie and let one of his hands rest on the top of his thigh. He smiled and Raven found her eyes dragging down the length of his body to the bulge growing underneath his pants.

Nostrils flaring, she took a step back and began to stutter out a desperate response to him. "You can't possibly."

He laughed and cocked his head to the side again, propping his head up on a fist. "Oh, please, Raven. What kind of man do you take me for? I wouldn't touch you without your permission and you should know that by now you're completely safe within these walls." He licked his lips and flashed an almost wolfish smile that seemed to reverberate into the shadows of Raven's soul. "But, you know… I certainly don't mind the view."

Her cheeks burned brighter.

"So…" He continued to grin. "…if you don't mind, would you care to finish?"

Staring into those eyes, she couldn't find a reason to say no... and she didn't want to.

Thanks for being awesome friends. I hope this isn't awful!