Instead, it hadn’t been strange, hadn’t been weird. She’d pulled Chase into the conversation often, letting him bear the weight of talking when Fury felt himself getting too close to critical secrets. She had a million questions about his life, but was just as happy to talk about herself and her career. It had been fun to watch, how she had worked at giving him glimpses into her world in a way that she thought kept some mystery, her clear goal to ensure his interest remained piqued.
Even more than before, Bethy knew the music industry inside and out, and it was clear she wasn’t afraid to bust balls when needed. She’d laughed it off, saying it was a hard lesson learned, but her bands benefited from her education. That had stung, because he knew she was talking about him, and the days they’d spent together.
He found she had a soft side and got to witness it over and again as she loved on Chase. A woman he had always been able to see himself with, and one who seemed as cautiously into him as he could be her. If her brother wasn’t my fucking president, he thought as the smile faded into a scowl. If I hadn’t already fucked her over.
He considered all the details he knew about Mason. The biker, the businessman, the city councilman, the father, the brother. Would there be any possibility he could consider someone in the life for his baby sister, or would that be a no-go? All Fury knew was that since seeing Bethy again, all thoughts of any other woman had fled his mind. He didn’t consider himself a fickle person, his plans usually were laid months in advance and he lived by his lists. But now, Bethy consumed him, his dreams filled with her grey-eyed gaze, that zing of electricity from their first touch still seeming to ricochet around in his body every time she was near.
Seeing an approaching off-ramp with a motel nearby that would fit their needs, he slowed and prepared to exit the highway. What would work best with Mason, he wondered. Frontal attack, approaching him with the ask? Or a sidelong campaign, sneaking in the side door belonging to his sleekly attractive sister?
Pulling up in front of the doors of the motel, he waited for Bella to dismount, and then with a glance, cautioned her to stay by the bike as he went inside. Bethy’s too smart and sassy. She’d never submit to Mason if he went against her. Fury dragged his wallet out and tossed bills onto the counter, fingers slipping across to snag the old-fashioned key on a plastic fob. Finger to his brow, he saluted the man behind the desk, turning to see Bella obediently waiting, chin tucked tight to her chest, eyes focused on the ground at her feet.
Poor darlin’. He eyed the healing scabs on her face and forearms where she bore the wounds of her captivity. “Here’s the key,” he said, offering it to her. “Go on in and get cleaned up. I’ll knock when I’m back with food.” Her gaze flicked up, locking on him and he saw her warm brown eyes fill with tears. Oh, honey. “Swear. You’re okay, Bella. I won’t be gone five minutes. This place is safe.” Her fingers were shaking as she reached out for the key, obvious reluctance in her stance. He remembered she’d thought her apartment was safe, too. She’d do it, what he was asking, but she would be in fear the entire time.
“Okay, sweetie. No worries, yeah? Together,” he said softly, pulling the key back and shoving it into his pocket. “Ride with me for food, we’ll be back in a minute and you can rest.”
Now her gaze filled with gratitude, and he heard her voice for the first time, liquid tones sweet in the air. “Thank you.”
***
Three days later, Fury stood in a hotel doorway back in Lamesa, dusty boot toes just over the threshold, fingers clenched onto the wood at the sides. He watched as Bethany stalked across the suite towards him, grey eyes flashing with anger. He had never seen a more beautiful woman than she was right now, pissed as hell at him.
“What are you doing? I don’t need security, Fury. I don’t care what my brother thinks.” She stopped about five feet away and cocked out one hip, resting her hand on her waist. “You’re here and then gone, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time now. Not sure what changed that he forgot all that.”
“After everything we got going on, he’s just worried about you, that’s all.” He took a single step inside, reaching for the door handle as he moved to one side, pulling it closed behind him. “Chase and everyone else has their own detail. It just worked out that I’m yours.”
“You came in.” She stated the obvious with disbelief in her voice.
“I did,” he responded, struggling to keep his eyes on hers and off her tempting curves. Damn, this woman is the whole package. Sassy and sweet, beautiful and rounded in all the right places. Perfect.
Grey eyes blazing, she reminded him, “But, I just told you I didn’t need security.” When her head tipped to one side, he couldn’t help himself, feeling the corners of his mouth curling up. “Do not do that,” she ordered, her head snapping back upright.
“Do what?” He fought against the smile, knowing he was losing ground with every second that passed. She’s just so fucking cute.
“Laugh at me.” He watched a shadow of some dark emotion chase across her features as she said this, then saw the anger settle back into place, now recognizing it as a defensive maneuver on her part. “Don’t laugh at me.”
Her words had stripped the humor from him, making it easy to answer. “Not laughing at you. I just like what I see, makes me happy.” He shrugged, looking away from her and around the suite. “Pleases me.” Her belongings were strewn across the sitting area and he found himself again struggling against a smile when he saw no fewer than six bras, all different colors—some of which looked familiar—draped across the backs of chairs and the couch. “Oh, yeah, I like what I see,” he muttered, stepping around her and farther into the room. God, this is such a bad idea.
“Fury,” she called. “Did you not hear me tell you that I don’t need you? That I don’t need someone like you?” He rocked to a stop and turned to face her at her words. Someone like me. Thank God, she didn’t know who he really was, or her cuts would be ten times deeper. “I didn’t mean…” She turned her head to look at her purse when her phone went off, then looked at him, because his had started ringing the same moment.
“Yeah,” he answered without looking at the display. Didn’t matter, only club had this number. And Bethy, but that was beside the point since she was standing five feet from him and didn’t have her phone in hand.
“Get on Bethany right now.” Slate spoke the words in a tone that brooked no argument, and it wouldn’t get one from him. He might have been lying five minutes ago when he told her that her brother wanted her covered, and while this gave him a legit excuse to spend time in her space, he was honest enough with himself to know he would have been doing that anyway. Just on the high he got from being in the room with her. In her space was exactly where he wanted to be, and Slate had now granted him permission.
“On it,” he responded, disconnecting the call, carefully watching Bethy as she spoke into her phone. Chin down, she wasn’t paying attention to him, and he took full advantage of the chance this gave him to look his fill. So beautiful and put together. Even surrounded by the chaos of life lived out of suitcases, she was perfect.
“Yeah, I’m safe, Mason,” she reassured her brother. “I promise, honey.” She listened, and then her gaze cut up, locking with Fury’s as she nodded. “Yeah, Fury’s right here.”
Sorry for your loss
Fury
Their back and forth argument hadn’t stopped after the calls, but instead had slowly slipped sideways back into the sweet comfort they’d started building before he’d been sent to Chicago with Bella. Bethy exposing a bit more of herself with each exchange, and Fury found every glimpse into her private life enticing. He also found out fast that he’d been wrong about her relationship with Tyrell, the roommate.
For Fury, the specter of her flashback in the car haunted his thoughts, and he was on edge, watching for symptoms that all of this had continued to fuck with her head. He’d tried to find an in but never seemed to hit the right w
ords to make her understand. Not wanting to make her self-conscious, he’d spoken of his time in the military and how it still impacted him at times. He might not have diagnosed PTSD, but like with so many military who’d served in front of, or behind the wire, that hyperalert edge was always within reach, curling closer depending on the setting.
That had been the thing that opened the dam. Ty had a dose of it, a big dose, if what Bethy conveyed was right. Story after story about the man and how he’d learned to deal with the monsters haunting his mind had segued naturally into Fury gently urging Bethy to talk about her own. He sat and listened, but more than that he’d watched her.
When she’d nearly curled into a ball, still talking about Ty while making herself as small as possible in the chair, he’d had all he could stand. His abrupt ejection from the couch startled her, and he watched her eyes get wide when he stalked closer. Pushing his arms underneath her, he’d only begun relaxing when her hands wrapped around his neck, instinctively holding on as he lifted and twisted. Ass in the chair, he’d cradled her in his lap, cupping the back of her head to hold her in place.
He'd waited, expecting an explosion about being manhandled, figuring she’d need to rant at him about how she didn’t want to be touched. He’d waited and then was glad he’d braved her wrath because she jerked in his arms. Not attempting to get away, just trying to swallow the torrent of sobs struggling to force their way up her throat. “Shhhhh.” Speaking softly, lips to the curve of her ear, he soothed her, “I got you, honey. Shhhhh.”
“You saw me.” Not a question, and he didn’t treat it as one, just left it there between them, hoping she’d keep talking. “The day Bella was…kidnapped.” Uttering the word caused a rolling, full-body flinch in her, muscles moving involuntarily to a threat that existed only in her head. Whispering, she said, “You saw me lose it.”
“I saw a strong woman pushed too far.” Tucking her face under his jaw, she shook her head. He knew he had to make her hear him, or she’d never stop pushing him away. “Yeah, Beth, that’s all I saw. A strong woman who’d endured a nightmare. The kind of nightmare that doesn’t end when a sun is rising, doesn’t let you wake safe in your own bed because it was a dream. The kind of nightmare that sticks around, waiting for you to drop your guard so it can sweep the legs out from under you.” Her body hitched and he ran his hands over every inch he could reach, soothing her muscles, feeling them twist and jerk under his fingers. “I saw a strong woman who needed a moment to remember her nightmare was over, and once she did, she climbed back up on her own two feet. You helped get everyone moving, got everyone on the bus without me having to be a shitheel about it.” He stroked her back, liking how she arched into him. “Made it so I could do my job and keep everyone safe, made it so I could concentrate on that important work without having to fight. You did that.” He paused, but she didn’t fill the silence. “You did that, Beth, and that proves just how strong you are.”
Her question, when it came, made every muscle in his body lock up. “Who were you, Fury? Before you met my brother, I mean. Who were you?”
“What do you mean?” Shuffling to cover his lapse, he pushed a brusque tone into his voice. “I’m just a biker. Nothing else.”
“Nothing to see here, kiddies, move along,” she sang the words like a midway barker and he laughed, the sound harsh and hard. “I call bullshit. But fine, keep that secret.” His belly sank, thinking she might have already guessed. “You’re too nice to be just a biker. And it’s weird, how you can be whatever is needed in the moment. Biker one minute, security guy the next, comforting friend when demanded.” She wasn’t far off the mark and he schooled himself against flinching. “So if you won’t tell me who, tell me what? What were you before you met Davy.”
“You already know. I was in the military. Quit school and joined up soon as I turned legal.” Fuck. He hadn’t meant to give her anything, and yet there it was, his mouth moving without regard to keeping the secrets she’d accused him of.
“Do you know Mikey? Um, Watcher?” Her head lifted from his chest and she angled to look up at him, intelligent and somber grey eyes peering at him from under a dark wing of hair. Fuck.
“Not from the military, no.” He didn’t lie. “I’ve met him, yes.” Still not a lie. She seemed satisfied by his answer and rested her cheek on him, cuddling close with a sigh. They stayed in that position for a time, such a long season of quiet that his mind began to wander, going over all the irons in the fire the Rebels had, and where those lined up with the Soldiers. He was on item four on his mental list, talking to Watcher about Spider because the man didn’t ring true for Fury, when Bethy stirred.
“What time is it?” Her voice was quiet, thick in a way that let him know she’d been dozing. Fury liked knowing she felt secure enough to fall asleep in his arms.
He glanced at her phone on the arm of the chair. “Nearly ten.” That surprised him, because no way did it seem as if he’d been here for more than five hours. She’s gotta be hungry. He realized he didn’t know her itinerary post-concert. “When do you fly out?”
“Wow.” She stretched and yawned, then folded herself back against him, clearly unwilling to give up her spot in his lap. At the movement and friction, knowing it was a soft, round, female ass resting on his crotch, his dick started to harden. “That late already? Um, two more days? I had to change my flight out of Midland with everything that’s happened. The band’s already on the road, well you know that, don’t you?” She shifted and it felt deliberate when she put a welcome pressure on his cock. Yawning again, she kept talking. “I’ll follow Chase to Fort Wayne, get to meet my new nephew.”
He expected the reminder of who she was to Mason to be an ice bath on his libido, but no such luck. Her yawning and stretching had her twisting and moving under his hands in all the right ways, and one palm wound up on her ribs so the pads of his fingers cupped the lower curve of a breast. Fuck me.
“You hungry?” If one of them had to get up to call room service, that would be a natural interruption to where he saw this going otherwise. If she didn’t get still or get out of his lap, he’d be hard pressed to hide his arousal for much longer.
She moved, sliding her ass across his thigh so she could lean back and look up at his face. Lips slightly parted, her eyes had gone a dark grey he recognized, and she blinked at him. The tip of her tongue swept her lower lip, leaving a glistening trail behind. Jesus, she’s turned on. “Baby,” the endearment slipped out and he felt her shiver. “You want this?” Blood engorged, his cock was painfully hard, wedged between them, stuck behind a fold of his jeans, and when she nodded, it still gave an eager jerk. “Be sure, Bethany.”
“I’m sure,” she whispered.
“Be real sure, baby,” he whispered back.
She blinked again and hesitated, and for a moment he thought she would throw the brakes on. Then, she turned the tables on him in a way he didn’t expect. “I don’t usually do casual sex. But I’ve wanted you since the moment you walked into the office.” He pulled in a breath, slipping his hand up her side, holding her waist tight. “You walked in and my first thought was ‘why are all the handsome ones in out of the way places’ because I thought you were a promoter from the area. Then you smiled, and I contemplated what it would take to move to Lamesa.” Staring into her eyes, he saw them get bright, crinkling at the corners with a suppressed smile. “Then I found out you were with my brother, and I took a mental marker to your name, crossing you off any potential partner list.” He tipped his head to the side, and she did smile at that, the edges of her mouth curving upwards. “What I’m saying, in my blunt and sidelong way, is I’ve given this significant consideration, Fury. So yeah, I’m sure.”
And there it was, the Bethany he remembered. Laying it out there in real talk, making certain he couldn’t mistake her interest. “You might be the bravest woman I’ve ever known.” She was laughing softly as she shook her head. “Yeah, baby. Putting it out there like that, ready to take a hit if I shut you
down? Brave as fuck.”
“How about you? Are you sure?” Not quite a dare, still the edge of a challenge was in her voice, goading him to say what she wanted to hear.
Guided by his thousands of dreams, assisted by the times he’d run the movies of their lovemaking through his head, he lifted a hand to her face, tracing across her lips with his fingertips. He glided them up and across the bridge of her nose, between her eyes to bury his hand in her hair, stroking out and down, slowly. Arranging locks of her hair on her shoulder, he flattened his palm on her chest, tracking a line down her sternum until he could cup her breast in his palm. Lifting and squeezing with his fingers, he grazed the pad of his thumb across her nipple, feeling it harden through her clothing as she gasped.
Gaze back to her face, he took in her features. Sharp desire burned in her eyes. The expression on her face was pure, exposed need. “Yeah, baby.” Bending close, he brushed his lips across her mouth and along the edge of her jaw, pausing when he neared her ear. “I’m sure. I wanna fuck you. Have since I walked in that room and saw your face turned my way. Unexpected beauty. Then I got to watch you over the past few days, here and there, always takin’ care of others. That’s an unforeseen boon, baby. I wanna see how you take care of me, but more—” He paused, sucking her earlobe into his mouth and toying with it for a moment, then pressed his mouth to her throat. “I wanna take care of you.” He kissed her throat again. “You gonna let me do that?”
“Yes.” Her response was breathy and immediate. She’d gone rigid in his lap, holding herself still as he spoke. “I want that.”
He shifted and found her mouth with his, not having to fight for entry because she opened for him right away, as eager for it as he was. Tongue sweeping against hers, the slick glide a promise of what was to come, he took his time, exploring and reacquainting himself with her secrets. Head angled, she gave back as good as she got and in moments, the kiss was blazing through him. He stood with her in his arms, never breaking that connection, her hands on either side of his face, her hold fierce. Down the short hall and through the door to the bedroom of the suite, he saw the covers were smooth and flat, unmarred. Wedging her against him, he reached with one hand and flipped them back, exposing the sheets.
Rebel Wayfarers MC Boxset 4 Page 47
