Bane didn’t move to pick anything up. He sat and stared at Myrt, not even looking up at the waitress who’d gone and come back with a second load.
With a flourish, the shake was placed in front of him. “I’ll be back,” the waitress promised, and whooshed away.
Myrt reached out for a piece of toast, nibbling on one dry edge. She picked up a packet of silverware, pausing to look at Bane, who still hadn’t moved. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” Offered after several beats of silence, the single word didn’t sound certain, was questioning. “Everything okay with you, too?”
She shifted on the hard chair, immediately aware the tingling had moved south during their exchange, turning to a throbbing between her legs. “Mmhmm.” Gaze fixed on her hands, she tried to ignore the feeling as she carefully unwrapped the knife and fork, spending at least half a minute smoothing out the napkin and placing it next to her plate. A glance at him showed he wasn’t convinced with her response, and she tried to smile. “I’m okay.”
***
Bane
Still and poised, Myrt might have fooled someone who hadn’t made a study of her reactions.
In the short time he’d known her, she’d been happy and sad, fearful, and—at times—uncomfortable in his presence. But never like this. Her heartbeat fluttered in her throat, the skin there exposing how her heart pounded. The dew of moisture across her upper lip spoke to discomfort, but the high color in her cheeks—much more than her normal nervous blush—called the emotion something different. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was aroused and trying to hide it.
Chance might have it that I’m gettin’ through to her. He rewound their lightly teasing conversation and became more firmly convinced his words were having an effect. His thumb made another long, slow sweep across the back of her hand, the only caress he’d allow himself in this public place. If sweet words and tender touch were all it took to rev her engine in a way she’d clearly never enjoyed before, then Sallabrook was a fool to not have realized it. If he’d changed his methods at all, I might not be sitting here with her. Bane hated that tiny bit of satisfaction burning inside him, knowing it came at the cost Myrt had already paid.
Never again. She’d never suffer as she had, not if he had a damn thing to do about it. If he could rouse her with gentle caresses and affectionate teasing, he’d do it again and again until she showed him she was ready to take the next step. It’s all up to her. The vows blazed through his head, echoing like truth spoken into a well following the tumbling fall of a silver coin.
Bane gave her hands a squeeze and, when Myrt lifted her eyes to meet his, told her, “You’re so much more than simply okay, sweetie.” Her blush deepened even as the corners of her lips curled up. “And I know you’re hungry, so let’s dig in before it gets cold.” He indicated the chocolate shake with a glance, gaze returning to Myrt’s face to see her smile had grown. “Or before it melts. Whichever you wanna tackle first.” Another squeeze, then he reached for his silverware, arranging things on the table as she had. “Now, tell me about your brothers. I wanna know what to expect when we see them.”
She lifted a bite of her eggs on a suddenly shaky fork, barely managing to complete the arc to her mouth. Eyes downcast, she chewed, the tiny space between her brows furrowed deeply.
“Luke’s always been a sweet boy. Innocent, you know?” She gave him a sideways glance, and he nodded, then took a bite to encourage her to do the same. It worked, and her hands were steadier with this attempt. She swallowed and licked her lips, gaze fixed on her plate as she spread jelly on her already-buttered toast. “He never got into the rough-and-tumble the other boys did, hung back and watched, but didn’t like being touched like that. A gentle soul, Momma’s pastor used to say about him. Thad’s always played the role of his protector. Marian told me how he stood between Luke and boys at school, or between him and Daddy.”
Bane nudged her shake towards her, and she picked it up with a smile. He immediately regretted it when she attempted to drink through the straw. Her cheeks hollowed obscenely with the attempt when the thick liquid defied her. Frowning prettily, she tried to stir it with the straw, but it was too weak to make any headway. He grabbed his unused spoon and plunked it into the glass, wrapping his fingers around hers to hold it steady as he stirred the thick mixture. He ignored the jolt that ripped through him when she smiled at him, pink tongue flicking out to innocently lap at a drop of ice cream on her bottom lip. Down boy. Shifting his ass on the seat, he tried to also ignore his half-mast dick, which thought bending her over this table was the best idea it’d heard in years.
“So Thad’s a protector?” Pulling his hands back, he forced himself to not watch as she attempted the straw again. “He’s the youngest of you all, right?”
“Mmhmm. Even before I left, he was stepping up for Luke.”
“Before you were taken.” Bane gently corrected her, knowing if he couldn’t get her to see she wasn’t complicit in how things had shaken out for her, she’d take on a heavy burden of guilt if things had gone badly for the boys. As expected, she tipped her head to the side quizzically, teeth crunching through one corner of a piece of toast. “You didn’t leave, baby.” For once, Bane didn’t pause to enjoy her reaction to that word. He plowed ahead. “You were taken from your family and cast into a role you would never have accepted under your own accord. Taken, baby.”
She nodded slowly, the tiny frown appearing between her brows again. Just as slowly, she repeated his words, sounding out the syllables as if they were a foreign language. “Before I was taken.”
Bane tightened his jaw at how confused she looked, sending her every ounce of confidence he could towards her in a single look.
“Thad, he’s always been tall for his age, broad, too.” Her words came faster, the story picking up steam now they were past the newly introduced concept. “He was in second grade and Luke was in third. Luke got held back because he had trouble reading. One of Momma’s gravest sorrows was his challenges, because she so loved to read. Spread her joy through the rest of us, even the older ones.” She shook her head and made a grimace he couldn’t decipher. “Anyway, this boy in the same grade as Luke had a thing for hurting small animals. Toads, birds, chipmunks—anything that couldn’t escape him easily, he’d capture and kill. But slowly.”
“Serial killer in the making.” Bane forked up the last of his omelet and eyed her still half-filled plate. “Eat, baby.” Her face softened, and she tucked her chin to her throat as another beautiful blush crept up her cheeks. “Keep talkin’, but eat, too.” He reached out and pulled her shake towards him, tipping it up as he put his lips to the edge of the glass, spoon handle and straw pushed to the side so as not to poke himself in the eye. “Mmmm. That’s pretty good.” He took another sip and flicked his glance towards her, bursting out in laughter at her expression of complete and utter betrayal. “Just wanted a taste, baby.” That time her reaction was diffused by her annoyance, and he laughed again, pushing the glass back her direction. My baby’s got a sweet tooth. “It’s good.”
“You wanna hear about the boys or not?” With her head tilted to the side, her chin was raised in a posture of conscious defiance, and he wanted to stand on his chair and cheer. Gone was the girl who’d tried to melt into a wall at his presence. The girl who’d watched him from behind the window curtains had been banished. If I’d known stealing her sweets was all it took, I’d have found this version of Myrt sooner.
“Yes, ma’am.” Bane wrinkled his nose at her and mimed locking his lips, hiding his smile when she laughed softly.
“Yes, ma’am.” She snorted a laugh as she repeated his words with gentle sarcasm. “You don’t fool me, William Crow. I bet you were born full of the sass.”
He pushed his empty coffee cup near the edge of the table in the universal signal for a refill and nodded. “Yeap. Sass out the ass. Mom said I was both her biggest blessing and—” He shrugged, chuckling at the memory. “—the bane of her life.�
�
“So it’s not only your club name? Is it a longtime nickname?”
“Yeah. Club side of it is my own making, mostly because I’m so accustomed to it. Whole family calls me Bane.”
“Not Willy?” Her giggle was musical and fluid, showing off her sense of ease with him, even in this town that held all kinds of memories—not all of them good.
“Oh, hell no. No one except Sharon’s ever called me that.” He caught sight of the server headed their direction, carafe in hand, and turned to face her with a smile. “Ma’am, what kind of cake do you have today?”
“Shake not enough sweets for ya?” She gave him a half-grin, telling him she’d seen his theft of a couple of swallows. Which meant she’d been paying closer attention than normal for a waitress, and he wasn’t sure if that was simply because they were unfamiliar faces or she’d recognized Myrt. He filed the idea away for future questioning if needed and focused on the rest of her answer, listing off three kinds of cake on offer. Myrt’s face had brightened at the mention of cake, and her teeth had nipped at her bottom lip for a particular flavor, so he turned back to the waitress with a grin.
“Big ole piece of chocolate, please, ma’am.” Looping a finger through the handle of the now-filled mug, he pulled it in front of him. As the waitress turned to walk away, he added, “With two forks.” Gesturing to a still-silent Myrt, he encouraged her, “I do want to hear about the boys.” Her lips thinned as her mouth firmed, and he decided to keep things stirred up a little. “Flirting with you is more fun, though.” He winked.
She blinked. Her mouth opened slightly, then closed. Then opened again.
Bane lifted her shake and placed the tip of the straw against her bottom lip, stifling a groan when that lip pursed as she drew in a swallow. Mindful of their audience, he didn’t allow himself the reaction he wanted, which would have been to pull Myrt into his lap and chase the taste of sweetness into her mouth with his tongue, kissing her until neither of them could remember their names. Instead, he clenched his teeth and tightened the muscles of his belly, dick throbbing, and held the glass until she finished drinking with a noisy slurp.
Woman’s got me tied in knots, he thought, reaching down to adjust his dick. And damned if I don’t like it.
“Cake.” With an abrupt declaration, the waitress slid a plate to the middle of the table, carrying with it the biggest slice of chocolate cake Bane had ever seen. She reached across and gathered their other dishes, leaving a pile of napkins and two clean forks next to the plate. “Enjoy, you two lovebirds.”
“Oh, we’re—” Myrt closed her mouth on that little lie as the waitress walked away, chuckling.
Scooping up a big bite with a fork, he aimed the tines in Myrt’s direction, not surprised when she ducked her head and angled away. “Come on, honey,” he cajoled. “Lemme feed my girl.” Deliberately echoing the words from outside the diner, he watched as she remembered how closely they’d been pressed together. It seemed to give her courage, and for the first time she truly embraced what he was offering her, laying her hand on his forearm as she leaned closer, mouth open. Killin’ me. Her lips closed around the fork, and he slid it from her mouth, studying how her eyelids fluttered. Die a happy man. “Is it any good?”
“Mmhmm.”
She fumbled for the other fork, using the edge of the metal to pinch off a bite of cake. Her aim wasn’t exactly on target, probably because her gaze was glued to his eyes instead of his mouth, but he swooped lower, barely in time to avoid being speared.
“It is good.” He cleared his palate with a swig of hot coffee. “Rich.” Deliberately lowering his voice, he continued. “Decadently sweet. So smooth on my tongue, baby. Mmmm. Real good.”
She leaned closer and blinked, that slow, languorous movement he’d seen from her only a few times before, indicating her internal dialogue was directly in line with the story his body was telling. He was set to shove back from the table when a slip of paper appeared, and the plate of cake swooshed away, replaced by a to-go box.
“Pay at the register if you want change or have a card, leave it on the table if you’re in a hurry. I boxed up a piece of cake to go for ya.” By the time he turned to look, the waitress was halfway across the room and headed towards another table, coffee carafe in hand.
Pulling a couple of bills from his wallet, Bane dropped the money on top of the paper and stood, hand out to Myrt.
His heart thudded double-time when she took it without question, following him readily.
Chapter Ten
Myrtle
The moments after leaving the diner were a blur. Her heart and mind were waging war, and a good dose of fear had taken up residence in the middle of her belly, making Myrt regret the overload of sweets she’d indulged in.
She found herself seated in an armchair near a window overlooking a blue expanse of shining water. Something she’d never known existed in this tiny town she’d called home. At some point in the past seven years, a hotel chain had set up business, complete with an in-ground pool. Bane had rented a set of rooms side by side in the hallway, connected by an inside door. He’d used something like a credit card to open the locks on each, instructing her to go into the one on the left and unlock the passthrough door.
He’d done what he’d called a sweep of the rooms, looking for nothing she recognized, nodding with pleasure when he didn’t find whatever it was.
Then he’d parked her here, one arm swooping under her feet to lift them, coming to rest on the matching chair. A bottle of water and a pack of cheese crackers purchased from a machine near the elevator lay on the table next to her.
Bane had left to drive back downtown and purchase a few things he’d “forgotten to bring.”
Myrt sighed. I’m not dumb. I might not be the sharpest stick in the woodpile, but I’m not dumb. They couldn’t be sure if Sallabrook would be on the mountain or not. Just because no one had seen him in Florida for a few days didn’t mean he’d hauled himself home, either. But if he were to be home when they drove up into the yard, she knew Bane would want to deal with him somehow. He hadn’t brought anything with them, but surely he had something in mind, just as he’d already known about the existence of this hotel. He was a planner, unlike Myrt, who seemed to do things flying by the seat of her pants.
She’d seen him eyeing a few things when they’d shopped for the boys. Items that didn’t say a single thing about rescue but had everything to do with an offensive move. He hadn’t bought them then; she didn’t know why. But she was sure he’d left to see if he could find likely replacements.
Nearly an hour later, the van turned into the parking lot off the side street, not the front entrance where she’d spent most of her time staring. The two lines of parking were narrow and long, and she watched as the vehicle pulled up next to the dumpsters at the end of the building next to the hotel and Bane exited the vehicle. He looked front and back as he walked to the back of the van, opening the doors and stepping between, moving out of her line of sight. A few minutes passed, and he backed away, one arm full of what looked like trash. He shoved it into the dumpster, closed the lid, and shut the doors. Back in the driver seat, he moved the vehicle to the space underneath her window. When he climbed out, he looked up and caught sight of her. Their gazes locked before he glanced back towards where the dumpsters were, then back up at her. His head dropped, and she imagined she heard him cussing himself as he walked towards the hotel’s side entrance and out of sight.
Less than a minute later, the door buzzed lightly, and he walked through, closing it gently behind him.
“You get what you needed?” She didn’t know how to tell him she’d be okay with however he handled things. “All sorted?” Maybe turning it into nothing wasn’t the right way, but it was all she could think of. “It’ll be dinnertime soon. Got a hankering for anything special?”
Bane swooped her legs out of the chair and deposited his rear, settling her feet in his lap. She could see the moment he decided not to take the out
she’d given him, teeth setting in a fierce grin. “Thanks for that, darlin’. We’ll order pizza or something later. Right now, though, we’re gonna finish our talk about the boys, and then get our plans set. You’ve talked about the roads up there. I want to get up the mountain and back down before it gets dark.” He glanced at the window, then across the room to where a clock sat on a table between the beds. “So we’ve got about an hour to chat before getting moving.”
“Luke.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how he’ll react. It depends on what’s happened. Thad will be okay.”
“Okay, time for the talk, then.” His fingers wrapped around her calves and made slow, soothing circles through the fabric of her jeans. “If the boys aren’t there, we go to your daddy’s house and get them. The fact you believe the man’s capable of doing this tells me they aren’t safe there, either. We talk to Marian while we’re there, get her the info she’ll need if she decides she doesn’t want to leave quite yet.” His fingers stopped moving and gripped firmly. “If the boys are there and Sallabrook’s not, we take the boys and anything belonging to them, and bring them back here. I’ve got a friend coming in soon. He can stay with the boys tomorrow morning while you and I go out to talk to Marian.” Bane dipped his chin, gaze pinning her to the chair. “You with me so far, baby?”
“I’m with you, Bane.” That phrase felt like more than a simple affirmation, and she saw the words hit him the way they’d felt coming out of her throat. Real and tangible, she’d pledged him something lasting. Just to see if it felt the same, wholly unafraid of the outcome, she repeated the words, “I’m with you.” A shiver crawled up her spine, and his eyes grew dark, intense.
“Jesus, baby, the things I wanna do with you.” The low mutter preceded his movements, but only by a breath. Bane removed her feet from his lap and, with a smooth transfer, pulled her wholly there instead. She leaned her shoulder against his chest as he settled back in the chair, one arm draped over her legs, one curled around her waist. She looked up and his lips were there, within reach. So she reached.
In Search of Solace (Rebel Wayfarers MC) Page 11
