Bane (12 page)

With his pants out of the way, he got back into position between her spread legs. His shaft was ready, eager to mate and greedier than he’d ever felt it to be. He cupped himself to lead it home.

“Let me.”

He looked up and gazed into her eyes. The thought that she’d asked to guide him inside her almost made him weak in the knees. “All right.”

When she reached out and took hold of him, he felt himself harden even more in her hands. And then she led him to her center, and it was as if a thousand watts of electricity jolted through her nerve endings to him. And instinctively he pushed forward, thrusting into her hard and deep, all the way to the hilt. Reaching out, he grabbed hold of her hips, and began moving inside her like crazy.

Needing even more of a connection with her, he leaned forward to capture her lips with his. She had the minty taste of whatever mouthwash she’d used and he intended to lick the taste right from her mouth. She returned the kiss and he deepened it as much as he could while thrusting even more deeply into her body. Setting the same rhythm for both, the same beat. The same drive.

And the beat went on. He could hear her whispering in a choppy breath for him not to stop. So he didn’t. He couldn’t. It seemed that everything was out of his control. He was out of control. His entire body was ablaze for her.

“Bane!”

She screamed his name and tightened her legs around his waist. He thrust harder in response and before he could catch his next breath, his body exploded. But he wasn’t done.

“Hold on, Crystal. I’m coming again.”

“Bane!”

He threw his head back and sucked in a deep gulp of air that included a whiff of her scent. He practically lifted her hips off the vanity as he pushed deeper, and he came again with a primal need that made his entire body tremble. Now he knew that this woman who’d gotten under his skin so many years ago, who’d been his world, still was. And would always be so.

Fifteen

T
here was a knock on their hotel room door. “That should be dinner.”

Crystal felt an immediate sense of loss when Bane separated his limbs from hers. Had they gone through breakfast and lunch? A part of her knew they had but the only thing she could recall with clarity was their seemingly nonstop lovemaking sessions. They’d only taken time out to grab something to eat and indulge in a couple of power naps in between.

She watched as he quickly slid into his jeans. When he grabbed his gun off the desk and inserted it into his waistband, it was a stark reminder of the situation they were in. There was a group of people out there who wanted her, and Bane was just as determined that they would not get her.

“Yes?” Bane asked as he looked out the door’s peephole.

“Room service.”

“Just a minute.” He looked over his shoulder at her. “Decent?”

She was pulling his T-shirt over her head. “Now I am.” But she still slid beneath the covers and pulled the bedsheet practically up to her chin.

He opened the door to a smiling young woman who couldn’t help roaming her gaze all over Bane as she pushed a cart into their hotel room. “Everything you ordered, sir.”

“Thanks.”

Once the woman left, Crystal slid out of bed and glanced at the food. The cart was set like a table for two. Bane was finally getting his steak and potatoes, and as far as she was concerned, he deserved it. She was certain he’d worked up an appetite over the past few hours.

“I need to wash my hands first.”

“So do I.”

“But not together. I’ll go first,” she said, racing off toward the bathroom and closing the door behind her. Every time she and Bane entered the bathroom together they ended up making out all over the place. He had taken her on the vanity and in the shower just before breakfast. And then again in the shower right before lunch.

After washing her hands she quickly dried them off before opening the bathroom door, only to find him standing right there waiting. “My turn now,” he said, grinning. “If you want to keep me company, I won’t mind.”

Yes, she just bet he wouldn’t. “No thanks. I’ll be okay out here waiting for you. I promise not to start without you.”

“I won’t be long because I’m sure you’re hungry, too,” he said with a grin. He went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Crystal rubbed her hand down her face. Jeez. This new Bane was almost too much for her. He’d always had a pretty hefty sexual appetite, but in the past, due to her lack of experience, he’d always kept that appetite under control. Now it was obvious he wasn’t holding anything back. In a way she couldn’t help but smile about that because now he was treating her as an equal in the bedroom. He’d taken off the kid gloves and wasn’t treating her like a piece of china that could easily break.

“I’m back.”

She glanced up and thought that yes, he was back, looking sexy as ever and easily transforming her into one huge bundle of sexual need. “Umm, maybe I should change clothes. Keeping on your T-shirt might not be a good idea.”

He moved around her toward the cart. “Don’t know why you think so. Besides, we’ll both be changing soon enough since we’ll be moving out in a few hours.”

That was right. He had mentioned that to her. They’d be meeting up with his cousins. When she approached the cart, Bane pulled out a chair for her. She wasn’t surprised. One thing about those Westmoreland men, they might have been hell-raisers a time or two, but they always knew how to act proper and show respect.

“Thanks, Bane,” she said, taking her seat.

“You’re welcome.” He leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips. “Eat up.”

“Do you know what the plan is after we meet with your cousins?”

He took a sip of coffee and shook his head. “Not sure. Quade has connections with the White House. He may have some insight into the mole at Homeland Security.”

Crystal didn’t say anything as she began eating, but she couldn’t help wondering what could be done to keep her safe. She doubted Bane could continue to protect her on the run. What if he had orders for an assignment? Then where would she be?

“You’re frowning. You think the food isn’t good or something?”

She glanced over at him. “The food is good,” she said of the grilled chicken salad she’d ordered. “I was just wondering about something.”

“What?”

“What happens if you get that phone call?”

“What phone call?”

“The one from your commander that you’re needed on one of those covert operations.”

He shrugged. “Like I told you, my team and I are on military leave for a while. However, if something comes up, I’ll let my commander know I can’t go. You’re my wife and I won’t be going anywhere until I know for certain that you’re safe.”

“Because of your sense of duty and obligation?” she asked, needing to know.

He stared at her as a moment of silence settled between them. Then, he spoke. “I’m not sure what it’s going to take for you to realize something, Crystal.”

“What?”

“That you’re more than an obligation to me. I love you. Always have and always will. That’s why I joined the navy five years ago instead of hanging around in Denver and getting into more trouble. In all honesty, I think had I claimed you as my wife back then we might very well be divorced by now.”

His words almost snatched the air from her lungs. “Why do you think that?”

“Because there is more to life than what we had back then.”

“We had love.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “And it was our love that would have held things together for a while. But I could see things eventually falling apart. I had a high school education and barely two years of college, and you were determined not to go back to school to get a diploma. All you wanted was to be my wife and the mother of my kids.”

“And you saw something wrong with that?” she asked, not sure what he was getting at.

“No, not at the time. But think about it. How far would we have gotten on our own without finally asking your family or mine for help? And eventually I would have resented having to ask anyone for handouts. Granted, I had my land, though legally it didn’t belong to me until I turned twenty-five, which meant we would have had to live in the cabin, but only if Dillon agreed to it. But then I doubt the cabin would have been enough. I would have wanted to build a house just as big as my brothers’. One large enough to raise our kids in.”

He paused a moment before adding, “And we talked about having a house full of kids without really giving any consideration to how we would take care of them.”

She nodded. Although a part of her didn’t want to admit it, she knew what he was saying was true. After her miscarriage she had cried for months because she’d lost his baby. After all, they’d talked so often of having a child together one day. But neither had talked about how they would take care of one financially. She’d known the Westmorelands had money, and her young, immature mind had assumed that whatever she and Bane needed his family would eventually take care of. He was right; all she had wanted to do was marry him and have his babies. And she had hated school. Or so she’d thought. The kids had been mean and hateful and resented her ability to ace every test with flying colors. After a while she’d gotten tired of being the class star and having the haters on her back. She’d finally convinced herself that going to school was a waste of her time. Her family had blamed Bane for that decision but it had been hers and hers alone.

She glanced over at him. He had gotten quiet again as he cut into his steak.
Her Bane
. And then a part of her finally got it. He had loved her back then and he loved her now and had told her so several times since he’d walked through her front door. Bane had wanted to give her a better life five years ago because he loved her enough to believe that she and his kids deserved the best of anything. And to give them that, he had made sacrifices. And one of those sacrifices had been her. But she could finally say she understood why he’d made them.

He had wanted to grow up, but he’d also given her a chance to grow up, as well. And she had. She knew how to think for herself, she had two college degrees and was working on her PhD. That had been a lot to accomplish in five years’ time and she had done it thanks to him. He had practically forced her to realize her full potential.

“That steak was good.”

She glanced over at his plate. It was clean. “You want some of my salad?’

He shook his head and grinned. “No, thanks. I’m good.”

Yes, she agreed inwardly. Bane Westmoreland was definitely good. “Bane?”

He pushed his plate aside and glanced over at her. “Yes?”

“I’ve finally taken my blinders off, and do you know what I see?”

He leaned back in his chair and stared at her. “No. What?”

“A man who loves me. A man who truly loves me even after five years of not seeing me or talking to me. A man who was willing to give me up to give me the best. And for that I want to give you my thanks.”

Instead of the smile she’d expected, she watched as a muscle twitched in his jaw. “I really don’t want your thanks, Crystal.”

No, he wouldn’t want her thanks, she thought. He would want her love. Pushing her chair back, she eased from her seat and went to him. Ignoring the look of surprise on his face, she slid down into his lap and turned around to face him. Wrapping her arms around his neck she leaned up and slanted her mouth over his.

He let her kiss him but didn’t participate. That was fine with her because she needed him to understand something with this kiss. She’d know the moment he got it, the moment he understood. So she kissed him, putting everything she had into it, and when she heard his breathless moan, she knew he’d almost gotten it. He then returned her kiss with as much passion as she was giving and she felt his hand slide down to her thighs before moving underneath the T-shirt to caress her naked skin.

She knew things could turn sexual between them real quick if she didn’t take control. If she didn’t let him know what was on her mind...and in her heart. So she pulled back, breaking off the kiss. But that didn’t slow up his hands, which were still moving. One was still underneath her T-shirt and the other was sliding up and down her back, stroking the length of her spine.

“I love you, too, Bane,” she whispered against his lips. “I guess you can say I never knew how much until now. And you never stopped loving me like I never stopped loving you. I get that now.”

“No, baby. I never stopped loving you,” he whispered back against her lips. Then he tightened his arms around her as he stood with her and headed toward the bed.

After placing her there, without saying a word he tucked his fingers into the hem of the T-shirt she was wearing and took it off her.

She watched him step back and ease his jeans down his thighs and legs. Her gaze roamed up and down his naked form. Good thing she wasn’t wearing any panties or they would be drenched. She wanted him just that much. And she could tell from the look in his eyes that he wanted her with all the passion he’d stored up for five years. He’d told her as much a number of times, had proved it last night and all day today. She saw it now while looking at his engorged erection and could hear it in his breathing.

He came back toward the bed, and before he could make another move, she reached out and wrapped her fingers around his swollen sex. It fit perfectly in her hand. “Nice,” she said, licking her lips.

She heard Bane groan deep in his throat before saying, “Glad you think so.”

“I do. Always have thought so.”

When she began stroking him with her fingers, even using her fingernail to gently scrape along the sensitive skin, he threw his head back and released a growl that seemed to come from deep within his gut. And when she leaned down and swirled her tongue over him, she felt his fingers dig through her hair to her scalp. That drove her to widen her mouth and draw the full length of him between her lips.

* * *

Pleasure ripped through Bane to all parts of his body. Crystal was using her mouth to build a roaring fire inside him. A fire that was burning him from the inside out. And when she used her fingers to stroke the thatch of curly hair covering his groin, he could feel his erection expanding in her mouth. That pushed her to suck on him harder and he fought hard not to explode right then and there. Instead, he reached down and entwined his fingers in the silky strands of her hair before wrapping a lock around his fist. And then he began moving his hips, pumping inside her mouth. The more he did so the more she stroked him before using those same fingers to gently squeeze his testicles.

Was she trying to kill him? Did she have any idea what she was doing to him? Did she know how hard it was to hold back and not come in her mouth? He knew if he allowed her to continue at this rate, she was liable to soon find out.

“Crystal,” he whispered, barely able to get her name past his lips as his heart raced and blood pulsed through his veins. “Stop, baby. You need to stop now.”

She was ignoring him, probably because he hadn’t said it with much conviction. And honestly, there was no way he could with all the pleasurable sensations tearing through him. Her desire to please him this way meant more than anything because even with her inexperience she was doing one hell of a job making him moan.

When he could no longer hold back, he shouted her name and tried pushing her away, but she held tight to his thighs until the last sensation had swept through his body. He should have felt drained but instead he felt even more needy. Desperate to get inside her body, he jerked himself out of her mouth and eased her back on the bed.

He felt her body shudder the moment he entered her. She was wet, drenched to the core, which made it easy to thrust deep, all the way to her womb. Then he positioned them so that her legs were wrapped around his waist and back.

He stared down into her face. “I love you. I love your scent. I love your taste. I loved making love to you. I love coming inside you. And I love being buried inside you so deep it’s unreal. Heaven. Over-the-top wonderful.”

“Oh, Bane.”