Wyatt (Lane Brothers #1) (3 page)

I stop and start collecting dishes to load the dishwasher before turning back to her with a raised brow.

“You mother—”

“Eh, no bad language. I don’t like it on you. Now that that’s taken care of…you want a slice of chocolate cake? My ma made it and had it sent over just for you.”

Her eyes light up for only a second before dulling. Jesus, I really hate this shit she does, denying herself anything good in life as if letting go of all that strict control will hurt her.

              No one denies my baby anything, least of all her. I just have to see to it that she understands that and doesn’t get ill just to spite me.

“No thank you.”

God, manners to the core. I like.

“Huh. Well, I’m going to have to insist, baby. Ma would be heartbroken if you don’t accept her gift.”

Like I’d tell the poor old girl, but Ellie doesn’t need to know that.

“I’m not eating shit I didn’t see you preparing,” she snarls. I have to stop my lips from twitching at her glower.

Damn, if she keeps this up, I’m not going to be able to keep out of her for long. I’ve never liked mouthy women, but on her I find the mouthy stuff damn near impossible to resist.

Speaking of that mouth, it’s so plump and soft looking, all I can think about is the way she’ll taste or what all that softness will feel like around my—

Stop. Not the time, asshole.

“What did I tell you before, baby? You have to eat, if only to keep yourself strong to argue with me.”  I slide the plate under her nose and pick up my own, leaning back against the counter to watch.

She ignores it all and shoves her nose in the air, but I feel her vibes and see the fear she’s trying to hide when the pulse in her neck starts pounding.

“Here.”

I use my fork and spear a bite of her cake, even licking the tines clean to show her that I haven’t drugged or poisoned it.

“See? Just good old chocolate cake, baby. Eat up, you do not wanna miss Ma’s baking. The woman has a gift.”

That comment gets me the slightest lip twitch before she picks up her fork and takes a miniscule taste. Her moan, even though she tries to cut it off, goes straight to my groin, and I make a note of every sigh, sound, and facial expression when the flavor hits her tongue and she all but attacks the cake.

Good girl.

“Is your mother Ina Garten?” she asks, and my heart tries to burst at that little show of give.

Now I know it’s not much, but her talking voluntarily to me is a big step because Ellie doesn’t do that with anyone, and I reckon her doing it with some guy who kidnapped her shows just how much my patience is paying off.

“Nah, but I bet she’s probably better. This cake was a quick deal. You’ll get to taste better later. You want to watch some TV or something?”

I see it’s too soon when her shoulders tense and that dead expression falls back over her eyes.

“Why?”

I know what she’s asking, and I could probably sidestep the whole issue and mess with her a little, but my baby is too fragile right now. I get right to the point.

“I saw you, I wanted you, and now I have you. Simple. Now don’t get mad, baby, I did try to talk to you once, do this the right way, but you shut me down. So I had to watch and plan to get your attention.”

“You…you watched me?”

Don’t be scared, I was just watching over you, baby.

“Yup, and you know what I saw? I saw a beautiful woman trying to cut herself off from life. I can’t have that, not when I know you used to be a fucking star before. Don’t start yelling. Like I said, I’m not gonna hurt you, and all I want is some time to prove that. Now, TV or a board game?”

A shrug is all I get but I can deal. At least she never once tried to stab me with the fork I gave her. To me, her passing that little test is progress. I can work with that.

Ellie

This dude is straight-up nuts, that’s all I can think as he sits on his side of the sofa laughing his ass off at some dubbed karate movie that I haven’t followed a minute of.

How can I when my nerves are strung taught and my heart is still trying to beat its way out of my chest? But when another ten minutes pass without him so much as looking my way, I feel myself relax into the armrest I’m leaning against.

With my stomach full of the best food and cake I’ve had in years, and my mind clear of all the drugs he pumped into me, I’m in my zone and clearheaded enough to actually stop and think.

That’s when it all hits me. He hasn’t touched me in any way, he’s feeding me as opposed to starving me like that ass Bolton had, and he’s gone so far as to have his mom bake me a cake.

That’s weird as hell, I have to admit, but it gives him an air of safeness that I’m struggling against.

If his mother’s sending me dessert, she must know about me in some sense, and that means he’s lied to her or they’re all a bunch of lunatics.

The movie lasts another half hour or so, and I have to stop a smile when he starts ad-libbing in an accent.

When it ends, he stands with a groan and stretches. Instead of being afraid of all that muscle and strength, I just sit and gape when I catch a peek of his abs.

Once upon a time I would have been into this guy. I mean, I’ve never been that girl who only cares about looks. After all, my favorite of the two boyfriends I’ve had was not easy on the eyes, but damn was Dev smart and his sense of humor just did it for me.

Too bad even plain guys expect sex, and at eighteen, that was not on the table. Tav was good, too—athletic, a little dim, but nice all the same. I loved spending time with him, but when there were no sparks that night he tried to get in my pants, the relationship fizzled.

I always end up with the nice guys, but damn are the bad boys attractive, and this guy is no slouch in any of those departments. Too bad I’m not me anymore, and he’s my kidnapper.

And I’m damaged beyond repair.

“You ready for bed, baby?” he asks after a few minutes of stretching and giving me a show.

I practically have to roll my tongue back into my mouth to swallow past the lump of fear in my throat. Does he plan to sleep with me?

Oh hell no! As it is, I’ll be lucky if my eyes let me blink, never mind sleep, and he wants me to lie beside him in a bed without having nightmares about him going all serial-killing, ax murderer on me!

“Er…you locking me back in that room?”

That gets me a smirk and a quirked brow.

“Nope.”

Huh. So informative this one is. (Spoken in a Yoda voice.)

I cough twice.

“You are not sleeping in the same bed, room, or square footage as me.”

             
Remember what happened the last time a guy found you hot?

Oh yeah. Not something I’m likely to forget this century, and not something I’m looking to repeat, even if he does seem somewhat normal and nice and not into stabbing me to death with an ice pick.

“Ellie, baby, princess, I’ll sleep wherever I please and you can’t do a damn thing about it. Considering that I know you and that I know, without a doubt, that the minute I leave you alone you’ll be trying to get out of here, I’m pretty sure that you’ll be sleeping beside me, handcuffed to me for the next little while. Stop pouting and glaring at me, baby, you can’t win this one.”

With that dictate, he stalks closer, throws me over his shoulder, and proceeds to lug my protesting form out of the huge living room, up the stairs, and down a long corridor to a master bedroom that’s big enough for two and a half of my apartments to fit into comfortably.

“Shut it,” he yells when I start cursing a blue streak and pounding at his lower back.

“No, you! Put me down, you behemoth!”

A thwack to my ass shuts me up before he tosses me onto a bed and stands over me glaring.

A screech leaves me and I scramble to the headboard before looking around. The place is a palace, a freaking designer’s dream of dark blues and blacks, and the damn bed is bigger than a normal king.

Wyatt, I notice, is still glowering, fit to peel the skin off me as he stands beside the bed with his hands on his hips.

“You’re being a real pain in the ass, Ellie. We’re here to sleep, that’s it, so stop being melodramatic! Now lie your ass down and give me your left wrist.”

A drawer scrapes open and he pulls out a pair of lined cuffs that make me think of the set I once bought a friend as a gag gift.

“No.”

That sets him off and he falls on me as I kick and scream, settling so much of his weight on me that I’m pinned and unable to move as I struggle for breath.

When the cuff snaps closed around my wrist, I’m almost certain he’s grinning, but he rolls off and lies down beside me without another word.

“Why?”

I’m getting too predictable and even I know it. I watch him roll his eyes.

“I told you already. I want you, so I took you. No, I am not going to hurt you. No, I am not lying. You’re my girl, Ellie, and killing you would be stupid when I plan to marry you and put my six babies in your belly. Go to sleep.”

Speechless
is not an accurate description for the way I feel, and by the time I’m able to speak, the oaf is fast asleep and snoring beside me.

“Stupid pig. Lying ignoramus.”

“I can hear you and it’s hurting my delicate feelings that you think so poorly of your man, Ellie,” he mumbles seconds later, his tone derisive and amused. “Settle your ass down, now, and go to sleep before I lose control and fuck you. A man can only take so much lip before he loses it, and your constant griping is giving me a boner.”

Well!

I settle my ass down the moment I get a look at the bulge tenting his jeans and lie awake…well I try, but for some reason my traitorous eyes drift shut and I’m out like a light.

***

Wyatt

She’s so damn cute, it’s a struggle not to rip her clothes off and just fall on her like a ravening beast. It’s true; her mouthing off at me, a man who’s used to control and obedience, is giving my already quaking dick a hard time of things.

Doesn’t she realize that I’m about ready to snap and take what I want? Sitting on the sofa that long with her sweet scent in my nose was torture, and only her apparent fear was able to keep me at bay.

I don’t want to stake my claim on a woman who’s frightened of me, but unfortunately for my baby, my dick knows no scruples and has been yowling his displeasure loud enough that it was a struggle not to pull her cowering form into my lap for some loving attention.

The good old boy wants in despite my protestations and urgings that she needs. He, on the other hand, doesn’t care that much about feeling anything other than the snug warmth hidden between her thighs.

And the lippy baggage isn’t making it easy, either. Damned woman and her bravado is such a turn-on that I can barely think straight right now.

When she finally drops off to sleep and snuggles closer as if seeking my warmth, I smile darkly and pull her into my side, loving the soft weight and heat as her breasts mash into me.

I won’t go there yet simply because this is for keeps, not a quick round to satisfy my urges before I move on. Ellie is mine; I knew it the minute I ordered that tail on her and her file landed on my desk.

Now that I have her close and in my care, I feel somewhat whole, but it still doesn’t negate the need to bind her to me and keep her where she belongs.

And I need to do it before its time to go home and introduce her to the family, because I know that as soon as she finds out who I am, she’ll be spitting fury my way.

And then she’ll run.

I can’t have that, and not just because she’s mine. She’d also be in too much danger. See, there are those who would see her pay for a crime she didn’t commit, a crime that I am responsible for, and I won’t have her suffering another minute. Especially not because of me.

Those actions had been necessary, and they all know it even if they won’t agree. I’d only done what was right and put down a rabid dog.

All they see is that I killed him. They don’t acknowledge his crimes or the fact that he was crazier than a feral mutt.

“Oh, baby girl, you just have no idea.”

The things I will do for this girl scare me, and that was before I got a good look at her and learned about everything she was. If I killed then, I can only imagine the lengths I’d go to to protect her now.

Protecting her from myself and others is a man’s job but how do I protect my broke little bird from herself and the stubbornness she’s displayed these last years?

The answer is simple, I do whatever is necessary even if I have to drag her back into life by her hair.

My phone chirps silently in my pocket, and I dig it out to see one of the terrible twos calling.

“Miah.”

“We got something, bro, and you aren’t going to like it one bit. Seems Jerry’s been putting out feelers for your girl, and we caught him meeting with a shady character, handing over a fat envelope. Two guesses what he’s doing,” Jeremiah growls.

My brothers, Jeremiah and Jared, are twins and crazy as a hopping toad. Being only twenty-eight to my thirty-three, I’ve had the privilege of being the ringleader for most of our exploits, but I know that they only follow as far as they want me to lead and will go nasty on anyone if they deem it necessary to make a go for Ellie.

“Hit?” I ask, feeling my muscles tense.

It’s the only explanation for a fat wad of cash and a secret meeting, and considering the stiffy these freaks have for my baby, it’s the only answer I can come up with.

If it’s true, then my timeline has shrunk considerably. This place is great and has good security, but good isn’t enough. Ellie deserves the best, and for us, that’s home, a huge plantation house in the middle of a few hundred acres in New Orleans.

With all the heat Dad has going to protect Ma and any woman who comes into the family, it’s the only place I want her to be. But only when she’s ready for that, and right now that isn’t possible.

“Yup. Jared is going to take care of the brawn, no worries, but I’m not convinced they won’t bring someone else in and soon, so you’re going to have to step things up. How’s little sis doing?”

That’s the thing about my family; they already consider Ellie one of ours and would go to bat for her in a heartbeat. Miah and Jared already consider her to be their sister, so chances are if things get worse, they’ll leave a blood trail to the next victim.

That’s their way of protecting Ellie. Ma and I can’t blame them. I’m feeling that primal urge, myself, only stronger because she’s mine.

“Okay, so far. She’s been cussing me out all afternoon till I finally just put us to bed early. At least she’s not crying yet.”

He snorts and sighs loudly.

“Tell her everything, man. Once she knows she’ll be easier to handle.”

“No. I won’t risk that, Miah, I already told you. If she finds out, I run the risk of losing her forever, and I can’t have that. Maybe if she loves me, she’ll understand and forgive me for my lies, but…”

“I hear ya, brother, just don’t mess this up. I got her some of those bags Ma likes so much for Christmas, and I can’t wait to see her face.”

At this rate, she’ll be spoiled rotten. Why not? She deserves all the happiness we can give her.

“Okay. Keep me posted, and, Miah, for God’s sake, do not mess this up and get your fool asses thrown in prison. Ma would skin us all alive,” I warn, turning my head down to look at Ellie.

She’s got her head on my chest, one arm lying over my torso, and a leg snuggled between mine. So gorgeous and mine. All mine from now till the day I draw my last breath.

“No guarantees. Get your old ass back to sleep, then, and give my sis a kiss for me.”

We say good-bye and I shove my phone under the mattress just in case she lays eyes on it. A little shuffling so she’s lying on her side and pressing her ass against my crotch and I finally settle down enough to close my eyes.

This new development is big, and Miah is right; I’ll have to step it up a lot if I want to get Ellie behind closed gates and into my family home where she’ll be safe.

The only way to do that is to tell her everything. I won’t—not yet—so, instead, I start planning. The brothers will be onboard, and I know Ma would keep her lips shut if I asked—Dad, too. It’s just a matter of keeping Ellie shut in and keeping the others shut out that poses a problem.

They’ll meet soon, I know. I’ve planned for it, but not till I have my ring on her finger and enough evidence to eliminate the threat they’ve become.

Oh, and I fully intend to impregnate my girl so that she’ll be tied to me by more than the pleasure I plan to give her and a piece of paper that means less than the ink it’s signed with.

I know Ellie and that stubborn streak of hers, and she’ll bolt no matter how much she loves me. So I need these ties first, and there’s only one way to get it.