Bane (13 page)

He was certain she would have said more, but when he began moving, she began moaning. He lifted her hips and began thrusting in and out of her with rapid strokes, taking her over and over again, and intentionally driving her over the edge the way she’d done earlier to him.

He couldn’t get enough of her, and when she screamed his name and he felt the heels of her feet dig deep into his back, he knew she was coming. However, he refused to go there yet. But it was the feel of her inner muscles clamping down on him, trying to pull everything out of him that was the last straw, and he couldn’t hold back his explosion any longer.

“Crystal!”

He was a goner as he emptied himself completely inside her, filling her in a way that had his entire body shuddering uncontrollably. He could feel her arms wrapped around him and could hear her softly calling his name. Moments later when the earth stopped shaking and his world stopped spinning, he managed to lift his head to stare down at her before crashing his mouth down on hers.

And the words that filled his mind as he kissed her with a hunger he couldn’t contain were the same ones he’d said a number of times recently.

This is just the beginning
.

Sixteen

“W
ake up, sleepyhead.”

Crystal slowly opened her eyes and looked out the car’s windshield. They were parked at what appeared to be a truck stop decorated with a zillion Christmas lights that were blinking all over the place, although she could see the sun trying to peek out over the mountains.

They had checked out of the hotel around six the night before, which meant that they’d been on the road for twelve hours or so. They’d only stopped twice for bathroom breaks. Otherwise, most of the time she’d been sleeping and he’d been driving. She had offered to share the driving time, but he had told her he could handle things and he had.

He probably figured she needed her rest and she was grateful for that. Before getting dressed, the two of them had taken a third shower. The third in a single day, but all that physical activity had called for it. Besides, she enjoyed taking showers with Bane. He could be so creative when they were naked together under a spray of water. The memories of all they’d done had her body tingling.

Pulling herself up in her seat, she glanced over at him. “We’re here already?”

“Yes, but plans changed. Instead of meeting up at the Alabama-Georgia line, we’re meeting here.”

She glanced around and lifted a curious brow. “And where is here exactly?”

“North Carolina.”

North Carolina?
No wonder they were surrounded by mountains so huge they reminded her of Denver. “Why the change?”

“They preferred meeting at Delaney’s cabin but didn’t say why. My guess is because it’s secluded, and the way Jamal has things set up, you can spot someone coming for miles around.”

“I see.” And honestly she did. She had met his cousin Delaney once and recalled hearing how she’d met this prince from the Middle East at a cabin in the North Carolina mountains. To make a long story short, the two had fallen in love and married. “I read an article about her in
Essence
a couple of years back.”

“Did you?”

“Yes. And she and her prince are still together.”

“Yes, they are. Only thing is that now Jamal is king. He gave the cabin where they met to Delaney as a wedding gift. Since she lives outside the country most of the time, she’s given us permission to use it whenever we like.”

Bane’s phone went off and he quickly pulled it out of the pocket of his jacket and answered it. “This is Bane.” After a few seconds he said, “We’re here.” Then several moments later he said, “Yes, I recall how to get there. I’ll see you guys in a little while.”

After he hung up the phone he glanced over at her. “I know this has to be both taxing and tiring for you, Crystal, but hopefully the guys and I will come up with some sort of plan.”

She nodded. “Still no word on the whereabouts of those other two chemists?”

“No. None. I spoke to Nick while you were sleeping and he’s not sure what the hell is going on now. It seems that with the revelation of a mole in the agency, everyone is keeping their lips sealed.”

Crystal figured that didn’t bode well for her, since Nick had been Bane’s source of information from the inside. She bit back an exasperated sigh and leaned back against the headrest.

“Everything is going to be all right,” Bane said, reaching over and taking her hand in his. Not waiting for her to respond he asked, “Did you enjoy yourself yesterday and last night?”

That brought a smile to her lips as the pleasant memories washed over her. Hot and spicy memories that made her nipples suddenly become hard and sensitive against her blouse. “Yes, I did. What about you?”

“Yes, I thought it was nice. Best time I’ve had in a long time.”

She was glad he thought so because she definitely felt the same way. The chemistry they’d always shared had been alive and kicking. It didn’t even take a touch between them. A look sufficed. At one point he’d lain across his bed and she’d lain across hers with the television going. She had been trying to take a power nap and had felt his gaze on her. When she’d looked over at him and their eyes connected, she couldn’t recall who had moved first. All she knew was that the glance had sparked a reaction between them. A reaction that had them tearing off their clothes again.

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. “I can’t wait to get you back home.”

“Home?” She thought of her house that had been set on fire.

“Yes, back in Denver.”

She nodded. Although she realized there was nothing back in Dallas for her now, it had been a long time since she’d thought of Denver as home. “What’s the hurry?”

“I can’t wait for everyone to see you, and to finally introduce you to them as my wife. And we’ll have a house to design and build.”

Instead of saying anything, she met his gaze and couldn’t ignore the flutter that passed through her stomach or the way her pulse quickened at that precise moment. She watched his gaze roam over her, and noticed how his eyes were drawn to her chest. Specifically, the hardened buds pressing against her blouse.

Releasing her hand he turned on the car’s ignition. “Come on. We better find Delaney’s cabin, and if I figure right, it’s about a half hour drive from here. If it was left up to me we’d check into another hotel and have another play day.”

Crystal glanced over at him. His eyes were on the road and he was concentrating on their surroundings. She should be, too, but at the moment she couldn’t help but concentrate on him.

Brisbane Westmoreland had always seemed bigger than life to her. The past five years hadn’t been easy for either of them, but they were back together and that was all that mattered. Now, if they could only stop the men who were trying to kidnap her, everything would be great.

When he brought the car to a stop at a traffic light he glanced over at her and smiled. “You okay, baby?”

She nodded, smiling back at him. Releasing her seat belt, she leaned toward him and placed a quick kiss on his lips. “You’re here with me, and as far as I’m concerned that’s all that matters now.”

She rebuckled her seat belt and sat back. Satisfied.

* * *

“What the hell?” Bane muttered through clenched teeth.

Crystal looked over at him and then sat up straight in her seat and glanced out the SUV’s window. “What’s wrong, Bane?”

He shook his head and stared out at all the cars, trucks and motorcycles that were parked in front of the cabin they’d pulled up to. “I should have known.”

“Should have known what?”

“That it would be more than just Quade, Dare, Clint and Cole meeting us today. Some Westmorelands will find just about any excuse to get together.”

Chuckling, he brought the car to a stop and turned off the ignition before unbuckling his seat belt. He then reached over and unbuckled hers. “Before going inside, there’s something I need to give you.”

“What?”

“This,” he said, pulling a small black velvet box from his jacket. When he flipped open the lid, he heard her breath catch at the sight of the diamond solitaire ring with a matching gold wedding band.

“Oh, Bane, it’s beautiful.”

“A beautiful ring for a beautiful woman,” he said, taking the ring out of the box and sliding it on her finger. “It looks good on you, as if it’s where it belongs.”

She held up her hand and the diamond sparkled in the sunlight. “But when did you get it? How?”

He smiled. “I got it in New York. I had a layover there for a couple of days due to bad weather, and to kill time I checked out some of the jewelry stores. When we got married I couldn’t afford to give you anything but this,” he said, reaching out and touching the locket she still wore. “I figured it was time I get you something better. It was time I put my ring on your finger.”

He got quiet for a moment and then said, “You don’t know how much it bothered me knowing you were out there not wearing a ring. I wondered how you were keeping the men away.”

“I told you what they thought.”

Yes, she had, which he still found hard to believe, but at least it had kept the men at bay.

He lifted her hand and brought it to his lips and kissed it. He then leaned over and lowered his head to kiss her. And he needed this kiss. He hadn’t made love to her in over twelve hours, and it was too long.

How had he gone without her for five years? That showed he had willpower he hadn’t known he had.

And the one thing he liked most about kissing her was the way she would kiss him back, just like he’d taught her all those years ago to do. Some women’s mouths were made for kissing, and he thought hers was one of them. She tasted just as good as she looked and smelled. And that was another thing about her: her scent. His breath would quicken each and every time he took a sniff of her.

His cousin Zane swore that a woman’s natural scent was a total turn-on for most men. It had something to do with pheromones. Bane wasn’t sure about all that, but the one thing he did know was that Crystal’s scent could literally drive him over the edge. And her scent was a dead giveaway that she wanted him regardless of whether she admitted it or not.

There was a loud knock on the truck’s window, and he broke off the kiss to glare at the intruder, who said, “Knock it off, Bane.”

Rolling his eyes, Bane returned his gaze to Crystal, mainly to focus on her wet lips. “Go away, Thorn.”

“Not until I check you over to make sure you’re all in one piece. I’m on my way to a benefit bike race in Daytona and in a hurry, so get out of the car.”

Bane shook his head as he eased his car seat back. But then in a surprise move he reached across and pulled Crystal over the console and into his arms. He opened the door with her in his arms and got out.

“Bane! Put me down,” Crystal said, trying to wriggle free in his arms.

“In a minute,” he said, holding her a little longer before sliding her down his body so her feet could touch the ground.

He then turned to Thorn. “Good seeing you, Thorn.”

“Good seeing you, too,” Thorn said, giving Bane a bear hug. Thorn then reached out to Crystal and pulled her to him, as well. “You too, Crystal. It’s been a while.”

Bane watched the exchange and knew Thorn’s comment had surprised her. Thorn Westmoreland was the celebrity in the family, a well-known, award-winning motorcycle racer who as far as Bane was concerned also built the baddest bikes on earth. He had several movie stars and sports figures as clients.

Crystal and Thorn had only met once at a Westmoreland family reunion, but Bane knew that when it came to his family, Crystal had assumed they saw her as the reason he’d gotten into trouble all those times.

“Thanks, Thorn. It’s good seeing you again, as well,” Crystal said, as Bane pulled her closer to his side. “How is your family?”

“Fine. Tara’s inside along with all the others.”

“And just who are
all
the others?” Bane asked.

No sooner than he’d asked that question, the door to the cabin opened and his family members began filing out. The one person Bane hadn’t expected to see was Dillon. His older brother stepped out onto the porch along with their cousin Dare. Bane shook his head, not for the first time, at how much Dillon and Dare favored each other.

Bane smiled as his family kept coming out of the cabin. There was Dare and Thorn’s brother Stone, and Quade’s brother Jared. And besides Dillon, Bane saw his brothers Riley and Canyon, as well as his twin cousins, Aidan and Adrian. He’d just seen the latter four in Denver for Thanksgiving.

“Hey, what’s going on?” he asked chuckling. “Last time I looked, Crystal and I were on the run and not dropping by to socialize.”

“Doesn’t matter,” his cousin Dare said, grinning. “We all wanted to see for ourselves that the two of you were okay.”

“And we’re ready to take anyone on who thinks they can snatch Crystal away from us,” Riley said.

“From
us
?” Bane asked, looking at his brother. He knew that of all his siblings and cousins, Riley had been bothered the most by Bane’s relationship with Crystal. Riley was afraid that Bane’s quest to find her might prove painful if she hadn’t waited for him those five years the way Bane had waited for her.

“Yes.
Us
. She’s a Westmoreland and we take care of what’s ours” was Riley’s response.

Bane looked over at Crystal and pulled her closer to his side. “Yes, she is a Westmoreland.”

Quade came forward. “Most of the men arrived yesterday. Figured we would get some fishing in while we waited for you to get here. The women showed up this morning and are out back on the porch frying the fish. First we eat breakfast, then we talk about putting a plan together. There’re a couple of others we’re waiting on.”

Bane wondered who the others were but didn’t ask. Instead, he said, “Fried fish in the morning? Hey, lead the way.”

* * *

Crystal had never felt as much a part of the Westmoreland family as she did now. And she knew she had the women to thank for that. They had oohed and aahed over her ring, telling her how much they liked it and how good it looked on her finger. And they had congratulated her on her marriage to Bane and officially welcomed her to the family.

This was her first time meeting Dillon’s wife, Pam. In fact, the last time she’d seen Dillon, he was a single man on a quest to find out more about his great-grandfather Raphel. It seemed that pursuit had landed him right on Pam’s doorstep, and it had meant nothing to Dillon that Pam was engaged to marry another man at the time.

And then there was Tara, Thorn’s wife, whose sister, Trinity, was married to Bane’s cousin Adrian. Crystal thought it was pretty neat that two sisters were married to two cousins. And the same thing went for Pam and her sister, Jillian. Jillian was married to Bane’s cousin Aidan. Crystal also enjoyed getting to know Dare’s wife, Shelly, Stone’s wife, Madison, Jared’s wife, Dana, and Canyon’s wife, Keisha.

Quade’s wife, Cheyenne, was back home in Charlotte with their triplets—a son and two daughters. The girls had dance class today; otherwise, he said his wife would have come with him.

All the women were friendly and the men were, as well. Crystal fought back tears when they welcomed her to the family in a toast. And when Bane’s brother Dillon pulled her aside and said that as far as he was concerned, she’d always been part of the family, and that he was glad she and Bane were back together again, she had to excuse herself for a minute to compose herself. Coming from Dillon, that had meant everything.