Bane (19 page)

If I fucked her in the snow, we’d end up with frostbite. Pulling back, Maren protested with a moan that had my dick begging to get inside her. “Let’s get inside. We’ll get sick if we get naked in the freezing temperatures. And I want you naked.”

Maren pushed off me. “Hurry, then. No messing around.”

I sat back on my heels and chuckled as Maren sprang up and dashed to the house. She turned to me with a no-nonsense look on her face. “Bane, I mean it. I expect my first orgasm to happen in less than three minutes.”

Hell, I never backed away from a challenge. I sprinted in after Maren. Inside the cabin, Maren had her pants off, but struggled to get her shirt and jacket off at the same time with her hands up in the air, the fabric completely obstructing her view.

Perfect opportunity.

By my guesstimate, I had about two and a half minutes left in the challenge. I prowled toward her. The shirt was completely over Maren’s head while her hands were up in the air, flailing, trying to pull it off. Adorable. Absolutely-fucking-adorable.

Scooping Maren up, she squealed. “Bane, I can’t get my shirt off. Help!”

“All in good time. I can’t lose the challenge.”

“What?”

I didn’t respond as I made my way to the table. Setting Maren down, I bent her over the wood. Her pussy glistened.

“Bane—” My name died on her lips as I knelt and licked her core. She tasted like honey and I wanted more. Much more.

I sucked her clit and she moaned through her shirt, writhing at the friction and pushing against my face for more. Grabbing her hips, I kept her from moving. I had less than a minute left to work her into an orgasm. Sucking on her while moving my tongue around to lap up her sweetness, Maren convulsed in her orgasm. The sweetest sounds of satisfaction filled the air.

After taking everything she had to give, Maren slumped on the table forgetting her entanglement with her shirt. Standing Maren up, I helped her out of her clothes. “How was that three-minute orgasm?”

With her glossy eyes, I knew she was satisfied. “I feel like jelly.”

Teetering on her legs, I scooped Maren up as she nuzzled into me. A sweet scent filled my nostrils. Her soft body melded in my arms. I wanted to be in her now. “Are you up for more?”

“I need more, Bane.”

I blew out a breath as Maren laid against me, sleeping lightly. In twenty minutes, I needed to get up and research any leads and prepare an evacuation protocol if someone breeched the perimeter. Maren would need to practice what to do. Most people froze in the moment. If rehearsed, muscle memory kicked in.

Also, I needed to call Damien Wales in case they went after his family. I doubted it, but I would never forgive myself if something happened to Allison or their two children.

While Maren had been rightfully mad as hell at me for pushing her away, I’d been out making sure the perimeter was secure. All trip wires and cameras were fully functional and transmitting. Later, I needed to make sure the snowmobiles were working. If it was anything like the generator, there’d be some lines to replace and who knows what else.

Should I be going after the people? I wasn’t sure. If I did, Maren would be left here defenseless. Until I had a better understanding of where everyone was, I would stay here with her. Fuck, I hated sitting around.

Sleepily, Maren looked at me. “You look like you’re thinking hard. Any regrets to what we’re doing?”

“No. None.” I looked up to the ceiling. “I’m going through everything I still need to do. There’s hours of research ahead to see if I can figure out what’s going on. None of it makes sense.”

Wrapping her arms around my middle, she snuggled into me deeper. “Let me know what I can do to help.”

“Thanks, angel, I will.” I kissed the top of her head. “I need to check the computers and make a phone call.”

“Okay, I’ll make dinner. I saw we had some fresh salmon in the fridge. Does that and green beans sound okay?” Maren made no attempt to move. I wanted to stay in bed, but I needed to work.

“Sounds perfect.”

I disengaged our bodies and threw on a pair of sweats. Maren watched me in the reflection of the mirror and I enjoyed the lust in her eyes. Still, there was an innocence about her even after all the hardships she’d endured.

Leave Bane. Or you’ll end up in bed with her again.

The living room put enough space between us to allow me to clear my head. Stoking the fire, I added another log. So far the fireplace had been adequate to keep us warm without having to use the heat.

Sitting at the desk, I prepared to call Damien Wales. He needed to put his staff on high alert in case Eric and his team tried anything. I doubted Eric would go after a multi-billionaire who I previously worked for and had negligible interaction with publicly after I quit. I heard the shower turn on and decided now was as good of time as any to keep me from joining Maren.

I pulled out the phone and dialed the secure private line that rang into Damien Wales’ cell.

“Wales.” Curt as ever.

I switched to my security advisor no-nonsense tone. “Wales. Bane. Are you on your secure line?”

“Yes. Good to hear from you Bane. Alli and I were talking about having you over.”

My heart clenched as I thought about telling Wales the news. “I wish I could, but I’m calling for a reason that’s not pleasant.”

There was a change in his candid tone. “Are Alli or my kids in trouble?”

“No. But, I need all your staff to go on high alert and increase security to the top level.”

“What the fuck is going on, Bane?”

Here went nothing. “You know I came from a Black Ops group.”

“Yes, we never talked in-depth about it, but you said it was in the past.”

I blew out a small breath he couldn’t hear. “It was, until a traitor to the division I served in turned up alive. He’s supposed to be dead. I saw them execute him not five feet away. Right now he’s after me, but I can’t take the chance he’ll come after your family. Jeremy needs to create a false threat and increase security. There’s several scenarios I worked up he can choose from.”

“Just a second. Let me get Jeremy on it.” Damien spoke to Jeremy on another line issuing rapid fire commands. I’d enjoyed working for Damien. He always let you know exactly where you stood. I felt like an ass having ever put him in this situation. Damien came back on. “Bane, I need you to level with me. Do you think they’ll come after my family?”

“I don’t, but it’s not a chance I’m willing to take. Damien, I’m going to hunt those motherfuckers down and take care of it. After that, I’ll be disappearing to make sure that this can never happen to anyone who knows me again.” I knew it had to be done, but I hated leaving them. They’d been the family I never had but wanted from a distance.

The line stayed silent for a minute before Damien said, “I understand. All I ask is that you say good-bye. You’ve been like family and saved the woman I love. You kept my past mistakes from taking away Alli. I almost lost her. If there’s anything I can do to help let me know. I’ll do whatever I can.”

“Thank you. I’ll get this taken care of. If you run into any problems, call this secure line.”

Maren came out wearing one of my long T-shirts that came down to her mid-thighs. She was beautiful. Long slender legs, tiny waist, beautiful brunette hair piled on her head. Giving me a smile and wink, she made her way into the kitchen. Damien’s voice brought me out of my mindless eye-fucking. “I’ll keep you posted. Bane, I don’t meddle, but everyone deserves to have someone they love in their life. I know from experience.”

Not everyone.

I wasn’t touching the last statement with a hundred-foot pole. “Thanks, Damien. I’ll keep you posted. Let me know if anything happens on your side.”

“I will.”

I hung up the phone and watched Maren as she moved around with easy grace. Perfect was one word to describe her. Deep down, I knew that I looked forward to enjoying the time we had together and letting my walls down. Keeping them fortified all the time was exhausting. Shaking my head, I pulled up all the information I could find on Hampton.

There was no doubt Security Branch was being monitored. Eric was a cold-hearted bastard, but he was smart. With Hampton’s wife being sick, I couldn’t drag him too far into this mess. I’d sent flowers to the hospital. It wasn’t hard to find where Felicia was being treated before all hell broke loose.

It was important to figure out how far this thing went since Security Branch had obviously been used to get me to Discrete Encounters.

Opening my timer, I set it for five minutes as I dialed Hampton. “Hello.” The gruff older voice answered tensely.

“Hampton. Bane.”

He coughed. “Bane. Thank you for the flowers. Felicia appreciated them. I tried calling you yesterday for another job I have, but couldn’t reach you.”

“Yeah, I disconnected my number. I need some time off to get my head on straight. How’s Felicia?”

Hampton was exhausted. I pulled up the hospital Felicia was staying at as he answered. “Better. She’s eating and her white blood cell count is looking good. I think we’ll be able to leave in a few days. Felicia’s exhausted and ready to be home.”

“I bet. Quick question. I was thinking about the job at Discrete Encounters. Did you find anything odd?”

He paused. “No, why?”

“Well, they claimed to have a top-notch security system but it had more holes in it than a leaky sieve. Before I disconnect from everything for a bit I was simply wondering.” I listened for any sounds of the hospital in the background, but didn’t hear any. There was a hotel connected and Hampton could be there. Without becoming obvious, I’d have to investigate the records on my own.

“Umm … they came into the office the day before I asked you. Sounded desperate. Made me a great offer if I could pull it off. Then, I called you.”

Made sense. If they were watching Hampton, they’d know his wife was sick. The first choice to call was always me. “I’m probably crazy. Thanks, man. Tell Felicia I’m thinking of her.”

“Will do. Take care.”

Hanging up, I steepled my fingers underneath my chin and was glad I’d made the choice not to tell Hampton about Eric. Maybe in a week or so if I wasn’t able to get answers. Plus, first I needed to talk to Sarge and tell him. Otherwise, I’d have my ass thrown in a sling by the Black Division. They were not someone you wanted to piss off.

Protocol stated to call in as soon as possible if there was a breach in security. Eric being a traitor was a major fucking breach. Even though I was out of Black Division, I was still bound by certain rules.

Eric Thornhill hated Hampton with a passion. They’d never agreed on missions and how to handle situations in the field. Hampton wanted to limit casualties while Eric wanted as many bodies as possible. Going through every moment of the committed memories during the interrogation, I thought back to the day I’d questioned Eric and he confessed.

Eric sat in the metal chair with both hands and feet cuffed and zip-tied to the side. Blood dripped down his face from my earlier few punches. Not once had Eric agreed to any of the charges against him, claiming he was being framed as well.

Complete and utter bullshit.

“Eric, I can make the pain stop. Tell me who all you sold me out to and you won’t die.”

He wiped his chin on his sleeve, spreading the blood. “I didn’t sell you out.”

I stood, throwing the chair against the wall. Sarge stood watching me get in Eric’s face as I yelled, “Liar! I have a dead fiancé and child because of you!”

“I didn’t sell you out!”

I took the wand Taser in my hand and held it to him—enjoying the immense pain radiating through his body. The electricity flowed through Eric as he pissed himself for the third time. The skin smelled burnt, but I pressed it in further. “Tell me or I won’t stop next time.”

“Fine!” He spit through gritted teeth.

I released the wand while Eric breathed rapidly. “I did it. I sold you out, motherfucker. And guess what? I’d do it again.”

Sarge swung at Eric as I went to unleash hell. Three guards rushed in and held me. Sarge looked at me. “Go get your shit together, Bane.”

I looked at the guards. “Take the traitor down to the execution hall. I’ll be there.” Sarge didn’t argue with my commands. He knew better. It was part of the arrangement to get me to finish the six missions I’d agreed to. They still had four left to ask me to do.

“You fucker!” Eric yelled.

I shrugged and walked out the door as I called over my shoulder, “I lied.”

A day I thought as victory had been fake. Part of me felt like I’d been cheated out of the revenge I deserved. The bitter taste flooded my mouth. I wanted Eric Thornhill dead.

Turned out, Sarge’s punch dislocated Eric’s jaw. Only his muffled sounds were heard as Hampton pulled the trigger and I watched with absolute joy while the man who caused Jasmine and Faith’s murders died. If it had been my choice, he would have suffered—slowly.

But it all had been for nothing. All of it. Eric was alive. And Eric deserved to die. I would make sure this time around he didn’t escape. Who had helped Eric from the inside? Was Hampton involved since he’d pulled the trigger? I saw the blood.