Burning Desires (Blue Bandits MC Book 4) (33 page)

“I missed you too, Burner,” she whispered, her lips kissing his chest in a reverent caress.

Chapter Twenty-five

Burner lay beside Kelsey on the ground panting, his arm wrapped around her as she rested on his chest, her fingers lightly caressing him. He cringed a little because he really should have at the very least taken her inside before making love to her but once he’d touched her again he couldn’t stop. He lost himself when he was with her. It had always been that way with Kelsey, likely because he was in love with her and had been for a long time, he realized. His hand lifted to rub over her back, the shirt he had never fully removed bunching a bit as he did.

“We should go inside. I didn’t mean to tackle you in the dirt.” Burner winced a little as he spoke.

“It’s okay. I like it out here and I would have tackled you eventually if you hadn’t beat me to it.” Kelsey giggled as she sat up a little, looking down at him. He felt relieved when she didn’t protest lying in the grass with him. Her eyes moved over his chest and abs in appreciation before a frown formed on her brow and she rubbed over several places on his chest. “What are these little red bumps all over your chest?”

Burner couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him. “Ask your sisters,” he responded, seeing Kelsey narrow her eyes and a dark glower form, pulling her skin tight over her cheeks.

“What did they do?” she demanded.

“I’m not telling. I will say they are devilishly fiendish when riled though. We might need to bring Hanna in on some club interrogations because I bet she could come up with all kinds of crazy shit that would make them talk just to get it to stop.” Burner grinned, almost half serious.

“I told her not to do anything to you, damn it!” Kelsey said sitting up fully, her face contorted with anger. Her delicate hands squeezed into tight fists that he grabbed, pulling her back down to lie on his shoulder.

“Relax, I kind of deserved it.” Burner saw her raise a brow in question and felt a trace of heat enter his cheeks.

“Why, what did you do?” Kelsey sounded a little worried and she frowned at him, her hands flattened on his chest so that she could hover above him, waiting for him to speak.

“I might have broken into your apartment to sleep in your bed for the last few weeks because I couldn’t stand not being close to you,” Burner told her, looking at the sky and trying to avoid eye contact with her because he was a little embarrassed by his need for her.

Kelsey let out a laugh as she leaned down, her lips brushing over his. “Oh Burner, you’re such a bad boy. Wait, why did you break in? I mean why didn’t you just use Hanna’s key?”

“Hanna took it the day she gave me the ice bath.”

Kelsey began to laugh, her whole body shaking against his before she fell back on the ground on her back still laughing. Burner scowled because it wasn’t that damned funny. He sat up on his elbow to glare at her as she lay there laughing at him.

“I–I just can’t help it. Hanna found you asleep in my bed and she dumped ice water on you.” Burner found himself grinning as he watched her; she continued to laugh deep bellied cackles that made her glow with a happiness he couldn’t help but admire. He let out a little sigh, shaking his head and staring down at her as her laughter finally stopped and she gazed up at him with a soft look in her eyes that made his chest ache.

“I think you enjoyed hearing what you sister did to me way too much, babe,” he muttered.

“Ha, you deserved a little payback after being such an ass when you left me. I’m glad Hanna made you suffer a little.” Kelsey lifted her hand, cupping his cheek when he frowned and turned away from her. “I’m not mad anymore about that, Burner, but don’t you ever talk to me like that again.”

“Yeah, I know it was way out of line. I–shit, I don’t even know how you can forgive me for it,” he grumbled, his eyes darkening with self-loathing.

“Stop, no more doubt and no more bullshit either. I don’t want to wake up in a week and find that you’re pulling away again. I won’t put up with that, Burner. One chance is all you get from me,” Kelsey told him, her eyes narrowed on him.

Cupping her cheek, he lowered his mouth to hers, his tongue parting her lips to delve inside for a long lazy duel before pulling away to whisper, “You won’t. I can’t bear being away from you. It nearly drove me crazy not knowing where you were for the past few weeks.”

“How did you find me anyway?” she asked him and he couldn’t help the guilt that twisted his guts. What should her tell her? He didn’t want her mad at him again but he didn’t know what to say about how he’d found her. Would she be angry that he’d gone to such lengths to find her because he needed to be with her? He didn’t know but he thought it better not to push it.

“I asked Greta,” he said and that was technically true. “She told me.” He hoped she wouldn’t press him for more information because he really didn’t want to have her mad at him when he’d just made up with her.

“You do know that I know my sister better than that, right? If she’d wanted to tell you she would have called me first.” Kelsey glared at him

“Technically, I did ask her and she did tell me,” Burner told her.

“Uh-huh and how did she
technically
tell you, Burner?” she commanded. Her narrowed green eyes were sparkling with a gleam he didn’t recognize. He let out a little sigh before rolling to his back, staring up at the darkened sky with the tiny dots of stars just starting to be visible.

After a moment of silence, Kelsey seemed to lose her patience. “How, Burner,” she snapped, making him let out a little grunt before he responded.

“I might have eavesdropped on them and then called a guy I know in the property office to have him look up the deed to this place.” Kelsey snickered and leaned over him, kissing his chin and then his mouth lightly. Burner tried to capture her lips and deepen the kiss but she pulled away, looking down at him with a wide grin spread over her face that took his breath away. She was so damned beautiful when she smiled; his heart always picked up speed when he saw it making him feel as if it was fluttering in his chest.

“That sounds more like what really happened. You know if they found out that’s how you found me, they would really be pissed off about it,” she said, a wicked twist to her smile now and she wiggled her eyebrows.

“Shit, don’t tell them,” Burner found himself saying in an embarrassingly hoarse voice because who the fuck knew what her two crazy-assed sisters would come up with to punish him with.

“Hmm, I don’t know. I might have to think about–” Burner tackled her, rolling her to her back, kissing along her jaw before moving to her lips to kiss her senseless before he pulled away looking down at her.

“You were saying?” he asked, seeing the slightly dazed look in her eyes and feeling her hands tightly clutching him, one curled in his hair and the other digging into the skin on his shoulder.

“I don’t remember,” she whispered, trying to pull him down to her so she could get more kisses most likely. Burner was about to comply when something ran across his fingers and he glanced at his hand and almost screamed because the biggest spider he’d ever seen in his life was crawling towards her hair near his hand. Grabbing her, he jerked her up to her feet, staring at the creepy little fucker.

“What’s wrong?” Kelsey questioned, following his gaze.

“It’s a big spider and I didn’t want it to bite you.”

“That?” she asked, pointing to the spider on the ground near where they’d been laying. Burner nodded and she looked from it to him and back again. Then she snickered a little, making him glare at her because you would think she’d be glad he’d saved her from the giant thing, not laughing about it.

“Yes, that spider. It’s fucking huge and we’re a long way from a doctor,” he grumbled, glaring at her.

“You’re afraid of that,” she said, pointing at it again.

“No, I just thought you would rather it not bite you,” Burner grunted and frowned because he wasn’t scared, it was just that he didn’t like the damned things.

“Oh my God, you are! You’re afraid of spiders. And–and…” She couldn’t finished because she was currently laughing so hard she was bent forward holding her stomach as she made incoherent sounds and pointed at the escaping spider.

“I am not! You would think you’d be glad I didn’t let it bite you instead of laughing like a hyena,” Burner grumbled, grabbing his pants to put them on before standing with his arms crossed glaring at a still giggling Kelsey.

“Yo–you realize th–that’s a grand daddy long leg, right?” Kelsey asked a little breathlessly, making him tilt his head and stare at her, unsure why the type of spider it was mattered in the least.

“So?” he snapped at her, bending to grab her shorts and handing them to her. Kelsey took them and shook her head and giggled again.

“Put those on, we’re going inside, damn it.” Burner didn’t like that she was having such fun at his expense. He wasn’t afraid of spiders, he just found them creepy and yeah, that might be a little lame but all those legs and teeth and shit made him nervous.

“Okay, but Burner, those aren’t going to bite you. They’re not even spiders,” Kelsey explained as she stepped into her shorts while holding onto his arm to steady herself.

“Kelsey, it’s a damned spider. It’s got all those creepy legs and I’m sure if you looked closely you’d see the fangs,” Burner insisted, glaring at her.

“No, it doesn’t. Watch, I’ll show you.” Kelsey rolled her eyes and took two steps towards it. He grabbed her around the waist when she would have gone after the damned thing and gotten bitten to prove him wrong.

Damned, stubborn woman!

“What are you doing? No, don’t throw me over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes, damn it. Burner, what am I going to do with you?”

“I don’t know. Love me like I love you?” he asked before he proceeded to heft her over his shoulder.

“I do love you, but put me down! Burner!” she screeched and he let out a little growl even as a smile curled his lips and he stomped towards the cabin with a laughing Kelsey smacking his butt every other step. He was still shaking his head at her crazily chasing after a big-assed spider to try and prove him wrong when he tossed her on the bed and ravished her a few minutes later.

Kelsey leaned across the bar to accept the kiss Burner was offering her, having arrived about ten minutes ago. He held the back of her head, their tongues dueling as shivers of desire raced down her spine. No matter how many times he caressed her over the past three weeks since they returned to Death Valley after a blissful week at the cabin, she still trembled when he touched her.

“Ugg, not again. Could you two do that sappy crap in the back or something?” Hanna grumbled. Burner pulled away to glance at her sister with a wide grin.

“Jealous?” he asked, making Kelsey laugh at the expression on Hanna’s face. Her mouth fell open and she crossed her eyes before she shook her head.

“Hell no. I would just rather not see you molest my sister all the damned time, asshole,” she snapped. Kelsey sighed. Hanna was not Burner’s biggest fan. In fact she had become downright annoying with her disapproval.

“Leave them alone, Hanna,” Greta said, walking out from the back. “If she wants to date him, it’s her business. Now, we have work to do. Come on.” She hooked her arm in Hanna’s and dragged her away to the other end of the bar with a little wink at Kelsey.

It still shocked her that Greta was Burner’s biggest supporter since they got back from the cabin. The week they’d spent there had been bittersweet. Burner had made love to her often but when it was dark and quiet he would talk about some of the things that he went through. It tore her heart apart to hear some of what he’d had to do with the Headhunters but it had connected them in a way she’d never thought they would be.

“Can you leave?” Burner asked grinning.

“No, she can’t. We’re busy,” Hanna called from where she was a few feet down the bar fixing a rumrunner.

“Yes, I can,” Kelsey said before adding in a louder voice, “Because I own half this bar and my sisters and Brenda can handle it tonight. I only came in because I was bored waiting on you at the house.” She hadn’t thought he’d be home tonight because two nights ago he’d gone on a run with Reaper, Animal and Lock. He wasn’t supposed to be back till tomorrow.

“Good. Go grab your stuff cause I have a surprise for you,” Burner said, brushing her hair behind her ear with a little grin splitting his face.

“Done, be back in a minute,” Kelsey told him before heading into the back room to grab her bag. A minute later she was waving to a grumbling Hanna and a smiling Greta as she let Burner guide her out to his bike and help her on.

“Hold on tight, babe.”

Kelsey sighed, leaning into his back with a little frown and holding on to his stomach tightly as the bike took off. He was always overprotective but after what he experienced it was something she was trying to deal with because she understood why he felt he had to keep her safe, even if it annoyed her. She couldn’t fault him for trying to keep her sheltered.