Bane

by Brenda Jackson

  “Then, I will take you. We can talk some more on the way.”

  “Okay, let me close up everything. Won’t take but a second.”

  His gaze followed her movements as she went from room to room turning off lights and unplugging electrical items. Her movements were swift, yet sexy as hell and his body responded to them. She’d always had a cute shape, but this grown-up Crystal was rocking curves like he couldn’t believe.

  Earlier she had asked how he’d maintained his sanity without sex. He wondered how she’d maintained hers. They had enjoyed each other and he was convinced the only reason she hadn’t gotten pregnant was because when it came to her, he’d always been responsible. A teenage pregnancy was something neither of them had needed to deal with.

  She leaned down to pick up something off the floor and the way the denim stretched across her shapely backside sent heat rushing through him. He drew in a deep breath. Now was not the time to think about how hot his wife was. What should be consuming his mind was finding out the identity of the person responsible for her fleeing her home. Whoever was messing with her would definitely have to deal with him.

  “At least I’m going where there’s plenty of sunshine.”

  His brow furrowed. Did she honestly think there was sunshine in Chicago this time of the year? She met his gaze and he knew from the uh-oh look on her face that she’d unintentionally let that slip.

  He was reminded now that although they’d never argued, they had lied quite a few times. But never to each other. Mainly the fibs had been for their families. They’d gotten good at it, although Dillon would catch Bane in his lies more often than not.

  Crossing the room, Bane stopped in front of her. “You lied to me about where you’re going, didn’t you?”

  She took a deep breath and he could hear the beats of her heart. They were coming fast and furious. Bane wasn’t sure whether her heart was pounding because he was confronting her about the lie or because his nearness unnerved her like hers did him. Even when he should be upset about her lying to him, all he wanted to do was lean in closer and taste her again.

  “Yes, I lied. I’m not going to Chicago but to the Bahamas. But when I lied about it, it was for your own good.”

  “For my own good?” he repeated as if making sure he’d heard her right.

  “Yes. In the past I was the reason you got into trouble. Now you’re a SEAL and I won’t be responsible for you getting into more trouble on my account.”

  He stared at her. Didn’t she know whatever he’d done in the past had been of his own free will? During those days he would have done anything to be with her. There was no way he could have stayed away as her father had demanded. Her parents hadn’t even given them a chance just because Bane’s last name was Westmoreland. Although Carl Newsome had claimed Bane’s age had been the major factor, Bane often wondered if that was true.

  Everyone knew how much he’d loved Crystal. Members of his family had thought he was insane, and in a way he had been. Insanely in love. Hadn’t his brother Riley even told him once that no man should love any female that much? Bane wondered if Riley was singing that same tune now that he was married to Alpha. Bane doubted it. All it took was to see his brother and Alpha together to know Riley now understood how deeply a man could love a woman.

  “Crystal?” he said, trying to keep his voice on a serious note because he knew she actually believed what she’d said. “Stop thinking you’re the reason I was such a badass back in the day. When I met you I was already getting into trouble with the law. After I hooked up with you, I actually got in less trouble.”

  She rolled her eyes. “That’s not the way I remember it.”

  “You remember it the way your parents wanted you to remember it. Yes, I deliberately defied your father whenever he tried keeping us apart, but it wasn’t as if I was a gangster or anything.”

  A smile curved his lips as he continued, “At least not after meeting you. With you I was on my best behavior. You even nailed the reason I behaved that way. You’re the one who pointed out it had everything to do with the loss of my parents and aunt and uncle in that plane crash. The depth of our grief overpowered me, Bailey and the twins, and getting into trouble was our outlet. That just goes to show how smart you were even back then, and your theory made sense. Remember all those long talks we used to have?”

  She nodded. “Yes, by the side of the road or in our private place. Our family thought all those times the sheriff found us that we were making out in your truck or something. And all we’d been doing was talking. I tried telling my parents that but they wouldn’t listen. You were a Westmoreland and they wanted to think the worst. They believed I was sexually active when I wasn’t.”

  He recalled those times. Yes, they had been caught parking, and cutting school had become almost the norm, but all they’d done was spend time together talking. He’d refused to go all the way with her until she was older. The first time they’d had sex was when she’d turned seventeen. By then they’d been together almost two years.

  At least Dillon had believed Bane when he’d told his brother he hadn’t touched her. However, given their relationship, it would have been crazy to think they wouldn’t get around to making love one day, and Dillon had had the common sense to know that. Instead of giving Bane grief about it, his older brother had lectured him about being responsible and taking precautions.

  Bane would never forget the night they’d finally made love. And it hadn’t been in the backseat of his truck. He had taken her to the cabin he’d built as a gift for her seventeenth birthday. He’d constructed it on the land he was to inherit, Bane’s Ponderosa.

  It was a night he would never forget. Waiting had almost done them in, but in the end they’d known they’d done the right thing. That night had been so unbelievably special and he’d known she would be his forever. He knew on that night that one day he would make her his wife.

  In fact it had been that night when he’d asked her to marry him once she finished school, and she’d agreed. And that had been the plan until her parents made things even worse for them after she’d turned seventeen.

  Crystal had retaliated by refusing to go to school. And when her parents had threatened to have him put in jail if he came on their property, he and Crystal had eloped. He hadn’t counted on her parents sending her away the moment Sheriff Harper found them.

  Bane had come close to telling everyone they’d gotten married; no one had the right to separate them. But something Dillon had said about the future had given him pause.

  Once he’d revealed they were married, he’d known Crystal would not go back to school. And he of all people had known just how smart she was.

  That was when he’d decided to make the sacrifice and let her go. That had been the hardest decision he’d ever made. Lucky for him, Bailey had put her pickpocketing skills to work and swiped old man Newsome’s cell phone to get Crystal’s aunt’s phone number.

  “I need to go, Bane,” Crystal said, intruding into his memories. “I’ll give you my number and we can talk when I get to where I’m going.”

  Then in a rush, she added, “I’ll call to let you know when I arrive in the Bahamas so you’ll know I’m okay.”

  He stared at her. Evidently she didn’t get it and it was about time that she did. “Crystal,” he said in what he hoped was a tone that grabbed her absolute attention. When she stared at him he knew it had. “If you think I’m going to let you disappear on your own, then you really don’t know me. The old Bane did let you disappear when your father sent you away. But at the time I figured it was for your own good. But those days are over. There’s no way in hell you’re disappearing on me again.”

  From her blistering scowl he could tell she didn’t appreciate what he’d said. When she opened her mouth to reply, he quickly held up his hand. “I know it’s been five years and that we have changed.
But there’s something with us that hasn’t changed.”

  “What?” she asked in an annoyed tone.

  “No matter what happens, we’re in this together. That’s how things have always been with us, right?”

  “Yes, but that was then, Bane.”

  “And that’s how it is now. We’re married,” he said, touching the locket he’d given her on their wedding day. Just knowing she was still wearing it meant everything to him. “We’re in this together, Crystal. Got that?”

  * * *

  For a minute Crystal didn’t say anything and then through clenched teeth, she snapped, “Yes, I got it.”

  There was no way she could not get it when he’d spoken so matter-of-factly. She’d never liked being bossed around and he knew that, which was why he’d never done it before. They had understood each other so well. And in the past they’d made decisions together, especially those that defied anyone trying to keep them apart, whether it was her family or his.

  But this Bane was difficult to deal with. Didn’t he understand it was not in his best interest to go anywhere with her?

  Without saying anything else she walked away, leaving him standing in the middle of her living room while she went into the kitchen to check the locks on the back door. She needed time alone. Time away from him. His unexpected arrival had torpedoed her world.

  As soon as she was out of his view, she leaned against the kitchen counter and released a sigh as blood pounded through her body. The man she’d loved was back after five years. One moment she’d been rushing around, trying to disappear, and the next she was opening the door for Bane. They had been separated for so long she’d thought... What?

  That he wasn’t going to come for her. But if she’d really thought that then why hadn’t she gotten on with her life?

  There were a lot of other whys she needed answered. Why had he decided to become a SEAL? Placing his life at risk with each mission? Better yet, why had he wanted to be involved in something that would keep him from her longer? And why had he shown up today of all days, when her normal life was turned upside down?

  On top of everything else, he wanted to take over, as if he’d been here all the time. As if she didn’t know what she was doing. As if she hadn’t taken care of her own business for the past five years without him.

  “Need help in there?” he called out.

  Crystal gritted her teeth. “No, I’ve got this.” She crossed the kitchen floor to check the locks on the back door.

  What did he expect of her? Of them?

  And of all things, within ten minutes of being inside her house they had kissed. A kiss she’d initiated. He might have made the first move by lowering his head, but she had been the one to make the connection. The memory of their mouths locking and tongues tasting had her feeling all hot inside. It had definitely proved they were still attracted to each other. That kiss had snatched all her senses and made her weak in the knees. She was certain she could still taste him on her lips.

  She pushed a strand of hair back from her face and walked out of the kitchen and stopped in the living room. Bane’s back was to her as he stood in front of her fireplace, staring at the framed photographs on her mantel. Except for one picture of her parents, all the rest were of him or of her and him. Most had been taken when they’d dated and the others when they’d eloped.

  He turned around and their gazes met. She almost forgot to breathe. Was that heat in her stomach? And why was her heart beating a mile a minute? She drew in a deep breath wondering what he was thinking. Had he remembered each and every moment in those pictures? Did he remember how in love they’d been? Did he realize, married or not, they were different people now and needed to get to know each other all over again?

  Should they?

  Could they?

  She broke eye contact to look at where her luggage had been. Then she glanced back at him. “You’ve taken my bags out already?”

  “Yes.”

  “I didn’t hear anything. Not even the door open.”

  A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “That’s the way a SEAL operates.”

  Oh, God. That smile was turning her insides to mush.

  A part of her wanted to race across the room and throw herself in his arms like she used to do. But she couldn’t. As far as she was concerned, too much stood in the way, keeping them apart.

  Five

  “I was sorry to hear about your dad, Crystal,” Bane said, after easing the car onto the interstate. “Although the two of us never got along, he was still your father.”

  He felt her gaze on him, and he wanted to take his eyes off the road and look at her but decided not to. She was gorgeous and every time he gazed at her he felt desire seep into his bones. He needed to keep his self-control so he could convince her that he was coming with her when she left town.

  “Thanks. Sending me away to live with Aunt Rachel widened the chasm between us but we made amends before he died...as best we could, considering everything.” She was quiet for a moment before continuing, “He even told me he loved me, Bane. And I told him I loved him, as well. Dad leaving me the ranch was a shocker because he said he would be selling it to make sure I never had a reason to return to Denver. But after he died I found out he had left it to me. I wasn’t aware he still owned it and assumed he’d sold it like he said he would do.”

  Bane had assumed Mr. Newsome had sold it, as well. Whenever he came home, Dillon had mentioned that the Newsome place was still deserted, but Bane had assumed the repairs needed around the place hadn’t made it an easy sale. But there was something else he’d wanted to tell her. “It’s admirable that you’re working on your PhD, Crystal. For someone who claimed they hated school, that’s quite an accomplishment.”

  “No big deal. Since I didn’t have a life I decided to go to school full-time. All year-round. Nonstop. And when I took a placement test, there were classes I didn’t have to take. My parents were happy that I was focusing on my studies again.”

  And not on him, he thought, and then asked her the question that had nagged at him since he’d first seen her tonight. “How did you do it?”

  “Do what?”

  “Keep the guys away. You’re a very beautiful woman so I’m sure plenty tried hitting on you.”

  He glanced over and saw the compliment had made her blush. He meant it. She had the kind of beauty he’d never been able to explain with words.

  “The guys stayed away because they thought I was gay.”

  Bane almost swerved into another lane. Placing a tight grip on the steering wheel, he glanced over at her again. “They thought what?”

  “That I was gay. I didn’t have a boyfriend so what else were they to think? The rumor started in college when I refused all their advances, even the guys on the football team, who were in such high demand on campus. They figured if I wasn’t into them, then I must be into females.”

  “Why didn’t you tell them you were a married woman?”

  “What good would that have done with a husband who never came around?”

  He could imagine how she’d felt knowing a rumor was circulating about her. One that was false.

  “I thought about you every day, Crystal.”

  “Did you?”

  He heard the skepticism in her tone. Did she not believe him? He was about to question her when she said, “This isn’t the way to the airport, Bane.”

  “We aren’t going to the airport.”

  “Not going to the airport? And just when did you decide that?”

  “When I noticed we were being followed.”

  * * *

  They were being followed?

  Crystal glanced over at Bane. “How do you know?”

  “Because although the driver is trying to be inconspicuous, that blue car has been tailin
g us for a while.”

  “Blue car?”

  “Yes.”

  Her muscles trembled. “The car that followed me earlier was blue. But how would he know to follow you when we’re not in my car?”

  “Evidently someone saw us getting into mine.”

  The feel of goose bumps moved up her neck. “If the person saw us leave that means he knows where I live.”

  “Pretty much. But don’t worry about it.”

  His calm unnerved her. How could he tell her not to worry? It was her home they were talking about. Whoever was after her would probably trash her house looking for something that wasn’t there.

  As if Bane read her mind, he said, “The reason I told you not to worry is because Flip is watching your place for me.”

  She stared over at him. “Someone you know is watching my house?”

  He exited off the interstate. “Yes. David Holloway is one of my team members, who happens to live here in Dallas. His code name is Flipper because he’s the best diver on the team. I contacted him when my plane landed to let him know I was in town. I called him again when I took out your luggage. I noticed a strange car in the driveway across the street.”

  Crystal was trying hard to keep up. He didn’t live in her neighborhood, so how could he tell when some car was out of place? “How did you know it was a strange car?”

  “I sat in front of your place for two hours waiting for you to come home and it wasn’t parked there then,” he said, turning another corner.

  She noticed they were driving in an area she wasn’t familiar with and wondered where in the heck they were going. “That’s it? You figured it was out of place because it hadn’t been there earlier?”

  “That was enough. I’m trained to take stock of my surroundings.”

  Evidently, she thought. “And this Flipper guy went to my house after we left?”

  “He got there just as we were leaving. Flip and his brothers will be keeping an eye on the place while you’re gone.”