He had to touch more of her than her hand. Unclasping one of them, he trailed his fingers down her side, down to where her lower back met her ass, and grasped. It might have felt like he was bracing her for the impact of his thrusts, but really he was hanging on to her—making sure that she wouldn’t leave him. Making sure that he knew exactly where he was and what was going on. As long as he held onto her, he knew this wasn’t a dream.
The only sound in the room was that of their bodies meeting and their heavy breathing. All too soon, he felt her thighs tighten around his. She held on so tight to him that he thought he would die. The way she gave herself up to him made him want to whisper prayers of forgiveness and make promises that he knew he would probably in this life never be able to keep. She thrust hard against him one more time before she threw her head back and dug her fingernails into the skin of his back. Only then did he let himself go.
As the two of them lay there, breathing heavily against one another, Layne knew there was no turning back. For the first time in a long time, he didn’t even want to.
Chapter Thirty-One
“What are you thinking?” Jessica asked as she lifted herself up off the mattress onto an elbow. Her red hair fell into her face, but she didn’t bother to push it away. She liked the way it rested against the tattoos on Layne’s chest.
He cleared his throat and turned his head so that they faced one another. His eyes moved past her, taking in that daytime had changed to evening and onto night as the two of them had been in their own little world. Outside, he could see the world light up as a storm raged over Bowling Green, the lightening giving him enough time to see her face. He’d taken her three more times since they’d made their way into this hotel room, and he felt as if each time he re-gained a part of himself. “That I don’t want to go back to the clubhouse tonight.” He lifted his hand up to cup the back of her neck with his warm fingers.
“Mmm, I don’t either.” She let her head fall against his shoulder, snuggling up beside him.
“But I’m thinking we need to. I could feel some tension earlier, and we’re waiting on someone to get back to us about a few important things.”
She closed her eyes against the warmth of his chest, running her fingers over where his heart beat heavily. Here, in this place, they were protected. No one could bother them. The outside forces that caused his anxiety to ride high and hers to respond to his weren’t here. “If you think we have to, then I guess we need to.”
“It’s not that I really want to, but I have responsibilities that I have to deal with there.”
Jessica nodded. “I do understand.”
“Before we make a decision though,” he sat up, pulling her with him as he lay against the headboard, “I have a question, and I want you to be completely honest with me.”
That sounded foreboding if she’d ever heard anything in her life that sounded foreboding. “Okay.”
“How do you know Jackson Wright?”
The name knocked the wind out of her sails. She opened her mouth once, closed it, and then opened it again. “How do you know that name?”
“Let’s just say, it came up in one of my travels. Obviously, you know who he is.”
“Unfortunately.” This made her uncomfortable. He hadn’t ever wanted to tell her much when it came to his time overseas, and now she was going to have to lay the biggest mistake of her life out on the line for him.
“Be honest with me, please. I can’t protect you if you aren’t honest with me.”
She pulled away from the warmth of his body, physically setting herself apart from him. When she was at what she deemed to be a far enough distance, she tucked her legs underneath her chin and began to talk. “He’s an up-and-coming actor in Hollywood. At least he was when we first met. He needed me to help him get a foothold there; I needed him to help me get over you.”
That cut him like a knife.
“For a while we each served a purpose for the other, but then I started to rebel. I’m not even sure how, why, or when it happened. I think it was around the time you stopped answering my emails and letters in Iraq. It hurt so much—that you could just throw me away like that. I knew I wasn’t a part of your everyday life, and there was no way I could understand what you were going through, but I wanted to, I wanted to be there for you so bad, and you didn’t want me to.”
“It’s not that I didn’t want you to,” he interrupted.
“I know that now, I truly do. But back then, it just hurt so bad, I wanted to hurt you. Neither one of us had ever talked about feelings, but I knew how I felt about you,” she told him, tears coming to her eyes and her voice growing thick. “I knew that if you felt two percent of what I felt for you, then you loved me, I just knew it. Because I was so totally in love with you.” She stopped and bit her bottom lip. “Completely and totally. I didn’t give a shit that you came from a different background than me. I didn’t give a shit that you were a soldier. I was so damn proud of you for getting on that plane and going to fight in a war, I didn’t know what to do with myself.”
Layne didn’t know what to say. “I did some stupid things.”
“I did too,” she interrupted him this time. “Number one on that list was getting involved with Jackson Wright. He ended up being an asshole. One night we got drunk together and went and got tattoos. He got my name on his wrist, and I got this,” she turned so that he could see the side of her hip.
“I can’t believe I’ve never noticed that,” he breathed as he saw the little yellow ribbon there. Words were inscribed inside the ribbon, and he leaned closer to get a better look. They read PFC. Layne O’Connor. “Didn’t sit well with him, huh?”
She laughed. “No, not at all. It was then that he started to ask me questions about you, and he wanted to know just what in the hell I was doing with him. He would get me drunk and then ask me questions, but you have to realize…I was so lonely. You were the only one who knew the real me, and you were gone. I couldn’t get to you. I couldn’t get you to call me back or answer my mail—nothing. Then I got the call that you had been injured.”
He breathed heavily, for the first time realizing what he had done to her. He’d hurt her much worse than he’d hurt himself by trying to protect her from his temper.
“Apparently, I was listed on your notification paperwork. A military spokesperson came to the set where I was and informed me that you had been injured and they were flying you to Germany and then back home. I took off, pissing off my agent and everyone else. That’s really when all this started. They began calling in favors on contracts I had signed. Of course Jackson hated it. He couldn’t understand why I wanted to be with you. He started to become harder to deal with, and one night I got mad and told him that all he was—was a distraction. He was a distraction for me from the hurt that you’d caused me, and every time I was in bed with him, I dreamed it was you.”
That threw him. “You actually told another man that?”
She put her hands over her face, embarrassment burning it hot. “I did,” she nodded. “But at the time I was so pissed. You wouldn’t let me see you in the hospital, and then I found out that you had gone somewhere else to do your rehab, I couldn’t find you…for months. Then I got a call from Bowling Green, Kentucky, and you told me you’d joined an MC and you wanted to see me. I was so mad, and that’s when he started making demands. It wasn’t my best hour. Of course, I left to come see you. Do you remember that?”
He did remember that day; it had been the only day she’d ever seen him in Bowling Green before he’d come to get her in Nashville. “That day was painful,” he admitted.
“It was. I realized that day that you weren’t Layne anymore. You were a shell of Layne. So when I came home, I did something incredibly dumb. I spent the weekend with Jackson and then told him that we couldn’t be together anymore. That weekend, he moved his shit out of my house. A year and a half later, it was burglarized, and I truly believe it was him. I think he’s run out of money, completely run out o
f money, and he knows that I would run to you, but I think he’s scared of you.”
“Wait a second, you’ve had an idea of who did this to you the whole time?”
Looking straight into his eyes was one of the hardest things she’d ever done in her life. “I had my suspicions, and now that you’ve said his name, I’m pretty sure he did. He’s always known my contract stipulations. If the holder of my largest contract has seen those nude pictures and those erotic writings—I’m toast. I’m done and I’m gonna have to buy myself out of my contract.”
“Are you shitting me?”
“Nope,” she shook her head. “Those things are iron clad, but we sign them—like idiots. Money looks awesome when you don’t have any.”
The things she’d told him swam around in his head. He still wasn’t sure what this had to do with the Vojnik, but figured that would come as they dug deeper into everyone’s financials. “About Iraq,” he started.
She put her finger over his lips. “Layne, it doesn’t even matter. You had to do what you had to do to survive. If those things haunt you today, then that hurts me, but you don’t have to give voice to what you did. I trust you enough to know that whatever you did wasn’t easy.”
“Even if I was with another woman while I was in love with you?” he questioned, running a hand over his head.
Jessica smiled sadly. “I just told you what I did. We’ve both made mistakes. It’s what we do now that we’ve been honest that counts. Don’t shut me out.”
“Don’t lie to me,” he countered.
“I deserved that,” she told him.
He clasped their hands together. “How are we going to make this work, Hollywood?”
“Hollywood can be a little small town when she wants to be,” she grinned.
“But can Hollywood be small town all the time? What I do puts a target on your back. Would you be willing to give it all up?” he asked, scared to hear what she had to say. There was a fifty-fifty chance that she was going to tell him to put his clothes on and drive her back down to Nashville.
“I think Hollywood can be small town for the rest of her life. I love it here,” she grinned, launching herself into his arms.
He caught her and adjusted her so that she straddled his stomach. “There are still things to work out,” he warned her. “I’m not healed yet and I might never be. You might still wake up again with my hand at your throat. Are you prepared for that?”
“Any life we have together is better than a life apart. I’ve been going through the motions for a long time, Layne. You’re the only person that brings the real me out. I want to write these books and live here in this small town, drive the back roads with Bianca—even though I think she might kill me one day, and I would really like to find out if that mug that Tyler drinks out of is cursed.”
“Don’t touch it,” he whispered against her lips. “We don’t need any more bad luck.”
“We make our own luck,” she whispered back at him.
“It’s not going to be perfect,” he warned her again.
“Perfect is boring,” she answered back.
He laughed. “Okay, if you’re sure.”
“I am.” She pulled at the hair on his head. “Stop trying to talk me out of it.”
“I’m not, I swear, I just want you to know what you’re getting into.”
She pulled him so that their lips met again, forcefully. “I know exactly what I’m getting into.” She turned her grin saucy. “In fact, why don’t you get into me one more time?”
He flipped them over, pulling the covers over the both of them. “Whatever you say, ma’am.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
As soon as Layne and Jessica made their way back to the clubhouse the next day, they were called in for a meeting with Liam and Tyler.
“Why would they want to meet with me?” Jessica asked, her hand shaking as she held it out for Layne to take.
“I’m sure it’s nothing bad. Let’s just go see what they want. I won’t let anyone hurt you or take you away from me. Do you believe that?” he asked, tilting her chin up so that he could place a kiss there.
“I do.”
“Then everything is going to be fine.”
Truthfully, he was also nervous. It wasn’t unusual for the two of them to call a meeting with a particular member of the club, but it was unusual for them to ask to meet with someone who was an outsider. He knocked on the door to the meeting room and pushed the door open when he heard the answering call from Liam.
“C’mon in you two, have a seat,” Liam said as he got up to shut the door behind them.
“Did I do something wrong?” Layne asked, catching the glare of Tyler.
“My man, I’m just wound up tight from personal bullshit. Nothing to do with you, I’ll try to calm my shit,” Tyler told the two of them.
They glanced at each other, both a little frightened of the big man.
“The reason we called you here is because of the information that Steele found out about Jackson Wright,” Liam explained.
“I told Layne about him last night,” Jessica said, crossing her legs as three sets of male eyes looked at her.
“Why don’t you tell me about him?” Liam asked. “I need to know who he is and just what the fuck he’s doing with the Vojnik.”
Jessica recounted the story she’d told Layne earlier in the night and waited for the men to talk once she was done.
“Wow.” Tyler rubbed the back of his neck, rolling it around on his shoulders. “So you think maybe he’s pissed he pushed you right to where he didn’t want you to go? I know I would be.”
“Possible,” Jessica shrugged. “But he knew all my codes, all my passwords, and he knew exactly how I felt about Layne. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had some sort of back door deal with someone, especially if he needs money.”
“I’m thinking it’s actually Thomas Stanton that’s got a back door deal,” Liam mumbled.
“Excuse me?” She screwed her eyebrows together. “Did you say Thomas Stanton?”
“I did. Do you know him?”
She laughed, but it was dry. “He’s my old manager who holds most of my contracts.”
“I thought your old manager was your dad,” Layne said from where he sat.
“He is,” she groaned. “Where did my dad come in on all this?”
Liam and Tyler exchanged a look. “Something isn’t making sense here.”
“Quick lesson,” Jessica said. “My parents cared more about money than their daughter. I was emancipated as a teenager, but some of the contracts that I signed—before I knew better—let him manage some of my portfolio and sponsorship deals until I’m twenty-five. After I was emancipated, they took off and I haven’t seen them since. I don’t know what the hell they’re doing here in Kentucky, but I wonder if it’s because of Layne.”
“They knew you’d run here,” Tyler finished. “I bet they’re in it with Jackson.”
“Now that just pisses me the fuck off,” Layne said, slamming his hand down on the table. “I say we get both Jackson and Thomas here, and we figure out just what in the fuck they’re doing here with each other.”
“Like Steele said, Thomas wins either way,” Tyler told Liam. “I think he just wants to see her suffer.”
Liam saw black. “And I can’t stand a motherfuckin’ father that’s a piece of shit,” he ground his back teeth together. “Give us a day; we have a meet up with him tomorrow anyway. He’s supposed to be telling us what Dino wants with him.”
“Dino?” she asked.
Layne laid a hand on her shoulder, looking over at the guys. “Don’t even worry about it; I think they’re a part of this too.”
“Yeah,” Liam said from where he sat. “I’m beginning to think so too, although I don’t think they realize it.”
“If you don’t mind, we got some stuff to discuss,” Tyler told Jessica, his gaze showing her the door.
“If you need anything else, just let me know.”
�
�You sure you got this?” Jagger asked Steele as the two of them pulled into the parking lot of Wet Wanda’s.
“Yes, I got this. If Liam asks where you are, I’m not gonna tell him you’re out back fucking your girlfriend.”
Jagger snickered. “It’ll be the truth. We’re going to Nashville, thank you very much.”
Steele rolled his eyes. Sometimes it really sucked being the only guy in the clubhouse that was part of the main fold who didn’t have a woman. He lit a cigarette and let the nicotine flow through his body. So much for trying the candy to keep the demons at bay. “Well, have fun.”
“We will, and thank you again for doing this. I heard through the grapevine that Layne’s probably gonna come join you closer to closing time.”
“Looks pretty dead, I’ll be fine.”
Steele watched as Jagger and Bianca got back into her car and took to the main road. Within minutes they’d hit the interstate south, and they were on their way to a fun-filled night. Too bad he wouldn’t be included in that. He needed a little fun; he needed something more than what he’d been having the past few months. Walking into the establishment, there was a new woman on stage. One he had never seen before.
“Who’s that?” he asked Dominic, the head bouncer.
“She’s going by the name Talon, but I’ve never seen her here before. I have a feelin’ she just needs a little money to get her to her next destination in life.”
They had a lot of those come in and out of the club, but Steele couldn’t help but watch the woman on stage. Her hair was brown, looked like at one time it had been blonde. She’d probably dyed it one or two times too many. She worked the pole, but she wasn’t a pro like most of the woman who got up on the platform here. There was something in her eyes that he could see, even from where he stood in the back of the room. He knew he would have to watch out for her as they were leaving.
Worth The Battle (Heaven Hill Series) Page 20