by Tee, Marian
And while it hurt like shit, the pain was nothing compared to the memories that were slowly crystallizing into vivid playbacks in his mind.
SHIT.
Everything was steadily falling into place like pieces of a puzzle. The CCTV footage. Ethan telling him it was a guy Blake already knew. Him hitting the pub just after lunch...and staying there until the bartender felt the need to call for his brothers.
After that, they had taken him home, with Thornton sprawled in the backseat of Aidan's police car, and he could distinctly recall Ethan (the asshole) cheerfully telling everyone it was because Thornton couldn't handle having competition for Blake's affections.
Asshole, Thornton thought darkly.
It was only when he had stepped out of the shower that another memory from last night popped in his mind, and he froze in his tracks.
SHIT.
He was finally remembering what happened when his brothers got him home. She had been awake, he recalled with a distinct sense of queasiness, and she had realized right away that he was inebriated. Even worse was how, after that...
SHIT.
Thornton could feel himself whitening as he started remembering all the things he had practically yelled - fucking yelled - at Blake's face.
You can only look at me. Because I'm your man.
Stop looking at other men. Can't I be enough for you?
You're mine, Blake.
A shudder wracked his frame. Shit. He tried getting his limbs to work again but immediately ended up staggering. Shit. His stomach was still turning over, and he was feeling increasingly nauseated. Shit, shit, shit. His brothers should've just thrown him into jail than have him shoot his mouth off like that. It would've been infinitely kinder and a thousand times less humiliating---
Another memory popped, this time of Ethan cheerfully recording everything with his phone.
Asshole, Thornton thought again.
And knowing how much of a prankster Ethan could be---
SHIT.
* * *
Redwood Cafe was unusually noisy and crowded on a Wednesday, and looking around, Blake quickly realized that none of them were locals.
"Over here, B," Elizabeth called out and pointed to the last vacant seat by the counter.
"Thank you," Blake said with a smile of gratitude. The cast and crew had turned the entire cafe into a madhouse, the atmosphere lively with table talk and laughter.
"It's their first break for the day. They've been filming outside since four in the morning," Elizabeth explained, seeing the curious look on her friend's face.
Blake took another look around her, but it was as she had guessed, and not a single local was present. "I still can't get over at how amazingly immune everyone seems to be to celebrities," she couldn't help remarking.
"We had a bad experience with a celebrity a few years back," Elizabeth lied, "and I'm afraid the memory's stuck."
"Oh. Now I get it."
Elizabeth quickly changed the subject after that, asking, "Are you looking for Thornton?" Honestly, if it were up to her, she'd long have told Blake the truth about herself and the rest of the town. But since it wasn't, she could only follow protocol and feed her friend with all the standard lines provided by Hartland Initiative.
"You know where he is?" Blake asked eagerly.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do, but before that..." Elizabeth's eyes sparkled with mischief. "I need you to answer one question first."
"Shoot."
"The guy who came here last night," Elizabeth said promptly. "Who is he?"
"A childhood friend," Blake answered just as quickly. "Now, your turn. Where's he?"
"At the library, where all the others are." Elizabeth gazed at her friend thoughtfully. Childhood friend?
"I bet he knew I'd come here and look for him." Blake was thinking out loud.
"He didn't leave a message, if that's what you're going to ask," Elizabeth said. "So, that childhood friend of yours..."
"Yeah?" Blake was starting to feel depressed. Thornton was avoiding her. Right?
"Is he from Laramie, too?" Elizabeth couldn't help asking.
"Not quite. He moved to Denver about two years ago." Distracted as she was, Blake missed seeing the way Elizabeth's eyes widened.
Guys who were only "childhood friends" wouldn't have flown all the way out to a middle-of-nowhere town like Hartland just to catch up, Elizabeth thought pensively. Could that mean...
A movie crew member came to interrupt them, ordering another bucket, and Elizabeth quickly took care of this before rushing back to her friend. "So..." She tried her hardest to sound casual.
"Mm?" Blake was still mentally chewing nails over the possibility that Thornton was avoiding her. Did it mean he wished he could take all those words back from last night? That none of them was the truth?
"Does he like you?"
"Who?" Blake asked, distracted.
"Your friend."
"Well, of course he likes me---" Sheep! Blake stopped speaking as soon as she realized how her words could easily cause confusion. She had answered that way because she had been thinking Curt as her half-brother would have no choice: he had to like her. But since Curt had strongly discouraged her from claiming any filial relationship to him---
Blake saw the look on Elizabeth's face and said immediately, "It's not what you're thinking."
"Oh. Of course." The distraught look on the other woman's face made Elizabeth think twice about saying anything else. Privately, however, Elizabeth relished the idea of Thornton finally having some competition. She would make sure he knew this, too. It might just be the kick the man needed to finally make a move and stop playing hot and cold with Blake's feelings.
Chapter Ten
Dear Constituents of Hartland, Wyoming:
As a thank you for everyone's sincere cooperation, you are all cordially invited to join us in a residents-only breakfast party at the dining hall of the Hartland Public Library. Breakfast will be served from six to ten in the morning only.
Please direct any inquiries you may have to my secretary.
Sincerely,
Oliver Winterbourne II
Mayor of Hartland, Wyoming
The library's dining hall was close to full when Thornton strode past its door at just a few minutes past six. His brothers were there as well, occupying one of the window-side tables, and both men grinned the moment they saw Thornton striding towards them.
"How's the hangover?" Aidan asked.
"Boring question," Ethan chided as Thornton took a seat. "What you mean to ask is how's Blake---" His tone turned sly. "---and have you succeeded in reminding her who she belongs to?"
Thornton blanched, and seeing this, even Aidan couldn't help grinning while their baby brother simply lost it, throwing his head back with a laugh.
"I know you took a video," Thornton said grimly. "Get rid of it."
"Too late."
Thornton could feel himself stiffening as his gaze followed where Ethan was pointing. It was Anah, the young librarian who had a crush on his youngest brother. She was standing on her toes, reaching up to the ceiling-mounted TV so she could plug a memory stick into one of its USB slots.
A moment later, the screen lit up---
FUCK..
The entire hall went silent as a visibly-inebriated Thornton started roaring at a stunned-looking Blake.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
The moment Thornton's gaze snapped to his, Ethan already had his hands up in surrender and a half-apologetic grin on his lips. "I know you want to kill me," he said right away, "and yes, this is one of my pranks, but it's also more than that."
Thornton's voice was ominously soft when he spoke. "If you're saying this is your way of telling me you want to die---"
Aidan winced.
"I'm saying I'm giving you the push you need," Ethan clarified, "to man up and get rid of the competition before it gets rid of you." When Thornton only kept staring at him, he added persuasively, "Come on, Thorn. You kno
w you needed this, and I'd never have interfered if not for another guy coming into the picture. Whether you want to admit it or not, whoever that guy was - he obviously meant something to Blake, and that makes him a real threat. You just can't afford to keep dragging your feet about Blake, and you know it."
Aidan saw Thornton's hardened expression slowly relax into bland inscrutability even as the people around them started recovering from their shock and laughter began rippling from table to table. Even those Thornton used to terrify out of their wits now had the guts to look and grin at his twin's direction.
Was it because seeing Thornton drunk made his twin appear more human, Aidan wondered, or could it be something else, such as the fact that Thornton could act as idiotic as anyone else, once sexual attraction came into play?
Either way, Aidan was secretly glad as the rest of them. It was nice - extremely nice, actually, being able to see Thornton act a little more human and a little less, well (to borrow Blake's own words) John-Wick-y. For some time now, Aidan had privately worried over his twin's increasingly distant attitude towards life.
But that obviously wasn't going to be a problem anymore. Or at least not as long as Blake remained in the picture.
Aidan caught Ethan's eye and gave his baby brother an imperceptible nod. Good job.
Ethan's hazel eyes gleamed. Always happy to prank.
"Quit it, you assholes," Thornton said even though his gaze remained on the video, which was now on its fifth playback. "There's nothing to feel smug about." In the corner of his eye, Thornton caught sight of his brothers simply smirking. Assholes, he thought again, but try as he might, the anger just wasn't there.
Because Ethan was right.
While he would've liked more time to better analyze his feelings and see if they were indeed real, the fucking truth was that he could no longer afford to do so. The moment another man entered the picture, that had been it. He had known deep inside that he couldn't and wouldn't take the risk of losing her.
She was his.
Had wanted to be his from the very start.
His, Thornton thought.
He had never wanted any woman to be his before, had never even seen the appeal of claiming any kind of possession towards a woman before. But if he were to think along those lines with Blake in mind...
The concept of ownership didn't just become palatable but desirable as well.
Urgently so.
He looked at Aidan. "Can you get your contacts to look that guy up?"
Aidan only smiled.
"You're already on it," Thornton said after a moment. "Aren't you?"
"Ethan and I thought of it the same time," Aidan said. "We're your brothers, after all."
"Thanks," Thornton said gruffly.
"If you think your life had already changed a lot when Blake started working for you," Ethan warned his older brother with a grin, "brace yourself, because it's only going to get a lot more complicated from here."
* * *
Just as Elizabeth told her, the library's small dining hall was crowded with locals, and all of them turned to face Blake the moment she entered. They were all grinning, too, and for one moment Blake was very much bewildered---
"Stop looking at other men. Can't I be enough for you?"
That was Thornton's voice, and it was coming from...the TV?
Her stunned gaze flew to the huge screen hanging in one corner of the hall, and her jaw dropped when she saw Thornton and her own face staring back at her.
"Oh my God!"
Everyone burst into laughter while Blake could only stare as footage of last night finally ended...before looping back to the start. She gasped again, realizing that this was what had probably been playing the whole morning---
Strong, hard arms wrapped around her waist from behind, and Blake stiffened in shock even as the people around them started hooting, whistling, and yelling encouragement.
A moment later, she felt the arms around her waist tightening and pulling her towards...
Oh!
Her back had hit a wall of chest just as she felt her head being tucked under someone's chin.
What was happening?
Thornton could feel Blake's confusion growing, and his lips pressed together in a futile effort to contain his amusement.
"Mr. Blackwood?" Her voice was a faint whisper, and it brought out something diabolically wicked in him.
Lifting his chin off her head, he let his lips brush the curve of her ear and was rewarded by a loud squeak that had their audience laughing.
"Thornton," he whispered to her ear.
"W-What?"
"I know it's how you've always thought of me."
Blake could no longer help it. She just had to ask it out loud this time. "What's happening? Am I dreaming?"
More laughter around them, but Blake didn't care. She just wanted to know if this was real. Because if it was not...well, that was fine. She would just keep dreaming and make sure never to wake---
Ah!
She suddenly found herself being spun around, and the next thing she knew she was already staring straight up into the eyes of her beloved.
"Since the whole town already saw me making an ass of myself---"
Loyal as ever, Blake couldn't stop herself from automatically denying this. "You weren't!"
"There's only one thing left to do."
Blake's heart started beating hard.
"I don't want to see you with another man again."
And fast.
"I want you to be mine, baby."
Really fast.
"Will you?"
Chapter Eleven
Sometimes, words just weren't enough.
He watched her lips move, but even when no words came, he still heard her loud and clear. Because the answer lay in her eyes, in the way she could only stare up at him, and it was clear as daylight. How could it not be when the desire in her eyes was the exact same thing messing him up from the inside?
Blake's heart slammed against her chest when Thornton's long, tanned fingers suddenly circled her wrist. She was barely able to draw her next breath when he suddenly moved, walking so fast that all she could do was work hard to keep up with him.
And yet...
Her eyes started smarting even as it was crazy funny, embarrassing, and thrilling all at the same time that all the locals around them were cheering, Ethan being the noisiest of them all.
He understood. He understood. He understood.
They were the most magical words in the world for her at the moment, so magical that it seemed he heard them, too, when he slowed down to let her catch up and fall into step next to him. Their gazes met, and her heart drummed a thousand beats in just a single second.
"Why are we leaving?"
"Because you wanted to." He glanced at her. "Didn't you?"
He did get it!
"I did," she admitted. "I know I'm normally the TMI type, but I never liked people seeing me cry."
"I've seen you cry a lot of times."
"You're not everyone." She smiled up at him, a dreamy expression falling over her pretty face. "You're perfect."
Thornton nearly smiled. "I'm not." What an adorable lunatic she was, with the way she kept saying such things out of the blue.
"You are," she insisted feelingly.
Since today was technically their first day as the C-word, Thornton decided it was best to quit arguing and changed the subject instead. "Not gonna ask where we're going?"
"No."
Her voice was basic and without an ounce of hesitation. She had always trusted him without question, and he found this trait of hers touching and humbling. Arousing as hell, too, especially with the way she kept darting glances...at his mouth.
"Stop doing that."
It was his John Wick voice again, but at the same time...it was different. Like it wasn't a warning, but almost like...a gruff...plea?
"It's distracting," he murmured, seeing the confusion in her gaze. "Your eyes."
> Said eyes widened.
"They're extremely good at trying to seduce me out of my senses."
What?
"It's saying, you want my mouth on yours."
It did? But then Blake started seriously thinking about it. Well...yeah. Him kissing her had been on her mind the moment he asked her to be his.
The fingers around her wrist suddenly moved, trailing down to twine with hers. When she looked up at him in surprise, his dark gaze captured hers right away. "I want it, too."
Her heart melted. "You do?"
"You were extremely good at making me crazy with desire for you," he divulged in a self-mocking tone that had her flashing him a weak smile of apology. Oops?
"Kissing you was all I could think about for weeks."
"Just kissing?" she couldn't help teasing.
It was Thornton's turn to just let his eyes do the talking, and her throat instantly went dry at the blaze of smoldering need in his gaze. Kissing was definitely just the start, she realized with a gulp.
A powerful shudder rocked Thornton's frame when he finally reached the library's VIP lounge and found it empty.
Blake was also thinking along the same lines. Empty. Empty. Oh my God, the things a man and a woman could do when a room was empty! She could feel her brain cells disintegrating at the thought, could feel her body start trembling and aching as she watched Thornton slowly close the door...and lock it.
He had locked it!
The door!
Locked!
And when he finally turned---
She just couldn't bear it anymore.
When Thornton turned to face Blake, she had already launched herself at him, and while he caught her just in time, the force of it had his back hitting the door with a jarring thud. She burst into laughter at hearing him grunt (Blake - 1, Local John Wick - 0), but then she felt him adjusting his hold---
OH.
In the next moment, he had her legs wrapped around his waist, and there was no mistaking the turgid outline throbbing and rubbing against the lower half of her.
Thornton smirked at the way Blake suddenly fell silent and stared wide-eyed at him.