Burning Desires (Blue Bandits MC Book 4) (31 page)

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into doing that to him. What was I thinking?” Greta muttered and he wondered as he pressed his ear to the door to hear better if she was wearing a guilty look because she should be. What they’d just done to him was just wrong and it was likely Kelsey’s bed now had ants.

“Please! He got what he deserved.”

“You do know that Kelsey will kill us if she ends up with ants in her bedroom because of this, right?” Greta asked her sister. Burner grinned because she’d just echoed his own thought.

“She won’t. I’ll take all the bedding and wash it. And I’ll make sure to get them all up before I leave tonight. We really did a good job of dumping them in the honey though so that they would bite him instead of escape,” Hanna was saying and Burner frowned. Damned little witch, she was diabolical. He wrapped the towel around his waist still pressing his ear to the door to eavesdrop on them.

“I kind of feel bad for the man, Hanna. He’s staying here so that he can be close to her and I think we should tell him where she is–” Greta was saying, her voice sounding sympathetic. Hmm, maybe if he could talk to her alone she would tell him where Kelsey was because she felt guilty for dumping ants on him. He then immediately doubted that plan because she was too loyal to her sisters.

“No, he got what he deserved. He broke in here again when I already told him not to come back here. He’s an asshole,” Hanna growled.

“Hanna, I think you’re a little biased when it comes to men after what happened with––” Greta began but Hanna cut her off again.

“Don’t you dare say his name! I am not biased. Burner is only trying to use her, Greta. He just wants to play with her.” Burner wanted to step out of the bathroom and protest her assessment of his character but he was too curious to see how this fight between them would play out to do so.

“You can’t even bear to hear his name and you’re telling me you’re not biased? I rest my case on that one. Kelsey went to the cabin to get away from him, that’s true, but I don’t know if she would want us to tell him where she is or not. Maybe we should call her to ask.” Burner grinned; Greta had just given him the clue he needed to find Kelsey and he hadn’t even had to talk to her alone. He was glad because he wasn’t sure that her guilt would be enough for her to tell him where she was and if she called Kelsey, he was sure she wouldn’t want them to tell him where she was.

“Greta, she went there so that she didn’t have to deal with him, so no, we shouldn’t call her to ask. If she’d wanted us to let him know where she was, she would have told us,” Hanna retorted before falling silent. “Wait a minute, I don’t hear the water anymore.”

Shit
.

Burner reached down and turned the knob on the door, letting a scowl break out on his face as he stepped from the room even though what he felt was elated that he would be able to find Kelsey with the information they’d inadvertently just given him. He had the blue terrycloth towel knotted around his waist, holding it up with one hand.

“You don’t want a show, you’ll get out so I can get dressed,” he barked

Hanna crossed her arms and glared towards him for so long he thought he’d have to drop the towel and get dressed with her watching. Greta solved that dilemma for him by jerking her sister out of the room and slamming the door. Burner ditched the towel on the dresser and grabbed a pair of clean jeans from the space he’d created in Kelsey’s middle drawer a week ago. He stepped into them pulling them up over his hips and zipping up before hooking the snap. He then went to where his pants from last night were, picking them up before snagging the towel off the dresser to carry them both to the laundry hamper in the bathroom. 

Shutting the drawer on his way to the door, he walked into the living room to see Hanna in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee while Greta sat at the table. He moved into the living room watching them both warily.

“You come back here again and I will talk to Reaper about you stalking my sister.”

Burner stared at Hanna a little awed that she thought that would make him hesitate to come back here, because it wouldn’t. He knew if Reaper said anything to him it wouldn’t be to stay away, it would be to try not to allow them to find you there. Reaper wasn’t an idiot and he knew telling him not to stay here was a lost cause. He was frankly surprised Hanna didn’t know that after finding him here a second time.

“I want to know where your sister is,” he demanded, not wanting them to be suspicious that he already had a damned good clue after finding out they owned a cabin.

“How many times do I have to tell you, we are not telling you where she is,” Hanna grunted as she moved into the living room. Walking to the door, she jerked it open and commanded, “Leave and this time don’t come back.”

“I’m not leaving,” Burner snorted. He needed to make it look like he was still trying to get information from them because otherwise they would suspect he knew a way to find her. It they did, they could warn Kelsey and she might run again.

“Why are you so keen to talk to her now when you broke up with her a few weeks ago?” Greta asked softly.

“Because I want to fix this,” he muttered, trying to play on her sympathies.

“You should have done that before you were an ass to my sister,” Hanna snapped.

“Hanna, we should call her,” Greta said after she studied him for a long moment, her eyes assessing him. Burner almost cringed at that because now that he knew he would be able to find her by figuring out where the cabin was through his contact with the property recorder, he didn’t want them to warn Kelsey he was coming. Not that they would know he was but if they called her, she would guess he was coming after her because she knew him after spending three months as his lover.

“No, I am not calling her and if he wants to find her, let him look because we both know he won’t be able to. Calling her might upset her more and we don’t want to do that. Burner, I am warning you,
leave
,” Hanna growled

“Fine, but this isn’t over.” Burner turned, grabbing his cut off the chair he’d thrown it on last night when he was watching a holo-vid before walking towards the open door with a fake glower on his face as he passed her, but when he knew she wouldn’t see it he grinned because he would be seeing Kelsey before the end of the day tomorrow now that he knew how to find her. He walked to his bike, kicked it into gear and headed to the clubhouse so he could get some shit together to go after her.

When Burner got the call from his contact two hours later, he was sitting downstairs with Rebel at the clubhouse talking about the Jackals who they’d found yesterday selling Juice near the restaurant.

“Yeah,” he barked into the phone.

“I found it. It’s in Mount Pleasant. I’ll send you the information on it because it’s going to be a bitch to find. It’s in an out of the way area about ten miles from the nearest town,” Harold, his contact in the record office, muttered.

“Thanks, I’ll be sure you get a case of apples this week,” Burner told him, already starting to stand, unable to contain the grin that split across his face at the news.

“Yeah, that works,” Harold replied. Since he lived inside the city it was likely he didn’t get much fruit and that was why this bribe always worked when the club needed to know about a deed. Most of the time it was so they could buy property but sometimes like tonight it was to find someone. Burner hung up still grinning widely, letting out a little whoop.

“Guess you found your girl then,” Rebel muttered, and for just a moment he saw a twinge of sadness in Rebel’s eyes before he hid it. Burner was too elated to have a general idea where Kelsey was to really question why he’d looked a little lost for a second. He felt his phone vibrate with the information Harold had found on the cabin the girls owned.

“Yep, tell Reaper I’ll be back next week for church.” Burner didn’t want to waste time calling him when he could be on the road headed to Mount Pleasant since it was a five hour ride from here. Rebel nodded and Burner headed out to his bike. Climbing on, he roared away from the club a few minutes later feeling a thrum of excitement run through him.

Five and a half hours later the sun was hanging low in the sky and he was coasting his bike up the little lane to the cabin so Kelsey wouldn’t hear it and attempt to run. On the way here he’d thought a lot about what he would say but as he neared his goal, seeing the light on in the little cabin, his thoughts scattered. Burner worried she wouldn’t care that he apologized and told her how he truly felt about her and that she would just tell him to leave. It made his hands sweaty and his legs felt unsteady as he climbed off the bike.

He spotted her jeep sitting in front of the cabin so he knew she was here. Putting down the kickstand on his bike near the tree line so she wouldn’t see it right away, he stared at the cabin. Burner suddenly wasn’t feeling so confident as he silently stood in the shadow of a big tree watching it. On the ride here he’d been sure he could win her back because he knew she cared for him; it was the reason she had insisted they talk about all the bullshit he’d gone through. Only standing here only inches from his goal, he wasn’t sure he should even try.

He rolled his neck trying to ease the tension suddenly assaulting him. His hand reached up sliding along his jaw, realizing that he hadn’t shaved. Maybe he should before he saw her, but even as the thought occurred to him he dismissed it because he knew he was just making excuses due to his nervousness.

Burner snorted a little at that realization. Hell, he was acting ridiculous. His jaw hardened and he took a step towards the cabin but stopped. What if she didn’t want anything to do with him anymore after the way he’d treated her? After all, he’d left with an offer to recommend her services to other men like she was a damned hooker. Burner cringed a bit when he thought of the awful stuff he’d said to her that day. He didn’t deserve to even ask her to forgive him, damn it, much less expect her to give it.

No, he had come all this way and he couldn’t imagine not being able to be with her after realizing how he felt about her. It wasn’t happening because he wasn’t leaving. Letting out a puff of air, Burner began walking towards the cabin, his guts twisted but with determination in every step. He was here to get her back and he wasn’t leaving till he made it happen.

Chapter Twenty-four

Burner stood before the door staring at the hard wooden panel with his pulse racing and a frown teasing the corners of his mouth as he shifted from one foot to the other. He should knock on the door but his hand didn’t lift to do so and he found he was suddenly pacing away from the door towards a little meadow, trying to get his emotions under control. He needed to not fuck this up, it was too important.

Burner was standing there with his eyes staring out over the little meadow when he saw her. She was standing in the middle of the field with her back to him, her red hair falling to mid-back. She wore a pair of jean shorts and a loose top that hung low covering her hips as she watched the setting sun sinking. Burner couldn’t take his eyes off her and his chest felt like it was hit by an anvil. She was so beautiful haloed in the red and gold glow of the sky and his breath escaped him.

Burner didn’t even remember moving, it was as if the sight of her pulled him in and he was so transfixed on her that he didn’t even notice until he was only a foot from her. Kelsey started and turned to face him, her eyes widening with shock as she stared at him.

“Burner?” Kelsey whispered.

“Hi, baby,” Burner managed to push out as they stood staring at each other for a long moment, before her brow furrowed and a little frown twisted her lips.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, her arms wrapping around her waist as she took a step away from him. Burner flinched a little at the obvious rejection.

“I missed you,” he couldn’t stop himself from saying as his eyes ran over her soaking in the sight of her. He felt the need to touch her like a physical ache inside him as he stood there watching her take another step away from him.

“I doubt that, Burner. You left me, remember. Now, what are you really doing here?” Kelsey had dropped her arms from around her waist and stood with her hands on her hips. Burner stepped forward wanting to be closer to her. He had all these things he had planed to say to her about what had happened that day a few weeks ago but somehow all those words abandoned him and all he could do was move towards her. She threw her hand up between them shaking her head.

“No, I won’t let you just grab me again, that’s how this mess started. You should leave unless you’re going to tell me why you’re here.” Kelsey’s voice was tight and she looked stern as she contemplated him.

“Yeah, I know. But I really am here because I missed you, Kelsey.” Burner turned, unable to look at her and not want to touch her, but there were things he needed to say first. He let out a gruff sigh staring at the mountain. “I hurt you and I’m sorry. I never meant to do that.” He let out a snort of self-loathing. “I wanted to protect you.”