KanesBounty (13 page)

Kane looked up and his eyes bore into hers. “You would have
to trust me completely.”

“You mean you want to crawl inside my head like he did.”
Bile rose in her throat.

He gripped her shoulders. “No, not like him. Never. I will
never hurt you, Lena.”

She turned her head.

“Look at me,” he begged.

When she turned back to meet his gaze, he said, “I only want
to help. It does not have to be now or even this month or this year. You just
have to tell me when you are ready to let it go and I will help you.”

Her heart was pounding so hard she could barely think. It
had only been hours earlier when Banta had violated her mind, but so many
things were spinning in her head, it seemed as if she’d been suffering for
days.

She jumped at the pounding on the door. She was on her feet
in an instant and looking for an escape route. She could see a fire escape at
the window.

Kane swore and grabbed her by the wrist. “Wait. It’s only
Shamus with the food. Relax.”

He got up and checked. Wade brought them a large bag of
Chinese food and some bottled water. The bounty hunter didn’t stay. He mumbled
something about seeing them in the morning and left.

* * * * *

Kane had given her the bed and said he would sleep on the
couch. He hadn’t even mentioned sleeping together. She didn’t know if he was
trying to be nice because she’d had a rough day or if he was repulsed by what
Banta had done to her. Was she so damaged he no longer wanted her?

They hadn’t talked about how he could help her again. She
had the distinct impression that whatever he would have to do was distasteful
and he only offered because he felt responsible and maybe he cared for her.
She’d heard him say he loved her when Banta was pushing into her mind. At
least, she thought she’d heard it. Everything in her head was slightly out of
place. She couldn’t sort through it all.

It was late, but cars still passed by the apartment
building, casting shadows across the walls and ceiling. When she closed her
eyes, she saw Troth Banta’s face laughing at her. She couldn’t stand it, so she
stared at a water mark on the ceiling.

The couch creaked, indicating Kane had gotten up. She
expected him to go to the bathroom, but instead he knocked softly on the
bedroom door.

“Come in.” She sat up.

His chest was bare, but he still had on jeans. He padded
over to the mattress and looked down at her. “I could feel you awake.”

“Sorry. Was it keeping you up?”

He shook his head and pointed to the mattress. “May I?”

She nodded and he sat down with his back against the wall
and his feet straight out in front of him. His long legs left his feet dangling
over the edge of the small bed.

She moved to sit next to him and his arm came around her
shoulders. “Why didn’t you just have Wade take us in today?”

In the city, there was never total darkness. The room was
light enough so she could see his face in the streetlights. His jaw ticked.
She’d noticed every time he was angry or uncomfortable, his jaw tightened and
the muscle clenched and unclenched.

“I didn’t want you to spend a night alone in a cell after
what happened.”

The idea of a cold gray jail cell caused a shiver to run up
her spine. “Thank you.”

“What did you see in his mind?”

“I don’t want to talk about this.” She tried to pull away
from him, but his arm tightened around her shoulder.

“Don’t run from me, Lena. Please. You can’t sleep. I assume
because you’re afraid to close your eyes. I know you’re not ready to let me
take some of your burden away, but talking about what you saw will help.”

He seemed so sure of it. Her chest tightened painfully. “I
saw a girl, younger than me and blonde. He was in her mind, tearing it apart
piece by piece. She was naked under him and raping her body was not enough for
him. He had to take her mind too. His smile was the most hideous thing I have
ever seen. When he was finished with the girl, there was nothing left of who she
had been. She was just an empty shell with nothing inside. She would have been
better off dead.” Tears rolled freely down Lena’s face. “I feel the same way
about myself.” Shame suffocated her as if it were a pillow held over her face.

Kane’s voice was tight. “You are not better off dead. We can
get through this.”

“Why did you go to sleep in the other room?” She was afraid
of the answer, but she had to know.

“Because I want to make love to you and I didn’t think I
could resist if I was in the same bed with you.”

Her eyes closed as she allowed the truth of his words to
flow over her. He still wanted her. What happened to her didn’t disgust him.
His feelings hadn’t changed.

She turned and straddled his lap with her palms pressed
against his broad chest.

He wiped tears from her face with his thumbs. “You don’t
need to do this, Lena. I was acting like a schoolboy. I can hold you and take
care of you without having to have sex with you. I want to be here for you.”

“Why?”

“I told you. I love you.”

He could kill with his bare hands. She knew that about him.
Those same hands were capable of incredible tenderness. He loved her. Her
entire body hummed with those words. “I thought I only imagined that.”

He shook his head. His fingers combed through her hair and
rubbed the tension from her head and neck. “I said it and I meant it. I love
you. I have no idea how it happened. I didn’t even know I was capable of loving
another person. From the moment I saw you, things have been different.”

“Then let’s just run, Kane. We can go somewhere Oscar Thorn
will never find us.”

One side of his mouth turned up. “What place is that? He
doesn’t follow the rules, Lena. You know it. He’ll never stop looking for you
and we would always be on the run. Those people in your vision, they didn’t
look as if they were running. They looked happy and comfortable. Unafraid that
at any moment Troth Banta would rush in and take it all away. I want that
life.”

“You don’t even know if that world exists.”

His eyes narrowed on her. “I know the alternative is burying
you and that is not acceptable.”

His hands dropped to his side and he looked away from her
face. “I keep telling you what I want, but you haven’t said what it is you
want.” He looked up at her again. “Do you want me, Lena?”

Her heart pounded and her chest ached. “More than I’ve ever
wanted anyone or anything in my life. I love you, but—”

“No buts.” He cut her off, rolling them so that she was
lying on her back and his body pressed hers into the soft mattress. His lips
covered hers. Because of the urgency she felt from him, she’d expected him to
plunder her mouth, but his kisses were light and gentle. He nipped at the
fullness of her bottom lip. His tongue traced a line along the crease between
her lips. Her body brimmed with want in spite of the trauma of the day. For the
first time, she was not thinking of the horrors inside Banta’s head. Her mind
was engrossed in Kane’s lips and tongue and the way he used them to coax her.

He pushed up onto his elbows and looked down at her. “You
say no and I stop. Do you understand, Lena? No matter what and no matter when.
If you feel the slightest bit scared or uncomfortable, you have to tell me.”

She reached up and wrapped her hand around his neck. He was
the sweetest, kindest man she’d ever met. Maybe it shouldn’t be the thing that
turned her on. Maybe his hard body or sparkling eyes would be a more
appropriate erotic trigger. But at that moment, it was his sweet regard for her
that had her pussy pulsing for attention. “I will, but right now. I just want
you inside me, Kane. I want to feel your cock deep inside me and I don’t want
to think about anything else.”

He groaned and she felt his cock go rigid against her thigh.
He’d been holding back, waiting to see if she would reject him or freak out at
the notion of sex. Since closing herself off that morning, she had only let her
protective wall down for short periods of time. She couldn’t stand the idea of
anyone else in her head but her for the moment. She secured her hold on the
wall and pulled his head down to her waiting lips.

He resisted for half a second and then devoured her lips.
His tongue dove into her mouth.

His hand skimmed from her hip to the side of her breast. He
was reanimating her. Everywhere he touched became alive again. She’d never
thought to feel anything but pain and terror. Yet only hours later and she
wanted to feel everything Kane was offering with his body. He made no attempt
to breach her mind and she would not lower her defenses. Instead, she reveled
in the weight of his large body pressed against her smaller one.

Even through her clothes, his heat burned her. He moved to
one side and she immediately missed the weight of him. His hand slid under her
T-shirt. She’d removed her bra to sleep and his fingers grazed the bottom swell
of her breast.

She gasped as heat and anticipation spread to her pebbled
nipples. The fan for the air conditioner kicked on, and at the sudden noise,
she jumped.

“Shh,” he soothed close to her ear. “You’re safe.”

A pleasant shiver followed his breath on her sensitive skin.
She turned her head so her lips were a sliver away from his. He suckled her top
lip and then her bottom, pulling each one into his mouth one at a time. His
soft tongue merged with hers and then moved away to make love to her lips
again. He kissed her cheek and chin before returning to her lips.

His hand still rested just below her breast. She couldn’t
help arching in need of more. She moaned against his mouth as his kisses
continued to distract her from everything else. His body moved lower and he
kissed her stomach while pushing the soft cotton of her T-shirt up. She raised
her arms above her head and he removed the shirt. The cool air tightened her
nipples further. She covered them with her own hands and looked down at Kane as
he dipped his tongue into her navel.

Her breath caught and she moaned as the sensation from his
tongue spread out and down to her clit. His chin rested near her pelvis and his
blue eyes watched. He was positioned between her legs, spreading them wide. He
popped the button on her jeans and slid the zipper down, all the while his gaze
never straying from her face.

Lena bit down on her lower lip to keep the sighs and moans
from escaping. He kissed the skin he revealed between the zipper’s teeth. His
tongue left a cool, wet path as he tugged the jeans to below her hips.

Her body was on fire. He hadn’t even removed her pants and
her clit throbbed almost painfully. He rose to his knees and pulled the jeans
over her ass and hips. She lifted her legs, placing her feet on his chest as he
carefully stripped the jeans down her legs. He tossed the denim aside and
looked down at her. She moved her feet to his shoulders and he smiled wickedly
for a moment. Kissing her calf, he said, “We’ll come back to this later.”

A flush of heat warmed her cheeks. The idea of him taking
her in that position, made her want to squeeze her legs together and create
some friction where she needed it most. Kane had other ideas, which included
kissing his way to her knee and then up the soft skin of her inner thigh. His
tongue traced a short path at the crease where her leg met her torso before
teasing her clit with one small kiss.

Her hips rose immediately from the mattress, begging for
more. He stretched out with his feet on the floor and his face above her pussy.
His hands slid under her ass cheeks, forcing her knees up and over his
shoulders. He started just above her anus and licked his way to her clit.

Losing her battle to stay quiet, she screamed as his mouth
settled over her bud. He suckled her gently and then harder. She bucked against
his face, bringing him in. His tongue slipped inside her and she screamed
louder. He replaced his tongue with his thumb and licked around her clit until
she was crying out in short gasps and begging him for release. All the while, his
thumb pressed in and out of her slit. He sucked hard on her clit and she called
his name.

It was as if she were a bow, strung too tight. The top of
her head pressed to the mattress and her feet to Kane’s back as she arched into
his torturous mouth. The bow snapped and her orgasm crashed around her. Her
body trembled with pleasure, while Kane’s mouth pressed hard against her clit,
allowing the flow of sensation to peak, before he lightly kissed her sensitive
flesh.

He stood up and she watched the passion burning in his eyes.
He stripped out of his jeans and took a condom from the pocket before tossing
the denim away.

She raised an eyebrow. “You knew?”

His shy smile was completely out of character. “I hoped.” He
opened the foil packaging.

He made no effort to break down her protective wall as he
knelt between her legs. First he lifted one leg to his shoulder and then the
other. His shaft rested between her legs. He reached down, rolled the condom
over his cock, positioned the broad head at her entrance and slowly slid
inside.

Her body clutched at his cock, wanting more of him. His head
thrown back, he whispered her name. Her legs were nearly closed in that
position and he felt even bigger than usual, filling her completely before
pulling back and burying himself again.

Lena clutched at her nipples, heightening her pleasure. Kane
pumped into her over and over again, faster and faster. Then he slowed, sliding
all the way out and pressing in so slowly she wanted to scream at him to take
her over the edge again.

He smiled knowingly and let her legs fall open. He leaned
forward, catching himself on his arms, one on either side of her head, before
lowering to his elbows and grinding forward. Each movement rubbed her clit and
heightened her pleasure. She clutched his shoulders and wrapped her legs around
his ass, pulling him in tighter and demanding more.