Tanner's War (11 page)

"I want you," she
managed. "I want you to ..." She bit her lip to smother a cry as he
thrust his fingers inside her again. "Fuck me!" She could hardly
believe she'd said it, but once she did, she couldn't stop. "Fuck me,
Tanner, please, I want you to, I need you to, please, please ..."

"Oh fuck, Beth." He
pushed her down on the bed and fell on her, kissing her savagely, one hand
palming her breast, the other fisting in her hair. She reached down and closed
her hand round his cock, guiding it into her waiting channel. He thrust hard,
once, and then stopped, waiting for her reaction.

She'd thought it might hurt, but
he'd made her so wet, so eager, she felt nothing but an overwhelming bliss. She
cried his name and kissed him, silently begging now.

Tanner held nothing back. He thrust
hard and fast, slamming into her fiercely, robbing her of her breath. She could
only gasp, grinding her hips to meet each thrust, squeezing to draw him deeper
inside her with every stroke.

"You ready to cum for me,
honey?" he growled in her ear. "I
wanna
hear you scream, Beth."

She closed her eyes, so close,
lightheaded with ecstasy. Her whole body buzzed and she could feel her orgasm
spiraling up inside her with every thrust, every bite,
every
kiss.

"Now," he said, sounding
as frenzied as she felt. "Now, Beth, now!"

She came with a cry and he kissed
her as if he'd swallow her sounds, his own wild cries spilling out between
kisses. He pumped his hips one last time, and then threw his head back with an
almost triumphant yell as he came. Then he slumped down on her, tangling his
fingers in her hair, forcing her to look at him.

"You okay? Was that
okay?" he asked softly.

Beth swallowed, unable to speak for
a second. Her body ached deliciously, and she could still feel his cock inside
her, a warm weight that made her flutter and tremble. "That was
fine," she said finally, aware how stupid she sounded. She couldn't help
laughing. "That was fine."

Tanner kissed her one more time and
rolled off her, then pulled her into his arms. She rested her head on his
chest, tracing the lines of his compass tattoo. "Fine," he grumbled.
"Damn sure it was more than 'fine.'"

"Well, I don't have much to
compare it to," she teased. "You'll have to give me some more
experience."

He shifted position so he could
look at her, and the intensity in his gaze stole her breath all over again.
"I'm going to give you everything, Beth. Remember you asked for that.
Everything."

It was a promise she was looking
forward to him keeping.

Chapter Fifteen

Six weeks later

Beth sat on the garden swing,
watching Tanner work on his Harley. He was never happier than when covered in
grease and messing around with that bike, she'd quickly learned. Well, maybe
when they were in bed together. He was educating her very thoroughly there. She
pressed her thighs together, feeling a now-familiar thread of arousal as she
thought about last night ... and the night before that ...

She was surprised sometimes at how
quickly she'd adapted to life outside the Church. It was as if she was always
supposed to be here, with him. Wild Blood MC had welcomed her as if she'd
always been there, and Roxy and Tamsin were working to educate her on the
things Tanner couldn't. A new wardrobe and self-defense classes had been top of
the list. She didn't have a job yet, but the girls were helping her look.

Everything she'd been taught, all
her life, had been wrong. And she was so grateful for that.

A familiar truck pulled up in the
drive way—she recognized it now as the one the club members shared. Wolf jumped
out, his usual feral grin firmly in place.
"Brought you
a visitor!"

Tanner stood, swinging a wrench
casually as he went to greet Wolf. Beth barely saw Wolf, however, not once she
realized who was with him.

"Hannah?"

Her sister leapt out of the truck
and raced to her. Beth stood, opening her arms, and they embraced hard.
"Hannah?" Beth heard herself say again, hardly able to believe it.
"What are you doing here?"

"He's dead, Beth." Hannah
pulled away, staring up at Beth with tear-filled eyes. Tears of joy, Beth
quickly realized. "He died!
One of his own snakes.
And Peter ran off and Nathaniel—"

"Stop," Beth said as the
men joined them. "You mean Abram ... He's
dead
?" It was
unreal. Her knees felt weak and she sat back down on the swing before she could
fall. He was dead. She'd killed him.

"I would have come
sooner," Hannah said, "but Mother and Father ...Well, everything's
been in chaos." She toyed with her hair, glancing from Wolf to Tanner.
"Beth, it's over. We're free."

"Are you leaving?" Beth
asked. She couldn't think about Abram. She'd known she was risking his life.
She'd made that choice to save her own, and Tanner's too.

Hannah bit her lip and shrugged.
"I haven't decided. I mean,
there's still the girls
to think about."

Beth's younger sisters—Abigail,
Charity, Joy, and Martha. Beth ached for them. They should all leave, she
thought. They should know that Abram's words were lies, that the world was more
than he'd preached. But she couldn't force them, or Hannah, to make that
choice. "Who's in charge now?" she asked. "You said Peter ran
away?" She thought of Nash. He'd never tell her if he'd killed Peter, but
she'd assumed ...Well, she'd tried not to think about that day too much,
really.

Hannah nodded. "Nathaniel has
taken charge for now, but he's very frail. I don't know if Abram's other sons
will let him take over."

"How's he treating
everyone?" Tanner asked, moving to stand behind Beth. He rested his hands
on her shoulders, offering silent support, and she leaned back against him
gratefully.

"Fine," Hannah said with
a shrug. "He got rid of the snakes. It's ... it's weird, but in a good
way, I suppose." She looked the three of them over once more. "I
think it'll be different from now on, Beth. I think it might be better."

Beth smiled weakly. "I hope
so. But Hannah, if you—any of you—want to leave, you can. You can come to
me."

"Us," Tanner corrected,
squeezing her shoulder.

"Us," Beth agreed.

Hannah smiled, full of hope.
"I can come and visit any time now. Get this—we found a bunch of cell
phones in Abram's house, and Wolf gave me his number." She pulled a
cheap-looking phone from her pocket, displaying it with pride.

Beth shot Wolf a warning look.
Hannah was pretty and innocent, and as much as Beth liked Wolf, she had no
illusions about him. He seemed to see every woman as a potential conquest.
Hannah was too young, but Beth wasn't entirely sure Wolf knew that. But he
pulled a face at her that made her think she'd misjudged him.

"Any of us can give you a ride
here, or anywhere else," Tanner said. "All you have to do is
call."

Beth stood to hug her sister again.
"Will you stay and eat with us? Tanner's sister is an amazing cook—it's
like nothing you'd get at the Church!"

"I'd love to," Hannah
said.

"I promised Hannah I'd show
her the town," Wolf said. "You okay with that, Beth? I'll bring her
back safe and sound in time for dinner."

Hannah looked at Beth hopefully,
and Beth could only nod.

"Look after her," Tanner
warned him as they headed back to the truck. Wolf flipped him off with a wicked
grin.

Once they were gone, Beth slipped
from the swing to sit in the grass, feeling dizzy. "Abram's dead. Oh my
God, Tanner. He's dead." She couldn't tell if she felt guilt-stricken or
ecstatic.

"Good," Tanner said, full
of vehemence. "Good fucking riddance." He knelt down in front of her,
taking her hands. "Listen to me, Beth. You think he'd be feeling bad if
you'd died? No fucking way. You didn't kill him. It was chance.
Just random chance.
You protected yourself and nature did
the rest."

Some of her anxiety leaked away and
she found she didn't feel as awful as she probably should. He was right: if
she'd died, Abram would have buried her in an unmarked grave and carried on,
finding some other woman to abuse. Some people only made the world better when
they left it, she decided. Abram was one of them.

"Thank you," she said.

He gathered her into his arms,
kissing her hair. "You're free," he said. "And you and me, we're
gonna
keep it that way."

She relaxed into his arms, not for
the first time feeling the words
I love you
bubble to her lips. She
hadn't said them yet, but she felt them so deeply and completely, she couldn't
believe he didn't see it in her face. And he hadn't said them yet either, but
she knew it. With every touch, every look, he told her. She'd felt like there
would be some perfect moment to tell him and that she'd instinctively know when
it came.

Now, with the sun shining down on
them and his strong arms holding her so tightly, seemed as perfect a moment as
she could get. She tilted her head back to kiss him lightly.
"Tanner?"

"I love you, Beth," he
said, catching her off-guard and sending her heart soaring. "I love you so
fucking much, it's crazy. You know that, right?"

She gaped, suddenly lost for words.
"I love you too."

He stood, pulling her up with him.
"When I got out of jail, I thought nothing was more important to me than
staying free. I never counted on almost running into you." He grinned at
her, brushing his knuckles lightly down her cheek. "And I bet when you left
the Church, you thought there was nothing more important than staying
free
either."

She nodded. "I couldn't have
asked for a better man to almost run me over."

"Yeah, well. Now I know
different. You're more important. I wasn't looking for it, I didn't want it,
but I got it bad. And whatever happens now, with the Church or anything else, I
will fight
til
the end for you. Just never, never
fucking
stick
your hand in a basket of poisonous
snakes again, okay?"

She laughed. "I promise.
Whatever you say."

A dark gleam lit his eyes and he
picked her up, swinging her into his arms. "Whatever I say?" he
repeated, his soft, wicked tone sending shivers through her.
"Promise?"

She promised. And she would prove
it.

The End

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