Page 16 of Bandit's Bounty

I know that despite his apology to me that Bandit doesnotlike him. The fact that Dane publicly announced to everyone that was close enough to hear that Raine was his mate doesn’t exactly thrill or set well with me either, but Bandit is almost nuclear about it at this point. He probably knows even more than I do about Dane’s reputation with women, and I can’t blame him for not wanting his sister to be involved with such a manwhore. Or would it be a wolf whore? Hell, it doesn’t really matter. He’s a player, through and through, and Bandit’s a good brother who won’t want his sister to be hurt either mentally or emotionally by such a womanizer.

"We've got to talk about it, Raine. You know we do," Bandit states, his statement holding no room for argument.

"There's nothing to talk about, Bandit," Raine reiterates.

"Babe, he's your mate and he's a member of the Spiked Raiders MC," Bandit replies.

"Yeah, and he's also the one who saved me from being beaten more than I already was," she snaps, pain and exhaustion making her more spirited with her tone than normal.

"Think I didn't want to save you, Raine? For fuck’s sake, you're my little sister, I never want to see you hurt, and tonight, you weren't just hurt, you werebadlyhurt, and I can't take that pain away from you," Bandit retorts.

"Look, can we just leave it for tonight?" Raine asks before pleading, "Please?"

Bandit jerks his head in agreement before he stands up and reaches for my hand. "Fine, as long as you know, we will be talking about this. All of it," he growls out.

Raine huffs out, “Fine,” before she lays back down and curls into her side with her back facing us. We close the door behind us as we leave to give her the privacy she’s so obviously craving right now.

“He’s not good enough for her, Sloane,” Bandit rumbles his complaint as we enter our den.

“Whether he is or not isn’t up to either one of us to decide, Bandit,” I reply as I gather my nightclothes in preparation for my shower. “He’s a jerk, that’s true, but outside of how he tends to treat women, is he a good brother to his club?” I ask.

“Yeah,” he gruffly admits, pulling his shirt off in the way only men can do that temporarily turns a female mute and leaves us slobbering. When he catches me staring, he smirks then tossesme a wink before lowering his jeans, which sends a pulse of need through me that only grows stronger when he turns, and I watch his delectable ass walk to the shower and turn the water on, so it starts heating up.

“So, is your issue his previous behavior with other women or the fact that he’s claiming he’s Raine’s mate?” I question. “Because if it’s the first thing, you told me yourself that when a wolf finds his or her fated mate, all others pretty much cease to exist for them. Is that true?”

“Why do you have to use logic on me, mate?” he teases, quickly undressing me and pulling me into the shower stall with him.

“Because it makes sense to me,” I murmur against his lips.

I know he’s trying to distract me right now, and while my body’s on board with that plan of action, I need him to understand where his angst is originating from. “Focus, Bandit,” I chide.

“I’d rather focus on fucking my mate in the shower,” he rumbles, his voice deep with desire.

“Didn’t say we wouldn’t get to that,” I retort, snickering, “but you need to settle how you feel about Dane being your sister’s mate first. Ultimately, it’s not your decision. If you’re worried about me? I’m okay since I won’t argue against Fate’s decree. I’m sure it’ll be uncomfortable for a little while, then it won’t be. The issue is whether or not Raine will choose him since she knows what happened to me and has now connected that the wolf who saved her is the man who once upon a time destroyed me. You know how loyal she is, Bandit. I won’t have her rejecting her mate because of some misguided loyalty to me and my feelings.”

He sighs, pulling me close. “I’ll try to keep my shit together, Sloane. For both of y’all’s sakes. I suspect he’s going to have toreally prove himself to my sister. Plus, there’s the issue of who fucking thought they could beat on her.”

“She’s definitely hiding something there and I think it’s one of the reasons she decided to come home, Bandit,” I admit as he starts washing my body.

There’s a level of intimacy in what he’s doing that I am secretly reveling in right now. It’s beyond sex and it makes me feel like I’m cherished and adored. While there are touches that are sensual as well, to me, it feels like we’re communicating on a different level even though we’re both naked and are physically affected by that fact.

“Then we need to figure out what it is because the fuckers who attacked her are gonna pay,” Bandit promises. He pulls the handheld showerhead down and thoroughly rinses me and then himself before shutting off the water.

“I just don’t want y’all to get into trouble,” I reply, wrapping the towel around me.

He chuckles before scooping me up and carrying me over to the bed where he tosses me so hard, I bounce while giggling. As he lands next to me and pulls me close, he whispers, “Trust me, sweetheart, we don’t get caught.”

The shiver that runs through me this time isn’t one of desire, but of fear. I know they’re not good guys per se, based on some of the things that the other old ladies have shared with me, but at the same time, having Bandit basically tell me that they’ll take care of any threats in such a way that the law won’t find out is a bit… terrifying to me.

Still, the moment his lips find mine, those thoughts cease to exist and are tossed to the wayside as I lose myself in my mateonce again. Raine’s issues are for future Sloane to worry about because right-now Sloane is chasing her orgasm.

Chapter Ten

Bandit

“Fucking hell,” I bellow when I realize that Raine left the house with Dane. Reaching out to Cyrus, he calls Corbin and the next thing I know, we’re supposed to head to the Spiked Raiders’ clubhouse once again.

I swear to all that’s holy, I’m going to kill that motherfucker if he lets a strand of hair on Raine’s head get damaged. It’s bad enough I don’t know the enemies to go after for hurting her but dealing with that numbnuts on top of it all is almost more than I can bear right now.

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