Page 33 of Fury
Sorry for your loss
Fury
Their back and forth argument hadn’t stopped after the calls, but instead had slowly slipped sideways back into the sweet comfort they’d started building before he’d been sent to Chicago with Bella. Bethy exposing a bit more of herself with each exchange, and Fury found every glimpse into her private life enticing. He also found out fast that he’d been wrong about her relationship with Tyrell, the roommate.
For Fury, the specter of her flashback in the car haunted his thoughts, and he was on edge, watching for symptoms that all of this had continued to fuck with her head. He’d tried to find an in but never seemed to hit the right words to make her understand. Not wanting to make her self-conscious, he’d spoken of his time in the military and how it still impacted him at times. He might not have diagnosed PTSD, but like with so many military who’d served in front of, or behind the wire, that hyperalert edge was always within reach, curling closer depending on the setting.
That had been the thing that opened the dam. Ty had a dose of it, a big dose, if what Bethy conveyed was right. Story after story about the man and how he’d learned to deal with the monsters haunting his mind had segued naturally into Fury gently urging Bethy to talk about her own. He sat and listened, but more than that he’d watched her.
When she’d nearly curled into a ball, still talking about Ty while making herself as small as possible in the chair, he’d had all he could stand. His abrupt ejection from the couch startled her, and he watched her eyes get wide when he stalked closer. Pushing his arms underneath her, he’d only begun relaxing when her hands wrapped around his neck, instinctively holding on as he lifted and twisted. Ass in the chair, he’d cradled her in his lap, cupping the back of her head to hold her in place.
He'd waited, expecting an explosion about being manhandled, figuring she’d need to rant at him about how she didn’t want to be touched. He’d waited and then was glad he’d braved her wrath because she jerked in his arms. Not attempting to get away, just trying to swallow the torrent of sobs struggling to force their way up her throat. “Shhhhh.” Speaking softly, lips to the curve of her ear, he soothed her, “I got you, honey. Shhhhh.”
“You saw me.” Not a question, and he didn’t treat it as one, just left it there between them, hoping she’d keep talking. “The day Bella was…kidnapped.” Uttering the word caused a rolling, full-body flinch in her, muscles moving involuntarily to a threat that existed only in her head. Whispering, she said, “You saw me lose it.”
“I saw a strong woman pushed too far.” Tucking her face under his jaw, she shook her head. He knew he had to make her hear him, or she’d never stop pushing him away. “Yeah, Beth, that’s all I saw. A strong woman who’d endured a nightmare. The kind of nightmare that doesn’t end when a sun is rising, doesn’t let you wake safe in your own bed because it was a dream. The kind of nightmare that sticks around, waiting for you to drop your guard so it can sweep the legs out from under you.” Her body hitched and he ran his hands over every inch he could reach, soothing her muscles, feeling them twist and jerk under his fingers. “I saw a strong woman who needed a moment to remember her nightmare was over, and once she did, she climbed back up on her own two feet. You helped get everyone moving, got everyone on the bus without me having to be a shitheel about it.” He stroked her back, liking how she arched into him. “Made it so I could do my job and keep everyone safe, made it so I could concentrate on that important work without having to fight. You did that.” He paused, but she didn’t fill the silence. “You did that, Beth, and that proves just how strong you are.”
Her question, when it came, made every muscle in his body lock up. “Who were you, Fury? Before you met my brother, I mean. Who were you?”
“What do you mean?” Shuffling to cover his lapse, he pushed a brusque tone into his voice. “I’m just a biker. Nothing else.”
“Nothing to see here, kiddies, move along,” she sang the words like a midway barker and he laughed, the sound harsh and hard. “I call bullshit. But fine, keep that secret.” His belly sank, thinking she might have already guessed. “You’re too nice to be just a biker. And it’s weird, how you can be whatever is needed in the moment. Biker one minute, security guy the next, comforting friend when demanded.” She wasn’t far off the mark and he schooled himself against flinching. “So if you won’t tell me who, tell me what? What were you before you met Davy.”
“You already know. I was in the military. Quit school and joined up soon as I turned legal.”Fuck. He hadn’t meant to give her anything, and yet there it was, his mouth moving without regard to keeping the secrets she’d accused him of.
“Do you know Mikey? Um, Watcher?” Her head lifted from his chest and she angled to look up at him, intelligent and somber grey eyes peering at him from under a dark wing of hair.Fuck.
“Not from the military, no.” He didn’t lie. “I’ve met him, yes.” Still not a lie. She seemed satisfied by his answer and rested her cheek on him, cuddling close with a sigh. They stayed in that position for a time, such a long season of quiet that his mind began to wander, going over all the irons in the fire the Rebels had, and where those lined up with the Soldiers. He was on item four on his mental list, talking to Watcher about Spider because the man didn’t ring true for Fury, when Bethy stirred.
“What time is it?” Her voice was quiet, thick in a way that let him know she’d been dozing. Fury liked knowing she felt secure enough to fall asleep in his arms.
He glanced at her phone on the arm of the chair. “Nearly ten.” That surprised him, because no way did it seem as if he’d been here for more than five hours.She’s gotta be hungry. He realized he didn’t know her itinerary post-concert. “When do you fly out?”
“Wow.” She stretched and yawned, then folded herself back against him, clearly unwilling to give up her spot in his lap. At the movement and friction, knowing it was a soft, round, female ass resting on his crotch, his dick started to harden. “That late already? Um, two more days? I had to change my flight out of Midland with everything that’s happened. The band’s already on the road, well you know that, don’t you?” She shifted and it felt deliberate when she put a welcome pressure on his cock. Yawning again, she kept talking. “I’ll follow Chase to Fort Wayne, get to meet my new nephew.”
He expected the reminder of who she was to Mason to be an ice bath on his libido, but no such luck. Her yawning and stretching had her twisting and moving under his hands in all the right ways, and one palm wound up on her ribs so the pads of his fingers cupped the lower curve of a breast.Fuck me.
“You hungry?” If one of them had to get up to call room service, that would be a natural interruption to where he saw this going otherwise. If she didn’t get still or get out of his lap, he’d be hard pressed to hide his arousal for much longer.
She moved, sliding her ass across his thigh so she could lean back and look up at his face. Lips slightly parted, her eyes had gone a dark grey he recognized, and she blinked at him. The tip of her tongue swept her lower lip, leaving a glistening trail behind.Jesus, she’s turned on. “Baby,” the endearment slipped out and he felt her shiver. “You want this?” Blood engorged, his cock was painfully hard, wedged between them, stuck behind a fold of his jeans, and when she nodded, it still gave an eager jerk. “Be sure, Bethany.”
“I’m sure,” she whispered.
“Be real sure, baby,” he whispered back.
She blinked again and hesitated, and for a moment he thought she would throw the brakes on. Then, she turned the tables on him in a way he didn’t expect. “I don’t usually do casual sex. But I’ve wanted you since the moment you walked into the office.” He pulled in a breath, slipping his hand up her side, holding her waist tight. “You walked in and my first thought was ‘why are all the handsome ones in out of the way places’ because I thought you were a promoter from the area. Then you smiled, and I contemplated what it would take to move to Lamesa.” Staring into her eyes, he saw them get bright, crinkling at the corners with a suppressed smile. “Then I found out you were with my brother, and I took a mental marker to your name, crossing you off any potential partner list.” He tipped his head to the side, and she did smile at that, the edges of her mouth curving upwards. “What I’m saying, in my blunt and sidelong way, is I’ve given this significant consideration, Fury. So yeah, I’m sure.”
And there it was, the Bethany he remembered. Laying it out there in real talk, making certain he couldn’t mistake her interest. “You might be the bravest woman I’ve ever known.” She was laughing softly as she shook her head. “Yeah, baby. Putting it out there like that, ready to take a hit if I shut you down? Brave as fuck.”
“How about you? Are you sure?” Not quite a dare, still the edge of a challenge was in her voice, goading him to say what she wanted to hear.
Guided by his thousands of dreams, assisted by the times he’d run the movies of their lovemaking through his head, he lifted a hand to her face, tracing across her lips with his fingertips. He glided them up and across the bridge of her nose, between her eyes to bury his hand in her hair, stroking out and down, slowly. Arranging locks of her hair on her shoulder, he flattened his palm on her chest, tracking a line down her sternum until he could cup her breast in his palm. Lifting and squeezing with his fingers, he grazed the pad of his thumb across her nipple, feeling it harden through her clothing as she gasped.
Gaze back to her face, he took in her features. Sharp desire burned in her eyes. The expression on her face was pure, exposed need. “Yeah, baby.” Bending close, he brushed his lips across her mouth and along the edge of her jaw, pausing when he neared her ear. “I’m sure. I wanna fuck you. Have since I walked in that room and saw your face turned my way. Unexpected beauty. Then I got to watch you over the past few days, here and there, always takin’ care of others. That’s an unforeseen boon, baby. I wanna see how you take care of me, but more—” He paused, sucking her earlobe into his mouth and toying with it for a moment, then pressed his mouth to her throat. “I wanna take care of you.” He kissed her throat again. “You gonna let me do that?”
“Yes.” Her response was breathy and immediate. She’d gone rigid in his lap, holding herself still as he spoke. “I want that.”
He shifted and found her mouth with his, not having to fight for entry because she opened for him right away, as eager for it as he was. Tongue sweeping against hers, the slick glide a promise of what was to come, he took his time, exploring and reacquainting himself with her secrets. Head angled, she gave back as good as she got and in moments, the kiss was blazing through him. He stood with her in his arms, never breaking that connection, her hands on either side of his face, her hold fierce. Down the short hall and through the door to the bedroom of the suite, he saw the covers were smooth and flat, unmarred. Wedging her against him, he reached with one hand and flipped them back, exposing the sheets.
