Page 65 of Endurance
“I was just coming to say hello.” Tanner’s voice is deep and threatening as he cuts his eyes past me to Roan and then back to me again. “Surprised to see you here, Ryan.”
Roan looks at me. “You’re Belle Ryan?” I nod and watch realisation dawn on him. His hands go up as if to say he didn’t touch me. He looks at Tanner and says, “I didn’t know.” He rises and slinks away with his friend on his tail, repeating once more, “I really didn’t know.”
I roll my eyes and turn around on my stool, fully facing Tanner and noting his fists gripped tightly by his sides. The tension radiating in his shoulders is palpable.
He makes a move to get past Indie, but she jumps over to stop him. “You can stay right where you are or go back to your mates. We’re just fine over here.”
Tanner’s eyes narrow as he tilts his head at Indie. “Et tu Brute?”
She huffs at his Julius Caesar reference and then shakes her head. “Well, you looked rather busy over there!” Her attempt at catty comes out more plucky, like a cute bird, but I know she’s pulling out the big guns for me. She’s probably on her way to full on pissed after our hasty wine and shot consumption.
The bartender drops a third set of shots in front of me, and I hear Tanner growl as I throw it back.
“Belle, we need to talk. Call off your guard and come with me.”
I turn to pin him with my dark gaze. The anger and desperation pouring off of him makes my voice tremble. “Indie is operating of her own free will, Tanner. Unlike you.”
He rolls his eyes. “A word. Now.” A muscle ticks beneath his bearded jaw, and I can feel my dramatic side calling to me like a drug in response. I want to take my wine and throw it in his face for thinking he can bark orders at me. But last time I did that, he ended up snogging me senseless. So instead of crazy, perhaps I’ll try mature and logical.
I exhale and stand, moving past Indie and feeling a bit more wobbly on my feet than I did when we first arrived. Indie doesn’t look much better as she gives me a drunken nod of solidarity.
“I’ll be right here,” she says, taking a big gulp of her wine as Tanner grabs me around the waist like some Neanderthal.
“I’m perfectly capable of walking without your paws on me,” I hiss quietly in his ear, not wanting to give the spectators the satisfaction of a scene.
“I’m about ready to fucking spank you in front of everyone, so just shut up and keep walking,” he growls, ushering us in the direction of the loos.
The nerve of him! “You better not be taking me to the same place you took that other girl,” I seethe, my hand biting into his forearm so hard my knuckles turn white. “Great snag by the way. She looks like a walking Tesco. Cheap, cheerful, and open all hours.”
A grumble comes from deep in his chest as we round the corner and he continues us past the loos and to the rear exit. He slams his hand hard on the door, shoving it open into a small, dimly lit alley where a couple of vehicles are parked. The cool autumn air is cleansing on my tequila-soaked brain cells.
Tanner shuffles me backwards until my back is pressed against a brick wall. The yellow bulb sconce casts just enough light for me to see him lick his lips. Without a word, he cups my face and slams his mouth to mine.
Shock and pain are the first reactions my body has. Then need and want come rolling in like fog in the night. The taste of him is familiar, even with the spicy whiskey on his tongue. It’s all heady and strong, and I feel the ache in my body to get completely lost in it.
But I won’t. I’m stronger than that. I shove him away with a well-deserved slap across his face that he doesn’t even react to.
“What the fuck, Tanner?” I touch the tender spot on my lip where his teeth bit in to. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He shakes his head and moves closer to me again, sliding his hands down my body and gripping my waist firmly. He exhales heavily as he looks down at the space between our chests. His voice is like sandpaper when he utters, “There’s a lot I want to do and say, but first we need to get one thing straight.” His steely eyes bore into me. “You are mine, Belle. In whatever fucked up way we’re doing this right now, you aremine.”
His words stun me and his close proximity brings a heaviness to my chest.
“You know this is all a lie!”
That is apparently not the response he was looking for. His eyes turn to slits and he rips himself away from me. He begins aggressively pacing the alley, looking a whole lot like a gorilla pounding the ground in front of its cave. Grateful for the space, I drag in a huge breath and attempt to slow my heart rate before it pops out of my chest.
“So that’s why you’re here flirting with DeWalt?” He shoots me a venomous look, pushing his hair back behind his ears. “Because this is all a lie and you’re looking for the real deal to fuck?”
“No!” I answer with a haughty bark. “DeWalt is nothing.”
“Well then, what do you want?” he roars.
“I don’t know.”
“I think you do.”
“Oh, then by all means, enlighten me,” I snarl.
