52. Remy
Chapter fifty-two
Remy
When Simon lands us in the middle of the field, I have to wonder if we’re really in the right place or whether this was all some elaborate hoax. There’s nothing in eyesight—not a single place I could see captives being stored. Of course, she could be with a private buyer, but none of the buyers on Davos’ radar would live out here in the middle of nowhere.
Claire stands just a second before I do, getting to her feet as the plane’s just barely touched ground. I push her back down without a word and shake my head.
“The deal for you to come was that you stay here. So, stay !”
Her lips part in surprise, but she has no response for that until I’ve already turned my back. “Back to treating me like a bitch in heat?”
Michael chuckles as he brushes past me to join Kent and Rich. I hear Rook’s little gasp of shock from where he’s leaning against the bar top, but I ignore him as I turn back to Claire. “Don’t tempt me sweetheart.”
Despite the fact that I’m entirely serious, I realize she’s laughing, having stood up again. More than that, though, her eyes are full of something like… desire. It’s the first hint of it I’ve seen since that night I fucked her on my boat… the last time things between us had been right. I was mad at her for prioritizing Wes over her own safety, but otherwise, we’d been so good. Now, there’s the first sign that we are getting back to who we were… what we were.
“I can come with you.”
“You’ll come on me…” I tell her, not caring whether Rook or any of the others hear. They’ll figure it out when I take her to the room anyway. “When I get back, I’ll remind you of what a bitch in heat really needs.”
Claire grinds her jaw together, trying not to look amused lest it take away from the fact that she clearly wants to be in the action. “I can help, Remy. I can…”
I shake my head. “I don’t doubt you could, baby. I’ve seen what you can do, but if you’re with me, I won’t be able to focus on helping anyone else.” I press my forehead to hers so that I can whisper the words over her lips, without Rook hearing this one… not because I care, but because these words are for her alone. “Watching you get vengeance is the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. Don’t make me compromise my team for you, because I would in a heartbeat.”
I feel the gasp rather than hear it, our mouths are so close together. I let her have that air a moment before I seal my mouth to hers and steal it back. I kiss her harder than I ever have, enough that I think I feel her knees go weak as she loses a little bit of the resolve she’d been holding onto.
Her breath becomes mine as her hands come up my neck, pulling me tighter against her. For a moment, I think she may be trying to meld us into one, to flatten ourselves into a single body. I take advantage of the moment, knocking her back onto the couch without following.
She’s boxed into the seat by my arms braced on the couch, and when she opens her eyes to see that, her lips still parted, waiting for my return, I trace them with my thumb. I want to do so many things to these lips, to her. We have a lot of time to make up for, and we’ll start as soon as I get back.
Pulling away from her is agony, but I’m sure Kent and Rich are already getting irritable, so I force myself away.
“Now stay… or I’ll have Rook put a leash on you, too.”
Red flushes up on her cheeks, and I think about making her do that over and over, again and again.
My cock is hard, aching at the thought of leaving her, but if I don’t go now, I may never make it off this jet. Rook hands me the Kevlar vest on my way out, and an unspoken command passes between us. He knows to protect her with his life, and I know he will if it comes to it.
But before I get to the door, her voice calls my name, prompting me to look back. Beyond the desire written so obviously on her delicate features, I can see something else… realization, maybe, though I’m not sure what for until she lets out a shaky breath.
“I love you.”
The words come out in a rush, like she’s afraid that if she doesn’t get them off her tongue in that moment, that she never will.
It’s probably the worst timing for such a confession, but it’s not unwelcome. I glance out the door, where my men are waiting, and then back to Claire, who looks absolutely terrified, as if somehow, I won’t say it back… as if I were capable of such cruelty.
I would burn worlds for her, turn my back on anyone, kill so she can bathe in the blood of her enemies. But I’d never hurt her… I never will again.
Fuck it.
I close the space between us in an instant as if she’s just reeled me in by some invisible thread and drop to my knees so that I’m level with where she sits, leaning forward nervously.
She’s a marvel.
And now I know why the works of art in the Louvre bored me so much when I was younger. It’s not because I don’t have an appreciation for fine things. It’s because I knew that when I saw something worthy of all that fanfare, I’d know. Back then, I would have never imagined something—someone—as beautiful as this.
“I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you. I just didn’t know it then. ”
Her lips tremble as they fall open, preparing for words she can’t yet find. I don’t give her the chance. Instead, I consume her again, pulling her against me with a hand on the back of her head and tilting her to give me deeper access to her. She tastes as heavenly as she looks… my perfect angel, fallen for the son of the devil. I thought she was my temptation, but she’s my salvation, the only thing that may still be capable of saving my soul. And I’ll lay it down for her to take if she wants it, because I’m suddenly struck by the realization that I’ll give her anything she wants for the rest of my life…
Including in this moment.
Fuck.
When she feels the barrel of the gun, she pauses just long enough to give me the strength to pull away from her. Her eyes are on mine, seeking answers. “You remember the first time on the boat?”
It takes a moment, and then recognition dawns on her pretty face. “I know you like knives, but I’m not taking you out there with only a blade standing between you and the unknown. Can you handle this?”
She finally looks down at the piece I’ve rested against her thigh, and when her eyes flit back to me, there’s no hesitation or fear in her eyes. I know Dimitri taught her how to shoot when I first sent him after her, so I’m not worried about that part. And I shouldn’t be worried about whether she has the nerve to pull the trigger. I can see the resolve in her eyes.
When her hand slips in mine, she takes the gun in her other, and I pull her to her feet. I hold out the Kevlar vest I tossed aside a moment before, and when she looks at me questioningly, hold it out for her to slip an arm through. She must sense that the only way I’m willing to relent on this is if she’s got the vest on, to offer me just a little peace of mind.
Rook blinks at me in surprise, but when I only stare at him in response, he nods his understanding and grabs his rifle off the bar top. When the others turn to see us, they similarly don’t object .
Maybe it’s not the best choice I’ve ever made, but I know it’s not the worst either. If I left her here, no matter how capable I think Rook is, and something happened to her, I would never forgive myself. I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to her anyway, but at least this way I can be the one to keep her safe. When Kent’s eyes lock with mine, I know what he’s thinking without him having to say it, and his quick nod tells me he’ll do whatever he has to in order to protect her. Both Kent’s wife, and the woman I’m going to make mine, are the priority tonight. He relays the information to the others, who nod without hesitation.
Something feels wrong from the first moment I taste the stale evening. It hangs like dead air around us, and despite the thick forestry that surrounds us and the full sun sinking slowly into the mountains, there’s not a fucking sound to be heard. No birds, no crickets, not even the buzz of a mosquito. I brush a kiss to Claire’s knuckles before letting her hand fall from mine so I can tighten the grip on my gun and ensure she’s got hers at the ready.
I don’t like this one bit, and I turn to Kent, who nods his agreement with my unspoken command. He takes point, brushing forward through the tall grass around us. He briefed us all on the way here about what the plan is, where exactly we’re headed.
The town is four miles north, which is too far of a walk… and the precise reason he had the dirt bikes delivered ahead of time, thanks to a friend of a friend who apparently lives somewhere in the state. We only have to walk a short distance to find them, the lights of the jet illuminating the space ahead of us where they’ve been left. It’s pitch dark around here outside of that light, the sun having disappeared entirely in the space of seconds, as if even it didn’t want to stick around in this place longer than it had to. I make a mental note to give Simon a raise just as he cuts the lights, plunging us into the dark night.
Kent switches on the flashlight mounted atop his scope, and the others follow suit. They’ve naturally fallen into a V shaped pattern, the way we have the other times, though right now, Claire and I are situated behind him, with Rook at the back and Rich and Michael on either side, forming a ring. I wonder whether any of them play chess or whether it was just Kent’s command, but they move in all the right ways to protect the queen—my queen.
The keys are all in the ignitions—all four of them.
“We’re one short.” Michael says, as Kent wastes no time swinging his leg over the closest one and getting himself in position.
“Two,” Claire corrects him, prompting a laugh from me. It dies when I grip her around the waist and swing her over the back half of the bike next to Kent’s. She turns to me, bewildered, and I want to savor the look of surprise on her face, but I don’t have time. “You’re with me, sweetheart.”
“You know how to drive this thing?” she asks, skepticism mingling with a hint of apprehension in her voice.
“Do you?” I challenge, as if I would have let her try.
“No, but—”
I laugh again as I climb over and flex my hands on the grips, my rifle situated across my legs and secured by the strap around my neck. It’s been a minute, but you never forget how to ride a bike. Next to us, Michael grumbles about having to hop on the back of Rook’s bike.
“Relax, Claire.” I tell her over my shoulder. “I’ve got this.”
“You’re a secret biker?” She challenges, a bit of her old sass creeping in.
“Guess you’ll find out. You trust me?”
There’s no hesitation before she says ‘yes’, and I have to ignore how that makes me feel so that I can focus on the situation at hand.
“You better hold on tight.” Rich warns her.
I just see the smirk on his lips before he sinks onto his own bike, and then Claire does as she’s told, wrapping her arms around me and sliding closer, so that she adheres to my back. Her gun’s in her right hand, and I glance down to make sure she’s got the safety off before I turn the bike on, overwhelming any further complaints or banter .
Kent blazes the way again, forging forward so that he can lead us. We go single-file, Rook and Michael then me and Claire, with Rich bringing up the rear.
I hear Claire’s surprised yelp as we take off, and then she wraps herself against me tighter and I can feel how tense she is as we rip over the uneven terrain. But the bikes were made for this, and I’ve had a lot of time to explore my hobbies, so I know she’s safe with me. I just have to make sure she knows that.
It only takes a few minutes—just like when I had her on my boat for the first time, her fears fade, and I can feel her relax against me. She still holds tight, just the way she was told to, but I can feel the tension disappear, and a tension of another kind starts to grow as she leans her head between my shoulder blades, her cheek flush with my back. No interest in watching the path we’re creating, no fear of us careening over a cliff—just implicit trust. And as she giggles when we bounce over a large rock, joy .
It shouldn’t surprise me that my girl is a secret adrenaline junkie. I’ve seen what she’s capable of. Even if you don’t particularly enjoy killing, it comes with a massive rush of adrenaline, and that at least, feels good… though maybe not as good as flying through the night with her at my back acting as my wings, carrying us both.
Kent follows the path he’s laid out in his head, and I keep my eyes on him the whole time, even while my head is in another place entirely. It’s hard to focus on what sordid shit we may run into when I’m carrying a little piece of heaven with me, but when the little town unfolds before us, Kent goes dark. One by one, each of us follows suit, driving through the darkness on faith in a greater purpose… or trust in Kent’s ability to see at night.
We don’t go far in the dark before Kent cuts his engine and slides off his bike, readying his gun instead. When I stop beside him and climb off to help Claire down, her face is lit by the moon and I’m not sure she’s ever looked more ethereal .
“So, you are a secret biker.” She says, looking me up and down. “You’re a surfer, a biker, a billionaire. Is there anything you can’t do?”
“I can’t make a good cup of coffee to save my life,” I tell her honestly.
Claire only stares at me a moment, trying to decide whether that was a joke. After a moment, she laughs.
“Don’t sound so impressed,” Michael says, hopping off the back of Rook’s bike before it’s even come to a complete stop. “Billionaires have lots of time to practice their hobbies.”
“He’s right.” I admit, wrapping my arms around her without pulling her off the seat just yet. “Besides, just because I can do those things doesn’t mean I do them well … though I’m willing to continue to do them for you. I get the sense you enjoyed the ride?”
“Yes.” She bites her lip, and suddenly I want to take her on a ride of another kind. Jesus, she’s got me fucked up. We’re in a potential life or death situation, and all I can think about is getting inside of her.
In that single moment on the plane with her banter, all of the worry that I lost her to depression or PTSD was gone. In that moment, she promised me that she’s still in there even after everything, and that gives me all the hope in the world. I know that healing isn’t a linear path, and I know that there will be bad days, bad periods, depressive days. But I know now that we can coax each other out of them.
And now that I know that, I’m more full of hope for the future than I ever have been.
“I sure as fuck didn’t enjoy the ride.” Rook grumbles, stealing me from my thoughts of waking up to Claire’s face every day for the rest of my life. “Michael’s dick touched me.”
“What?” Claire snorts, so taken aback by the confession that she can’t help herself.
“I can’t control the monster,” Michael defends himself. “It’s not like I wanted to be pressed up against you. I should have fucking walked.”
I hoist Claire off the back of the bike, and when she’s on the ground, can’t resist planting a kiss on the top of her forehead.
“You will be walking on the way back if you don’t figure out how to reign that fucker in. Don’t you wear boxers?”
Michael’s scoff tells us all we need to know. “You can’t cage a wild animal.”
For a minute, I think Rook may punch him. But then Rich clears his throat, tipping his head to where Kent has already taken off walking toward the town.
He hasn’t said, exactly, what we’re supposed to say if anyone spots us. I’m fairly certain that a group of men and a single, gorgeous woman dressed in tactical gear showing up in their tiny town in the thick of night would raise some questions. But I guess that’s a problem we will deal with when we come to it, so we take off after him, resuming the previous formation.
“Safety off.” I tell Claire, giving her the exact opposite of every firearm safety guideline ever. “If you don’t feel safe, you shoot first and ask questions later. Got it?”
Next to me, Claire nods her understanding.