Beyond(28)

“Dravid invited us to stay with him, gave us food and shelter. I thought he was just a nice man, helping people, like I would do,” he says, his voice hardening. “But the truth is there aren’t many good people out there anymore. He was an evil man. He used to sell slaves. Human trafficking. He’d doused the food and it put us to sleep. When I woke up, I was locked in a cell.”

“What happened?” I ask, rubbing my chest absently where it was suddenly hurting.

“He had women captive there. Passing men that had something to barter with, he would offer them one of the women as payment. He was acting like a pimp, forcing women that he had found to sleep with whoever he demanded.”

I gasp. “Gina?”

“Yes, Gina,” he replies sadly. “One day a man came in, and wanted to see a live sex show. Dravid said that if I didn’t have sex with Gina in front of them, he was going to kill her and I was going to watch, and it would be my fault.”

Tears pool in my eyes. “I’m so sorry Dane.”

So that’s what he meant when he said he didn’t have a choice. He really was a good man and I kept throwing Gina in his face.

“No wonder you’re so protective of her,” I whisper. “So what happened?”

“Your dad happened actually,” he says, sounding amused. “He came across us and saved us all. Dravid got away though. When I went away before the wedding, we’d gotten word on his whereabouts. I wanted him dead. I had to go. I wanted him to be gone from this world before I married you. Evan wanted it too. We’d been working hard to find him. He was pure evil Olivia, I’m not even going to tell you the things he’s done. I wanted to stay for the wedding, I did, but we couldn’t let him get away. More innocent lives were at stake, and I couldn’t be that selfish. Luckily, I was able to find him and return in time for that wedding kiss.”

“Did you kill him?”

“Yes, does that bother you?” he asks slowly.

“No,” I reply honestly. “It doesn’t.”

He’s quiet for a few moments. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“I ask myself the same thing about you,” I whisper into the darkened room.





Chapter Thirteen




The days pass quickly, and soon Dane and several of his men are getting ready to leave in search of supplies.

“I’ll be back in a few days,” Dane tells me as I tie his hair back with a leather thong at the nape of his neck. “I’ll look for some honeysuckle flowers for you.”

I smile at his thoughtfulness. “Don’t worry about anything except coming home to me in one piece.”

“I always do,” he says, standing and turning to me, wrapping me in his arms. I felt safe, cared for, in his arms. Like I was meant to be there.

“Sam and Jase will be here, along with others. I know you think Jase is a pain in the ass but he’s a skilled fighter and does whatever needs to be done. I’ll feel better with both of them here, at your side.”

“You’re taking Lars?” I ask.

He nods. “I’ll also feel better with Lars at my side. He’s my right hand man. You know this.”

I did. “I’ll feel better if you have Lars with you as well.”

His lips suddenly kick up at the corners. “Who thought we’d be here right now? Sure as fuck not me.”

I smile back. “Now that I have you, I’m not letting you go.”

“Wouldn’t want you to,” he says, leaning his forehead against mine. “I have the most beautiful, brave, courageous woman by my side. What else could I want?”

“A side chick?” I joke, making him laugh.

Damn, I love that sound.

“I’m going to miss you,” I blurt out.

I love you.

“I’m going to miss you too,” he says quietly. He pulls off his dog tags and places them around my neck. “Keep these for me. They look good on you.”

His mouth is on mine then, reminding me what I’m going to be missing out on for the next few days.

He soon pulls back with a groan. “Great, now I’m hard.”

“And now I’m wet.”

“Fuck Olivia,” he growls. “I need to go before I take you back up to our room and fuck you again. You’ll be feeling me all damn week if I do that.”

I wanted that.

I lick my lips.

An invitation.

“Fuck it,” he grits out, then calls out, “Lars we’re leaving in an hour now!”

Picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder, I ignore the catcalls and cheers and let my husband carry me up to our room.

He was right, I felt him for days.

And it was perfect.