Painted Lines (31 page)

“Beautiful,”
he whispered brushing my hair to my shoulder kissing my neck.  “You are
absolutely stunning, Bella.”

He
gripped my hips and began a slow sensual pace, and I couldn’t remove my eyes
from the place where we were joined.  I could see him slowly pull out then push
back into my body.  It was amazing to watch.  I finally tore my eyes away
looking up and found his eyes on me in the mirror.  I leaned back into his body
rolling my hips causing him to slip even deeper inside of me.

“You
like being able to watch us?” he asked.

I
moaned and nodded, my eyes unerringly going back to that place where he was a
part of my body.

“I
love how your body takes my cock, Bella.”

He
increased the pace slightly, letting go of one hip.  He reached down to where
we were joined and began slow circles around my clit.  I bit my lip hard at the
added sensation, that along with the visual stimulation, I knew this would be
an incredible finale.

I
rolled my hips again, and he began to thrust into me harder, losing his careful
rhythm.  I knew he was just as close as I was.  I pulled one of my hands away
from his arms where I had been holding on and brought it down to where his hand
was.  I put my fingers against my opening feeling him enter me over and over. 
He groaned against my neck, biting lightly. I lost it at that point, I screamed
as my body clenched his cock, wanting to keep it deep inside of me.  He groaned
against my neck, pushing hard and deep into me then holding me still, I could feel
him shuddering behind me.

When
we began to breathe again, he slowly rolled us back then to the side, staying
inside of me.  I could feel the days of sleeplessness begin to set in, and
tried to fight it back.  He stroked his hand over my back, kissing my neck
again.

“Sleep,
Bella,” he murmured then gently pulled out of me. I groaned at the feeling of
loss I had.

“Shh
Bella, sleep.”

I
felt the bed shift then he pulled me up on the bed wrapping himself around my
naked body.  I pressed further into his body enjoying his heat at my back and
drifted off to sleep.

I
was woken again in the middle of the night with my leg bent around Thayne’s hip
facing him.  He had a look of concentration on his face.  I felt him surge up
into my body and moaned loudly.  This time he didn’t take it slowly but
quickly, roughly brought us both to climax and quickly falling back to sleep. 
There were definite benefits to staying the night as his place, I mused as my
eyelids fluttered closed.

Chapter
49

“Shh,
you’re fine, Bella,” I heard whispered in my ear and bolted upright.  I looked
around disoriented for a minute before remembering I had stayed at Thayne’s.  I
heard his alarm clock and jerked around staring at it breathing hard.

“I’m
sorry,” I whispered feeling embarrassed, I had a good idea what had happened.

“Just
a nightmare, Scout, no reason to apologize.”

I
nodded, getting out of bed heading for the bathroom, before going in search of
my clothing.

Thayne
walked out of his bedroom in a pair of Levi’s and nothing else.  I couldn’t
help letting my eyes travel over the expanse of skin showing.  Tearing my eyes
away, I pulled on my own clothing, making sure not to look back towards him,
and that top undone button.

“You
okay?”

“Uhm,
yeah, sorry alarm clocks and I aren’t on speaking terms.”

“Okay,
do I want to know why?”

“Just
a trigger of mine.”

He
nodded slowly then walked towards the kitchen, I heard mumbling then the sink
turn on.  “Coffee will be ready in a few,” he called out.

I
tugged my boots on then walked into the kitchen wrapping my arms around Thayne
and burying my face into his back “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

He
laced our fingers together across his stomach, “Nothing to be sorry for,
Bella,” he whispered back.

“I
wish I could be normal, I wish simple things didn’t freak me out.”

“It’s
not your fault, Scout, and I was just worried about you, you started whimpering
and struggling in your sleep, again.”

I
sighed, “I am going to start seeing a therapist when I get home.  Hopefully it
will help eventually.”

“I
love you, Scout, if that’s what you want then go for it, it doesn’t change
anything.”

I
nodded rubbing my cheek against his back wishing things were different, that I
was whole.

“Thayne,”
I began but he spun around and kissed me, hard.

“Please
not yet,” he murmured against my lips, “just a little bit longer.”

“Okay,”
I whispered then kissed him back.

After
we had coffee, we went to the garage together.  It was such a nice day that we
couldn’t pass up the idea of a ride.  He was the only person I had ever let
drive Stella, which I told him repeatedly.  I wanted to make sure he understood
what a solemn occasion it was for me to share her with him.  He was highly
amused by my over protective instincts about my motorcycle, but he understood,
and was careful with her.

Once
there we went to work finishing piecing the bike together.  It went together
smoothly, which I was very grateful for.  We all stood back, admiring our
handiwork, she was gorgeous, and I wanted to take her out for a test ride, only
we weren’t allowed to.  I spent the rest of the time on the show sulking over
the fact that I couldn’t ride her before handing her over to the judges.

I
ran my fingers along the gas tank once more, before we pulled the doors down
making sure to lock it securely, then handing the key over to the production
assistant.  I was happy that we were coming to the end of this.  I was ready to
get back to San Diego.

I
was nervous about what returning home would mean for me, and I was anxious
about beginning to deal with my past.  I had come to the realization that I
wouldn’t be able to have a healthy relationship until I had at least begun
dealing with what had happened to me.  It wasn’t fair to myself or Thayne to
continue along this path.  I couldn’t wholly give myself to him until the past
was in the past, and we both deserved better.  I just hoped he was willing to
wait for me, though I wouldn’t blame him if he decided to move on with his
life.

We
waved bye then headed out the doors into the sunshine.  I pulled my sunglasses
on heading to Stella.  I jerked to a stop, my chest constricted and my
breathing picked up.

“No,
no, no, not my baby,” I whispered staring aghast at my Stella.  I heard a
roaring sound in my ears, all I could do was stare.

Someone
had hurt my baby.  I was vaguely aware of being on the ground and someone
wrapping their arms around me, but I could only stare at the carnage.  It
looked like someone had taken a tire iron or other object to her. I winced when
I saw just how bad it truly was.  She was beaten, and bleeding out oil, gas and
other fluids.

The
roaring grew louder and someone was shaking me, their mouth moving but I
couldn’t hear or understand what they were saying.  I couldn’t even bother to
really look at them.  The tank was dented, the engine in pieces. Who would hurt
my baby?  All the hours, days spent on carefully putting her together, the time
spent on the custom paint job to get it perfect, all of it ruined.

Someone
shook me again, I ripped my eyes away from my decimated Stella to a panicked
Thayne. I saw his lips move and it looked like he was telling me to breathe.  I
hadn’t noticed the black dots now filling my vision.  I took a quick short
breath, repeatedly, not able to fully fill my lungs.  My heartbeat was racing
and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay conscious for much longer.  A break from
the pain of the heartbreaking sight of my first love injured was welcomed.

I
jerked awake when the foulest smell I had ever encountered drifted in front of
me, a pair of concerned brown eyes stared down at me.  I quickly began
searching for a different set of eyes, and found them to my left staring down
at me.  I could see the relief in his face.

“You
have got to stop doing that shit,” he muttered, “you’re going to give me a
fucking heart attack one of these times.”

“Sorry,”
I mumbled.

He
ran his finger along my cheek, “At least this time I caught you.”

I
pushed up on my elbows.  The EMT quickly wrapped his arm around my shoulders
and helped me sit up.  I felt dizzy and a bit disoriented with the rush of
blood throughout my body.  I quickly shook it off and tried to stand.  I had to
get to Stella and see how bad the damage is.

“Scout,
you can’t go over there right now,” Thayne said.  “The cops are checking
everything out.”

“I
have to see her.”

“After
the police leave, we will get her home, okay?”

I
shook my head, and felt another rush of dizziness at the action.  “No, I want
to see how bad.”

He
bit his lip and looked at me sadly.  “No,” he ordered quietly.

I
took a deep breath trying to keep the tears at bay, “That bad?”

He
nodded, “She can be fixed.  We will fix her, but right now you need to stay as
calm as you can.”

He
sat down beside me in the parking lot and pulled me into his lap wrapping his
arms around me tightly.  “It’s okay to cry, Bella,” he whispered in my ear.

I
wiped away a stray tear, “Not here.”

“Okay,
Bella, I understand.”

When
the police had finally finished their work with the bike, she was loaded in the
back of one of Matt’s team’s pick-up trucks and brought to our rental house. 
The cops then started questioning everyone who was around at the time, as well
as pulling the security tapes of the building.  They didn’t have high hopes for
the tapes since it appeared that someone had spray painted over the lenses of
the cameras.  Thayne stayed with me the entire time I was being interviewed. 
My team took care of details about Stella, calling Saul and Cas to let them
know what had happened.

Finally
we were able to leave, Thayne borrowed Kale’s bike and he drove us home.  When
I saw a broken Stella sitting in the driveway, I finally couldn’t contain it
any longer.  The tears streamed down my face before I even had my helmet off, I
walked towards her stroking her tank.  Thayne walked up, letting me know he was
there for me, but didn’t touch me, letting me mourn my loss.  Eventually I
turned and let him wrap his arms around me and take me into the house.  He
never left me that night, surrounding me in sleep, waking me gently when I had
a nightmare.  I think I fell even more in love with him.

Chapter
50

I
woke the next morning cocooned in strong warm arms.  I wanted to stay in bed
all day my head buried in pillows and those arms secured around me.  Only I
knew I couldn’t, we had to present our bikes to the judges today, not that any
of that really mattered to me anymore.  I sniffed back more tears and wiggled
out from Thayne’s arms.  Heading to the bathroom, I shut the door, glancing in
the mirror, red-rimmed blood shot eyes looked back at me.  I had spent most of
the night going between nightmares and crying myself back to sleep.

I
turned the shower on as hot as I could, stripped out of my clothes, and stood
under the scalding flow of water, letting it turn my skin raw and red.  When it
finally turned cold, I forced myself out, toweled off numbly, and dressed in
pure black camo pants, black tank top.  I was in a state of mourning so black
clearly defined my mood today.  My only real hope was that we wouldn’t have to
stay long at the site.  I didn’t know how long I would be able to hold it
together.

I
walked into the kitchen, I knew I looked bad but I really just couldn’t muster
up any real concern over that.  I went to the coffee pot made my morning cup
and stared absently at the dark liquid.  I saw someone walk over and pull my
pills out for me setting them beside my cup.  I nodded slightly, tossed the
pills in my mouth, and swallowed the scalding liquid, not relishing it as I
normally do.

We
were a quiet and morose group when we finally drove to the shop in Cam’s car. 
Someone had the sense to cover Stella with a tarp so I didn’t have to see her
once again when we left.  I appreciated that, but it still didn’t stop me from
staring at her as we pulled out of the driveway.  Once there, we went to see
the makeup people, I vaguely aware of them tittering about how I had looked.  I
spent the morning in their chair like a zombie, for once not caring that their
hands were on me, nor flinching from their touch.

We
gathered on our marks and I watched as they unveiled the bikes.  The judges
circled making notes.  I stood by and watched them, disinterested.  I knew the
judges had fifty percent voice in who wins; the other half came from votes that
were accumulated during bike week.  They would be put on display for a week,
giving those who passed by a chance to pick their favorite.

Finally
the judges were finished and we were able to head home; we wouldn’t know the
results for another two weeks.  I had worried I would go crazy with not knowing
for that length of time, but now it no longer really mattered.  I wanted to get
Stella back to San Diego and into my shop so I could fix her.

When
we got home, I went straight to my room and curled up in the fetal position in
the middle of my bed.  I wanted to get some sleep, I wanted to cry, and I
wanted to do nothing at all but stare at my ceiling.  I knew I was going into a
depression, only I didn’t want or know how to stop it at this point.  I felt so
raw, ripped open.  I physically hurt with the emotions rolling through me.

I
felt the bed dip and hands began to gently rub up and down my back, I didn’t
have to look to see who it was, I knew that touch.

“We
will get her repaired, Bella,” he murmured.

I
nodded, “I know, but it still hurts.”

“I
know it does, Scout.”

“I
feel violated all over again and I don’t know how to deal with it.”

I
heard him sigh.  “I don’t have words to make this better, all I know is that
lying around isn’t going to help.”

“I
don’t know what else to do,” I whispered.

“How
about you come out here and cook something, draw something, anything to help
take your mind off of it for a little bit?”

I
bit my lip and thought it over, “will you help me cook?”

He
laughed, “Uhm how about I hang out and talk to you while you cook?  It’s
probably safer that way.”

I
slowly sat up and place a gentle kiss on his lips, “Thank you.”

“Nothing
to thank me for, Bella.  I love you and I hate to see you like this.”

I
got out of bed and went to the kitchen pulling items out to make some decadent
chocolate pancakes for dinner.  I felt the need to gorge on chocolate.

Thayne
was of course right about taking my mind off things.  I couldn’t forget but I
wasn’t focused on it either.  I put together a breakfast for dinner with
chocolate pancakes covered in fresh strawberries and whip cream, crisp bacon,
and eggs scrambled with cheese.  Everyone eagerly filled plates and filed into
the living room making quick work of their food.  When we had finished stuffing
ourselves with enough calories for a week, we all sat back lounging.

“So
Nikki, you excited about the move?” asked Liam.

She
shrugged, “Not really sure what there is to do there, and I don’t have any
friends.”

“There
are a couple of part time guys that work at our shop and Saul’s that are your
age I’ll introduce you,” I told her.

“That
would be great,” she squealed.

“As
for stuff to do there is a lot of things, maybe you can even talk Scout into
teaching you to surf,” Kale said.

Thayne
looked over and me and quirked his eyebrow, “You surf?”

“Sometimes
for fun, I’m not very good.  If you are interested in learning, ask Liam for
help, he’s who taught me.”

“Liam,
will you teach me?” she begged, batting her eyes at him like a lost doe.

He
groaned, “Yes, as long as your brother says it’s okay.”

“If
you want you can come to Krav Maga classes with me,” I offered.

“What’s
that?” she asked

“A
blend of different types of martial arts, it’s mainly for self-defense.  The
idea is you incapacitate them long enough to get away.”

“I
think I like that idea,” Thayne answered for her then looked over and smirked
at me.  “I think I have seen it in action, I wouldn’t mind knowing you could take
care of yourself.”

I
nodded, “And it’s fun to do, a great workout.”

Nikki
nodded, “Okay, I can give it a try.”

We
continued discussing San Diego, places to live in the area.  Nikki seemed more
at ease by the end of the evening.  I was sad when it was time for them to
leave, but they needed to go to their apartment.  I kissed Thayne bye with a
promise of seeing him the next day.  I curled up on my bed shortly after and
drifted to sleep, not peaceful, but not as fitful as the night before.

I
woke up later than normal, fumbled through my morning routine, then went in
search of coffee.  After finally satisfying my craving for caffeine, I walked
into the living room where Thayne was sitting talking with the guys.  He looked
up and smiled at me then answered a question Kale had asked him.  I went and
snuggled into his side, enjoying having him close. I closed my eyes trying to
soak him in.  He reached around and started slowly rubbing my back in wide
circles.  I knew that I needed to talk to him soon about what was going on
between us.  I just hoped that afterwards we could continue building a
friendship.

I
leaned my head against his shoulder and looked around noticing that Nikki
wasn’t here, “Where’s your sister?”

“She
wanted to spend the day with her friend.”

“Ah.”

“So
Scout, we’re going to go take a look at Stella,” Simon said quietly.

I
bit my lip and nodded.  “Okay, but I want to get her home somehow and work on
her there.”

“That’s
fine but we need to make sure all the fluids are drained, and get an idea on what
we are working with,” said Kale.

“We’ll
load her up on the trailer when we go home, you can ride with Cam and Zadok,”
replied Simon.

“So
when are you heading to San Diego?” asked Liam.

“As
soon as our place is packed, Matt said he had a house I can rent for now.”

I
smiled, “I know which house he’s talking about, I used to live there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,
with Simon and Cas then later on when Cas moved in Kale and Liam moved in. 
Simon got married and ditched us, so we got an apartment instead.  I moved out
a few months ago and into Cas’s townhouse while he was gone.”

“So
then you live with your brother?”

“Not
for long.  Saul’s building an apartment above the shop we plan to buy, for me. 
I’m moving in there when we get back.”

Liam
snickered, “Which means you will live about five minutes from Scout.”

“Yeah
and thirty minutes from the shop he’ll be working at.”

“That’s
not bad, I drive forty-five minutes for work now.”

“Okay,
let’s get this over with,” Kale said standing up and heading out the door.

I
slowly stood up following everyone else out the door so we could look over my
baby.  I wasn’t looking forward to this.

Once
outside I watched as Liam slowly pulled the tarp from over her, and I gasped. 
She looked rough. I stood back while they kneeled down checking out different
parts of her.  I knew she could be put back together again, but that didn’t
matter, what mattered was that someone had been cruel enough to do it in the
first place.  It was a common rule that you didn’t mess with someone’s bike.  It
was more than just a vehicle; it was a part of your family, a piece of you.

After
Kale emptied all her fluids, I looked over her paint job.  I would have to sand
blast her down to bare and start completely over.  There wasn’t a piece of her
that was untouched, though the good news was it didn’t look as if her frame was
compromised in any way.  The motor would have to be rebuilt, all the chrome
would have to be refinished, new tires, new electronics.

“Ah
Stella,” I murmured to her running my fingers across her now chipped and beaten
tank.  “You’ll be okay, I’ll get you all fixed up baby.”

I
felt my cell vibrate in my pocket so I stepped back from her and pulled it out,
glancing down at the phone I frowned and quickly hit the button to answer.

“Hey,
you okay?”

“Yeah,
I am fine, Scout.”

“Did
you need something?  Your brother’s right here.”

“No,
I wanted to talk to you about him.”

“Uhm
okay.”

“Well
I was wondering if he told you that his birthday is next week.”

I
smiled, “No, he hasn’t.”

“Yeah,
that’s what I figured.  I haven’t been able to get him anything yet and so I
told him I was going over to my friend’s house.  What I really wanted was to
see if you would go shopping with me to get him a gift?”

“Yeah
I’d like that.  Give me a little while, I’ll call you when I can get away, does
that work?”

“Yes,
but please don’t let him know, he doesn’t like me doing anything for his
birthday.”

“I
won’t tell, call you in a little while.”

I
hung up glancing over at Thayne who was talking to Kale about something. , I
turned and went inside in search of Cam I would need help getting away.  I had
a distinct feeling that no one would want me to go anywhere without another
person with me, not after what had happened to Stella, and I couldn’t exactly
say Nikki would be with me.  The idea of getting away and doing something as
normal as shopping for a birthday present sounded like a great way to forget
about things for a little while.