Worth Dying For (11 page)

His smirk pissed her off. “And did they believe you?”

“Well, no, but I am sure that if a guy your size suddenly turns up in my apartment, it will add some credibility to my story.”

Bane seemed to think about what she said then scowled as if annoyed he’d wasted his time. “They won’t see me anyway. Now where are your car keys and which car is yours?”

She told him which apartment she lived in and where he would find the key fob. He darted across the street so fast she lost sight of him for a second. The street door of the townhouse opened with brute force alone and she held her breath until he disappeared inside.

Amber’s heart lodged in her throat. Her only chance to get away had just presented itself.

She took a casual step backwards, and stopped to see what the consequences would be before she tried again. When nothing happened she took two more steps, then three, then more.
 
Her legs moved slowly at first as if not quite convinced what she was doing was a good idea. Finally she hit a comfortable stride and put her head down, intent on putting as much distance between herself and Bane as she could.

What was he exactly
? Her brain raced as she ran, considering and dismissing ideas. What had David seen that he shouldn’t? Maybe some kind of Government experiment creating superhuman soldiers or bionic men, or a drug test that got out of control? Very little of what she had seen in the previous two days made any sense to her at all but the one thing she knew for sure was that neither Bane nor the man who had attacked her at the police station were normal human beings.

A rush of wind at her side and a blur streaking across the edge of her vision gave Amber a moment’s warning that her escape attempt was about to fail. Bane appeared in front of her out of nowhere, blocking her path with his huge body. Strong hands grabbed her arms, stopping her just short of barrelling into him. A deep rumble erupted from his chest and she looked up to find him glaring at her, his eyes black with fury.

 
“Do you see how easily I caught you? Well, do you?” he growled into her face, shaking her as he lifted her from the sidewalk by her upper arms. Amber nodded, terror taking her voice. “Then listen to me. Those I am trying to protect you from are as fast and as strong as I am. The only real difference between us is that if one of them had been chasing you, you would be dead by now.”

He let her go and turned away as if fighting for self control then grabbed her arm and dragged her back towards the apartment.

Bane unlocked the car on the driver’s side, then handed her the keys. He sighed at her hesitation and pushed her into the seat. “You will have to drive. I don’t know how.”

Chapter Six

Bane decided Amber must have finally given up the fight when she hit the coast road without further protest half an hour later.

He cast a quick glance over in her direction from his position in the back seat. She looked tired and near collapse but she would be okay for a little longer. Forcing her to sleep in his arms earlier had been necessary and he would do it again if the need arose. Amber’s life was easier to save when she shut the hell up and stopped fighting him.

Even after he’d ripped the front passenger seat out of her compact car, there still wasn’t really enough room for his legs. But he would suffer the discomfort for as long as he needed to if it would make her safe again. And it seemed being in control of something made her feel a little more amenable. Some of her tension had eased and her heart had stopped its frantic pounding. He listened to it now in the dark interior of the car and heard it skip a beat when she took a longer than usual breath. He guessed the questions were about to start.

“What are you?” she whispered, her eyes staring straight ahead, attention fixed on the road.

Bane grimaced, knowing the truth now would end any hopes he had of making her come with him to the island. “Someone who is trying to protect you.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.” Her flash of anger didn’t surprise him. Her fiery red hair gave a clue to her tempestuous nature and she was no exception to the rule. “Stop fucking me around and tell me the truth.”

“Then ask me a civil question I am prepared to answer,” he said, no longer amused. Modern women cussed like sailors.

Amber twisted in her seat to fix him with an inquisitive glare. “Where are you taking me?”

“To safety.”

Another curse fell from her delicate lips at his non-answer, then Amber sighed and tried a different approach. “Maybe it’s just better if you tell me as much as you can.”

“How much of what happened on the island do you remember?”

“Bane, I need answers not more questions.”

“There is a lot you don’t remember and some of what I need to tell you won’t make sense until you do.”

“Remember what exactly?”

He hesitated. “Me.”

The car screeched to a halt without warning. Bane braced his arms against the dash but couldn’t stop his head smashing into the windscreen hard enough to shatter it. Only his sheer size stopped him being thrown from the vehicle when his knees had wedged into the foot well.

“Damn it, woman!” he growled, anger making him forget his vow to hide what he was around her. The roar echoed around the interior of the car and she clamped her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes tight shut. Bane put a hand on her shoulder to check she hadn’t hurt herself but she flinched away from him again.

Checking the dark fields surrounding them, he saw nothing to cause concern but he couldn’t afford to waste too much time waiting for her to get over her nerves. Bane knew how frightening he could be, but surely by now she knew he would not harm her? Wracking his brain for a way to get her to relax again and start driving, he realised the best thing to do was to talk. Amber was desperate for information.

“How’s your head? You hit it pretty hard on a rock back on the island,” he said, pretending he didn’t know the real reason she still had her hands over her ears. He saw her fingers part a little as if to let his words in. “Lucky for you I managed to stop the bleeding.”

Amber dropped her hands but kept her eyes on her lap. “David said you saved me.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “Not by name of course just that some giant guy swooped down out of nowhere.”

“That’s pretty much it.” Bane struggled for patience—now would not be a good time to lose control again. “Amber, we’ve got to keep moving. You drive and I’ll talk?”

She didn’t speak but complied with his request, turning his way once the car was in motion again, impatient that he didn’t instantly pick up where he left off. Tempted to ask her what she wanted to know, he bit his tongue. He would have to refuse to answer the question he knew she would ask, so Bane simply explained how she’d got her injury—leaving out the part about how he caused the whole damned mess to happen in the first place.

“You must have been buried with me,” she said after thinking about his story. “The last thing I remember is the sky going black and a loud rumbling sound.”

“We were lucky,” he said, playing it down so he wouldn’t have to explain how he got them both out of it. “The trees on the hillside stopped most of it hitting us.”

Amber frowned. “David said we were buried.”

“It might have looked that way from the bottom of the hill. He was too far away to be able to tell.”

“But I heard him shout for me to run. He couldn’t have been that far away.” Bane kept silent, allowing her to remember what she could at her own pace. “So what happened after you got me out? David said you leapt about twenty feet into the air and grabbed onto a tree. I didn’t believe him until I saw you jump almost that high with my own eyes back there.”

Bane knew she would push him again if he allowed her train of thought to continue. “Do you remember anything else about the island?” he said, changing the subject.

“Not really. I’ve barely had time to think about any of it.” She brushed the topic away, keen to get back to the awkward questions, it seemed. “So how did you come to be there in order to save me? From what we were told, the island was deserted.”

“I live there.”

“Permanently?”

“Yes, except when I come to the mainland on…business.”

The coast wasn’t far away now, Bane could smell it, but they couldn’t get there quick enough for his liking. Amber would keep pushing until she got the answers she wanted. He needed to make sure he had her somewhere she wouldn’t be able to run away from him when he told her the truth.

An all-night gas station loomed in the darkness, reminding him that she would need food. “Pull in.”

“The tank is half full.”

“You…I mean, we need supplies.”

“Can’t we get them from wherever the hell it is you are taking me?”

“No. Here, take some money,” he said, pulling a thick roll of notes out of his pocket and tossing it in her lap.

Amber held it up and looked at it in confusion. “How much are you expecting me to buy?”

“Get canned food and any personal items you might need. Enough for a few days.”

“A few days? Bane, I can’t—”

“You’ve got five minutes. Don’t make me come looking for you. You know I will catch you and you may just get the clerk killed in the process.” His words were intentionally harsh. He had no need to hurt the skinny youth he could see slumped over the checkout, but Amber didn’t know that. Her heart picked up a faster rhythm and Bane saw the guilty flush on her cheeks. She got out of the car, her back stiff, and slammed the door for good measure.

He got out too a few minutes later as she made her way back over to the car. Bane took the bag and the money from her and pulled her towards the darkness at the edge of the road before the shop clerk had a chance to turn around. He’d already removed an overnight bag, stuffed with the few clothes he had grabbed in her apartment, from the vehicle.

Amber pulled free. “What about the car?”

“We can’t take it any further. The police will be looking for it—and you—by now.”

“How much further is it?”

“A few miles.”

“I don’t know if I can walk too far. My head is throbbing and my legs feel like they’re made of lead.”

“Then it’s just as well that I intend to carry you.” She began to shake her head and back away from him. “Do we have to go through this every time? It’s going to happen, whether you like it or not. Can you stop fighting me over everything for a damned minute?”

He put a hand out towards her, grunting in thanks as she took it without further protest. Bane swung her across his back and moved off slowly, giving her a chance to get used to the movement and take a strong grip on his shoulders. For the first half mile, she held on by her fingertips, holding her body away from his. That was until he intentionally stumbled on an imaginary rock, and she gave a squeak and threw her arms around his neck.

They had only run a little further down the road before he heard the quiet sobs she had been trying to swallow. Why wouldn’t she cry? Her world had been turned upside down, her life put in danger and her free will taken away. And it was entirely his fault.

Bane put his head down and ran faster, determined to get her to the relative safety of his home before dawn. Dumping her car had been essential. The police were not his only concern or the only people tracking her. For those who relied on all of their senses to hunt down their quarry, her scent trail would end back there.

But by the time they reached the marina five minutes later, her mood had altered. Her racing heart and light, shallow breathing told him she’d begun to find the experience exhilarating. Amber still wriggled to get free as soon as he stopped running. He supported her weight as she slid to the ground, aware that her legs would be weak from clinging to his waist.

 
“Thanks,” she said, pushing at the hand that held her steady but Bane kept gentle hold of her.

The moonlight played across the flush on her cheeks and caught the excitement in her eyes. She
had
enjoyed the ride. Grateful that her sadness had consumed his thoughts on the journey and kept his mind from concentrating on the way her body had felt wrapped around his, Bane dropped her arm and stalked towards the water.

Within seconds, he’d crept up onto the deck of one of the yachts dry docked in the wharf and stolen its dinghy. Beckoning Amber, he tossed it off the edge of the boardwalk and helped her in. Handing her the bags after emptying his pockets into one of them, he dove into the water beside the small vessel.

“Where are we going, and
what
are you doing?” she whispered, panic making her voice shrill when he surfaced and threw the clothing he had removed into the dinghy with her.

Bane ignored the first part of her question. She’d figure it out soon enough. It seemed only good manners to explain his nakedness though. “It’s easier to swim this way.”

“Swim? Aren’t you going to row?”

Bane slipped the tow rope over a shoulder and across his chest then paddled away from the dock. “Trust me, this will be quicker.”

He heard her gasp and felt her weight fall towards the back of the boat as he took the first full stroke and cleaved through the calm, velvet blue waves.