Tore Up (Mississippi Smoke Series Book 1)
Tore Up: Chapter 35

The salty taste on my tongue as it wrapped around Bane’s thumb made me hum with pleasure. I liked it. I stared into his eyes as he lifted himself up on his arm, taking his thumb from my mouth. I didn’t want him to stop. I opened my legs, reaching for his arms to bring him between mine.

It was then I saw the horror in his topaz eyes. What was he looking at me like that for? Blinking, I tried to bring my dream back to where I liked it. With Bane wanting me the way I did him. Why was this happening?

“Halo.” His voice was hoarse.

“Yes?” I immediately replied.

It sank in that he hadn’t called me pretty girl or sweet girl. In my dreams, he never used my name.

I moved my hand to my stomach, and when I found the sticky warmth … my eyes widened.

This didn’t feel like a dream. It felt real. Very real.

Bane shot off the bed as if I’d just morphed into a rattlesnake. He stalked toward the door, and I sat up, watching him, still trying to understand what had happened. We’d … we’d rubbed as he held me. I’d orgasmed.

When he grabbed the handle, he paused, then looked back at me. In the darkness, I couldn’t make out his expression. But this was different. This wasn’t one of my dreams.

I sat there, speechless. This had been real. My stomach had his semen on it, and he had been in my bed. It had all happened.

I hadn’t taken my pill. I’d fallen asleep while reading.

The door was yanked open, and he was gone.

His thumb had been in my mouth. What had he been doing?

I dropped my gaze to my fingers still on my stomach and looked at them. Had he …

I lifted them to my mouth and licked some off. Salty. The same. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. He’d put his cum in my mouth.

The other nights … had all of it been real? Surely not. They couldn’t have been. He’d have been different with me. Wouldn’t he? The way he spoke to me in the dreams was gentle. He had wanted me as much as I did him.

But how was tonight real? I’d not taken my pill. Which meant I hadn’t been in a deep sleep.

I looked back at the closed door. Had he been getting in bed with me while I was medicated and I’d been doing all those things to him with him?

If so, he had let it happen and never once acted like anything had changed between us.

I tugged my camisole back down and laid my head on the pillow again. When I inhaled, all I could smell was him. Fresh-cut oak, smoke, and spice. When I woke up every morning, that was what met my nose first.

Because he had been here.

Dream Bane and the real Bane were the same.

On the walk to the kitchen the next morning, I was a mix of nerves and uncertainty. I’d barely gotten any sleep after Bane left. My eyes had stayed on the door as I willed him to come back. Talk to me. Touch me.

Than was standing at the fridge when I walked in and leaned back to look at me and smile.

“Mornin’, little momma,” he called.

Oz was sitting on a stool, eating and looking down at his phone. He barely glanced at me and gave me a slight nod.

“Good morning,” I said, feeling immediate disappointment that Bane wasn’t in here.

“Did you check your texts?” Than asked me as he pulled the milk out, then closed the door.

I always forgot to look at my phone. I shook my head.

“Figured. Grissele is coming to get you in an hour. You’ve got a shopping day ahead of you.”

Oh. I’d wanted to stay here and wait for Bane.

“Okay,” I replied.

“Don’t look too thrilled,” he replied with a chuckle. “I’ll take it as a compliment. You would rather go with me to the distillery. I know you missed me.”

I had actually forgotten about going with him to work. All I seemed to be able to focus on was Bane. I managed a smile.

“Here is your breakfast,” he said, opening the oven warmer to pull it out. “I think Wilma said there was a smoothie to go with it. Wait a sec.”

I walked over to where he’d set my plate, not wanting to eat anything.

“Here you go,” he said as he placed a pink smoothie in front of me.

“Bane leave?” Ransom asked, walking into the kitchen.

Just hearing his name had my complete attention.

“Gone,” Oz said simply, not looking up.

“Gone where?” Ransom asked.

“Away,” he replied.

Ransom frowned. “No shit. Where is he? When will he be back?”

“Don’t know.”

My gaze swung from Oz to Ransom, silently willing him to push for more information. When he didn’t and walked to the coffee machine instead, I took my breakfast and sat down.

Bane wasn’t here. Did he not want to talk about last night? Or all the other nights? I wasn’t mad at him. Was that it? He thought I’d figured it out and I was going to be upset?

I had to talk to him. Tell him exactly how not upset I was. Washing his dried cum from my body this morning in the shower had made me feel … sad.

“Sorry about last night,” Than told me, taking the stool on the other side of me.

It took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about, and then I remembered the party. The naked girls. That had all been forgotten.

“It’s okay. It’s your house. After being gone on a job, I’m sure you had steam to blow off,” I tried to say nonchalantly.

A laugh came from Ransom, and I looked over at him. His grin confused me. What was so funny? Oz made a noise in his throat that sounded like a deep chuckle. I turned to him and saw his lips were tugged up slightly in the corners.

“Stop,” Than scolded, although I could hear the amusement in his tone.

“She said it,” Ransom replied, taking a drink of his coffee.

I turned to Than. “What was it that I said?”

He pressed his lips together, clearly trying not to laugh or smile. “It was the to blow off part.”

I frowned and repeated it in my head, and then my eyes narrowed. He let out a cackle of laughter then, unable to hold it back.

“Seriously?” I asked.

He nodded, then took a bite of his omelet.

“What are y’all, twelve?” I asked.

“Eighty-five percent of the time,” Oz replied, not looking at me as he continued to study his phone screen.

“Yes, Halo. We all blew off steam. Some of us several times and by different mouths,” Ransom drawled.

My face felt warm, and I ducked my head to hide my blush.

Than nudged me with my arm. “He’s teasing.”

“About what part? Because I personally blew down two different throats,” Ransom replied.

I was going to have to live in this house with these men for a while. Getting embarrassed by everything sexual they said was silly. I was pregnant. It wasn’t like I was innocent. I’d also tasted cum last night for the first time.

Lifting my head, I looked directly at Ransom. “Well, I hope you at least said thank you,” I told him, then reached to pick up my smoothie.

The chuckle coming from Oz this time was louder.

Ransom grinned wickedly. “Oh, I did better than that.”

There went my cheeks again. Oh well. It was a work in progress.