Through The Weeds (Nightshade MC Book 2) (23 page)

Buster didn't realize that they had an audience until Train stepped forward. “They dosed them, all of them. Jillian managed to not swallow the pill and spit it out.” His expression was serious as he moved forward and crouched down next to them. “Tell me what I can do.”

Buster realized that meant Jillian had been awake and aware the entire time. If there was any silver lining in what happened to Caroline, it was that if she'd been dosed, she likely wouldn't remember much. Caroline stopped screaming when Train spoke. “Help me get her out of here. Is everything ready?”

“It's good to go. Danny's taking Amelia back to their place. She was hit in the shoulder, hit her head when she went down, but I think that it's going to be something Maggie can fix. Ace is still downstairs trying to get Jillian out. He's gonna need a few minutes with that.” Train cleared his throat. “She tell you anything?”

“She's going to need to see Maggie. He burned her. It's pretty bad. Got to be cleaned and wrapped.” Buster eased Caroline back in the chair, freed her legs. “Can you walk, Caroline?”

Caroline looked at him then. Her eyes widened as if she'd just realized who he was. “Does this mean that I'm dead or you're alive?” she asked.

“We're both alive, Caroline. And Jake isn't. He's dead. He will never hurt you again.” Buster reached out, cupped the side of her face with his hand. He'd expected that she'd pull away, but she didn't. Instead, she leaned into the touch.

“You killed him?”

“With your stapler.” Buster looked over as Train chuckled. “You ready to get out of here and go home?”

“Jillian and Amelia. Are they...”

“They're alive. They're with their old men, and they're going to be fine.” Even though Buster wasn't sure that Jillian would ever be fine again, there was no way he was going to tell Caroline that now. Right now, she didn't need anything else to hurt her.

“I need to see them.”

“You will, but first, we need to get you home.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I need to see them, now.” Buster didn't think that it was a good idea, and it must have shown on his face. Her eyes narrowed, and he knew that she wasn't going to budge. It both surprised him and gave him hope that she hadn't been broken by whatever had taken place in this room.

“Alright.” Buster leaned in and kissed her lightly in case it was too much, but she deepened the kiss, and his cock swelled. He pulled back because she was too fragile for more.

“Give me your arm.” Train's voice broke into the moment. “Got to at least get it covered, or it's going to get more infected. Now would be good.”

Caroline smiled for the first time and held out her arm. “Be careful.”

Buster knew that Train would be gentle with her. It gave him his first view of her arm, and his stomach clenched with tight hot anger. The letters weren't perfect, but he could make out what they were because he knew. Jake had taken inspiration from a Nightshade tradition and used a brand. If it were possible to kill the man again, he would, and it would be much more than blows to the head.

<#<#<#<#

It took an hour for Caroline to calm Jillian down enough to go with Ace. In that time, Buster had made sure that Train was on top of everything and the guys weren't clearing the rooms out too much. It needed to look like they hadn't known this was coming. When the cops did come around, it would look like The Wild Cards had accidentally exploded their devices before they got out. They'd buy it because there would be no other explanation, or at least that was what Buster hoped.

“We're ready when you are, Buster.” Train had a small black control in his hand. “Cleared the place myself. Everyone's out.”

“Do it,” Buster replied. “I'm going to get Caroline home. Maggie should be there any minute, and her arm needs the attention.”

“I've got this.”

“You're more than welcome to come and stay at my place. You know that, right?”

“I know. But I'm gonna take that house on Maple. It's got electricity and water. It'll do until I figure something out.”

“It's yours as long as you want.” Buster figured it was the least that they could do for the man. “It's a good place.”

“Good as any. Get out of here.” Train looked over as Caroline got out of the truck. “Someone's feeling a little bit clingy.”

“She's got the right to be. Thanks, Brother. Come by the house in the morning. We'll regroup. Figure something out.”

“Sounds good. See you there.”

Buster turned to Caroline as Train walked away. “You should be in the truck. Sitting and resting.”

“I'm fine. You're not. What's going on? Don't look at me like that. I'm not stupid. Tell me, so we can go home and I can get some drugs.”

“We're going to blow the bar up.” Buster was too tired to beat around the bush. “There's too much blood and too many bodies to cover up. It's the only way.”

“That sucks.” She looked over towards the bar. “Maybe we should have shot him the minute he walked through the door.”

“Maybe.” Buster grabbed her chin and turned her head until her eyes were on his. “And maybe he'd have killed you right there. You did good, Caroline. Really good. Don't you doubt that. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Good. Get into the truck. It's time to go.” He helped her into the truck next to Jillian and walked around to the passenger side. Manuel was behind the wheel. Buster nodded to him. “Thank you, Brother.”

“My pleasure,” Manuel replied. He pulled away from the curb just as there was the sound of faint sirens in the night. Detroit's finest, and Harris, were on their way. The rumble of the explosion a few seconds later filled the truck. Manuel sped up and Buster turned to watch through the back window as the bar burned away.

Chapter Twenty

“This is going to scar, there's no way around it.” Maggie spoke softly as she applied a thick cream to the burn on Caroline's arm. “The good news, if any news can be good, is that the severity of the burn and the amount of skin I had to remove will likely make the letters unrecognizable.”

“And the bad news?” Buster asked.

“Infection has already set in. You're going to need to take antibiotics to counter it and be very careful with keeping it dry. I'm also going to recommend that you limit the movement as much as possible. I've got a sling in the truck.”

“That's not so bad.” Caroline reached out with her good hand and squeezed Buster's hand. “Right?”

“Right,” he replied but he didn't even crack a smile.

“I can give you something for the pain and something to help you sleep. Right now, I think that you're still in a bit of shock, which is perfectly natural, all things considered.”

“It could have been a lot worse.” Caroline knew that was true. She could have had the same experience that Jillian had. “I'll be fine.” She looked over when Buster sighed. “What?”

“Stop trying to downplay what happened to you.” There was an anger in his voice that she hadn't expected. “Just because Jillian and Amelia were hurt worse than you are doesn't mean that what happened to you is nothing.”

“In comparison, it is.” Caroline didn't mean to raise her voice but it came out at nearly a shout. “I wasn't raped. I wasn't shot!”

“You were tortured!” Buster shot back. “Tied up and drugged!”

“You don't need to remind me what happened. I remember.” She remembered everything that had happened before the drugs and most of what happened after. “And I got off easy.”

“There's nothing easy about it. He branded you, marked you.” He shook his head. “Is this part of the shock, Maggie? Or the concussion?”

“It's not the shock or concussion. This is me, being me,” Caroline replied.

“It's been a long and difficult day for everyone.” Maggie spoke up. “For now, it might be best if you agree to disagree about this.” She began to pack her things back into her kit. “Here are the pills, Caroline. I suggest that you take them now. Get some sleep.”

Caroline wasn't tired. She didn't say that, and she had no intention of taking the pills, at least not yet. “I just want to check on Jillian first. Make sure that she's settled.”

“She's out for the count. I didn't give her an option in taking the pills,” Maggie replied.

“Still, I want to see for myself.” Caroline heard Buster mutter something underneath his breath, and she ignored him. “And after that, I'll take the pills. Okay?” She looked to Buster.

“Do what you'd like to do, Caroline. It's what you're going to do anyway,” he said and then sighed. “Shit, that didn't come out right.”

“I think it came out just how you wanted it to. I get that you're pissed about today, pissed about what happened and losing the bar but that doesn't mean that you need to get frustrated with me.”

“And how should I feel with you?” He demanded. “Ever since you stopped screaming, you haven't seemed to give a fuck about you. It's been about Jillian or Amelia or even me with the bar. What about what happened to you?”

“You think focusing on what that son of a bitch did would make it easier for me? You want me to get locked in my head and think of nothing but the way I could smell myself cooking when he took the brand to me?” The scent was still in her nostrils, despite a shower where she'd all but drowned herself under the steamy spray as best she could while keeping her bandage dry. “Is that what you want?” She was screaming again. She never screamed like this.

“No. I want this to have never fucking happened. I want to have been able to keep you safe.”

His words stopped whatever Caroline was going to say next as she realized that he blamed himself for what Jake had done. “This isn't your fault, Buster. You couldn't have known.”

“I should have known.” He shouted the words. “I should have taken Jake out long before tonight, before he got his hands on you.”

“You couldn't have known,” Caroline repeated. “No one could have known.” She noticed that Maggie had taken her kit and eased away from them during their outburst. It was probably a smart move. “I'm fine, Buster. Really.”

“No, Caroline. You're not fine. You're trying to be strong or...”

“I can't dwell on it. I've got to keep moving. I've got to focus on something else. Please. Please let me do that.” Caroline heard her voice shake. “Because if I start crying, if I let myself break down, I'm not going to stop, and then I'm not going to be good for anyone.”

“You're always going to be good for me.” He closed the distance between them. “I'm flying blind here. I don't know what to do for you.”

“Come check on Jillian with me, and then let's go to bed. Let's put this day behind us.” Caroline reached out and ran her hands over his chest. “It was a pretty shit day all around.”

“That it was.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “If Jillian's sleeping, we shouldn't wake her. Her body needs to rest.”

“I know. I just want to see her and make sure that Ace is okay.” Caroline could barely breathe when she thought about how much everyone had lost because of Jake and his bullshit. Ace had almost lost Jillian. Danny had almost lost Amelia, and they'd all lost the place that they considered to be their home base. “Wait, Train lived at the bar. Where is he now?”

“He's staying in one of the houses we're nearly finished with. I invited him to stay here, but he likes his alone space. He'll be fine,” he added with a smile. “I'd tell you not to worry about him, but I figure that's a lost cause.”

Caroline had to smile. “Yeah, it pretty much is.” There was something that she was more worried about than Train's well being. Jake had known things, things that weren't well known, like Buster's money, and she couldn't help but wonder how he'd known. How did she bring it up to Buster? How did she suggest that there was an informant so soon after Edge's betrayal?

<#<#<#<#

Caroline stared down at the bandage covering most of her lower arm and sighed. There would be scarring. She'd never forget the moment or the intensity of the pain, but it was something that she could live with. She was lucky it was the price she paid, because Jillian and Amelia had paid more.

Jillian was a shell. She hadn't spoken since they'd found her. Only whimpers. Maggie had strongly suggested a hospital, maybe a psychiatric ward where she could get some help dealing with what had happened to her. Ace had nearly taken her head off right there. No hospital. No shrinks. He'd said that Jillian wouldn't want to be locked up, and that was the end of it. Maggie let it go, but Caroline wondered if she'd been right. Amelia was drugged into a deep sleep. She'd lost a lot of blood and her body needed to heal. She hadn't been raped; she'd told Danny that much in a brief moment of lucidity. Caroline didn't know why she was so worried about her, but she was.

Caroline shifted on the bed, onto her side where she could leave her arm stretched out. She'd swallowed the pain killers before she'd gotten into bed. All she could do was hope that they'd kick in soon. She heard Buster come out of the bathroom, but she remained where she was.

The light turned off. She felt the bed shift with his weight and then his arm was over her waist. “Is this okay?” He pressed a kiss to her shoulder through the faded tee shirt she'd put on. The simple touch sent a tremor through her entire body. Buster chuckled. “I'm going to take that as a yes.”

“And you should,” Caroline slid back until she felt him against her.

“I don't know what I would have done if something more had happened to you today.” His voice was serious. His hand moved to her hip and gripped. “I thought that I'd lost you and...”

“I know.” Caroline shut her eyes and concentrated on his warmth. “I... I thought the same thing and I...” she sighed. “I gave up. I was high and I was ready. And then the next thing I knew, you were there. I must have passed out. I was so high.”

“You were scared. I'm sorry you were scared. I'm sorry for all of it.” He pressed another kiss to her shoulder. “But it's over now. It's all over. Nothing is ever going to hurt you again.”

Caroline was pretty sure that wasn't true, but she couldn't bring herself to say that to him. She couldn't take away his hope, even if hers was smashed to bits. She tried to turn to face him, but her arm got in the way. She let out a hiss of pain and lay back where she had been.

“Do you want another pill?” His voice was full of concern.

Another pill would probably be nice, but she'd spent enough time that day high. “I'm just waiting for what I just took to kick in. I'll be fine. I'm home now. I'm with you and I'm safe.” She shut her eyes with a smile as he nuzzled his face against the back of her neck. “I have heard that orgasms are pretty effective as a pain killer.”

“Is that so?” Buster asked.

“It's a scientifically proven fact.” Caroline replied. She was reasonably sure that it was, at least, and even if it wasn't, it really didn't matter. She felt Buster's hand start to move in slow circles on her hip, teasing circles that moved towards her center.

“Well, who am I to argue with science?” He nipped down on her shoulder. Caroline's body started to hum; the slight burst of pain had sent warmth to every part of her body. “I've got to remember your arm. I don't want to hurt you, tell me if I do.”

“You won't. My arm feels better. Much much better.” And even better when his fingers brushed over her thighs. Why had she put on pants to sleep in? Naked would be so much better and faster. “Help me get undressed?”

“You'll never have to ask me twice to take your clothes off.” He removed his hand. Caroline sighed at the lack of contact but rolled onto her back. “You got anything under these pants? I bet you don't.” Caroline grinned at him and lifted her hips so he could pull the pants down. He made no comment on the fact that they were bright blue with little ducks wearing rain coats all over the material, which made Caroline realize that all of her pajamas were a little off the wall, except for a few things she'd bought lately that were on the sexy side.

“You still with me?” he asked with a smile as he threw the pants onto the floor.

“I'm here. I was just thinking... I could wear different pajamas, sexier pajamas.”

“These are some sexy pajamas. Ducks in the rain? That's hot. You're hot no matter what you're wearing or not wearing. Got it?” His expression was so serious that she knew his words were from the heart. Finally, she knew what it felt like to have someone who loved her not in spite of her quirks but because of them. There really wasn't much more she could ask for in life. So what if their world wasn't always safe? It was a small price to pay.

“I've got it. I've still got a shirt on, too. It's kind of in the way.” Buster laughed and the warmth she'd felt spread fire. The shirt couldn't come off quickly enough. She sat up, tried to take it off herself, but he stopped her.

“Let me.” His hands were gentler than hers would have been. He moved forward, brought his mouth to hers. He kissed her until she wasn't capable of any thought but just how badly she needed to feel him inside of her.

“Buster. Please.” She gripped his back with her one good hand.

“Please what?”

“I need you. Now. Please,” Caroline pleaded. She nipped at his bottom lip. He responded with a growl and then every illusion she had about being in control of the kiss was gone as he completely took over. It wasn't just his mouth, he was pressed against her, hard and long. She wanted him, all of him. “Please.”

Buster pulled back from her. Confusion overtook her mind until she realized that he'd only done so in order to take off his pants. He returned to the bed, slid his hands beneath one knee to push it open wider as the other hand stroked along her opening. “I was going to say that you weren't ready, but you feel pretty ready to me.”

Caroline lifted her hips to give him better access. She threw her head back and moaned as he slid two fingers inside of her. It felt amazing, but she wanted more. She needed more. She needed it all. He must have seen it in her eyes or felt it in the way that warmth rushed between her legs.

He didn't make her wait any longer. One second his fingers were gone, and he next he was inside of her. All the way inside of her in one deep thrust. Caroline felt the burn as her body adjusted to him, and it made her hips rock of their own accord. “Fuck. Fuck.” Buster remained perfectly still. “Oh, that's good. You feel so good.”

Caroline didn't think good was a strong enough word. He felt absolutely amazing inside of her. She rolled her hips against him, but he still didn't move. “Buster!” She swatted at his arm with her good hand. “Don't tease me.”

“Who's teasing?” He leaned down and captured her lips with his. “You feel so good, I move now and I might just embarrass myself.” He pulled back with a grin.

“You are so not funny.” Caroline couldn't help but let out a laugh. He hooked his other hand beneath her knee, and then he was even deeper inside of her. “Oh!” She pushed her hips up against him, but he held her legs tight, kept her in place. Buster began to move in her, filling her only to pull back so that only the very tip of him was inside of her. It wasn't enough, and it was too much all at once.