Bane

Moments passed and the doorbell did not sound again. She sighed in relief—and then there was a hard knock. She swallowed. The person hadn’t gone away. Either she answered it or continued to pretend she wasn’t there. Since the latter hadn’t worked so far, she rushed into her bedroom and grabbed her revolver out of the nightstand drawer.

She’d grown up around guns, and thanks to Bane she knew how to use one. This neighborhood was pretty safe, and even though she’d figured she’d never need to use it, she had bought the gun anyway. A woman living alone needed to be cautious.

By the time she’d made it back to the living room, there was a second knock. She moved toward the door, but stopped five feet away. She called out, “Who is it?” and tightened her hands on the revolver.

There was a moment of silence. And then a voice said, “It’s me, Crystal. Bane.”

Two (#ulink_bb6d09b1-3586-5e65-97d5-d5fb64259d84)

The revolver Crystal held almost fell from her hand.

Bane?My Bane? No way, she thought, backing up. It had to be an impostor. It didn’t even sound like Bane. This voice was deeper, huskier.

If it was a trick, who knew of her relationship with Brisbane Westmoreland? And if it really was Bane, why had he shown up on her doorstep now? Why tonight of all nights?

It just wasn’t logical for her to have been thinking about him only moments ago and for him to be here now. She would go with her first assumption. The person at the door claiming to be Bane wasn’t him.

“You aren’t Bane. Go away or I’ll call the police,” she threatened loudly. “I have a gun and will shoot if I have to.”

“Crystal Gayle, it is me. Honest. It’s Bane.”

Crystal Gayle? She sucked in a deep breath. Nobody called her that but her parents...and Bane. When she was young, she had hated being called by her first and middle names, which her father had given her, naming her after his favorite country singer. But Bane had made her like it when he’d called her that on occasion. Could it really be him at the door?

Lowering the gun, she looked out the peephole. Her gaze connected to a gorgeous pair of hazel eyes with a greenish tint. They were eyes she knew. It was Bane.

She was about to open the door when she remembered the note. Trust no one. But this wasn’t just anyone, she reasoned with herself. This was Bane.

She unlocked the door and stepped back. Soft porch light poured into her foyer as Bane eased open the door. He’d always been tall and lanky, but the man entering her house appeared a lot taller than she remembered. And he was no longer slender. He was all muscles and they were in perfect proportion to his height and weight. It was obvious he worked out a lot to stay in shape. His body exemplified endurance and strength. And when her gaze settled on his face, she drew in a deep, sharp breath. He even looked different. Rougher. Tougher.

The eyes were the same but she’d never seen him with facial hair before. He’d always been handsome in a boyish sort of way, but his features now were perfectly masculine. They appeared chiseled, his lips sculpted. She was looking into the most handsome face she’d ever seen.

He not only looked older and more mature, but he also looked military—even while wearing jeans, a chambray shirt, a leather bomber jacket, Western boots and a Stetson. There was something about the way he stood, upright and straight. And all this transformation had come from being in the navy?

He closed the door behind him, staring at her just as she was staring at him. Her heart pounded. A part of her wanted to race over to him, tell him how glad she was to see him, how much she had missed him...but she couldn’t. Her legs refused to move and she knew why. This Bane was like a stranger to her.

“Crystal.”

She hadn’t imagined it. His voice had gotten deeper. Sounded purely sexy to her ears. “Bane.”

“You look good.”

She blinked at his words and said the first thing that came to her mind. “You look good, too. And different.”

He smiled and her breath caught. He still had that Brisbane Westmoreland smile. The one that spread across a full mouth and showed teeth that were perfectly even and sparkling white against mocha-colored skin. The familiarity warmed her inside.

“I am different. I’m not the same Bane. The military has a way of doing that to you,” he said, in that husky voice she was trying to get used to hearing.

He was admitting to being different.

Was this his way of saying his transformation had changed his preferences? Like his taste in women? He was older now, five years older, in fact. Had he shown up on her doorstep tonight of all nights to let her know that he wanted a divorce?

Fine, she would deal with it. She had no choice. Besides, she wasn’t sure if she would like the new Bane anyway. He was probably doing her a favor.

“Okay,” she said, placing her revolver on the coffee table. “If you brought any papers with you that require my signature, then give them to me.”

He lifted a brow. “Papers?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of papers?”

Instead of answering, she glanced at her watch. She needed to call a cab to the airport. The plane to the Bahamas would take off in three hours.

“Crystal? What kind of papers are you talking about?”

She glanced back over at him. And why did her gaze automatically go to his mouth, the same mouth that had taught her how to kiss and given her so much pleasure? And why was she recalling a lot of those kisses right now? She drew in a deep, shallow breath. “Divorce papers.”

“Is that why you think I’m here?”

Was she imagining things or had his voice sounded brisk? She shrugged. Why were they even having this conversation? Why couldn’t he just give her the papers and be on his way so she could be on hers? After all, it had been five years. She got that. Did it matter that she had spent all that time waiting for him to show up?

“Crystal? Is that why you think I’m here? To ask for a divorce?” He repeated the question and she noticed his tone still had a brusque edge.

She held his gaze. “What other reason could there be?”

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and braced his legs apart in a stance that was as daunting as it was sexy. It definitely brought emphasis to his massive shoulders, the solidness of chest and his chiseled good looks.

“Did you consider that maybe I’m here to keep that promise I made about coming back for you?”

She blinked, not sure she’d heard him correctly. “You aren’t here to ask for a divorce?”

“No. What makes you think I’d want to divorce you?”

She could give him a number of reasons once her head stopped spinning. Instead, she said what was in the forefront of her mind. “Well, it has been five years, Bane.”

“I told you I’d come back for you.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “Yes, but I hadn’t counted on it being five years. Five years without a single word from you. Besides, you just said you’ve changed.”

The look in his eyes indicated he was having a hard time keeping up with her. “I have changed, Crystal. Being a SEAL has a way of changing you, but that has nothing to do—”

“SEAL? You’re a navy SEAL?”

“Yes.”

Now she was the one having a hard time keeping up. “I knew you’d joined the navy, but I figured you’d been assigned to a ship somewhere.”

He nodded. “I would have been if my captain in boot camp hadn’t thought I would be a good fit for the SEALs. He cut through a lot of red tape for me to go to the naval academy.”