She saw his face tense, felt his rigid body dampen with sweat, and he gritted his teeth with her news. He quickly stood up and moved away from her, yanking up his pants as he did.
“Get dressed.”
“Braden, it’s-”
“I said get dressed and do it now.”
The soft rain turned violent all at one time and lightning zapped across the sky. The darkness opened up with the bolts of electricity dancing out in a very unique pattern but the true thunder of a pending storm loomed somewhere else.
“Braden, it’s probably nothing. I’m…” What did she say now? Did she tell him it was probably the safest time of the month when the opposite actually applied?
“Peyton! Damn it! I said, get dressed or else I’ll drive you up there as-is. We’ve all seen you naked now, no need for modesty.”
She bit the inside of her jaw and glared at him. Yanking her clothes on, she cursed under her breath. Why did she have to react when she saw the rubber? Why did she have to tell Braden about the club?
She swiped the tears away from her cheeks and tried to gauge the anger Evan faced. Braden kept his back to her, not a good sign by any stretch of the imagination.
“What the hell, Braden?” She grabbed her shirt from the leather seat and poked her hands through the sleeves. “What the hell did you expect in a club? Did you honestly think he was going to roll a rubber over his cock in front of everyone there?”
Braden kicked the wheel of the truck. “Damn it! What I expect is for Kane and Evan both to take care of you! What I want is to keep you safe! What is unacceptable is for Evan to take you to a club like Clink in the first place.
“What the fuck do you want me to say, Peyton? Huh? Do you want me to tell you I wanted Evan to fuck you in front of the whole damn community? That I’m as proud as fucking hell he didn’t use a condom? How about I just go congratulate him for being the smart one of the bunch? After all, maybe if he knocks you up, he’ll have a clear advantage!”
“Oh screw you, Braden.” She barely whispered it, hardly believed she spoke it with enough passion to ensure him she meant it. The tears began again but she didn’t notice them as she sprinted into the rain and ran straight for the house. She had to get to Evan before Braden got there.
“Evan!” She screamed into her open palms as she ran. She heard Braden’s truck rev in the distance, and the crunch of gravels flying. She slid face down on the incline of the last hill in front of the house as the headlights beamed bright into the night. The rain pellets hit her in the face, and her hair stuck to her cheeks.
She cursed the mud and her inability to stay on her feet as she moved faster and faster toward the house. She heard the screeching tires and soon the headlights dimmed. The slam of the door assured her Braden beat her there. He arrived first.
“Braden, wait!” She dug her heels into the ground harder and still she wasn’t fast enough.
She hit the front door of the house and heard Braden shouting for him. He was upstairs storming toward Evan’s room. And Kane and Evan stepped out of the media room with wild, wide eyes.
Chapter 24
“Peyton? What’s wrong? Are you hurt? What’s wrong with Braden?” Questions riddled around her. She didn’t know who asked what.
“Evan, get out of here! Now!” Peyton pushed him toward the back door. “Please, Evan!”
Kane grabbed her and shook her. “Peyton, you’re acting like a crazy woman. What’s wrong? What happened?”
Braden stormed across the second story of the house. “Evan! Evan, damn you! Where are you?”
Kane narrowed his eyes on her. “Peyton?”
“Get out of here now, Evan. Please, he’s going to kill you!”
“Peyton, what the hell is this about?” Evan asked.
“I told, Braden…I didn’t mean to tell him but I told him I, we, didn’t use a…” She stopped herself from saying more. By the look on Kane’s face, she’d already said far too much.
“You fucked her without a condom?” he demanded through clenched teeth.
Evan dropped his head and then looked back up at Peyton as Braden raced down the steps. “Peyton, I shouldn’t have. I thought…ah hell, I didn’t think. It never crossed my mind.”
“Why you fucking little bastard!” Kane gritted his teeth but at the same time, his arm flew out, and he held Braden off, at least long enough to postpone the first blow. “Braden, get a hold of yourself.”
Somehow, Kane remained calm. Peyton didn’t know how he managed it because she saw the fury in his eyes as well, but he controlled his own rage in order to stop one brother from fighting the other.
“I didn’t think, Braden. Are you going to tell me you’ve always stopped to think about birth control in the heat of the moment?”
“This isn’t any chick, Evan!” Braden’s strong voice of concern laced through his words as much as his anger. “This is Peyton!”
“Exactly! This is Peyton. Do you think I would do anything on purpose to hurt her?”
“You only think with your cock, and you don’t give a damn about how toxic you are. You could get her pregnant!”
“And he couldn’t?” He pointed to Kane. “For that matter, you probably could if you two were talking rubbers tonight, besides I thought Kane took her to see the doctor about birth control. Hell, I just didn’t think to ask. Shoot me!”
“Don’t fucking tempt us,” Kane said.
Peyton shivered as she held onto her elbows and kept her arms crossed over her chest. Her arms were shaking from cold and from fear.
“Go upstairs, Peyton.” Evan told her.
“Mind him,” Kane said.
“Mind…him?” Her teeth chattered as she asked for clarification.
“Yes! Damn it! You’re the one bound and determined to become a submissive and let me make one thing perfectly clear. If we train you as a submissive, and we all decide we’re going to live in the lifestyle, you’re damn sure going to do it around the clock!”
Peyton jumped back. Flabbergasted by the day’s events, she issued a threat. “I’m moving out.”
“The hell you are!” Kane snatched her hand.
She yanked it away. Her vision blurred, maybe from rage. She couldn’t think of one time in her life where her anger held her hostage. Right now, it did. She didn’t know what she wanted to say or what she wanted to do. She just wanted to run.
“If I had anywhere to go, I’d leave tonight.”
“Sugar, you have somewhere to go. I promise you. Right now, I can’t get you there fast enough.” Kane picked her up, slung her over his thick shoulder and started up the steps with her. Halfway up the steps, he turned to Braden and Evan. “I’m going to get her cleaned up and if you two can’t get along, go to fucking bed. That’s where we’re headed.”
Kane didn’t try to make love to her. He held her all night long. She cried awhile, cuddled with him some, and finally fell asleep in his arms. When he’d brought her upstairs, he’d wanted to take care of her, bathe her and hold her.
After she showered, her cheeks stayed so red from where the rain beat against them, Kane wanted to take up arms and battle the weather in her defense. She looked like a battered angel, and his guts twisted as he watched her sleep.
