Page 16 of Colt’s Betrayal

Jayne says something I can't hear. His other hand settles on her hip, and when he puts his mouth on hers, everything in me goes white-hot. She doesn't freeze. Her foot comes down hard, she shoves him off and twists free before I can reach them.

Raze turns at the sound of my bike. He doesn't know it's mine, but maybe he suspects. For a man who spent the evening telling Jayne how much tougher he is than Kingdom Come, he makes his decision to leave pretty fucking fast. He backs away from her, throws a leg over his bike and fires the engine.

I could probably reach him before he clears the lot and every part of me wants to try.

Then I see Jayne standing beside her car, breathing hard with one hand braced against the roof, and remember why she's here. If I give chase and drag Raze off that bike now, he knows the date wasn't what he thought it was. Whatever he told her becomes useless, Perdition changes whatever they've planned, and Jayne put herself in front of that bastard for nothing.

So I make myself watch him ride away, and it might be the hardest thing I've done in years. The second his taillight disappears, I go to her. She's pale, but she's standing on her own and looking pissed more than frightened. I cup the side of her face before I stop to think whether she'll want me touching her after him.

“You okay?”

She nods, then catches my wrist before I can look toward the road again. “Friday night. Blackwater Road. There's an old logging turnoff about six miles east of the river crossing.” My attention snaps back to her.

“He said Kane will be riding to meet Cyrus. You and Judge will be with him, and they'll hit you before you get there.”

The rage in me has to make room for something colder. “You're sure?”

“Completely. I made him think I didn't believe Perdition could take you, and he couldn't stand it. He told me exactly where because he wanted to prove what a tough guy he was.”

Of course he fucking did. I glance once toward the road where Raze disappeared. “And what happened outside?”

“He kissed me.”

“Forced you?”

“Yeah.” She touches her lips.

That's enough to have me turning toward my bike but Jayne grabs my arm.

“Don't.”

“I know where he's going.”

“And if you follow him, he'll know something's wrong. He'll know why I was there.”

“I watched him put his hands on you.”

“I know what you saw.” She moves in front of me, forcing me to look at her rather than the road. “But if he works out I was getting information from him, Perdition changes the place, the time, maybe the whole thing. Then all we know is they're still planning to kill you.”

There is nothing soft about her expression. She's angry too, except she's thinking past it better than I am.

“Don't make what I just did pointless because you want to hit him.”

That gets through. I stand there for a moment, breathing through the urge to go after him anyway. “There isn't another date with him.”

“I wasn't planning one.”

“No more getting near him for information. Whatever Kane thinks we still need, he gets it another way.”

Jayne studies me, then nods. “Fine by me.” The lack of argument tells me everything. I saw what happened in the parking lot with Raze, and it shook her.

“You're not going home tonight.” Her eyebrows rise.

“Raze knows where you live,” I tell her. “He thinks you turning him down is some game, and he just proved he doesn't hear no when he doesn't like it. I'm not leaving you alone in that house while he's still riding around.”

Jayne glances at her car before looking back at me. “The compound?”

“Yeah.”