The scent of the ocean in her hair
Chapter 2
Bass leans back in his chair. Miles puts a bottle with strong whiskey to his lips. There is an easy silence that fills the kitchen, one that comes from many years of being brothers. Because Miles can deny that all he fucking wants, Bass knows the truth. It's right here with them, at the end of another day and with a bottle on a kitchen table.
Both men are drinking in silence. Blanchard had informed them about a Patriot camp scouts had discovered just across the Mexican border. He gave orders to make sure the whole camp would be wiped off the map. Something he had absolutely no fucking problem with. But Miles had been busy doing his whole pathetic frowning thing in Blanchard's office.
There had been some entertainment. There is a wide grin on Bass' face when he remembers Walnut's face and the panic in the man's eyes when his wife had showed up unannounced in his damn office. Pissed as hell about rumours about some whore that spent the night in his mansion.
It's almost midnight and he is fucking done with a whining brother who used to take a chance to fight when he got one.
Bass lets the whiskey burn in the back of his throat when he looks at Miles. The problem isn't that Miles does not want to fight. The problem is a certain holier than thou bitch who is trying to change his brother into a man he isn't.
'Come on man...it's only a week.' Bass' voice is filled with rough irritation.
Miles is about to say something when another Matheson walks into the kitchen. Bass looks over his shoulder. And she is all curves and hips and Matheson smirk.
Without saying a word she walks to the table and takes the bottle out of his damn hands. Her eyes meet his when her full lips touch the glass of the bottle. His brother is sitting next to him and he knows he really should stop staring at her.
'I'm going.' The tip of her tongue moves over her bottom lip to catch a drop of whiskey.
'How do you know about where we are going, genius ?' Bass asks, shifting in his seat, adjusting his leather jacket. Knowing he will think about her tongue and that smart mouth of hers and all the different fucking things she could do with it, when it will be just him and his right hand back at his place later tonight.
'Doesn't matter. I'm going.'
Miles' sigh fills the kitchen. He moves his hand over his face. There is the start of a splitting headache somewhere behind his eyes. There is a grin appearing on Bass' face at so much of stubborn Charlotte so close.
Miles looks at her before he nods to Bass. 'You know that moron will be there, right?'
'Yeah, so?'
Bass' grin turns into irritation. 'That's nice Miles..I am sitting right fucking here.'
Charlie takes another swig from the bottle before she puts it back on the table. Her eyes are blue certain stubbornness when she looks at Miles.
'Kid...I...'
'I said, I am going.' She casually turns and starts to walk to the hallway.
'And where do you think you're going?' Miles follows her with his eyes.
'To bed.' And with those two words, Charlie swings her hips out of the kitchen.
When Miles looks at Bass again he notices Bass' smirk. 'What are you looking at?' Miles grabs the bottle from the table before Bass can.
'Like you would have been able to say no to her, right?' There is smug satisfaction in his voice, although he can't keep all the warmth out of his eyes when he mentions her. He steals the bottle back from Miles.
'Just shut up, you moron.' Deep eyes find blue ones.
'Dick.' Bass mutters under his breath. He lets the whiskey burn in the back of his throat before he gives the bottle back to Miles.
One week later
The sun is strong, the Mexican border is close. Bass is riding right behind her. The warmth of the sun teases the drops of sweat that move from his tanned neck to his wide chest. The weight of his sword rests against his strong thigh. He can barely remember a life where that sword wasn't there, as a part of himself.
He is watching how the wind is playing with her hair. It caresses her slender shoulders and the strong lines of her back. And dammit, it accentuates the curves of her damn hips and ass.
Charlie never asked them if she could join them on this mission. She just walked into the kitchen, grabbed that damn bottle out of his hands and told them she was going. There is a stupid as fuck grin on his face when he remembers that night and what he did when he came home before he was able to get some sleep.
Because she can hide it all she wants, she knows she craves this fight almost as much as he does. She needs it.
'And what are you grinning at?' Miles' voice is there all of a sudden. Yanking him out of his thoughts and his eyes away from her.
'I am just enjoying being on the road with my brother again...' His voice is smug and low. 'You got a problem with that?'
Miles' eyes shoot annoyed thunder at him.
Charlie turns in her saddle towards the both of them. She is hungry and tired and she has enough of their bullshit for today.
She rolls her eyes at both men. 'Are you guys going to act like a couple of twelve year olds? Or are we going to find a place to stay for tonight?'
They find a spot to spend the night when they find an old hangar. It's no longer used now the blackout made it obsolete. The structure is almost forgotten, now nature has claimed the structure for itself. The shadow of the hangar shields them from unwanted eyes.
Willoughby is hundreds of miles behind them. And although the days are filled with warmth, the nights are still filled with coolness.
Bass watches her when they make camp for the night. She is gathering wood for a fire. She hands him the logs of wood but he can see that her thoughts are with his brother who is sitting on a rock a bit further ahead.
Charlie can feel Monroe's eyes follow her as she walks over and sits down next to Miles. She can see how much fills his thoughts just by looking at him. Neither of them talks for a long while. The first stars appear high above them.
'So...you and my mom...'
'What about me and your mom?' He looks up. His eyes meet hers.
'I know things between you and her are hard and I...'
'Why don't you leave the worrying about me and your mom to me Charlie?' There is a deep honest warmth in his voice. He is not trying to push her away like he had done so many times before when she had tried to talk to him when everything was still so different.
Her shoulder leans against his arm when his mind is trying to find a way to make her understand. He needs her to understand this. All this bullshit between him and Rachel isn't something she should worry about after everything life had put her through. They had put her through. But he knows she will.
Because she is unable to look away when people are struggling. With a sudden sharp ache inside his chest, he realizes she is so much like the Bass he grew up with. She has no idea how fucking much she can be just like who used to be sometimes.
He looks at Charlie . 'I love her kid...I really do...' His heart pounds in his chest, he feels the internal fight of sharing a part of himself he really wants to hide from everybody.
'...you just don't know if it's enough?' Her voice is steady in the night.
She can see the acknowledgement in his eyes. There is a sad small smile on her face.
'You really are unusual, you know that right?'
'You said so before...' Charlie smiles back at him before they both sit on a rock and stare into the darkness that is slowly covering the landscape around them. The soft light of the fire behind him. Sitting with him at the end of the day always calms her. Shoulder to shoulder with Miles, without the pressure to talk.
Before she walks back to the fire and a warm blanket because her muscles feel sore and her eyes feel heavy, she moves her hand over his shoulder. She can feel Miles' broad strong shoulder against the palm of her hand. He doesn't look up but everything is said without a word between the both of them.
Bass sits in front of the small fire. His strong back leans against a log behind him. He watches his brother and the rare gentle touch of Charlotte's hand on his shoulder. It is almost too hard to watch and he feels tension rise in his jaws. But he can't look the hell away.
He knows why Miles is sitting there, alone with a bottle and his thoughts. He has seen him like this, many times before. It is something Rachel never ever got, and he doubts she ever fucking will. To understand when to give Miles his space when he needs it.
So he sits in front of their fire and adds some more wood to keep it going. Watching Miles. Watching her until she walks back to him and the fire. Her pack and blanket are both close to his damn boots, laying between him and the fire.
Charlie feels the start of a shiver move through her body. She grabs her blanket and feels the welcoming pressure of her blanket around her shoulder and legs while she curls up in front of the fire. She can sense Monroe behind her. She uses her pack as a pillow.
The noises of the fire are mixing with the darkness of the clear night and the scent of wood. There is cool air around them that slowly creeps over the forest ground and into the branches of the trees around them. It is caressing her cheeks and nose.
Bass swallows. He has to. Because every god damn time she falls asleep like that, laying so close to him, something breaks and heals at the same time inside of him.
It's another show of faith from her. Of trusting him. Of knowing she has accepted the fact that he has her back when she is asleep. It's her here. Miles here. Both of them here, on the road, relying on each other to make it through another day.
Charlie yawns. The blanket and the fire are warming her. Her head is close to Monroe' thigh. His scent of leather and being on the road is even closer. Miles comforting and familiar silhouette is there not far away from her and Monroe, a bottle in his hand.
With her eyes closed, she can hear the sounds of the forest she has known almost all her life. The warmth of the fire radiates towards her. Her muscles can finally relax, although her knife is always there, against her hip. Ready for anything and there for so long now, that it became an integral part of who she she is.
At the edge of falling asleep she hears how Miles walks back to her and Monroe. They are going through some strategies for the raid that is only a couple of days away. It quickly turns into two men who are talking about memories and cities, they both remember when they think she is asleep. She falls asleep with their low voices close.
Author's Note Chapter three is almost ready to be published. The warm sand of the beach in Mexico will be in that chapter. Thank you so much for your reviews and follows and favorites for last chapter, I really appreciate them. Life is very busy right now, so those wonderful and kind words are so rewarding. Revoinfinite, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for being so patient. A special thank you to Threemagpies for her feedback for this chapter. Love from Love
