Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
NEVAEH
Never in my life did I think I could have this much fun again.
Not like this, at least. After this morning in the kitchen, Pirate announcing that he knew my past, knew who my family was, I started to panic, but they made it easy on me.
Once I informed the others of who my family was, they dropped it.
Then there was the small, well not so small, announcement Maverick made about me being his woman.
But they all saw my growing panic and changed the subject, shifting the mood altogether. I was totally grateful for this.
We all drank our coffees. Wrath went out and got donuts from a shop they know about down here that they claim has the best, but I didn’t want to believe him because the best I ever had were at the Outer Banks in Buxton.
They also have the best coffee as well. Unfortunately, he was right about them being good, though I’d tie them with the place I used to love going to every chance I got.
After breakfast, we all got ready to go to the beach. I didn’t have a bathing suit besides the bikini, so I sucked it up, put it on, and grabbed another one of Maverick’s shirts to throw over it. Maverick offered to take me to a surf shop, but I didn’t want him to.
With how they’ve made it so easy to be around, I’m coming to the realization I can trust them, especially where Maverick is concerned. Though I’ll admit, he’s still overly scary, in my opinion. I mean, how do I handle a man like him?
There’s so much more to him than what he shows, and being with him here, seeing how he cuts loose and has fun, I know he’s the other part of my soul. Just as the stories my mom used to tell me. But how do you tell someone something so dark and let him take that on?
It’s my burden to carry. Not his. Not anyone else’s. What happened to me is mine, and I won’t let it mar anyone else.
At least that’s what one part of me keeps shouting in my head. Another part whispers to let Maverick in. Let him help carry the pain I’ve endured.
“Watch out.”
I blink at Wrath yelling in my direction, and I’m nearly taken under by a wave. I cough and spit out the ocean water, sputtering and wiping my eyes as the others laugh.
“You okay, Sweets?” Maverick asks, swimming closer and wrapping his arms around my waist.
They’d been playing with a football not far away while I decided to watch from the surface, but I’d gotten hot. Needing to cool down, I took the shirt off and headed for the water with enough distance between them and me. Enough so they wouldn’t see the hideous words scarred into my body.
I stiffen in Maverick’s arms, knowing if he pulls away and looks down, he’ll see the scars.
“What’s wrong, Nevaeh?” he asks, keeping me close.
“It’s nothing.” I shake my head and breathe, trying to think of a way to keep him from seeing.
“Sweets, I know you. Whether you think otherwise or not, I know when something’s bothering you. So, what is it?”
I draw my bottom lip in and stare into his eyes, seeing the alertness and intensity in them.
“I didn’t want you to see me,” I blurt out without thinking.
Maverick furrows his brow and leans back a bit but doesn’t let me go. “You wanna explain that?”
“I’m ugly,” I answer, my voice no more than a breath. “I’m scarred, and I didn’t want you to see.”
Understanding dawns in his eyes, and he nods.
“Nevaeh, nothing about you can be ugly. We’ve all got scars, Sweets.
Some of them can be seen, others can’t be.
” Maverick pulls away and points to one I’d seen on his stomach numerous times.
“This one, I got when I’d been stabbed at the age of eighteen.
” He points to another on his side. “And this one was from a bar fight that happened about a month or so before we found you and the others.” His eyes lock with mine once more, and he cups my cheek.
“That doesn’t even cover the ones that are in my head. ”
“In your head?” I whisper.
“Yeah, the ones where I lost my family,” he answers. “There’s more there, but that’s one of the main ones that fucks with me.”
I stare at him in awe as his words sink in. That he gave me this part of him so easily.
Closing my eyes, I push away from Maverick, and before another wave can come at us, I show him exactly what I mean about being ugly. “He marked me,” I tell him and open my eyes again to find him staring at my stomach, where the words are scarred.
“Sweets,” he murmurs, soft and gentle. Maverick pulls me back in his arms and holds me close.
“You aren’t a whore, and those words do not describe you in any way.
” Though he keeps his voice sweet, it’s tinged with anger.
“I’m gonna prove to you that those words are nothing, and if you want, we can have them covered. ”
My breath hitches, and a sob escapes my lips before I can stop it. I cling to Maverick as he scoops me in his arms and holds me close while walking.
“She okay?” Pirate asks.
“Yeah, she’ll be okay. Do me a favor, grab her shirt for me,” Maverick says, getting closer to the beach.
Maverick sets me on my feet, and I take time to get myself back together as I notice Sabotage and Wrath closing in and Pirate coming our way with my shirt. I keep myself facing Maverick, not wanting anyone else to see my shame.
“Here,” Pirate says.
Maverick reaches out, takes the shirt without a word, and slips it on over my body. Only when it’s covering my bikini does he step back. “Later, we’ll go to the surf shop and get you something you’ll feel more comfortable in, okay?”
I nod, grateful to him for not making a big deal out of it in front of the others.
“Good, now if you want to get back in the water, just keep the shirt on. I don’t give a fuck if it gets salt water on it.” Maverick leans in and presses his lips to mine before turning to his brothers. “Who’s got the ball?” he asks, raising his hand.
And in this one moment, I feel myself falling for him all the more. Sure, I’m already halfway in love with him. Who am I kidding, I am in love with Maverick, but the more I see of him, it opens my eyes to just how much.
Most people would continue to make a big deal about my stomach, about the words written there, but he didn’t. Not with the others coming. He kept it to himself, even with the rage and fury swirling around him. Maverick pushed it all to the side so I wouldn’t be uncomfortable.
I smile and jump in on the action, deciding to play with them by reaching for the ball as Wrath starts to raise it. “I’ve got the ball,” I shout and start running.” Laughing. Behind me, I can hear their laughter and someone running behind me.
I glance back to find Maverick catching up, I spin and toss the ball back toward Pirate just before Maverick play tackles me into the sand. He rolls his body so he’s the one who lands on the bottom but proceeds to roll me under him.
Those eyes of his gleam in the sunlight, and he grins at me. “Got you,” he says and leans in, claiming my mouth with his.
The more he kisses me, the more I’m okay with it. However, I don’t know if I can go further. I want to. My body screams at me to go further. To give into the desire that is all Maverick.
Maverick keeps the moment short, but it’s enough to leave me breathless as I ask.
“What’s your name?”
“Vance,” he answers without hesitation. “No one calls me Vance anymore. Even the people who work for me and answer to me don’t when I give them the time of day. They don’t call me by anything but Maverick.”
I cock my head slightly and stare at him with a frown. “Work for you?”
“Yeah, those who work for me.” He sighs. “My family owned an oil company, and when they passed away, they left everything to me.”
“I’m sorry you lost all of your family,” I remark, seeing the glimmer of pain in his eyes at the mention of his family gone.
“Me too, Sweets, I miss them. They were great. Let me be who I needed to be and didn’t push. Though they always made it clear something happens to them, I’ll be taking the seat of the company.”
“But you don’t run the company,” I state, knowing there’s no way he could be running some oil company. He works at the club’s garage and helps out at other places.
“No, I don’t.” Maverick nods, rolls slightly, props himself up with one arm and keeps the other at my waist. “I have someone that handles the day to day and reports to me. I usually send everything off to the club’s lawyer to take care of.
That is unless I need to get in on it. Then I go in and make sure everything is straightened out. ”
“So, you have other people do your job and you do what? Work for the club?” I’m confused by all this.
“Yeah, Sweets, I work for the club. I’ve got responsibilities to take care of, but I’m not afraid of getting my hands dirty.
Neither are the others and for the record, the club has shares in the oil company, so they get a piece of the pie too.
” He grins, gliding his fingers along my side.
“But I’m gonna tell you something. The last time there was a problem at one of the oil sites, I went out there with Dice, Rock, Wrath, and Mayhem.
The five of us we went right to work, showing those boys up and telling them none of us have a problem getting our hands dirty. ”
“That’s awesome.”
“Guess you can say that.” He quirks that lip of his up and smiles. “You can also say your man’s a billionaire.”
I can’t help but roll my eyes at him and shake my head slightly.
“I don’t need to know that. Because you may have the money, but you don’t throw it in people’s faces and act like a spoiled rich boy.
You have a heart, and you make me feel things I’ve been scared to feel since you and the others saved me. ”
“Nevaeh,” Maverick murmurs.
“It’s true,” I whisper, tears shimmering in my eyes. “I’ve been so nervous, but you’ve been there every step of the way, helping me, being there when I needed someone most.”
“I’m always going to be there for you. Told you, Nevaeh, you’re mine, and I ain’t about to let you go. Not now. Not ever,” he says before reclaiming my mouth, his tongue diving in seeking mine out.
The two of us cling to each other, our mouths fused together as he demonstrates just how good he is with that tongue of his.
A shadow casts over us, and Maverick breaks his lips away from mine in order to look to see who it is only to find Sabotage standing there grinning.
“We throwing the ball today or what?”
“Fucker.” Maverick grunts and glares while pulling me to my feet.
I get the sense that Sabotage interrupted just to fuck with Maverick while I glance between the two of them.
Maverick helps me brush some of the sand off and takes my hand.
“Come on, Sweets, time to have some more fun in the sun,” he says but stops short of everyone and turns me to face him as he cups my cheek, “I do want you to think about that kiss we shared. I also want you thinking about what we have between us. I want you, Nevaeh. I’m not gonna rush you, but I want you to know we’re gonna go there.
Whether it happens here while we’re down at the beach, or it happens later on.
It will. I’m not about to keep going on and not being able to touch your sweet body.
And later, we’ll talk more about earlier.
I’m going to prove to you, those words are nothing more than a scar. ”
With that, he presses a quick kiss to my lips, steps back, and starts walking toward the others while raising a hand.
I stare after him for a split moment, those words of his soaking deep in my veins, searing themselves in my brain.
My mind also takes the time to catch up with my body and heart about wanting Maverick to touch me.
There’s no way I can fight the need I have for him.
I just hope in doing so I’m not making a mistake.