Her fingers glide over the tattoos on my chest, soft skin making mine prickle. She’s tucked up against me, head on my shoulder, one leg thrown over mine, tucked into my side and fuck, it feels incredible. It’s been a long fucking time since I’ve allowed a woman this close to me, but even longer since I’ve wanted a woman this close to me. And even then, none of them are quite like her.

She makes my god damned heart skip a beat.

I’m fucked.

Completely fucked.

“Do your tattoos have a story?” she asks me, her breath tickling my ear.

“No, darlin’, they’re just ink.”

She shuffles a little, and I can feel her bare pussy against my thigh when she does. Fucked her twice tonight already, and once again my dick is getting hard and all I can think about is rolling her over, putting her ass in the air, and driving my cock deep into her sweet pussy again, fucking it until we’re both raw.

But damned if it don’t feel nice just having her lie next to me, too.

“Did they hurt?”

“I like pain,” I murmur, turning my face and breathing in her hair. She smells like fucking strawberries, dammit.

She giggles softly. “Is that what all big scary bikers say?”

I chuckle. “Not sure, babe. Haven’t cuddled with them in a while.”

She laughs and pinches my nipple softly. “Don’t be smart.”

“Why? What are you goin’ to do to me?”

She rolls her eyes and I lean forward, kissing her nose.

“Maverick?”

“Mmmm.”

“Have you ever ... killed someone?”

Her question shocks me, and I glance at her again to see those beautiful brown eyes looking up at me through thick lashes, curious.

“Can’t really answer that, babe. Sorry.”

“Why not? I wouldn’t tell anyone. Besides, no one would believe me anyway. You don’t have to tell me how, or who, I just ...”

“You want to know if I’m a monster?”

Her mouth drops open a little, those plump pink lips letting out a little gasp. “No, I’d never think you’re a monster. I think if you killed someone, they probably deserved it.”

Not all of them.

But it’s all business. So ...

You get tangled up in our world, and make the wrong move, you risk getting a bullet in your brain. That’s the risk you take when you make the decision to mess around with clubs and club life.

“Yeah, I have killed people. Don’t like it. Don’t like doin’ it. But sometimes it’s part of the life I lead, I guess.”

“Is it because they betray you and do bad things?”

“That, amongst other things. It’s a risk you run when you get involved in club life. If you’re gonna do the wrong thing, you’re gonna get caught and pay the price.”

She nods. “Makes sense. Have you ever had a woman that hasn’t agreed with the life you lead?”

I hesitate for a second, because I know she’s prying. Of course she is. She wants to know about Nerissa. She’s asked a few questions now, but I haven’t yet told her the story. My silence must make her uneasy, because she shifts a little and says, in the softest damned voice, “Sorry, Maverick. I didn’t mean to pry.”

Fuck it.

She told me her story. ‘Bout time she knew mine.

“I’ve only ever had one woman,” I tell her, and she stops fidgeting and relaxes back into me, beginning little circles on my chest with her finger as she listens. “She didn’t love the club life, in fact, most of the time she tried to get me away from it. Could understand it, I guess. If you don’t get how it works, it can be a scary thought to think that things might go bad if you have a family with a club member.”

“Is it dangerous, the life you lead?”

“Sometimes, yeah. Mostly, we’re smart. Nerissa was the first, and only, Old Lady to ever lose her life because of club problems.”

She flinches in my arms. I don’t want to scare her, but that’s the truth and fucked if I’ll lie to make it sound better.

“It wasn’t because of our doin’, but. I still don’t fully know what went on that day, I wasn’t there. Club was in lock down, we were having trouble with some drug dealers in the area. They were tryin’ to take over our turf, tryin’ to run drugs through the town. Mal wasn’t havin’ it, so he started interferin’ and they didn’t like it. We wanted them out. They didn’t want to go. Shit got heated.”

“What happened to her?” she asks, her voice soft and a little shaky.

“She was at the club, lock down, too. One of my guys was supposed to keep her there. She was ...,” I hesitate. “Pregnant. Couple of months. First child.”

Scarlett makes a pained sound, and her fingers rest over my heart and she shuffles closer. My heart starts pounding, because talking about that fucking day has my head spinning. But, she deserves to know, she trusted me, now I’m going to trust her.

“I’m so sorry, Maverick,” she whispers.

“Thanks,” I say, my voice husky, but not from anything but emotion. I keep talking. “Anyway, I had the club member looking after her because I was out with Mal, we were trying to keep them away from the club. I don’t know what happened, but I know I told him that he was to protect her with his life, to not let her out of his sight, to not let a single hair on her head come to harm. He swore he’d not let her leave the room she was in, and I trusted him to do that.”

“He didn’t?” Scarlett asks.

“No. He didn’t. She got out, I don’t know how, I never asked and I don’t care. He should have tackled her if he had to, but he should have never let her get past him. Somehow, she did. She didn’t want to be there, she was calling me cryin’, sayin’ she was scared I’d die and wanted us to leave together, that she wanted to go back to her parents’ house in Colorado Springs and we could start anew. She freaked herself out, and because of that, somehow tried to get out so she could find me and take me away.”

Scarlett strokes my skin, affectionately. “I can understand that. She was pregnant. She loved you. She was probably terrified.”

My heart clenches, and I close my eyes for a second, gathering my thoughts. Nerissa was never made for the life she tried to live with me, but she loved me and so she tried to fit in. When things got heated, she simply wasn’t equipped to handle it and because of that, she lost her life. I should have let her go a long time ago, let her be with the kind of man she needed, but my selfish attitude and love for her wouldn’t allow that, and in the end, it cost her her life.

“Yeah,” I finally rasp. “Anyway, she got out. I don’t know how. She thought she could run to her car, which was out front of the compound and call me. She was goin’ to find me and get me out of there, no matter what. As she was runnin’ to the car, she got shot in the head. I don’t know who shot her. All I know is someone was waitin’ for that moment to take the club down, and they effectively did it with one, lone bullet.”

Scarlett’s body jerks, and I feel the warmth of her tears dripping onto my skin. I hold her tighter, and she wraps her arms around me, burying her face into me and trying to control herself. “I’m so, so sorry ... Maverick ... I am so sorry.”

“Worst phone call of my life. The club went into uproar. I was angry. Mal was angry. I wanted to kill Boston. I had to go. And durin’ all this, the other fuckers managed to get their drugs through town and leave. They got what they wanted. And I lost my whole life.”

“I don’t have any words ... I ... My heart burns for you. I’m so very sorry you lost her. What was her name?”

“Nerissa.”

“That’s beautiful.”

I nod and squeeze her a little tighter, needing her a little closer.

“It changed something in me. Broke something. I’ve been on the road for a long time, not wantin’ to go back, but knowin’ eventually, I have to.”

“Is he still there, the man that was meant to be looking after her?”

“He is. Yes.”

She thinks for a moment. “Was he the man you beat up just recently?”

“Yeah. Mal brought him. Tried to mend some shattered fuckin’ bridge between us that can’t be mended, because half of it has been washed away and destroyed. You can’t fix somethin’ that broken, it’s just not possible. There are no materials in the world that could piece that kind of damage back together. But, I did tell him I will let it go. I won’t forgive. I won’t forget. I don’t want Boston anywhere near me. But I will let it go, for the club’s sake.”

“That’s a massive thing for you to be able to do,” Scarlett whispers, pressing her warm lips against my skin and kissing me softly. “You’re a brave man, honey. To even be able to breathe after that, takes more strength than most people in the world could ever muster up.”

Fuck.

This woman.

“Breathin’ felt like drownin’ for a very fuckin’ long time, believe me.”

“But you made it. You’re strong. I admire you.”

I roll to my side, shifting her so I can look into her eyes. “You’re the first woman since Nerissa I have even wanted to have a conversation with. You spark something inside me, somethin’ I haven’t felt for a very fuckin’ long time. Want you in a way I have never wanted anyone. Fucked if I can walk away from you now.”

Her eyes get soft, and damn it goes right to my heart. “Ditto, big guy.”

“You know when you wake up in the mornin’, the whole world is goin’ to see you in a different light.”

She props herself up on her elbow and places a hand on my face. “I couldn’t give a fuck what the world thinks about me.”

Dammit.

Fuck.

Yeah.

This girl is changing fucking everything for me.

~*~*~*~