She whispered it so quietly I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly.
“Can you try that statement for me again?” I asked.
I scooted my chair closer to her, my hands falling to her knees.
“The books in his office. I never understood why he had them. I mean, he’s got shelves lined with them. Dusty books that look like they’ve almost never been touched. Before I left the office, I took one down. Opened it, just to see. I don’t know why I did it. There was just something in my gut that told me to. And every single fucking book has a bloody weapon in it, Maverick.”
My heart stopped in my chest.
“The books. The pages are just cut out. Like they don’t mean a thing. And in the cut out of the pages once you flip the cover over are weapons. Bloody guns and brass knuckles. Scissors and knives. Every fucking book, Maverick. Why does my father have that stuff?”
“Come here. It’s okay. I’ve got you,” I said.
“Why does my father have that stuff, Maverick!?”
I stood from my chair and gripped Gabby’s elbows. I pulled her to her feet and wrapped my arms around her, feeling how violently she was trembling. She was telling the truth. I knew she was. Emotion like this couldn’t be faked. Fear like this couldn’t be faked. I buried my face into her mahogany hair and cloaked her in my arms. She sobbed into my chest, her hands fisting my leather jacket as I swayed us side to side. I felt her heart breaking. I felt her body losing control.
“Come on. Let’s get you upstairs to your room,” I said.
I scooped her into my arms and started out of the kitchen. I walked up the stairs and ducked my head into the rooms, trying to figure out which one was hers. But once I saw the closet door hanging open in one of the rooms with a desk sitting inside of it, I knew I was in the right place. I walked in and closed the door behind me, then headed for her bed and settled her down. I sat on the edge of the bed as she straddled me, holding onto me for dear life as her tears soaked the chest of my black t-shirt.
“Why is my father doing such horrible things?” she whispered.
I shook my head. “I don’t know, Gabby. But, I’m so sorry you had to find that stuff out on your own today.”
“I promise I’ll… give you the… information. I just… need to--.”
“Sh-sh-sh-sh. We’ll deal with that later, okay? Right now, we have to get you calmed down.”
“Oh god, Maverick. My sisters. What if they find out?”
Her heart was so good. So pure. So dedicated. I smoothed my hand up and down her back, trying to calm the shaking of her body. I didn’t know how to answer her question. If she had been working for the cartel and didn’t know about their violet side, then there was no way her sisters knew what was going on. There was no way they knew the type of danger they were in or the types of things they could be exposed to.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
I crooked my finger underneath her chin and pulled her gaze up to mine. Her watery gaze that was full of such sorrow. My eyes danced between hers. Between the stormy gray orbs that had clouded over with sadness. I smoothed my thumb over her skin, wiping away as many tears as I could with my strokes.
“I forgive you,” I said.
And when that relieved little smile crossed her face, I bent my lips down to kiss hers.
Something I’d wanted to do ever since she let me into her childhood home.
Chapter 18
Gabriela
His kiss was soft. Tender. Full of forgiveness and strength. And the second his lips touched mine, I felt myself catapult through the roof. My hands slicked through his hair as I pressed up into him. I wanted to forget. I wanted to erase my memory of what had happened. I wanted to lose myself in him one last time because there was a great chance that this could be the last time I ever saw Maverick. His arms cloaked my back. He fell to my bed and took me with him, pulling me into his broad form. My legs straddled him as his cock came to life between my legs, urging me on in the rolling of my hips.
But when Maverick’s hands came down onto my waist, and he rolled over, I knew that was all the upper hand I’d receive.
His lips kissed against my skin while his tongue licked up my tear trails. He did whatever he could to clear my body of the sadness it felt. Our hands meticulously stripped one another down. Slowly. Deftly. Our lips never leaving one another’s skin. His hands felt good against my naked body. His cock felt thick and luscious between my thighs. His hands smoothed over my arms, finding my fingertips so he could lace them together.
Then, without a second thought, he lined his cock tip with my entrance and slowly slid in.
“Oh… shit…”
He grunted his acceptance of my body as his face fell into the crook of my neck. I lifted my hips to accept all of him. To slide his massive cock against my throbbing walls. I trembled underneath him. My toes curled, and my fingers dug into the tops of his hands. His lips fell against mine, swallowing my sounds with his throat at his hips bottomed out against mine.
“Oh, Gabby,” he moaned.
My name falling from his lips sent shivers down my spine.
Not once did he release my hands. Not once did he move to change positions. He rocked against me, his chiseled form raking over my curves. My breasts fell against his chest. My thighs molded to his strength. My heels dug into his back as my ankles locked and his eyes never left mine. Those beautiful, comforting eyes that shot electricity through my body. I couldn’t get enough of them.
I couldn’t take my eyes off his beauty.
“Maverick. Don’t stop. Holy shit, you feel so good.”
“So tight for me, Gabby. Squeeze that cock. Show me how much you love it.”
“I love your cock, Maverick. My body wants more of it. All of it. Always.”
His nose nuzzled against mine as my legs fell weak, and that was when the assault began. He snapped his hips against mine as my juices flooded down his shaft. Down his balls. I felt them smacking against my ass cheeks as my hips rose to meet his. He released my hands, allowing me the feel of his back beneath my nails. He propped himself up and pounded into me, creaking my bed frame and slamming the headboard against the wall.
I curled into him. Clung to him. Cried out into the crook of his neck as he took what he wanted.
My toes curled so tightly my thighs ached. My pussy fluttered around his thickening cock as his hips began to stutter. I was so close. His tight curls raked across the tip of my clit, and it sent me into a frenzied state. I bucked against him. Slid my nails down his back. Listened to his growls and grunts of appreciation as his movements sped up.
“Gabby. Shit. So close. So… fucking… close…”
I slid my hands through his hair and gripped his blonde tendrils, pulling his lips to mine. And when our tongues collided, I felt him give in. I felt him release. I felt him fall to me as his cock filled me to the brim. I whimpered against his swollen lips. I slid my hands down his back and hung on for dear life. My eyes screwed shut, and stars burst behind my vision, offering me a show as I milked his cock for all he had.
My room smelled like us as our sounds filled the corners.
We collapsed to my bed, gasping for air. Maverick blanketed me with his body, his muscles draped over every soft edge of my form. I don’t know how long we stayed like that. I honestly wasn’t sure we didn’t fall asleep. But when I heard the sound of the garage door opening, my eyes ripped open.
And I found Maverick next to me snoring slightly.
“Maverick,” I whispered.
He groaned and rolled over, then reached his arms out for me and pulled me close. The garage door stopped opening, and I heard my parent’s car rolling into the encasement. Just minutes away from catching the two of us in my room.
“Maverick! Wake up!” I whispered harshly.
He slowly slid one eye open before drawing in a deep breath.
“What is it?” he asked groggily.
“My parents are home.”
And with t
hat statement, he sat up straight and trained his ears on the sounds around us.
“That’s a car in the garage,” he said.
“Yes, it is. You have to get out of here. You have to get yourself safe.”
“First, we have to get dressed. Come on.”
We slid out of bed and started throwing our clothes on our body. I heard my parents murmuring. Talking in the garage before they came into the house. I looked over at the stain we left behind on the sheets and started ripping them off the bed. I rolled them up and tossed them into my hamper, knowing I’d have to be careful about the time I choose to get those washed up.
“Okay. Up here there’s a fire escape. If you go down the hallway and take a left at the end of it, there’s a window. Throw it open, and there’s a small ladder you can climb down. Where did you park your bike?” I asked.
And the look on his face made me sick to my stomach.
“We have to get you out of here now. My father is probably coming into this house armed as we speak,” I said.
“You’re coming with me,” Maverick said.
He gripped my arm and whipped me around, but I shook my head frantically.
“I can’t. I have to stay here and field things so you can get away,” I said.
“You’re not staying here. It isn’t safe. You’re not safe with what your family is involved in, and you know this.”
“I can’t go with you, Maverick. I can’t leave my sisters behind. They’re still my family, even if they are wrapped up in the cartel.”
“And if you stay, there’s a good chance your father will hand you over to them. If he’s coming into this house armed, he’s already seen my bike. He already knows you’re compromised. He’ll figure out you were in his office and he’ll have to do something about it,” he said.
“But... he’s my father. He’d never do that to me.”
“Just like he only dealt with transportation and management?”
His words gave me pause, and they made me sick. Because I knew he was right. So many things began to swirl in my head at that very moment, but none of them were more important than getting Maverick safe. I held my breath and listened. I should have heard my parents, but I didn’t. I should have listened to my father, but I didn’t.
And that worried me more than anything else.
“Come with me, Gabby. Let me keep you safe,” Maverick said.
And he didn’t have to ask another time.
I pulled away from his grasp and went into my closet. I grabbed up all the information I found before starting a process that wiped everything from my computer. I unplugged my external hard drive and began to take it apart, then smashed the interior contents so no one could ever access it. I picked up my purse and slung it over my shoulder, then handed the file I had compiled on Maverick and his club.
“This is the information?” he asked.
“Yes. Do with it what you want. But my father can’t have it. He’ll destroy you with it if he finds it. It’s why I’m wiping my computer clean right now,” I said.
He wrapped his arm around me and brought me in for a kiss. A kiss that melted me at my knees. I allowed myself to get lost in it just for a second, but then a movement downstairs caught my ear. I knew all of the sounds this house had to offer. I’d memorized them as a child. And I knew what my father’s office double doors sounded like whenever they were being tugged open.
“Come on, and keep quiet,” I said.
Taking Maverick’s hand, I led him out of my room and down the hallway. I knew I was leaving behind everything I had ever known. My life. My family. My clothes. My bedroom. The place I grew up. But it wasn’t safe. I wasn’t safe, and neither were my sisters. I had no idea how I was going to help them--or even if I could--but I knew that I couldn’t help them if I didn’t get myself safe.
I put my finger to my lips as we turned down the last corridor. We got to the window, and I slowly inched it open, listening as footsteps slowly started up the stairs. I slipped out the window and slid down the ladder, not bothering to take it rung by rung. I touched down onto the grass and looked up, waiting impatiently for Maverick to get down.
He jumped off the last six steps and landed beside me, his head on a swivel looking for danger.
“Come on. We have to get back to my bike,” he said.
“Knowing my father, he’s already taken pictures of it and sent it to someone,” I said.
“Then it’s a good thing I know how to conceal what my bike looks like. Come on. We have to get out of here.”
He tugged me to his bike, and we scrambled onto it. And the second Maverick started it up, gunshots exploded from the window. I screamed as I wrapped my arms around him, and he booked it out of the driveway and down the road. I buried my face into his back. I clung to him as tightly as I could. Holy shit, my father was shooting at us.
Was he trying to hit me? Or Maverick?
Honestly, it didn’t matter. The mere fact that he was popping off bullets at anything that was near me meant he didn’t have my best interests at heart any longer.
It made me cry into Maverick’s back.
I clung to him the entire ride, no longer trying to hold back my tears. We pulled into a, and he helped me off, and I stood there in a trance as he rolled it into the garage. When he emerged a few minutes later, he had another bike in his possession, and his original bike was being taken back into a separate part of the shop. He helped me on, and I wrapped my arms mindlessly around him, my wet cheek pressing into the leather of his jacket.
“Come on. We’re headed back to my place,” he said.
It was all a blur. The ride. The dust. The roar of his bike. He parked back at his townhome and scooped me into his arms, then walked me straight into his place. He sat me down on the edge of the kitchen counter as I stared mindlessly at the wall, allowing tears to fall as my purse fell from my arm. It landed to the floor with a thud as Maverick appeared with a small bottle of water with a straw in it.
“Drink a little bit. It’ll help make you feel better,” he said.
But as I wrapped my lips around the straw and drank down the cool liquid, I didn’t feel better at all.
“What am I going to do?” I asked breathlessly.
Maverick put the bottle of water aside. “For now, you’ll stay with me.”
I shook my head. “I can’t do that. I can’t do that to you.”
“You can, and you will. I’m the only person that can keep you safe right now. And until I can get the rest of the club on board, that’s a very literal statement.”
“I can’t do that,” I whispered.
He cupped my cheek. “You don’t have a choice. I can take care of you, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
“But… why?”
My eyes moved to meet his as his thumb brushed away another lonely tear.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked.
“Simple, really. I’m shocked you haven’t already figured it out.”
I cocked my head and furrowed my brow as Maverick stepped between my knees.
“I’m doing it because I love you, Gabby.”
I felt my world come to a full stop.
“What?” I whispered.
Maverick’s forehead fell against mine. “I’m doing this because I love you, Gabriela.”
It was like I was unable to process the words coming out of his mouth.
“Say that one more time?” I asked.
He chuckled. “I love you with all my heart, Gabby. You’re staying here until it’s safe, and I will take care of you until it is.”
“Oh Maverick,” I whispered. “I love you, too.”
And as our lips locked and his hands cloaked my back, his tongue slid across mine for the first time not in lust, but in love. I felt the whole of his warmth drape over me. I felt safe against his chest. His arms picked me up, and he carried me upstairs, our lips never leaving the others. Tears of happiness fell down my cheeks as my back fell to his bed, and soon we found
ourselves naked against one another again.
Only this time, we didn’t fuck.
This time, we made love.
Chapter 19
Maverick
Even in her sleep, I saw how upset she was. I reached out and smoothed Gabby’s hair away from her face as she slept. I’d spent every waking moment the day before showing her how much I loved her. How much I cared for her. How beautiful she had become to me. I fell asleep with her in my arms and woke up with her head on my stomach. It was the most incredible feeling. Having her against me after unleashing myself on her, and rushed through my emotions and sensations I couldn’t define. Gabby was a gem among stones. A diamond among volcanic rock. And she was mine.
But even while she slept, I saw her distress.
I smoothed my thumb over her wrinkled forehead. I watched it unfurrow, but the second I removed my touch it wrinkled back up. I cupped her cheek and slithered down into the sheets, feeling her press her skin mindlessly into mine. But once I removed my hand, she backed away, kicking out her legs like she was defending herself from some unseen force.
“It’s okay, Gabby. I’ve got you. Gabby. Wake up, beautiful.”
Her eyes whipped open, and the redness in the whites of them slapped me across the face. Despite trying to wear her out and make her feel comfortable, it was apparent she hadn’t slept well the other night. She immediately gravitated back to me. Pressed herself into the crook of my body and laid her head on my chest. I stroked her mahogany hair back. I slowly untangled it with my fingers while we laid there. The morning sun was just barely beginning to creep across the sky, which meant the first rays of sun started filling my home through the slats of the blinds.
I had a big day ahead of me.
I looked over at the folder of information sitting on my bedside table. I had to get it to the club. I needed to have a formal meeting with them so we could all get ourselves on the same page. Not only had Gabby looked up vital information on us, but she also had essential information we needed about the cartel. And not only that, but her family would be looking for her. Now that she had defected and stayed with me, they’d never take her back. She was on her own, and I had to convince the club she needed protection.
Maverick (The Black Hornets MC Book 2) Page 11
