Cruz (Dark and Dirty Sinners' MC #5) - Serena Akeroyd Page 0,122

me to experience blasted me into a million tiny pieces.

Covering him in me, just as he covered me in him.

And as his cum pelted my insides, coating me and filling me up, he rumbled, "I want you to think of this, every time you start to feel wretched, every time you feel scared, I want you to remember that with me, you can fly even when you're not tethered..."

For a second, I didn't know what he meant, couldn't understand it, and then, I realized we'd just had the most vanilla sex imaginable, and I'd still gotten off.

Why that, of all the other things he'd told me and I’d told him today, had me bursting into tears, I'd never fucking know. But Cruz was there, his hard arms banded around me, holding me close, keeping me safe.

Just like he always would.

Twenty-Three

Ghost

I woke up to see Maverick staring at me.

For a second, I just smiled, content that his eyes were on me and mine on his. Then, I registered where I was, and what was happening. The beeps, the scent of disinfectant, the uncomfortable chair beneath me, his injuries, it all registered.

"Mav!" I cried, relief hitting me that he was awake at last.

He blinked at me, his eyes not exactly hard, but there was definitely none of the softness I was used to from him.

In the process of getting to my feet with the intent of climbing onto the bed and snuggling with him, I froze.

There was no welcome on his face.

None at all.

The sight was jarring. I wasn't used to it. Maverick might be a hard man, might even be a killer, but he was gentle with me.

Always.

Just... not now.

I licked my lips, nerves hitting me as I wondered what was going on, then, he rasped, "Who are you?"

For a second, I couldn't understand his question. I was almost sure that I'd forgotten every single word of English I'd strived hard to learn over the years.

But then, he repeated it again, and there was no denying it. No discounting it.

"Who are you?"

Who was I?

Didn't he remember?

I was his wife. He'd married me to keep me safe, but, we were so much more than that.

Weren't we?

Why couldn't he remember?

"Where's Nic?"

I blinked. "Who's Nic?"

That, I could ask, it was just the other question I couldn't answer.

"Nic," he snarled. "Where is he?" He jerked upright, then scowled down at his chest when he saw all the different wires and things that hooked him up to the machines that were beeping away at his side, monitoring him and making sure he was safe.

He started pulling at them, and panic hit me because I knew I had to stop him, but Maverick, though he was in a wheelchair, was huge, so muscular that I didn't know how he did it. How he kept so strong, especially when he was so skinny. I knew he'd gained weight since I'd come along, which made it even less likely that I'd be able to stop him.

I got to my feet though, not wanting to watch him hurt himself, but just as he snarled, "Where's Nic?" again, he did the damnedest thing.

He shoved the blankets off his body, tore them away like they were chains binding him in place, and then he twisted around and he got off the bed.

A scream escaped me, as certainty filled me that he'd end up on his ass, but he didn't.

He stood there, and I just gaped at him.

What the fuck was happening?

Someone must have heard my scream, because I heard footsteps thudding outside the door. Just as a nurse came rushing in, so did a couple of his brothers.

All of them froze. Each and every one of them stared at him like he was a madman, which he was.

Which he had to be.

What the hell was happening?

Maverick was disabled. Had been ever since he'd been in an IED explosion overseas.

What— Why—

How?

The questions pummeled my brain even as the nurse tried to get him back into bed.

I was grateful the nurse was a guy because Maverick was rough, struggling against his hold, pushing at him when he tried to contain him, get him back into the bed, and then, finally, Steel rumbled, "Maverick? What the fuck is going on?"

Mav froze, then twisted around. "Steel, where the fuck is Nic?"

"Who's Nic?" Link asked, sotto voce, his confusion clear.

"I don't know," Steel muttered.

"Who's Nic?" I repeated, aiming the question at Maverick, wondering if he'd answer.

He scowled at me, his jaw tensing as he ignored me to