price for that revenge. His death was so beautifully cathartic. You gave me that strength, beautiful," he groaned in my ear. "Every single day I spent in that hell, you were right there with me, holding my hand in the dark, keeping the last good pieces of me locked away in your keeping. I was lost to the world and everything in it, but I never lost you. You were mine then as much as you are now. And now that I've been given a taste of you, I won't ever give you up. Not until the death I'm waiting on comes and rips me from your arms."
He kissed me again before I could answer that, the two of us moving together like we were one body, one soul, this single entity reunited after far too long of hungering for each other. And I knew then that he was right. That no matter the fissures which tore me apart inside, no matter the scars I bore or the hurt I'd suffered, I'd always been holding onto him too. Deep in my heart when the nights were darkest, my mind always retreated to the one place I'd ever been able to call home and the four boys who I'd loved with my entire being.
"I love you, Maverick," I gasped as his mouth moved down my neck and our bodies tangled as one.
He fell still at my words, lifting his head and meeting my eyes with such weighted emotion that I could barely look at it.
"I'm yours, beautiful," he replied darkly. "Take me, own me, use me, destroy me. Anything you like, everything you want. Just don't ever leave me again."
***
The speedboat bumped against the jetty hard enough to put a scratch right down the side of it or maybe even knock a hole in it for all I cared.
Out on Dead Man's Isle I'd only been interested in Rick and making sure he saw the truth of what I felt for him. I needed him to see that none of the fucked-up things we'd survived took anything from what we both were to each other. He had to know what he meant to me.
But now? Now I was pissed. I was angrier than I had any memory of ever being in my entire life. I felt more rage an injustice over the things Maverick had survived than I had over anything that I'd ever endured myself. And I felt more guilt over it than I had over anything I'd ever been responsible for in my life either. And I was responsible for more than my fair share of messed up shit.
The Harlequins positioned around the house didn't make any move to stop me as I strode past them towards it, the wind picking up today so that my rainbow hair billowed all around me and my dress whipped around my thighs.
Mutt marched at my side like he was a dog on his way to war too and I loved that he had my back on this. Because even he knew in his little doggy head that something had to be done.
I hammered my fist against the back door as I reached it, fury blinding me to anything aside from my goal. I was going to grab a car, get in it and drive straight over to The Oasis and show Luther fucking Harlequin exactly what I thought of his methods of parenting. Better yet, I was going to take a gun too.
JJ opened the door, frowning at me in confusion as he tasted the venomous hatred on the air, but I just shoved my way past him. I had something to fucking do.
Mutt barked in warning as I strode through the house and the sound of voices gave me a five second warning to the guest they were entertaining before I rounded the corner into the kitchen.
Luther looked up at me from his stool at the breakfast bar as I strode in, half a smile tilting the corner of his lips up just before a scream of fury escaped me and I launched myself at him.
My fist connected with his face before he'd even realised what was happening and my weight collided with him half a second after that.
Luther went flying off his chair and I went with him, the two of us crashing to the ground as I lost my shit entirely and started throwing wild punches at him from my position on top of him.
Luther cursed, snatching my arm