Their nanny, Ined, walks behind them quietly with their two clean and similarly-dressed, miserable-looking toddlers in tow in an expensive double stroller. The nanny walks several feet away and stops, probably having been instructed to neither be seen nor heard when Lori and Penn are talking to anyone who isn’t her or the children.
“Hello, Ined,” I call out, just to get a rise out of Lori.
Ined is about to smile, then reconsiders, dropping her eyes back to the children.
“Don’t bother the help, Lenny. Can’t you see? Ined is working.”
“Oh, how silly of me,” I say sarcastically with my hand to my chest. “Greeting the help? What was I thinking?”
Nine steps to the beverage stand beside us and orders two beers.
Lori’s smile is as fake as mine, and I don’t miss the elbow to the ribs she gives Penn who forces his own even faker smile. Only his isn’t as practiced as Lori’s, and the result is a look that tells me he might be about to pass gas.
He’s also staring at Nine like he recognizes him but I can’t for the life of me think of how the two would know each other.
“Lenny, it’s so good to see you,” Lori sings, giving me a fake air kiss on each side of my cheek. I don’t reciprocate and stand still until her little show is over.
She stands back and points to my backward ball cap and off the shoulder blouse. “That’s…a new look for you,” she says. Her attention turns to Nine who comes up beside me and hands me a beer. “And so is this.” She points to Nine with her skinny French manicured finger.
“He’s not a this,” I snap. “This, is Nine. Nine, this is Lori and Penn. I met Lori through Jared. Penn is his best friend.”
“Was,” Penn corrects. “I haven’t heard from Jared, and frankly, with all the chatter around town about the mess he’s made of everyone’s investment accounts, I don’t want to,” he says. “It reflects poorly on me that I was ever his friend to begin with, and I won’t have that man or anyone associated with him staining my family’s good name.”
“So, that’s the real reason you didn’t want me to stay with you,” I say, not able to hold back any longer. “Because you didn’t want people to talk about you? Because of your reputation?”
Nine remains silent, as if he’s standing guard between me and their ability to hurt me more than they already have.
Lori’s face twists in ‘holier than thou’ look, but I don’t miss the spark of lust in her eyes as she rakes Nine over while ignoring my accusation. Or, as I like to think of it, my reality check.
Penn clears his throat, forcing his wife to stop her ogling. He squints at Nine. “I know you from somewhere.”
Nine nods. “We met on a beach once. You were with a couple of friends.”
Pen’s eyes go wide and his mouth goes silent.
I hear Nine’s almost inaudible chuckle.
Lori turns her attention back to me. “Yes, about that. It wasn’t you. I told you as much. But, I am sorry I couldn’t put you up in the guest house. You know how remodeling goes.”
Sorry? She doesn’t sound sorry. In fact, the way she keeps looking over my shoulder tells me that she’s worried we’ll be spotted together.
“You were putting tile down in a small bathroom,” I point out. “Not tearing the house down and starting over. We were friends, and you left me hanging when I needed you most.”
Lori picks at pretend lint on the white collar of her floral sundress, like she’s growing bored of this conversation. “Yes, and you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to supervise that little project. Especially since my Italian isn’t what it used to be. I mean, when Penn and I were in Tuscany, I was practically fluent, but since…”
“Wait,” Nine interrupts. His grip on his beer tightens as he stares Lori down. It’s his turn to point at her. “Let’s cut the boring bullshit. You knew that your friend was being evicted from her home and didn’t have a dime to her name and you wouldn’t let her stay with you. Not even in your guest house, and you didn’t offer your assistance in any way when you know that Lenny would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it, if even if it was her only one.” He scoffs and takes a step forward and glares at her with all of the pain and anger she made me feel, like it was suddenly Nine who she’d rejected when he needed her most instead of me.
Lori’s smile falters. She grabs Penn by the arm as if to straighten the rod shoved up her asshole. “I mean, I would have, but like I was saying—”
“Let’s go, Lori,” Penn interrupts. “It’s obvious your friend has forgotten what being civilized means while she’s been slumming it on the other side of the causeway,” Penn says, pulling her away. “I told you we shouldn’t have come here. Let’s go.” Ined, who is still standing several feet away, looks downright mortified, not for them, but because of them. She pushes the stroller and heads to the parking lot as if sensing that something bad is going to go down.
Nine gnashes his teeth and takes another step forward. Penn flinches, and his fear brings me a wave of unexpected joy.
I grab Nine’s arm to prevent him from doing anything stupid. Cops are everywhere, and I don’t want this night to end with Nine in jail, especially not because of people who don’t matter. Not to me. Not anymore.
Nine growls at Penn and Lori like a caged animal ready to pounce. “You two are pieces of shit. Lenny is better off without you in her life.”
“And she’s better off somehow for having YOU be in her life?” Penn scoffs.
Nine juts out his chin. “No, but unlike you, I don’t pretend that I’m not good enough for her while you two lie to yourselves thinking that you’re somehow better than her. You’re not.” He shakes his head. “You think I’m garbage? Look in a fucking mirror.”
I’m…I don’t know what the fuck I am. He’s defending me and I’m elated but, it’s the other thing he said that gives me pause.
Nine doesn’t think he’s good enough for me? Has he thought about being good enough for me? About us? Is there an us?
“No wonder Jared left her,” Lori mutters, as they hurry away like mice afraid of the hungry cat.
Nine stiffens beside me once more, his jaw tightening. A vein pulses in his neck.
“No, please don’t,” I whisper to him, grabbing onto his clenched fist.
“Hey Penn, tell your friends from the beach that I said hi and that I hope to see them around again sometime,” he says. Penn’s face pales.
Nine’s posture doesn’t relax, but I’m not going to let him fight this battle for me.
I’m going to fight it on my own.
“Wait!” I call out catching up to Lori and Penn. Their nanny is now so far away she’s a blur in the distance.
Lori spins around on her heels and huffs. “It’s too late for an apology, Lenny. After what you said—"
“I don’t want to apologize,” I explain, “I want to give you something.”
“And what’s that?” she asks, looking down at her manicure as if I’m boring her.
“This,” I say, along with another non-verbal answer by way of my fist to her jaw.
Lori’s lip splits and blood drips onto the flowers of her white sun dress. Her eyes widen in shock.
I smile in triumph. “How’s that for uncivilized?” It feels so good, I might just do it again.
“You…bitch!” Lori shouts, holding her bloody lip. She looks around with a look of disgust on her too perfect face. Penn doesn’t come to her defense, if anything he’s moved even further away. “Penn is right. You do belong here, with these people. You were never one of us. Jared always said so.”
She turns on her heel as Penn leads her to the gate without another glance in our direction.
“Fucking cowards,” I mutter.
“How did that feel?” Nine asks, coming to stand behind me. He rests his arm protectively over my shoulder.
I laugh. “Magical.”
Nine looks over his shoulder. “Shit,” He tosses our beers to the ground and grabs my hand.
“What’s wrong?” I ask as he pulls me away toward the back of the fairground.
“That’s what’s wrong,” he says, pointing with his eyes.
I look over my shoulder to where the crowd is parting to make way for several uniformed men, pushing their way through the crowd while barking at people to stand aside. The light overhead catches the metal of their badges, sending rays of light bouncing off the crowd. Cops.
“Shit!” I repeat Nine’s swear.
He grabs my hand and pulls. “Come on!”
And together, we run.
* * *
We emerge from the overgrowth of the preserve behind the fairgrounds onto a tiny secluded beach with a view of the entire Logan’s beach shoreline. Lights twinkle in the distance just as the stars do in the clear night sky overhead.
The energy in the air crackles all around us, pulling us together like wayward magnets destined to be one.
I don’t even have time to comment on the amazing view because Nine charges me, pushing his fingers through my hair and covering my mouth with his. Hungry lips. Seeking. Claiming. Eager. Desperate.
My hands wrap around his neck, and I pull him even closer, pressing my chest to his and groaning into his mouth, giving as much as I’m taking and more.
It isn’t just lips on lips. This isn’t even a kiss. This is ownership. Primal. Real.
Body. Heart. Soul.
He pulls back to lift my shirt over my head. I lift his, but I’m too short to lift his so I settle for pushing my hands under his shirt and feeling the warmth of the hard muscles beneath.
He pushes my hands away and lifts me up off the sand. He settles me down on top of my shirt. He pushes my skirt up to my waist and pushes my legs apart, positioning himself on his knees between them. He covers my body with his, only his jeans and my panties separating us.
His lips again find mine. We’re all need and desperation and tongue. Pleasure I never knew was possible sparks inside of me as he moves his mouth from my lips to my neck and then lower still, sucking and licking on my nipple until I’m writhing so hard I’m digging myself into the sand beneath me. I feel his hard length between us behind his jeans and when the outline of his erection grazes the thin scrap of lace between my legs I’m lost to the sensation that courses through my body.
Every inch of me wants to be touched and possessed by this man. The one who protects me when he doesn’t have a valid reason. The one who tries and makes an actual effort to understand me and my anxiety. The one who gave me closure when I had none. The one who thinks he’s not worthy of me when I realize now that it’s the furthest thing from the truth.
He is worthy, and if he doesn’t believe it, then I’ll just have to show him.
“I want you,” Nine groans. He snakes his hand between us and pushes up my skirt even higher so that my panties are exposed. He pulls the lace to one side. When his long, thick finger connects with my wet and sensitive flesh I moan, arching my back, needing more. His finger enters me and his lips find mine once more. He strokes me from the inside in rhythm with his tongue stroking mine. His cock hardens even more. “I’ve always wanted you.”
“So, take me.” I reach down and unhook his belt, then use my heels to push down his jeans. He pulls my panties down my thighs, and suddenly, it’s his heat against mine. He’s huge, even bigger than feeling him between our clothes suggested. I thought he was joking about the whole being bigger than nine inches thing but it turns out he was telling the truth all along. He rubs his thick shaft through my wetness and against my clit in slow torturous strokes. Teasing me, bringing me to the edge.
As amazing as it feels, I want more of him. All of him.
As if reading my mind, he asks. “What do you want, Len?”
I gasp at the intensity of the moment. At the pure panic and joy that hits me all at once. I swallow hard and wrap my arms around his neck, holding on for dear life. “I want you. I want everything.”
He growls and the sound sends another bolt of pleasure through me. He lines the head of his cock with my entrance and my insides pulse and grasp at nothing, eager for him to be inside of me.
Nine’s breathing heavily as if he’s trying to maintain some kind of control. He drops his forehead to mine. His voice is raspy and filled with lust and need that mirrors my own. “Is this what you want? You want all of me inside of you?”
“Yes!” The cry has barely left my lips when he surges forward, giving me everything I asked for and a whole lot. I’m stretched as far as I can possibly stretch without tearing in two. I close my eyes tightly as he pushes deeper and deeper until I’m sure I’m about to break. It hurts. Goddamn, it hurts.
“Relax, don’t tense up. Let me make you feel good.”
My forehead breaks out in sweat, but I refuse to say or do anything that would make him stop. I take a deep breath and try to relax and it works, some of the pressure eases.
“Fuck, you’re so damn tight,” he groans. “Spread your legs. Let me in.”
I do as he asks, spreading my legs as wide as they will go, relaxing my muscles, and giving him access to every part of me.
He pulls out, but not all the way, then thrusts forward again until he’s fully seated inside of me. I see stars as his shaft rubs up along every sensitive point within me I didn’t even know could be reached.
“Oh, fuck!” he swears. “Goddamn. I always imagined. I always knew…it’s even better.”
I suck in a deep breath as he fucks me. Harder. Faster. Every in and out has me moaning and craving more. So, he gives me more. His fingers dig into my hips. His lips crush mine. I dig in my heels and push him even deeper inside of me.
This is nothing like I’ve ever experienced before. I never felt more than a slight tingle of excitement with Jared. This, with Nine, is downright nuclear. And any second, we’re both going to fucking explode.
His forehead wrinkles like he’s in distress.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, as my vision goes white with the intensity of the pressure building inside of me.
“Nothing’s wrong. Everything is right. It’s just…you.” His gaze never leaves mine as he fucks me over and over again until I’m so far into oblivion so lost in my own pleasure and the feeling as my core pulses around his shaft that I don’t realize I’m even screaming his name until he comes with his own deep guttural moan, and I finally come down from wherever it is I’d gone.
When I open my eyes, Nine is still inside me and on top of me. He’s breathing hard. Our chests heaving together. He moves a strand of hair from my eyes like he’s seeing me again for the first time. As if he can’t believe I’m really there.
“I never thought it could be like that,” I say, trying to catch my breath.
Nine pulls out of me, and immediately, I feel a deep sense of loss.
“Neither did I,” he says.
I laugh and sit up, pulling down my skirt to cover myself. “I’m sure you’ve been with plenty of girls that have rocked your world.”
Nine tugs on his jeans then sits back down beside me.
He’s not laughing. “No. Just you.”
A thought occurs to me but it can’t be possible. “Wait, you weren’t a virgin, were you? That’s just not…”
He chuckles. “No, I’m not a virgin.” Nine cups my cheek in his big, rough palm. “But, whenever I was with anyone else there was always this thing nagging at the back of my mind. Sex always triggered a memory, a highlight from one of the many living nightmares that I’d rather die than remember if given a choice. Things from my past. Terrible things I did. Terrible things done to me.”
My heart lurches.
He cups my face in his big palm, and I lean into it. “Until you.”
“What’s so different about me?” I ask. “Why me?”
His lips brush mine. “That’s easy. You’re mine.”
I smile against his lips. “How very caveman of you.”
“No, I don’t mean it like you’re mine, and that’s all you can be. I m
ean that you and me fit together. We work together. Like a bone and socket. Like a heart and blood. You asked if I believed in fate once. I didn’t then.” He trails the pad of his thumb over my lips. “But, I do now.”
I don’t remember ever asking him if he believes in fate, but it’s possible, because vodka. But the power of his words sinks in slowly until I’m overflowing with unfamiliar emotions that I never expected to feel toward anyone, never mind a man like Nine.
A criminal.
A killer.
My inner voice chimes in, Yes, but he’s your killer.
“I just never thought…” I start. “I don’t know.”
“Tell me what you do know,” he presses. “Start there.”
I swallow hard. “I know that the world is quieter when you’re around. Like I can finally think without the voice of my anxiety chirping in my ear. I don’t feel crazy when I’m with you.” I cringe when I hear myself use my least favorite word.
Crazy.
“I hate that word,” Nine grates, echoing my thoughts. He pushes a lock of unruly hair from his eye and tucks it behind his ear. “Little bird, you’re not crazy just because you think you act crazy sometimes. You’re human, and because you’re human by definition, you’re so much deeper and more complicated than a single word.” He tilts my chin up, so my eyes meet his. His frown deepens. “Hear me when I say that you are more than one thing. A person can be both sensitive and heartless. Both selfish and selfless. Quiet and loud. Fearful and bold. Jealous and proud. A killer and a savior. Flawed, yet perfect. We can love and hate in equal measure. We can be crazy sometimes and sane in the next.”
I hold his gaze, unable to form a sentence. I’ve been waiting for someone to say that to me my entire life.
“Who the hell made you believe you can only be one thing? That you can check only one box?”
“I’m not sure,” I finally manage to choke out.
Nine’s eyes shift from determination to hardened rage. “You will tell me when you remember because whoever made you believe that you can only be one thing and that thing is crazy, deserves nothing less than to die a slow and excruciatingly painful death.” He trails his fingers down my neck, leaving a trail of heat in his wake. “Because you aren’t one thing. You can’t be, because you’re everything.”
Nine, the Tale of Kevin Clearwater Page 19