Keeping his bride

CHAPTER27Nicholas

IT’S THE OFF-SEASON, so the beach isn’t crowded, save for a few guys with fishing poles and one or two surfers out in the water. Even though the air is cool, the ocean is still warm, perfect for surfing.

I change first in the back of the van. I hop out, zipping up my wetsuit in the process while I motion for Selina to do the same. We bought her a suit at a little shop on the way. Once she’s inside the van, I close the door and wait for her to change.

Three familiar SUVs are parked not that far away from us, and I give a nod to one of the bodyguards sitting in the front seat of the closest vehicle. Can’t be too careful, especially with Constantine so close and creeping around in New York City right after the funeral of his son.

Aldo has been keeping tabs on the bastard, and everyone except me is stumped as to why he’s staying in NYC. I know why he’s not leaving. He’s hoping to get his claws back in Selina. I can feel it deep down in my gut. Constantine doesn’t like to lose, and he fucking lost the most beautiful girl in the world. He’ll never get to have her again. At least not unless he’s prying her from my cold, dead hands.

The side door on the van clicks just then and Selina steps out. “Uh, could you help me?” she asks, turning around. There is a gap in the back where she couldn’t reach, so I grab the zipper and begin to pull it up. My fingertips graze her soft skin as I zip her up, and I feel her shiver from my touch. Fuck. Clearing my throat, I tell her, “There. All set.”

When she turns back to face me, all the breath leaves my lungs. She looks so fucking pretty like this. We used to spend so much time out here on the water, surfing, laughing and talking. God, we would talk for hours. Surfing with Lina is one of my fondest memories from my teenage years.

“Race you to the sand!” she calls out before grabbing her board and taking off running.

Shit! I grab my board and take off after her. I almost forgot that we always used to race down to the beach, and whoever won got to catch the first wave. I can’t believe she remembered.

She beats me down to the sand by a few seconds, and I blame it on trying to manhandle my board and her getting a head start.

“Looks like I’m up first,” she says, practically beaming.

Chuckling, I tell her, “Okay, fine.”

We paddle out together into the water with our boards. The feel of the saltwater washing over me brings back memories of Selina and I surfing together. Fuck, it’s been too long since I’ve been out here. I missed it immensely. I’ve been surfing solo now and again over the past ten years, but it never felt the same. I never enjoyed it as much as I did when I was with her, so I pretty much gave it up.

“Are you good?” I yell to her when she starts swimming out to catch her first wave.

When she gets to the lineup, Selina simply looks back and smiles, and I know she’s got this. Hopefully surfing is just like riding a bike; something you never forget. But if she gets hurt out there, I’ll lose my goddamn mind.

“Be careful!” I call after her, but she’s too far out in the water to hear me now. I watch her swimming faster and faster until her graceful form suddenly pops up on her board and rides out a small surge. The wave wasn’t spectacular, but it was special. Her first one since she’s been freed.

“Your turn!” she says as she coasts in towards the beach and slides off her board and into the water.

I paddle out to the lineup, waiting for the perfect wave, which is the third one. Popping up on my board, I cruise along the water, the rushing sound of the ocean almost euphoric as I use my lower body to cut my board along the wave. I’m one with the ocean at that moment, and it’s an amazing feeling. You feel powerful when you catch a big barreling wave; almost like you’re controlling nature or just in the presence of something truly remarkable.

“Nice!” Selina calls out to me as I come swimming back towards her.

We take a few more turns catching waves, and I am growing obsessed with the smile on Selina’s face. I haven’t seen her smile this much since she arrived at the compound. A guy could get used to this.

Exhausted, I paddle back to the beach and crash on the sand. I’m watching Selina in the distance. She’s gearing up to catch a perfect wave. The water crests, and she positions herself beautifully. But just as she begins gliding over the water, I notice movement out of the corner of my eye. Another surfer is breaking through the other end, trying to take Selina’s wave. They’re going to collide in the middle if they both keep going.

Waving my hands frantically, I yell, “Watch out!”

But it’s too late.

The two boards hit each other, knocking both surfers off and into the water. Hard.

Selina goes under, and I lose track of her for several seconds. With all of my strength against the waves, I swim as fast as I can out towards her. “Lina! Lina!” I call out, searching the murky water for a sign of her blonde hair.

Every second without her feels like a fucking eternity, and I’m beside myself, wading in the water and crying out her name.

Finally, she breaks through the surface, gasping for air. I swim over to her, dragging my board, which is still attached to my ankle by the leash, behind me, and gather her in my arms. “Are you okay?” I ask, checking her head for injuries.

“Yeah,” she tells me, her eyes wide with lingering fear.

I know that probably scared the hell out of her. It scared the hell out of me too. I pull her close, holding her to me. “It’s okay. You’re okay,” I tell her. “Can you swim back to shore with me?” I ask.

She gives me an unsteady nod.

On the way back, I see the surfer who crashed into her coming out of the water. “She had the right of way, dickhead!” I call out to him.

“Sorry, man! Didn’t see her!” he calls back with his hands up in apology.

Muttering curses under my breath, I try to calm myself down. He’s lucky we’re on a public beach with witnesses. He might be losing a limb…or two if we were somewhere private. Hell, if I had my gun right now, I’d shoot the bastard right between the eyes. Looking up at the parking lot, I start to wonder if I can get a gun from one of the guards and make it back here in time.

“It’s fine, Nico. I’m fine,” Selina says, grabbing my face in her hands and forcing me to look at her. “Don’t worry. I’m not hurt.”

I stare into her blue and green eyes as my anger slowly begins to recede. “That guy would be dead right now if you were hurt,” I confess to her fervently.

My words seem to affect her, but I can’t read the expression on her face. “Just forget about him,” she whispers before lowering her hands. And, fuck, if I don’t miss her touch already. “I had fun. Even when I thought I was dying,” she says with a grin.

I grimace at her words and then a dark chuckle erupts deep inside my chest. “You really are a little daredevil,” I tell her. “First with the car and now with this.” I’m starting to think she might enjoy the thrill a little too much. Fuck, I feel as if I aged ten years between today and the day she learned how to drive.

A sly grin slides onto her pretty face. Then she surprises the hell out of me by saying, “Give me, like, five minutes, and then we can go out again.”

“You want to…go out again?” I ask, completely positive that I didn’t hear her right somehow.

“Yeah, we still have a few hours before the sun sets,” she says. “We always used to stay until sunset, remember?”

I nod slowly. Of course I remember. We would watch the sunset on the beach together after we spent hours surfing. Those days were some of the most magical moments of my life.

“Okay,” I tell her. “We’ll keep going if you feel up to it.”

“I do,” she says with a smile that lights up my whole fucking world.

I keep forgetting how strong my girl is. She’s been through hell twice and back and fucking survived. Not many can say that.

We spend the rest of the afternoon riding wave after wave until we’re both too tired to go back in the water. And when we watch the sun setting across the ocean, it feels like my life is finally complete and full of something other than despair, tragedy…and longing.

It’s when we’re climbing back in the van that I get an eerie feeling, like she’s going to disappear again. The thought of her being ripped from my arms again has my chest aching and my stomach tying up in knots. I try to shake off the feeling, because I know if anyone tries to take her from me again, I will hunt them down and kill them with my own fucking bare hands.

Selina and I deserve some happiness in our lives. And I’m only happy when I’m with her. I just hope someday she feels the same way.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.