Glorious Sinner
A Lawless Kings Novella
Sherilee Gray
Copyright © 2018 by Sherilee Gray
All rights reserved.
Cover Design by: Mayhem Cover Creations
Editor: Andrea McKay
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Glorious Sinner - Sherilee Gray - 1st ed
ISBN Mobi 978-0-473-45288-9
ISBN ePub 978-0-473-45287-2
Visit my website at: www.sherileegray.com
Contents
About Glorious Sinner
Also by Sherilee Gray
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
About the Author
Coming Next…
Also by Sherilee Gray
About Glorious Sinner
People say Tomas Mendoza is dangerous.
They’re right.
But he saved my life.
I owe him, and all I have to repay the ruthless crime boss…is me. I tell myself it’s not pity that burns in his eyes when I dance for him, that my walls are so high he can’t see how broken I am inside.
Now danger stalks me again, and Tomas swoops in, only this time he shows me a different side of himself. Fierce protectiveness. Raw hunger. A tenderness that could sear through the barriers I raised to safeguard my heart and soul.
My past taught me not to trust. But this glorious sinner might be the one man I need to learn to love again.
Also by Sherilee Gray
Lawless Kings:
Shattered King
Broken Rebel
Beautiful Killer
Ruthless Protector
Glorious Sinner
The Smith Brothers:
Mountain Man
Wild Man
Boosted Hearts:
Swerve
Spin
Slide
Axle Alley Vipers:
Crashed
Revved
Wrecked
Black Hills Pack:
Lone Wolf’s Captive
A Wolf’s Deception
Stand Alone Novels:
Breaking Him
Prologue
Stephanie
Seven years ago
“I want to go home.” I tugged on Ryan’s hand again as he dragged me through his friend’s house, completely ignoring me. The party was getting out of hand. The place was full of people I didn’t know, and honestly, some were kind of frightening. Loud guys, half-dressed girls, fights breaking out. Ryan was drunk and I was pretty sure on something else as well.
I was scared. And I wanted to go home.
I tugged Ryan’s hand again, trying to get his attention. “Ryan, please, just take me home.”
He spun on me suddenly, looking pissed off, really and truly angry. “You go home when I’m fucking ready.”
I flinched. He’d never spoken to me like that before, and I’d never seen that look in his eyes. A look that gripped me behind the ribs and squeezed. He didn’t miss the hurt on my face, and going by his hissed curse, that pissed him off as well.
When we reached the living room, the place heaving with people, Ryan shoved his way through to the other side, grabbed a guy who had passed out in an armchair by the collar, and threw him off and onto the floor. The guy landed at an odd angle and I stared down at him in shock. Before I could bend down to check on him, I was tugged back onto Ryan’s lap. He’d plonked himself in the chair and held on to me tight, so tight it actually hurt.
I looked into his bloodshot eyes. “Please, Ryan. Please, will you just take me home? I’m…I don’t feel so good.” I felt woozy. He’d been filling my cup with beer all night. I’d only had alcohol a couple of times before and I was starting to feel sick.
Ryan’s mouth thinned, his jaw getting tight. His hand was high on my leg and his fingers dug in, making me wince. “Fucking hell, Stephanie. Just sit there without complaining for five fucking minutes, would you? I want people to see you’re with me, that you’re mine.” His hand slid higher.
I yelped and tried to jam my legs closed. “Why are you acting like this?”
“Like what?” he gritted out. “You’re my girl and I want everyone to know it.”
I frowned. I’d been dating Ryan for four months. He was twenty, two years older than me, and my first real boyfriend. My friend Sally and her boyfriend, Chad, had set us up. I’d liked him instantly. He’d made me laugh, had made me feel special. And honestly, I’d been ready to move on from the killer dose of unrequited love I’d been carrying around for a guy who didn’t know I existed.
But this Ryan I wasn’t a fan of, not one bit.
“Everyone here knows we’re dating.” I shook my head and the whole room seemed to spin. “I’m…I feel woozy.” I’d drunk too much, but the room was also thick with pot smoke, which definitely wasn’t helping. I opened my mouth to ask him to take me home again, but he grabbed my face and jerked me down to kiss him.
It wasn’t like his usual kisses; there was nothing soft or sweet about it. His teeth scraped mine, his fingers digging deeper into my skin. I tried to pull back and he nipped my lip hard.
I jerked back and dragged the back of my hand across my mouth. It came back streaked with blood. I blinked back the tears stinging my eyes. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
His gaze dropped to my lips and widened. “I’m sorry. Shit, Steph, I didn’t mean to do that…”
I shoved him hard and managed to get free and out of his lap, and made a dash for the door. Not easy when people crowded in from all sides—the room spinning didn’t help either. Somehow I shoved my way through and stumbled out the front door and down the steps.
“Steph! Stephanie! Get the fuck back here!”
I ignored Ryan and moved as quickly as I could across the yard, stumbling in the stupid heels Sally had basically forced me to wear. Also, my too-short skirt was trying to climb up and over my ample ass. I tugged it down and stumbled again, almost falling on my face.
My arm was grabbed roughly and I was jerked back. “I fucking said wait,” Ryan said, yanking me around to face him.
“Let me the hell go.” I tried in vain to pull free.
“What the fuck are you doing?” His eyes had narrowed. He looked pissed off again. “Are you trying to embarrass me?”
I jerked back. “No. What are you talking about?”
“I got people I need to impress in there.”
“What?” I had no idea what he was talking about.
He shook me roughly. “Business,” he spat. “I’m doing business tonight. I need people to see I have my shit together. I wanted them to see I’ve got you. Fuck, no other chick in that house is as hot as you.”
“What?” I repeated on a whisper this time.
He shook me again. “Let’s go. I want to be inside before they get here.”
I shook my head. “I’m not just some brainless bimbo you can flash around. I’m your girlfriend. And what business are you doing? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Inside, Steph, now,” he said, voice colder this time.
Right then, I didn’t know hi
m. This Ryan, he wasn’t my Ryan. This was someone else, someone I didn’t want to be around.
I shook my head again, my heart pounding so hard I could hear the blood rushing through my ears. “No.”
He gripped my jaw and forced me to look at him. “I said now.”
“There a problem here?” someone said from the shadows. The voice was rough and low and lifted goose bumps on my arms.
Ryan spun around and froze, cursing under his breath.
When I saw who it was I froze as well.
Tomas Mendoza.
He used to work for my dad until recently, banging nails for his small construction business. I’d convinced myself I was in love with him, drooling after him for the last couple of years. It was humiliating, especially since he’d only ever treated me with polite indifference. Not surprising, since he was seven years older than me and seemed to have a different woman every week.
He stepped forward, the glow of his smoke getting brighter in the night as he drew on it, eyes never leaving Ryan, not once.
I shivered at the look in his eyes. So cold.
He was wearing all black. Black jeans and boots, a black T-shirt, that showed off his tattooed arms and hands.
There were a couple of other guys with him, but they hung back, watching.
“Tomas, good to see you, man,” Ryan said, a cocky grin on his face. His arms came around my neck and he pulled me into his side. “I’m ready to do business when you are.”
Tomas’s almost black eyes slid to me, smoke drifting out between his lips. “Okay, Stephanie?”
I nodded, unable to make my mouth work. He almost always used my full name, and always said it in that deep voice, with that slight growl that made my skin break out in goose bumps. I glanced at Ryan. He looked nervous. What business could Ryan have with Tomas? What the hell was going on?
“You sure about that?” Tomas said.
My mouth opened. Closed. Ryan’s hold got tighter. Talk, Steph. Answer him. “Y-yes, I’m fine.”
Ryan chuckled, and I looked at him because it sounded forced. “You know what women are like, sometimes you have to—”
Ryan stopped midsentence, his face turning pale, and my gaze shot back to Tomas. His eyes weren’t just cold now; they were ice cold, and terrifying.
“Go ahead, Ryan. Finish what you were going to say,” Tomas said, voice so low and full of grit I felt it all the way down to my toes. “What do you have to do?”
Ryan shook his head, face red, sweat beading on his forehead. “I just meant…I was just…I didn’t mean anything.”
Tomas came right up to me. Ryan stumbled back a step, his arm slipping from my shoulders as Tomas gently took my chin between his thumb and forefinger. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe as his gaze dropped to my mouth. The muscle in his jaw jumped then his thumb swiped across my lower lip.
I swallowed hard. I knew my eyes were huge but I didn’t know what was going on, and Tomas was just so damn gorgeous and terrifying that looking into his eyes had me frozen to the spot. He was beautiful without doubt, but he had an intensity, a darkness that scared the shit out of me, and having all that directed on me was too much.
He let me go suddenly and held up his thumb, showing me it was streaked with my blood.
“He hit you?”
Ryan reached for me, all but snarling, but dropped his hand when Tomas’s dark gaze slid to him. That was it—just a look and my boyfriend backed off.
“Answer me,” Tomas said.
I shook my head. “No. I…I bit my lip,” I lied. I didn’t know why, but I had a feeling that things would get even scarier if I told him Ryan had bitten me.
He stared down at me for several long seconds, like he knew I was lying, like he was trying to pry the truth from me with just a look.
Finally, he lifted his head, eyes on Ryan. “I’m taking her home. You’ll wait here.”
Ryan shifted from one foot to the other, his face red with anger and humiliation. “No fucking way. She’s my girlfriend—”
“I wasn’t asking,” Tomas said.
Ryan clamped his mouth shut, but I could tell he was furious.
I forced myself to speak up. “Do I get a say in this?” I asked Tomas.
He didn’t even look at me, his eyes still burning into Ryan. “No.”
As much as I wanted to, there was no point fighting it. Tomas could easily tell my father he’d seen me here, which meant not pissing him off. My dad had no idea I was here, and thought I was at a late movie. Yes, I was eighteen, but he already wasn’t Ryan’s biggest fan. If my dad knew Ryan had brought me here and what had happened tonight, he’d be furious. It could make things difficult.
“It’s okay,” I said to Ryan. “Tomas worked for dad. I trust him. He’ll make sure I get home safe.”
Ryan scowled, looking even more pissed off, and when I looked up at Tomas, he looked…well, I wasn’t sure. I’d never seen that particular expression before, and I’d definitely taken a lot of interest in that face and the way it looked over the years, so I should know. Those black eyes were more intense than before, though.
I didn’t get the chance to say more to my boyfriend because Tomas grabbed my wrist and started toward his car. Tingles shot up my arm and I suddenly found it hard to breathe as he led me to the passenger side and waited, that tall, lean body rigid. I climbed in quickly and he strode around to the driver’s side and slid in behind the wheel.
He started the car, and when he pulled out he glanced at me. “Did he hurt you, Stephanie?”
“No, never. I swear it, Tomas.” I swallowed, my mouth incredibly dry all of a sudden.
“He’s getting rough with you, though. I saw the way he touched you,” he gritted out as he shifted gears.
“I promise, I’m okay. It was nothing, really. He’s just drunk, that’s all. He’s not usually like that.” And he wasn’t. I just hoped the Ryan I saw tonight never made another appearance.
Tomas was quiet for the longest time, and stayed quiet until we reached my house. He pulled up outside and I thought he’d let me get out without another word, but when I reached for the door he curled his fingers around my wrist, stopping me.
I turned back to him.
His gaze slid back down to my mouth, then up, capturing my eyes. “You can do better than that asshole, pretty girl. So much better.”
My belly clenched down low, my pulse picking up speed. He still had hold of my wrist and I knew he’d be able to feel it. The way my body responded to him so quickly made me feel guilty, ashamed. Ryan was my boyfriend. Yes, he’d acted like an asshole tonight, but he’d never hurt me. “I suppose you think you’re better?” I said, letting my anger show, even as my heart was close to pounding out of my chest, waiting for him to answer.
He grinned and my breath caught in my throat. I’d never seen him smile like that. He was the handsomest man I’d ever laid eyes on. He was also dangerous as hell. All you had to do was look at him to see it, that dark, wicked glint in his eyes, the sexy tilt to his beautiful lips. He was trouble.
I bit my lip and pressed my thighs together, the ache there impossible to ignore.
His nostrils flared, and the muscle in his jaw jumped. Finally, he shook his head. “Nah, Angel, you can do a whole lot better than me as well.” He reached out, and I sat frozen as he gently brushed his thumb over my abused lower lip. “I was never good enough for you, and I never will be.”
When his eyes lifted to mine, I wanted to crawl under the seat. Humiliation hit my face. He knew. He knew I’d been in love with him when he worked for my dad. He’d probably always known.
I tried to pull free of him again, tried to get the hell away, but he didn’t let me go.
“You might hear things about me,” he said. “Shit that freaks you out. But no matter what, you don’t ever need to be afraid of me. I’d never do anything to hurt you.” His thumb slid over the inside of my wrist and I shivered. “No matter where I am, if you need help, you’re in trouble, all you need to do
is call and I’ll be there, understand?”
I wanted to ask what he meant. What he’d done that would freak me out. Instead, I nodded, desperate to get away from his all-too-knowing gaze.
His grip on me loosened and then slipped away, and as soon as it did, I shoved the door open, rushed to the front door, and quickly unlocked it.
Don’t look back. Do not look back.
But I couldn’t help it. I turned, glancing back over my shoulder. He wasn’t in his car anymore—he’d opened his door and was standing there, like he’d been going to follow me but changed his mind, and he was watching me.
I quickly opened the door and slammed it shut behind me, leaned against it, and squeezed my eyes closed.
I knew one thing for sure: I would never call him, not ever, not for any reason. Being anywhere near him scared the hell out of me. Tomas was dangerous. Wild.
God, so tempting.
But, I got the feeling that no one got close to Tomas Mendoza and walked away unscathed. I rubbed my wrist where it still tingled from his touch. He made me feel like I was walking too close to an active volcano.
And I had no intention of getting burned.
* * *
Six years later
I lay on the bathroom floor, blinking up at the ceiling. Every bone in my body, every part of me was hurting. My skin was slick with blood, and breathing wasn’t so easy. Probably a punctured lung. If I didn’t get help soon, I was pretty sure I was going to die. I was going to die before I got a chance to live.
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