“Adrie, God I love you.” Grayson reaches up to cup her face. His fingers trace the bruise that still hasn’t quite disappeared from her cheek, and she sees his expression darken.
“Stay here with me, Gray. Don’t go there.” She watches him, pulling him back from the dark place that he goes when he’s reminded of what happened to her and how things could have ended so differently.
She leans over him, her hair creating a curtain around them as she kisses him hard, sucking on his lip and distracting him from his gloomy thoughts. Her hips start moving faster, and Grayson picks up on her change in rhythm, driving into her harder.
They’re both moaning in pleasure at the exquisite contact. She tightens her pussy’s hold around his shaft, and she watches as Grayson’s eyes bulge. “Holy shit, Adrie.” He grabs hold of her hips and flips her over so that she’s underneath him. He circles her clit with his thumb, as he buries himself in her again and again.
Adriana squirms underneath him, arching her back and pushing up against him to allow him to get even deeper inside of her. “I’m close, Gray.” She can barely breathe she’s so turned on.
“Come with me, Adrie.” His words stimulate her—in time with his fingers and his cock—and she feels herself rising up and up and up. Pleasure overtakes her as she climaxes, crying out.
Grayson follows her a split-second later, calling out her name as he spurts inside of her, clutching her to him. Grayson collapses on top of her, breathing hard and planting soft kisses on her lips and along the remnants of the bruise on her cheek.
“I love you, Adrie.” He whispers the words against her lips. Now that they’d started to say it, it was like neither of them could say it enough.
“I love you too, Gray.” She wraps her arms around him, feeling languorous and satisfied beyond measure.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to get tired of having you here, in my bed.” Grayson smiles down at her, looking at her as if she were the best thing he’d ever seen.
They hadn’t been able to get enough of each other—despite spending every day and every night since the fight wrapped around each other, barely inches apart. They have barely surfaced from Grayson’s bedroom for anything but food and water, and Adriana could safely say that she could have stayed like that forever.
But the time has come for the most momentous event in their relationship to date, more than her being taken and used as leverage over Grayson and more than him almost being beaten to within an inch of his life in the ring to save her. This moment was going to be more impactful than everything else they’ve been through; she was about to meet Grayson’s family.
“What are you so nervous about? They’re going to love you.” Grayson is lying in bed watching her as she flits about the room, trying and failing miserably to keep her cool.
“How do you know that? You can’t know that!” Adriana knows that her voice is verging on hysterical. However, knowing that Grayson’s mom and sister are on their way from the airport is bringing out that side of her.
Grayson smiles ruefully and opens his arms to Adriana. She goes to him automatically, as if her body is no long under her control. She sits on the bed, and he envelops her in his embrace. With that, it feels like all the tension is seeping out of her.
He whispers in her ear. “They’re going to love you because I love you.” He lifts her face up towards him and kisses her deeply, his tongue exploring her mouth so deliciously she feels her knees begin to wobble.
Absently, she wonders if she’ll ever get used to the effect that he has on her. She wonders if she ever wants to. “It’s just…it’s the first time I’ve ever done the meet the parent thing. I don’t have much practice.” She shrugs her shoulders, wishing that she didn’t sound quite so small.
“I’m glad that this is important to you.” Grayson rests his forehead against hers. “It is for me, too.” He kisses her again, deeper this time. His hand starts to draw ever decreasing circles on the smooth skin of her back.
She feels her body responding to him and the tingling start between her thighs, as he touches her. She knows that now isn’t the time to let herself go, not when his family is about to arrive. “Grayson, you don’t play fair!” She wriggles out of his reach, laughing. “I’m not going to meet your mom for the first time from your bed.”
“But you’re so beautiful when you’re lying in my bed.” Grayson throws her one of his deadly winks and ducks as the cushion she’s just thrown at him goes sailing over his head.
CHAPTER FIFTY
GRAYSON
Operation: Meet the Family couldn’t be going any better. He watches as Adriana and Kay sit together by the pool, talking and laughing, thick as thieves. Adriana looks up, sensing his eyes on her, and she smiles at him. It’s one of those smiles that makes him feel like his heart has just skipped a beat, and he grins like a fool.
Willow and Tommy are busy by the outdoor bar, trying to pretend that they’re not flirting with each other. Grayson wonders how long it’s going to take for them to figure out what he and Adriana already know.
West is fixing Grayson’s mother another drink and telling her some story that makes her throw back her head and laugh. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of seeing his mom happy, not after he spent years seeing her do little else apart from cry and cower in the corner.
This is his family. All the people whom he loves are in one place, and it’s the best feeling in the world. He takes a swig of his beer, his eyes return to Adriana and the lines of her face and body that he knows so well. God dammit, she’s beautiful. He shakes his head like he can’t quite believe his luck.
“I’m so proud of you, Grayson.” His mom has snuck up beside him, and she clinks her fresh glass against his bottle. “The national championships…it’s amazing.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Grayson throws an arm around her shoulder, barely able to believe it himself. This is what he’d been working towards and what he’d wanted for as long as he could remember, but it all paled in comparison next to what he could have lost.
“West was telling me that it’s a lot of traveling, fighting the champions of different states, a lot of days on the road.” She’s clearly going somewhere with this, and Grayson looks at her, waiting for her to ask the question that she’s circling around. “How does Adriana feel about it?”
“She understands. We’re talking about her taking an extended holiday from the hospital so she can come on the road with us. We’ll make it work.” Grayson shrugs, not because he doesn’t care, but because he’s completely certain that there’s no reason to worry. He and Adriana can get through whatever life throws at them; they’ve proven that already.
“She’s lovely, Grayson.” His mother’s voice brings him out of his thoughts.
He smiles at her. “She is. She’s everything I want. She’s my soulmate.” It sounds so simple, but there’s a world in that one phrase.
The night that he’d gotten Adriana back, they’d talked about his past and his history with Morrison. He’d told her everything from beginning to end, not leaving anything out, not wanting there to be any more secrets between them. He’d seen where secrets had gotten them.
She’d been silent throughout his whole story until he reached the end, soaking in everything he was telling her. When everything had been said, she hadn’t raged at him for waiting all this time to tell her. She didn’t call him a monster or a murderer or any of the things that he had been afraid she would call him. She didn’t tell him that she needed time or space to think about it. All she did was look straight into his eyes and plant a kiss on his lips that was so soft and so full of feeling that he felt like his heart would explode with love for her. He’d held her so tight that night, barely sleeping. It was as if he was afraid that she’d be gone again in the morning. But she wasn’t. She was right there by his side, as she had been every day since.
“So what are you going to do about it?” His mom raises an eyebrow at him in an expression that he recognizes as one h
e’s inherited from her.
“How did you know?” He can’t believe that in the short time she’s been here that she’s managed to figure things out so completely.
“Mothers know these things.” She reaches over and takes the beer bottle out of his hand. “The sun is about to set. This would be a good time.” She nudges him slightly, encouraging him with a smile.
He takes a deep breath, preparing himself for what he’s about to do, not because he’s unsure, but because he feels like all his future happiness hangs in the balance of a one word answer. He feels in the pocket of his board-shorts, checking for the umpteenth time that the square box is still there. He’d been carrying it around, waiting for the perfect moment and life, as it does, had gotten in the way. Now, there are no more excuses. Now is the time.
He stops in front of Adriana and Kay who look up at him curiously. “What’s up, Gayson?” His sister laughs at the expression on his face. “You look like you’re having a moment.”
Adriana tilts her head as she looks at him and he sees concern cloud over her beautiful face. “Gray, is everything alright?” She gets to her feet, looking around as if there were some danger threatening them yet again. He wonders how long it will be for her to let go of that fear that’s followed her around since Morrison took her. She still doesn’t sleep through the night. When she wakes from one of her nightmares, he holds her, his heart breaking. The bruises and scratches on her body have faded, but the emotional wounds ran deeper and would take much longer to heal. But they would get through it; together they would find a way through.
“Nothing bad. At least I hope not.” Grayson reaches out and strokes her soft cheek, unable to be close to her without there being some contact between them.
She looks at him questioningly, her green eyes curious, unsure of what’s coming next. Here we go, he thinks, as he gets down on one knee.
“Grayson.” She breathes his name as she watches him, her eyes widening.
“Holy shit!” Kay’s whispered exclamation breaks the tension a little.
“Adriana, I love you more than I thought I could love anything or anyone. I can’t imagine my life without you. I found you ten years ago, and I messed it all up. Then, I was lucky enough to find you again. I’m not going to let you go this time. I know now that I can’t be without you, that being without you isn’t anything close to what living should feel like.” Grayson pulls the box out of his pocket and his hands shake a little as he opens it, showing her the ring set with diamonds and emeralds that match her sparkling green eyes, eyes that now look like they’re filling with tears. “Adriana, will you make me the happiest man alive? Will you be my wife?”
The silence is deafening and for what feels like the longest seconds of his life, he starts to wonder if he had scared her, if she thought they were moving too fast. But when he looks up into her eyes, he can see that there are no questions in them, only answers.
She kneels down in front of him, taking his head between her hands and resting her forehead against his. “Yes, Grayson. How could my answer be anything but yes?” She laughs and a single tear tracks down her cheek. He wipes it away, like he will all the tears that come after them—for the rest of their lives.
THE END
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STOLEN
Chapter One
Sunny
“C’mon, Sunny girl! Come sit by us. Killer says it’s alright if we watch from here.”
Slutty Mary pats the empty space on the rust red beach blanket next to her with the palm of her hand. She smiles at me, missing teeth and all, as she beckons, “You’re not gonna see anything from where you are.”
She’s right. This spot is garbage. I only picked it because it’s where Ricco dropped me off. I figure if he wants to find me after the match, I better be where he left me. But after our lame and boring night together with him sighing heavily at the best parts of the movie and spitting tobacco on my apartment entrance, I really couldn’t care less if he ever finds me.
Of course, as soon as I take the spot Mary offered me, she launches into an assault of questions about my time with Ricco.
“I hear he’s real nice and treats his girls good. Leann was with him a few months ago, and he bought her all kinds of nice shit… like a necklace and some stuff for her kitchen. Real fancy, quality stuff.”
Mary’s not that bright. Ricco didn’t buy Leann shit. He stole it off the back of some guy’s truck—or it’s one of those gifts he passes on from girl to girl. None of his old ladies ever stayed with him for long. He either grew tired of them and lost interest, or they saw right through his facade and realized how freaking boring the guy is. I’m glad I caught on at the end of date one. I didn’t have to put out or anything like most girls would have. Filthy Bastard MC rules only force us to spread for a guy on date two if he pays.
Still, I’m not going to be rude to Mary. These girls are my family. They are the only ones who understand what it’s like to live this life. And we look out for one another, even though it’s pretty clear that most of us really, truly despise each other. I guess that’s what a real sister is supposed to be like. I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen or heard from mine in years.
“Yeah,” I mutter as I play with a few of the grease covered rocks that dot the gravel ground of the underpass. “He was a nice guy. He’s not really my type though. I don’t think I’ll answer if he calls me again.”
Larissa butts in the way she always does. “Oh, girl, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she says. She can’t help but be the gossip among us. She has to know everything and anything about our lives or else she’ll die or something. But sometimes it comes in handy to have a know-it-all in the group.
My ears perk as I listen to her explain, “Ricco is Killer’s right hand. You can’t get closer to Killer unless you are screwing with Cobra. And that’s impossible.”
Killer, the President of the Filthy Bastards, is like a trophy to most club girls. For one, he’s fine as hell for a guy in his early forties. He’s got that red-blonde beard and the curly hair with salt and pepper streaks that make him look as if he’s stepped off some Viking ship. At nearly six feet tall, he’s as imposing as one too. The first time I met him was on my 18th birthday. He was welcoming me into the club as club property. He even did my brand right on my shoulder—a small skull and axe that singed quickly into my skin. I was too distracted by the guy, the booze, and the excitement to even notice the pain.
I learned quickly that Killer kept his inner circle small. Unlike the majority of the guys here, he only took one lover for a long period of time. That girl usually disappeared from our circle once he claimed her. I heard that he bound her to secrecy about what goes on in the background, so she kept out of day-to-day club life. Leann was his old lady for a while. We hadn’t seen her for months when we figured it out. She only appeared at socials and didn’t talk much when we begged for answers, but it was clear who she was staring down throughout the night.
Besides his girl, Killer has a VP, a second-in-command, by the name of Cobra. They call him that because of his slight lisp and the long, dark snake tattoo that covers his spine and reaches up over his bald head so that between his ears appears a striking snake head. It gives him a look of someone chasing death, which I suppose with his job of managing club assets and running security, he is.
Cobra is the one who arranged tonight’s fight with the Wilderkind MC. Like always, there’s some dispute about one of the Wilderkind crossing into Filthy Bastard territory to harass one of their business partners. Ricco mentioned it to me as he rudely interrupted the movie to read his text that announced the fight. I couldn’t have rolled my eyes harder hearing about it.
It is pretty routine that these bouts happen. In fact, it was really messing with my schedule. Club events meant that th
e girls had to get dressed up to the nines. Missing one, with the exception of death or near-death illness, meant you’d be cut off from the small amount of money that trickles in from club revenues to the ladies. Hell, you might even lose the rent they paid. I can’t risk that. Outside Filthy Bastard headquarters, I have absolutely no place to go if I got cut off.
So, I threw on this ridiculous black and blue (Filthy Bastard colors) bodycon dress that barely covers my tits or my ass and put on my heavy black eye makeup that feels as if my face weighs about a million pounds and marched my way to the overpass under the skyline bridge. The lights of Los Angeles shine brightly enough that I don’t need any more light to study the rest of the girls sitting cross-legged on the blankets. They all wear similar outfits like mine. They have to.
Second Chance: A Dark Bad Boy Romance Page 25