by K. T Fisher
“What’s up?” I ask her, I notice that she looks down. “Has something happened?”
“I kissed someone yesterday.” She admits, but she doesn’t look happy about it. If anything she looks horrified. “Oh god it was awful!”
“Natasha, talk to me.” I wrap my arm around her and she leans into me.
“I saw you and Grim and for the first time in a long time, you looked happy, so when one of the guys started showing me attention I leaned in for a kiss. And it was ok, until I started crying on him and it wasn’t a few tears, Lauren. I was full on blubbering like a baby, and he must think I’m crazy!” She holds her head in her hands.
“Who was it?” I ask, stroking her hair.
“It doesn’t matter.” She cries. “I thought I was ready.”
Her crying becomes more frantic and louder and I realize with shock that this is the first time Natasha has properly cried since coming into the care of The King’s. This is the first step to her recovery, and she doesn’t even realize. She didn’t need a man to help her. She needed to let it all out.
“Let yourself cry Tash, you need to feel it to be able to get over it.” I pull her up so I can see her face. “We will never forget, but we can move on and a man isn’t the answer. It’s this.”
I wipe her eyes, showing her the wetness of her tears and when she gets it, she cries some more and I hold her. Letting her know that I’m here for her.
Chapter 38
Natasha and I decide to leave our room, and truthfully I do feel different. Something inside my head or my body switched, and I feel like not only do I now own my body but my mind too. Smiling to myself I scream inside, fuck you Demon and Strike! Fuck you Andrew for selling me like I was yours to own and fuck everyone who used me! I am in control now.
I need some fresh air, so instead of staying sheltered in the club room I head for the doors and walk out into the club garden. When we walk down the yard, I spot Drew and Elise sitting on a bench further down and Elise waves us over.
“Have you spoken to Drew since she saw you running from Grim’s room?” Natasha quietly asks as we walk over.
“No.” I whisper back with my smile still in place. I hope she’s not mad at me, or fell out with me just because she thinks I’ve slept with her brother. Who by the way I didn’t even know was her brother until I ran into her.
Wait, so if Elise and Drew are cousins and Drew is Brandon’s sister. Then that means Brandon and Elise are related! No wonder he was so grateful for what I did for her back in the Devil’s Spawn territory.
As soon as we’re in reach, Elise jumps up and hugs us both. “Hey, girls!”
“Hi.” I smile, and awkwardly sit beside Drew as Natasha sits opposite me.
Elise continues to smile at me and I’m finding it a little weird. Then I narrow my eyes at her and realise with dread that Drew has told her.
“You know don’t you.” I accuse.
“Yes!” She squeals excitedly. “Drew told me.”
I nod my head, knowing that I was right. I look to Drew, but she’s looking down at the bench, picking at her painted nails. “Are you mad?” I ask her.
She shakes her head, still not looking at me. “No.”
“Nothing happened.” I assure her and she finally looks up at me.
“I wouldn’t mind if it did.” She admits. “I mean, yes it would be weird but I know my brother is a good guy underneath. I was just worried for you.”
“Worried?” I ask.
“Yeah.” She nods. “I heard that you were drunk and the last person someone saw you with was Grim. I jumped to the worst conclusion and found you running away and it confirmed what I suspected.”
“But nothing did happen, and he wasn’t even there while I was drinking.” I insist. “He just looked after me and I got a little jumpy when I woke and ran.”
“That’s why I was so angry. I knew it was too soon for you and I didn’t want you hurt. When you left us that was what he told me. He said he cares for you, and he wanted to look after you.” Her words leave me silent and when I look up, I see Elise smiling at me again.
“Why do you keep smiling at me?” I ask her and her smile widens.
“You two are cute together.” She sings.
“We are not together.” I growl with annoyance.
“He did take you on a picnic.” Natasha teases and Elise’s eyes go so wide.
“He took you on a picnic!” She claps her hands with joy and I groan into my hands.
Drew laughs beside me, and I hear Natasha join her as Elise continues to clap.
“Franky is heading this way.” Natasha looks behind me and I look to Elise.
“Not a word.” I warn her. Elise mimics me as she pretends to zip up her mouth. If only.
“Hello, girls.” I hear Franky from behind me and turn to see he’s standing with Devlin and another man who I haven’t seen before. The first thing I do notice is that he is extremely good looking and quite young looking.
We all reply with our own greetings and Franky places a hand on my shoulder. “How are you feeling, Lauren? I haven’t had a chance to catch up with you after you ran out of my office.”
“I’m fine now, thank you.” I reply. “I’m sorry about that, it won’t happen again.”
Franky frowns. “No, you don’t need to apologize. That was a tough situation for you and I am grateful for all your help.” He then looks to Natasha. “Thank you as well Natasha, you gave us a lot of info that we needed.”
Natasha gives a small smile and nods at The King’s president. I didn’t know she had done the same, would that have been why she felt extra exposed and tried kissing a club member?
“Ladies,” Devlin begins in his charming way. “This young man here is my brother, The Baby.”
“Really?” Drew looks towards her other brother. “I didn’t know.”
Devlin frowns at his little sister. “Obviously I was talking to Lauren and Tash.”
Tash? Have Natasha and Devlin been doing some bonding I don’t know about?
“Hey, girls.” Baby sits beside me, squashing me between him and Drew. “Nice to meet you.”
Devlin sits opposite me, right next to Natasha and I notice how she tries to slide away from him as much as possible.
“Baby?” I ask, that’s a weird club name.
“Yep.” He beams. “I’m the baby of the family and everyone jokes about my gorgeous young looks. So I am The Baby, but Baby for short.”
Baby leans in closer to me and whispers, “If you’re really lucky, you can be screaming out Kai instead, but that’s just for the bedroom.”
I start to giggle, if it was anyone else saying this it would creep me out, but Baby is really funny. “Of course, some chicks are kinky and like to call me Baby, the choice is yours, Lauren.” I can’t help it, I laugh really loudly and after looking shocked, Baby joins me.
Baby, like his older siblings, has the tanned skin tone that they all inherited from Franky but he hasn’t got the dark hair. Unlike the rest, Baby has his mother’s light hair, but shares Drew’s green eyes that they both received from Laura. That doesn’t mean he’s any less attractive, oh no. This guy is gorgeous and he knows it, but that seems like a family trait. They are all good looking.
“Well, am I missing out on a party?” I hear from behind and spin to see Brace smiling down at us all.
“Dad!” Elise jumps up and hugs him. Since getting back from America, Brace was quickly sent out on a run with a few members, and I’m guessing Baby was one of them seeing as today is the first time I’m seeing him.
Brace leans in to give me and the girls a welcome hug and then turns to his brother, Franky. “Prez, I got some info.”
“This urgent or can it wait.” Franky asks with a tone of authority.
“It can wait.” Brace assures him and joins our mini party.
Everyone’s in good spirits, laughing and joking around. Baby is a huge flirt, and on a totally different level than Devlin and Brandon. I can see
the women would love him and I just know what he’s like around them.
“So Lauren, apart from the obvious, tell me about yourself.” He leans on his elbow, staring right at me and I have to laugh some more. I do tell him about my life before The Devil’s and like everyone else, he doesn’t buy the whole, I was a bitch speech.
However, when he starts telling me his stories on some of his nights out, and the women he has had, my head tilts back in laughter. “I’m not kidding!” He laughs. “I had to lift her off my dick. The woman was that tired after just an hour of sex, she passed out on me!”
Another round of laughter picks up and I have to cross my legs to stop me from peeing myself in front of everyone. The rest of the table joins in, even Drew and then as Baby talks privately to his dad Devlin takes his place at my side. “Don’t look now, but big bro doesn’t look very happy.”
My eyes scan around and then I clock Brandon standing to the side with two other members. They’re both talking, drinks in hand but Brandon isn’t joining in with the conversation. Instead he’s frowning and I get the shivers from the look on his face.
Baby re-joins us and sits in Devlin’s old seat and leans over to me. “I’m guessing you’re whispering about Grim over there?” He inclines his head in the direction of Brandon. “Do you like him?”
His question throws me off guard and when he repeats the question, I can’t help but blush. “What? No.”
“Dev, switch with me.” He orders and takes his seat next to me again.
“Shit’s about to go down.” Devlin laughs as he sits back down beside Natasha.
Baby wraps his arm around me and whispers, “Play along.” He gently runs his nose along my neck and I’m very ticklish there, so of course I giggle.
All of a sudden Baby is ripped away in a blur. Grim stands above Baby who is now lying on the grass, but his frown is focussed on me.
“What the fuck!” Shouts Baby from the ground.
“Don’t piss me off!” Grim points down at him.
“End this shit now!” Roars Franky. “Grow the fuck up, Baby!”
That statement in itself is funny, but nobody laughs.
“Stupid bitch is already getting in the middle of the brothers.” Snickers one of the club whores nearest to the bench says, “She’s too fucking ugly anyway.”
I will not now or ever stand for someone talking about me like that. I forget about that scene between Grim, Franky and Baby and jump up from my seat.
“Oh shit.” I hear from Drew as I storm on over to the fucking whore.
The whore, dressed in the tiniest shorts I’ve ever seen, sees me coming but it’s too late for her. I push her to the ground as hard as I can and I hear her land with a thump.
“What you gotta say about me, bitch?” I lean into her face.
She tries to get up but I push her back down, but then my hair is pulled from behind me. I scream as I try to get a hold of the bitch that has a grip on my hair. I hate girls who fight like that!
The whore on the floor gets back up with a huge smile on her face, but then just before she can get to me the girl behind me loses her grip. Now free, I kick out at the girl in front of me just before her punch lands on me. I turn to see Drew has another girl trapped in her arms. I’m guessing that’s who had a hold of my hair.
Suddenly Brandon is in my face, blocking me from the whore. “What’s going on?”
“She was bitching about me.” I sneer down to where she lies.
“Fuck off!” She shouts and I go to attack her again but Brandon picks me up and flips me over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” I scream and try to lift my head, but then drop back down when my hands touch his rock hard arse.
“Devlin, sort the whores out.” Brandon orders and walks off, with my bottom over his shoulder.
Men cheer as we pass, but we both ignore them. I notice that he is taking me in the direction of the bedrooms and I start to fight. We reach his room and he throws me down on his bed.
Chapter 39
I glare up at Brandon, angry that he carried me that way in front of everyone.
“I can’t believe you did that.” I growl and stand from his bed.
I walk towards the door, adamant that I don’t want to be here.
“You’re not leaving.” Brandon speaks from behind me. “Do not open that door.”
I stop walking, staring at the door that I want to open. “Why not?”
“Because we need to talk.” I feel Brandon getting closer to me, my body is very aware of him.
“About the whore?” I sneer.
“No.” Brandon grabs my shoulders, spinning me around to face him and pushing me up against the wall. “About you and my brother.”
Brandon steps closer, trapping me against the wall. I’m not afraid. No, I’m feeling something else entirely.
“Your brother?” I scream. “Because he was messing with you?”
“He looked like he wanted to mess with you.” He growls. “He’s a flirt and loves beautiful women.”
I’m about to shout again, but I hear what he just said. Did he just call me beautiful?
“He was making me laugh and he saw how you were glaring at him. He wanted to tease you, that’s all.” Why am I explaining myself to him? We’re not together, but that’s what this feels like right now.
“Ok.” He nods.
“Brandon,” I hesitate. “Were you jealous?”
I feel nervous as I watch him think about what to say. He could easily embarrass me here and I start to regret my question.
“Lauren, I gotta admit that I really care for you. I just feel protective of you for some reason, and even having Kai that close to you felt wrong. I didn’t like it and yeah, I guess I was jealous.” I stay silent, not because I don’t know what to say but because I want to hear more. He looks into my eyes and I start to feel emotional. “When I found you in that disgusting room, I was so pissed. Not only was my cousin there, but you and Natasha. No woman should ever be treated like that. I hate that you were in that situation and I wish I knew you before so that I could have stopped it from happening. I feel responsible for you, nobody else. Is that weird? That I feel a connection to you? Protective of you? I don’t want anyone close to you, even my brothers because I’m worried you will prefer their friendship to mine.”
“Friendship?” I ask. I feel like his words mean more than just a friendship.
“No, I don’t know what it is. But I do know I want you and it’s fucked because I can’t act on it.” He confesses. “Usually I go balls in, get you in my bed and it’s done. But you’re different. I don’t want to scare you away after Demon, I want to keep you close and I don’t want a quick fuck. I want to keep you around.”
I understand what he’s saying, and his words terrify me. I don’t know what to say. Am I ready for this? Is it too soon?
“Brandon,” I begin but I don’t know what else to say.
“You don’t have to say anything.” He interrupts. He leans in close, breathing on my face and I close my eyes. His nose and forehead touches mine and I melt. “Can I kiss you?”
I’m shocked that he would ask that. He seems like the guy to take and not ask, but he said he cares for me so maybe he’s worried how I would take such an aggressive move. It’s probably the right thing to do. I might have fought back and ran away. I don’t want that and with a simple and quick nod, Brandon’s lips cover mine. I’m taken away with his kiss, my lips surrender to his and he takes control. Once he feels I’m ok with this, he finally shows me who he really is. Brandon captures my face with his large hands, tangling his fingers in my hair and is releasing a groan into my mouth. The room begins to spin and if I didn’t know any better, I would think Brandon has supernatural powers because I’m floating. I sigh in response as Brandon growls, trying to dig deeper into the kiss and press me closer against the wall. I feel his large, hard erection pressing against me and break out in a needy sweat. I haven’t felt like this in a long fucking
time, it’s euphoric!
Not only have I never been kissed like this, but I’ve never felt this heated from just a kiss. This is all new territory to me. After being Demon and Strike’s play thing, I’m not used to this anymore and I have no doubt that if I wasn’t so wrapped up in the kiss, then I would be freaking out.
The kissing slows and I back away slightly. Letting my heart calm down and recover. Brandon returns to resting his forehead on mine. “Shit, Lauren.”
I laugh, knowing the feeling.
“I will wait. I know you’re not ready, but I will wait until you are.” He grabs my arse tightly in his grip and growls. “I know you’re fucking worth it.”
I slap him away, still laughing. “Cheeky.”
We then leave, walking side by side and when we return to the bench I’m happy to see the whores are gone. Natasha quickly grabs me and wants to know what’s happened.
“I’ll tell you later.” I whisper back.
Baby catches my eye and winks, causing Brandon to pull me closer to his side.
“Watch yourself.” Brandon warns and Baby gives him the middle finger in return.
For the rest of the night we have fun. A lot of laughs are shared and stories exchanged. For the first time in a very long time, even before The Devil’s, I feel like a part of something.
Chapter 40
During the next day, I’m feeling a little weird as I watch Brandon. We haven’t spoken at all today and I can’t help but feel a little vulnerable.
“You’re staring.” Elise whispers beside me and I snap my eyes away from Brandon.
“I was not.” I deny.
Elise and Natasha laugh in response. Once they get back into conversation, I drift away again and let my eyes find Brandon and when I do, he’s looking right back at me. I feel like I’ve been caught out and he sends me a wink before returning back to the club members he’s talking to.
“Enjoying the view?” Natasha asks me. “Boy, I’m so glad we’re having breakfast together.”
I roll my eyes at Natasha’s sarcasm. “Shut up.”