Grayson Ryder: A Thief's Thrill

by M. L. Giles

  There was no way I was walking around with that smell constantly lingering in my nose. Regrettably, I had to throw it away.

  My replacement hoodie came from Tyrone, who kindly donated me a deep blue fleece, with no zip on the front and two slightly smaller pockets stitched on to the front. It was only a shade brighter than my previous jacket and still had a good hood on it, so it seemed like a decent substitute – minus the patch of a bull sewn on to the side of the arm.

  I would need to blacken that patch with permanent marker, or remove it entirely, at some point.

  Once sorted, I went to the bar to wait for Colton. It was our agreed meeting spot for after we were ready.

  While sitting on a stool at the bar by myself, I thought hard about Evan’s words to me. But, more importantly, my reaction to them.

  Love is a strong word, one that had lost most of its meaning to me.

  In this entire world, there have been only three people that I’ve grown so attached to that I’ve said I loved them.

  The first was my sister, Gloria, and that wasn’t going to change.

  Secondly, my father. Before he died, we were pretty close; much closer than I was to my mother.

  The third was my childhood sweetheart from secondary school – a boy called Roman.

  With him, it was love at first sight. Roman was attracted to me because I had the “bad boy” image going on. Whereas I had a thing for his very sexy Polish accent. We used to talk about how awesome it was going to be when we became adults just because we could move in together and never be apart!

  I still remember the days Roman and I would sneak off to the boys’ toilets at school for some fun, or the times we would kiss and explore each other’s bodies in his bedroom.

  However, when secondary school ended, Roman went off to college. It was at that time we lost touch. Gradually, the calls ceased. Then he stopped replying to my text messages. The lack of contact was so unbelievably painful.

  One day, I went to his college to surprise him. I’d worked hard to pinch a lot money from people that day and I wanted to take us out for a bite to eat, hoping to recapture that old spark we had through the last year of school.

  At the end of the college day, I hid myself just to the side of his college near the entrance, ready to sneak up on him as part of the surprise.

  He walked out of the entrance with a girl… They were all over each other; smooching, hand-in-hand, unable to take three steps before needing to look lovingly at each other.

  My heart shattered into tiny fragments.

  I wanted to knock his lights out! I wanted to tear that bitch’s hair out and strangle her with it! …But all I could do was whisper Roman’s name, as I watched him walk away with the girl I wished was me. At one point, on my walk back home, an elderly lady stopped me in the street to ask if I was okay.

  Without even realizing it, I’d been crying.

  I used to tell Roman all the time that I loved him, and I’d meant it. After what happened, it seemed logical not to fall for someone ever again, opting instead for casual sex to fulfil any urges that would come up. There were times someone would become attached to me, only to find themselves heartbroken by me instead. I learned how to suppress the feelings, stopping them from coming back to hurt me once again.

  At least, I thought I did.

  “You ready, Gray?” Colton had entered the bar without me noticing, snapping me out of my painful memories.

  I turned and looked at him, examining his impressive gear. He was wearing navy-coloured camouflage army trousers, a green camouflage shirt with the sleeves cut out, big black boots, a black tactical vest with pockets galore, and a sheathed machete with a red handle which hung from his belt; the same one he had brought along when I went to the hospital.

  “Is this place really dangerous enough to warrant bringing the machete?” I asked.

  “That’s what we’re gonna find out.”

  Chapter 14

  Closer.

  A Rude Awakening.

  “Is there some reason we’re going to this supposedly dangerous place alone?” I asked Colton. We were sat waiting in our ugly-looking, beige car for the gate of the underground car park to fully rise.

  “More people means more chances of being spotted,” he answered. “Said so yourself.”

  I couldn’t argue with my own logic. It was probably the only reason I was successful at the hospital – if you can even call it that.

  With the gate fully lifted, Colton drove out of the exit and up the ramp, turning onto the quiet, dark streets.

  “Isn’t it about time you filled me in?” I asked.

  Colton flashed me a wide, toothy grin. “Maybe later, eh?”

  I suppose I walked right into that one. His innuendo did make me chuckle, though. “You know what I meant… Shouldn’t you be filling me in on the DETAILS!”

  “Heh, yeah. One of our watchmen spotted a buildin’ with light comin’ from the windows. Needs to be checked out.”

  “Oh, joy. Think it’s Aiden’s people?” I already felt sick at the thought of bumping into more devotees of that angelic voiced demon.

  Colton shrugged his hefty shoulders, both hands still on the steering wheel. “Only one way to find out.”

  We pulled up outside a large pub, one that had its own spot in between a long row of residential houses. The ride here had only taken a few minutes, making it not far from the hospital. A faded sign near the entrance revealed the name of the pub to be “The Old Sign.”

  How accurate.

  I examined the exterior of the old-timey pub, looking for anything remotely suspicious. Nothing appeared out of place.

  “Looks undisturbed. Are you sure this is the right place?” I asked Colton.

  “Yeah. Come on.”

  Trying not to make too much noise, I opened the door slowly, closing it with just as much delicacy. Colton didn’t seem to bother with subtly, instead slamming the door shut.

  “Great! Why do I even bother?” I asked myself.

  We both made our way to the front entrance, heading up a couple of steps that led to two large, dark wooden doors. I peered around, trying to get a look through the mix of intact and smashed windows.

  All seemed quiet. Usually you could get a feel for if a place had been used recently, but I wasn’t getting that feeling here.

  “Maybe we should we find a less obvious entrance? The back could work better,” I quietly suggested.

  “Nah, let’s just be quiet.” Even Colton’s whispers were hilariously manly.

  He pulled the handle down on one of the large wooden doors, pushing it open with some effort. I was expecting this to be the world’s loudest door.

  My expectations were met.

  The door’s hinges groaned loudly from its lack of use, causing me to cringe. Colton’s lack of caution may have cost us the element of surprise.

  My fingers were crossed in the hopes that if someone had been here earlier, they were long gone by now.

  We entered together, practically at the same time. Inside was dark, but the moonlight shining through the windows gave some visibility. Colton lifted his hand up with a large flashlight ready to be turned on. Before he could make yet another mistake, I grabbed his hand, stopping him from turning it on.

  “Wait!” I whispered sharply. “We’ll be walking targets if that goes on.”

  “Oh, yeah. I’ll go check upstairs. You take downstairs.” Colton’s voice was not so whispery anymore, reminding me of why I preferred to work alone.

  With a single nod from me, we parted ways. Colton headed for the stairs behind the bar’s counter, creating horribly loud creaking sounds with each step he made on the old wooden steps. Whereas I moved more gracefully around the place, keeping a sharp eye open.

  Everything looked fine to me. The room we had walked into was the main bar, filled with circular tables, a serving area for drinks with almost all its bottles missing, several TVs still mounted on the walls, and a couple of one-armed bandits in the
corner. The only things out of place in here were the large quantity of broken glass on the floor and four or five skeletons lying around, but that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary these days.

  The second large room I made my way into was filled with rectangular tables and chairs, only this time more orderly. Each table had a numbered metal coin embedded in it, along with several menus being held up by wooden holders.

  “Man, I miss good, old-fashioned pub grub,” I thought.

  My search continued, but still nothing showed any signs of recent activity.

  Just as I was about to open the doors to the female toilets, I heard Colton shout out my name from upstairs.

  In a state of panic, I rushed back into the first room, shot behind the bar, and legged it up the stairs. At the top, I saw three closed doors and one door that was slightly ajar with light shining through its opening.

  “Must be that one!” I thought in a panic.

  With no regard to stealth or my own personal safety, I shoulder barged the door. It flew open, smacking up against the wall with a loud bang.

  “Well, look at that, you do care,” Colton said, shirtless and grinning from under the covers of a comfortable-looking double bed with a red and white blanket on.

  I looked around frantically, still on edge from the obvious trick Colton had pulled.

  This had been someone’s bedroom once. The double bed sat neatly centred against a wall under a long window. At the other end was an oval vanity mirror attached to a wooden desk. Several lit candles had been placed around the oddly immaculate room, lighting the entire place up with a warm glow.

  “You absolute bastard…” I moaned in anger. “I thought you were in danger! But instead you’re snuggled up in bed!?”

  “Gotcha,” he said, still wearing that stupid grin.

  I closed the door without taking my eyes off him. “Why did you do that?! I was genuinely worried!”

  He laughed at my annoyance, triumphant in his mission to prank me. It didn’t take me long to join in with his laughter.

  Hey, I can see the funny side of it too! I’ve pulled a few pranks in my day.

  “Got another surprise for you,” he said, once the laughter had died down.

  “If it’s not going to give me another heart attack, then go ahead.”

  “Might give you one.” Colton flicked the blanket back monetarily, showing himself to be stark bollock naked under the covers.

  “Hmmm, screw it,” I said after a brief pause. I kicked my trainers off, removing my hoodie at the same time. “In for a penny, in for a pound.”

  And so, I joined Colton in bed, both of us completely naked. The first thing he did was hand me a glass of whiskey.

  I asked him why and when he’d come up with this idea.

  He told me the idea came to him during the private meeting. My suggestion of some time off had sunken in, making him feel like it was time for a break away from everyone. The idea to stay at this pub had come from Evan, though. He had stumbled across it a while ago, stashing away a few bottles of booze from the bar before telling the rest of Colton’s group to strip the place for supplies.

  “How much time do we have here?” I asked while sipping down some whiskey. “Just a few hours, or until tomorrow?”

  “Try three days. Maybe four, if I feel like it.”

  “You’re joking, right?” I coughed, partly in surprise, partly because the whiskey was so strong. “How did you manage that?”

  “Carl’s got it covered. He knows where I’ll be if things go wrong.” Colton took a large gulp of whiskey from his glass, filling it back up again right after. “You told me to do what I wanted for a change, an’ like I said, the idea of a break sounded like heaven.”

  “So you thought, ‘three days in bed with Grayson sounds like a great idea for a vacation’?”

  “Y’know, that ain’t far off my exact thoughts.”

  “Ha! I’ll drink to that.” I raised my glass, Colton did the same, then we clinked them together before having a celebratory drink. After that, Colton put his glass down on the floor next to the bed and turned over to face me, lying on his side.

  “This seems like a good time to cash in on that promise you made,” he said slyly.

  “Oh?” I put my own glass down on the floor, then turned on my side to face him as well. “What silly promise did I make this time?”

  “When you was leavin’ the car to head into the hospital, you promised that, if you made it back, you’d give me a kiss. A ‘big, sloppy kiss’, were your words.” His eyebrow raised in a playful manner. “Remember now?”

  “Holy shit!” I exclaimed, laughing at the same time. “That totally slipped my mind! Feels like ages ago when that happened. I’m surprised you remembered.”

  “It’s all I’ve thought ‘bout since then. When I saw you runnin’ to the car from the hospital, I was so goddamn relieved; could’ve cashed in on that promise right then an’ there. But, given how you were, I waited.” He reached up with one large finger, stroking my slightly stubbly cheek with it. “Never should’ve let you go to that place. While I was sittin’ alone on the bonnet of that car, I realized that you might not be comin’ back alive.”

  “…How did the thought of not seeing me again make you feel?”

  “Scared. Came damn close to cryin’ on that bonnet.” He chuckled.

  “You did?” I asked. He nodded once in response. “Huh… Why me, Colton? You didn’t even know me all that well back then. You still don’t, come to think of it.”

  “Too many reasons to say,” he answered. “My favourite one is ‘cause you’re a breath of fresh air in this shitty world. Doubt life would be the same without you in it, now.”

  Like a bullet through glass, his words shattered the barrier around my heart that I had spent years building.

  For so long, all that had gone through my mind was how unlucky I’d been to be spared my sister’s fate. Oh, the number of times I just wanted to die… I know I’ve said it before but, if I knew for certain that Gloria would be on the other side, I would’ve ended it long ago.

  That day, that minute, that very second, was the first time since losing my sister that I actually felt lucky to be alive.

  I shuffled myself closer to him, sliding one arm around his waist. He also lifted his arm up, placing it over my shoulder.

  We were face to face, staring into each other’s eyes.

  “You mean a lot to me too.” Those were my last words before moving in slowly to deliver that long-awaited kiss I’d promised.

  Our lips locked together, gently at first, but soon opening slowly for our tongues to slip into each other’s mouths.

  We had kissed before, sure, except this time it wasn’t some out of control, alcohol-fuelled, crazy game of who’s tongue is bigger (his, by the way). This time it was slow, passionate, and sensual. Hands moved around, caressing each other’s bodies, while legs intertwined.

  It felt so good.

  There was one more surprise from Colton that evening: a bottle of lubricant he had secretly pocketed at the supermarket.

  Sounds seedily sexy, right? Well, it wasn’t. It was so much more than that.

  Whereas it’s true that I am no stranger to the pleasures of sexual intercourse, I have never “made love”. I mean, I honestly believed I had done in the past with Roman, yet the time I spent with Colton that night opened my eyes to what really making love was.

  It was hours of pleasure, exploration, and experimentation! We learned what really drove each other crazy, playing on it as best as we could – all the way from Colton loving his nipples being played with, to me enjoying a bit of hard spanking action.

  I loved every minute of it.

  He spent so much time inside me, draining my energy faster than that bottle of lube he had snuck away. It was the most intimately intense night I’d ever experienced.

  Colton knew how to be the gentlest of men when it came to sex, and how to be the wildest of beasts between the sheets, swapping be
tween the two at any given moment. He took me to the very edge of ecstasy time and time again, making me cry out with joy in the silent night, before reeling me back in with a softer touch.

  Our fun came to an end with a completely spent Colton landing tiredly on my back, pushing me down into the bed. I lay there, enveloped by his exhausted and sweaty body, letting him nuzzle my neck whilst trying desperately to catch his breath from our marathon.

  Lubricant suddenly became a more important supply to keep an eye open for.

  It was the early hours of the morning by the time we regained our energy. I knew that much because of the cool, refreshing breeze.

  Colton had asked me to head outside and grab a rucksack from inside the car. He’d prepared some food for us, along with the two board games Scrabble and Chess.

  When I mentioned I didn’t know how to play chess, he insisted on teaching me, saying, “It’s a great way to pass the time. Lemme show you how to play.”

  “Really? Because I think we did a good enough job of passing the time without it,” I’d cheekily replied.

  I picked up everything from the boot of the car and made my way back inside. Since most of the world was gone, I didn’t feel too self-conscious about doing any of this in the buff. Although, I did have to put my shoes on.

  No one wants glass in their feet.

  For the remainder of our first real night alone together, Colton and I didn’t do much more than talk, cuddle, and have a bit more intimate fun. It had been so long since either of us had done anything sexual with anyone, I think we both were getting it out of our system… Literally.

  Towards the end of that day, Colton tried to teach me chess, only we were both too tired. Instead, we ended up getting some much-needed sleep.

  On the second day together, we were less frisky, not because we were bored with each other already – perish the thought! It was because I wanted to share another fun pastime of mine with him.

  There’s a certain thrill for me in entering a random house to have a good nose about for anything of interest. Occasionally you might find a room filled with strange collections, or hidden spots where people used to hide huge quantities of cash.