Page 14 of Deviant Bastards

He turns to face me, placing his hands on my cheeks. “I can’t make any promises, but I’ll talk to him,” he says before he moves. He’s so fast that his lips are on mine before I can even blink. He claims my mouth in a hot, passionate kiss, and I feel it all as his mouth moves against mine. His tongue sweeps across my lips, begging to be invited in, and I oblige. The pads of his fingertips glide over my hips as he grips my waist, lifting me directly onto his lap so that I’m straddling him. Drinking in the sensations of his rock-hard body against mine, our lips never separate while our tongues fight for control.

This kiss isn’t sweet; it’s dominating and demanding. His hips grind the small bit of fabric separating us against my clit, and I can’t help the moan that escapes me. A throat clearing breaks us out of our hot, little bubble. Breathing hard, Dayton shifts me off of his lap, placing me back down on the bed beside him. We turn, coming face to face with Gryffin, whose face is a mix of anger and maybe a little hint of jealousy. Before I can call him on it, he huffs out a breath and wipes the emotion from his face entirely.

“I’m gonna go play some video games. Come get me when you’re done.” He slams my bedroom door with such force that I feel the vibrations shake me from where I’m currently sitting. “What’s his problem?” I ask Dayton.

Rather than answer me, he abruptly gets up and storms out of the room, leaving me bewildered by the sudden change in his attitude. “Fucking bastard!” I yell at his retreating back. He doesn’t stop to look back, he just walks away. Seconds pass as the rejection sinks in, making me feel used and unwanted. Tears sting the back of my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. Instead, I stand up and take a few deep breaths before going in search of Gryffin.

The sound of zombies groaning and guns being fired reaches my ears the closer that I get to the movie room, which is where I find Gryffin with a controller in his hand. Fake blood splatters onto the screen as he kills three zombies with headshots.

I sit down on the massive sofa next to him, but he doesn’t say anything, just continues to play his game. After a few rounds, he puts the controller down. “Want some food?” he asks. His tone is civil for a change, no venom in sight, and I can’t help but wonder what made him change his tune when it comes to me.

I don’t say anything, but my stomach answers for me when it rumbles loudly in response. He chuckles and holds out his hand for me. I narrow my eyes at his hand before moving my gaze to his face, but I take it anyway, and he gently pulls me up from the sofa. He leads me out of the movie room and down the corridor towards the kitchen. I can hear the slight murmur of voices as we approach, and when we enter, the hushed conversation stops altogether. I look around the room and spot a few guys that I don’t know.

None of them speak as Gryffin sets out two plates and grabs some sandwiches from a tray on the island in the middle of the room. I quirk a brow at him, slightly confused. “Jordan makes the best sandwiches and always leaves a tray in the fridge for us to munch on during the day. So, if you ever get hungry, just come down and grab one,” Gryffin says as he piles his plate high with food.

* * *

GRYFFIN

I watch as her eyes almost bug out of her head at the sheer amount of food that’s currently on my plate. I’ve always loved food, but because of the amount of calories I burn when I work out, I don’t have to worry about how much I’m eating. I was pissed when I walked in on Harley and Gadge earlier. She’s supposed to bejusta job. But lately, I’ve been seeing that there’s more to her than I first thought. On top of that, I can see the change that her presence has caused in Barker and Gadge since they’ve been around her. I know that Ric is starting to notice it too, but the guys don’t seem to give a shit.

So, I decided that I’ll give her a chance, and if she fucks it up, then I won’t hesitate to kill her. Heartless, I know, but I’ll do anything to protect my brothers, and that includes eliminating anyone who I deem as a threat to us.

None of the guys in the kitchen have spoken yet, so I decide to introduce them. “Harley, these are some of our crew. The big, tattooed arsehole over there is Nigel,” I say as I gesture to the guy with the face tatts and long beard. “The twins next to him are Jack and Toby. And lastly, the idiot standing by the back door is Dexter.” She nods at each of the guys, but she doesn’t directly make eye contact with any of them. “Guys, this is Harley. Watch her closely, yeah? She’s known for trying to run away from us,” I say as I pick up our plates and head out of the kitchen.

As I pass Harley, her face is thunderous. She looks so cute when she’s all pissed off and angry, and I chuckle at her. Her eyes are screaming at me like she’s trying really hard not to hit me right now. She looks down at the plates, then at me, almost as if she’s weighing the options and trying to decide if wasting the food would be worth it. She sighs, stomping her feet as she follows me out of the room and back towards the movie room.

“So, have you always been this much of a bastard, or do you save it all just for me?” she asks once we are back in the movie room. I set our plates down on the table in front of the massive sofa and gesture for her to sit.

“You’re still our guest,” I say as I pick up one of the sandwiches and sit cross legged on the floor. She snorts a laugh, and I raise my brow in question. “Guest implies that I’m free to leave. Am I?” she asks, but she doesn’t give me time to answer as she quickly shakes her head. “No, I’m not your guest. I’m a prisoner, leverage to be used in this stupid, pointless game that your boss has with my father.”

We eat in silence, each of us lost to our own thoughts. As I finish the food on my plate, I feel her gaze on me. “I don’t get it, why won’t you just listen to reason? If you did, then you would see that my father had nothing to do with Marcus’s death. You’re all delusional if you think that any of you will escape this unscathed. There’s no way that my father won’t seek redemption for you guys kidnapping me,” she says, her voice filled with venom, hope, and sadness.

As far as I know, Kendric has no plans to let her go, and yet, he hasn’t harmed her in any way. That’s most likely because she’s a woman, and we were brought up to treat women with respect, even though some of the other crew members treat them like shit. Marcus always taught us that the key to being a successful leader is having a good woman by your side, one that feels loved and cherished, and therefore, won’t stab you in the back when you’re not looking. Ric found this out the hard way.

She huffs in frustration at my lack of a response as she continues to slowly eat her food. I pick my controller back up and go back into the wasteland. Eventually, she must get bored sitting on the sofa because she gets down and sits beside me, just watching me play. I offer her the controller, but she shakes her head. “I’ve never played video games,” she says as she turns back to watch the screen.

I decide right there and then to remedy that, making it my mission to teach her how to play. It amazes me how fast I’m beginning to let my guard down around her. I never let women get close to me. In fact, the only other woman who has ever seen the real me was Gadge’s mum. Delilah had a way of getting past my defenses and getting me to open up to her. She wasn’t just Gadge’s mum; she was my best friend and the one person that I knew I could count on.

ChapterEleven

HARLEY

Isit and watch Gryffin play his zombie game. He’s quiet as he concentrates. He pissed me off earlier when he told the guys in the kitchen to keep an eye on me. I mean, sure, I tried to escape, but really, can they fucking blame me? They took me from my life, my family, and my fucking daughter. Not that they seem to know I have a daughter. Guess the fuckers should have done their homework before snatching me then.

The more I think, the angrier that I get. I sigh in frustration which grabs Gryffin’s attention. “Problem?” he asks as he puts his controller down. “You think?” I don’t bother to say any more than that, and he grins at me. His smile reminds me of the Cheshire cat, all wide and toothy. It would be cute if he weren’t such a bastard.

“Sorry, Pixie, but you’re stuck with us whether you like it or not. At least until Ric decides what exactly to do with you.” He says, going back to his game while I go back to doing my best to ignore the fact that, even when he’s being a dick, I still want to jump his bones.

The next few nights follow the same pattern; Dayton and Barker are on guard duty during the day -even if the former pretty much ignores me now, not speaking to me since the day Gryffin walked in on us- and then Gryffin comes in at night. He plays his computer games and occasionally makes jokes.

“So, how come you get the night shift?” I ask him one night as he sits down and loads a new game on his console. Tonight, there aren’t any zombies on the screen. Instead, this game appears to be one where you have to match little coloured gems.

“I don’t sleep much at night, not anymore,” he sighs as he continues to play. Suddenly, he stops the game and turns to face me. He pats the couch next to him, requesting that I scoot a little closer. I notice how he doesn’t smell of cologne; In fact, he smells like the ocean on a hot summer day. The scent has a wave of ... well, you know that slight stinging sensation of a beach breeze blowing salty air against your overheated, sun-soaked skin? Well, his scent has that same sensation crashing into me.

He hands me the controller, and as his fingers brush mine, making my pulse kick up a little bit. I’m trying to stop the attraction that seems to only build when I’m around these guys, but it’s fucking hard. Initially, I was fully prepared to just have fun until I died at their hands, but now? Well, now, I’m not so sure what their end game is.

“Okay, so you have to match three gems of the same colour in order to gain your points, which will build up your team and let you destroy the opposing team,” his dark, masculine voice makes me want to just sit and listen to him talk all day long. He leaves me be to play his game as he sits quietly beside me, observing. Occasionally, he will point out things in the game to help me get the points that I need, but mostly he just sits and watches me. It should make me nervous, but it actually makes me feel relaxed. After I win a couple of rounds, I give Gryffin his controller back which makes him smile at me.

---