Page 28

Greyson

Of all the things I thought I’d see in the back of my pickup truck, cupcakes were not on the list. The truck bed was loaded front to back with containers. Alora had been up all night making these, and they were fucking delicious. I was digging the chocolate skull topper. They were going to sell fast at the bar tonight.

It blew me away to find out Alora had never graduated high school. She’d been locked up before she had the chance but had spent her time in prison studying what she could. Enrolling her in the culinary classes she wanted to take required that she pass an equivalency test, but she seemed primed and ready for anything. My lip twitched. I’d seen this determination in her. Alora’s broken pieces just needed to be glued back together. Not with actual glue, but all that mattered was that when she looked at me, I saw the other half of my depraved soul. While I carved and whittled at her, she smoothed and warmed my hard edges.

I looked over my shoulder as Alora came out of the house with the final container in her hands while Yara dutifully walked beside her. She was fucking stunning, and my obsession with her ran as freely through my body as the blood in my veins.

I’d emerged from the shadows to claim what was mine, but even I hadn’t been ready for my doll to become the master. She might not know or understand it, but the strings were one-by-one plucked from her limbs and placed upon me. I’d kill for her and do anything to keep her. I was the marionette, and with only a look, I would dance for her forever.

The wind picked up, blowing across the back of my neck, and I glanced around as an unease settled over me. I didn’t see anything or anyone other than a lone crow on the fence nearby. The head tilted, and as the sun made its onyx eye glisten, I could see my reflected image. It cawed loudly before it flew away.

“You okay?”

I looked at Alora and then down at Yara. They stared at me with an almost identical expression.

“Yeah, it’s just that crows always bring a message, usually of death.”

She looked off in the distance and then gave me the tiniest of grins. “I didn’t know you were superstitious.”

Taking the final container from her hands, I loaded it into the back of the truck and closed the tailgate. “There are still many things you don’t know about me,” I said, wrapping my arms around her waist.

It felt strange not to be at the apartment all the time with Lennox. I did miss his crusty, bitter ass, but being out here with Alora felt right. I’d keep my room there, for us, for now, but this was home. My mother was going to shit herself. She hated this place so much. But it was time to breathe life, along with death, into this farm again.

“Is that so? What else don’t I know? And you better not say you have another doll tied up somewhere, or you’ll want to watch out the next time you eat a cupcake.” The green of jealousy in her glare was my fucking dessert. Forget the cupcakes.

“If I say yes, will you attack me right now?” Her eyes narrowed into thin slits as she leaned back and crossed her arms. “I’m teasing. There is only you.” I pulled her tighter to me. “There will only ever be you.”

She relaxed into my hold, a devious look replacing the anger. “Then, what did you mean?”

“I have eclectic taste. I’ll listen to everything from Hozier and Jake Daniels to John Mooney, Etta James, and everything in between.”

“Oh…I wasn’t expecting that,” Alora said, making me laugh.

“I bet you weren’t. We better get going.” Giving Alora a quick kiss, I walked around to pull the tonneau cover over the containers as she loaded Yara. I had a spot set up in the office for her, and I could already picture Alora checking on her every five minutes.

There were moments in life that you could never picture happening. Living at the farm with Alora and riding to town holding hands were just a couple of them. I was the monster, a demon in the dark, and demons didn’t get happily-ever-after stories. Not that I dreamed of one, but now…now, I saw everything I did in a new light and wanted her to be part of it. Could a reason like this be why The Chameleon had changed his MO? How ironic would it be if a woman in The Chameleon’s life altered my course and put me on the path to Alora? I smirked. I’d never know the answer, but as I lifted her fingers to my lips, I wanted to believe it was true.

Alora

“Here you go,” I said, setting the gin and tonic down on the coaster and taking the money. Working the bar was far more enjoyable than I ever thought it would be without ending up in my danger zone.

“What can I get you,” I asked the woman who stepped up next. She leaned in and smiled as she pointed at Greyson’s back.

“Can you get me him? Fuck, I would take two of those and a shot of tequila to wash it down,” she said, fanning at her red face. The spike of jealousy stabbed me in the gut as I envisioned ripping her pretty hair from her head.

“Sorry, no can do. That one is taken,” I said but kept my voice even. I needed to hang a glowing sign around Greyson’s neck . I am taken. Words I never thought I would think about a serial killer.

“Shit, it was a long shot. Can I get two orgasms and a blow job?”

Not with him, but sure, was all I could think. “Coming right up.”

It was packed in here as it had been every night since the first time I looked through the window. There was never a slow or dull moment. Learning the drinks was easy, but teaching myself how to spin the bottles and glasses like Greyson did was a whole other story. Sitting the shots on the bar, I took the cash and moved on. Rinse and repeat.

“Holy shit, Alora?”

Spinning around, I stared into Sam’s eyes, and as if no time had passed, Matt stood right beside him. You had to be kidding me. Could I not catch a break with the past catching up to me? It felt like I needed to face every fucking demon before I could have any peace. There was no point in trying to avoid the inevitable. My gut twisted into knots, but I wasn’t running away from this or anyone anymore. I’d done all the running I could or would do in my life. My feet were sore, and my soul was battered, but my heart was stronger than ever.

“Sam, Matt. I’d say it was good to see you, but we both know that would be a lie. Would you like something to drink?”

Sam leaned on the bar, his face far too cocky for my liking. “You still have a mouth on you. I guess you didn’t learn your lesson the last time I saw you. Someone should change that.”

I glared. “Planning on lying in court again? It’s called perjury, you know, and it’s a criminal offense. Or is that too big of a word for you to understand?”

Sam flicked the stack of napkins at me, all of them fluttering to the floor. “Oops.” I looked down at the mess and then up at Sam. “Are you going to throw a tantrum and get someone else killed?” Matt laughed. I glared at them both as anger steadily rose inside of me.

“Fuck you, Sam. You always were a small prick personality, but that was low even for you,” I growled, balling my hands.

Before I even realized what he was doing, Sam swiped the drink beside him off the bar and tossed it at me. The dark golden whiskey hit me square in the face. It stung my eyes and filled my nose with the scent, and I screamed inside, not daring to open my mouth. I’d come so far…too fucking far to even lick my lips. One drop could set me back to the very beginning, and I refused to let that happen. Stumbling back, I bumped into someone and realized it was Lennox as he grabbed my arm.

“What the fuck,” he growled, handing me a towel. I wiped at my face and was able to open my eyes just in time to see Lennox drag Sam over the bar.

Greyson grabbed my arm, the look on his face terrifying as he took in my soaked shirt and face. “I’m gonna kill him,” Greyson said, but I grabbed his arm and pointed at my mouth, my eyes begging him to understand that it was taking all my willpower not to lick my lips, not to whip my shirt off and ring it into my mouth. I hadn’t thought about or craved a drink in weeks. “Okay, come on.” I sighed as he guided me out of the bar and into the staff bathroom. I peeled the top off, not able to get it or my soaked bra off fast enough, before turning on the water. Cold or hot, it didn’t matter as long as it was wet and it washed away the smell of alcohol. Pumping the soap into my hand, I scrubbed my face and hair with the flowery scent.

“Shh, hey, you’re alright. You’re alright.” Greyson grabbed me from behind, and it was only then that I realized how much I was shaking. Turning me around to face him, he wiped at my eyes just in time for the first tear to slip free. “Don’t cry, Doll. Don’t give him that,” he said and crushed his lips to mine. His hand snaked around my waist, his skin hot against mine. Unable to help myself, I whimpered when I realized I couldn’t taste any alcohol, and my hands balled his shirt into my fists.

“Thank you,” I said, breaking the kiss on a gasp. “I never expected something like that to happen. It’s one thing to control my addiction. It’s something else to have it physically thrown in my face.”

Greyson smoothed back my hair, continuing to place soft kisses on my lips. “Who was that guy,” he asked. His voice was soft, making me shiver. There was a good chance that if he knew his name, then Sam was as good as dead. My eyes were locked with his steely blue ones, and I waited to see if guilt would show up knocking on my conscience’s door. Nothing stirred. My time with Greyson had twisted me, or maybe I’d already been twisted, and he nurtured it to the surface, but I didn’t care what he did to Sam.

“That was my ex-boyfriend.” I hadn’t thought Greyson could look scarier than he already did, but his expression chilled me to my marrow.

“Was he the one who took your virginity?”

“Yes,” I uttered without hesitation as I crossed my arms over my bare chest.

“Did he testify against you at your trial?”

“Yes,” I answered again.

“You do know that I’m going to kill him, don’t you?”

“Yes,” I said, nailing the final piece into place for his coffin.

Greyson nipped my bottom lip, and with the look he was giving me, there was a good chance he would rip it right off my face, but instead, he grabbed the back of my head and kissed me hard. It felt like he was staking his claim. Cupping his face, I poured everything into the kiss. The shock and fear, and I let him take it all from me like his kiss alone had the power to fix all the cracks.

Breaking away, we were both panting hard, and I didn’t know what it felt like for him, but it was like being whisked away into a vortex and then dumped off, leaving you breathless.

“I’ll go get you a shirt, and then we better get back and help Lennox.” I nodded, not trusting my voice.

As soon as we walked out to the bar, I walked up to Lennox. “Hey, thanks for your help.”

“That guy was a fucking dick. I made him clean up his mess before the guards tossed his ass. Greyson is my brother, and no one does that to his girl,” Lennox said, turning away like the book on the subject was closed.

It didn’t matter that Sam or Matt had been kicked out. I knew that Greyson would find Sam. He’d just marked himself for death, and I was positive that he would pray for the reaper to take him before Greyson was through.