Stolen: A Bad Boy Romance (34 page)

Greyson

“Are you fucking serious?” I asked as I looked up at the name on the sign.
Verge
. It used to be one of my favorite haunts.

“What? I got us the VIP room.” Lenny said. He was one of my cousins and a guy I used to go out with.

Janson just crossed his arms and sighed. “I told him you wouldn’t like it.”

“No, it’s fine I could use a good drink.”

“Now that’s more like it,” Lenny said as he pulled me into the club. There were about ten of us all in tow every single one of them connected to the family somehow. Cousins of sorts.

“Greyson,” the bouncer said at the head of the club and I nodded at him. I’d been a couple months since I’d been by, but I was a regular before that. It was an easy place to find ass when I wanted it, and I never had to sample the same wares twice. Unless I wanted to.

And I almost never did. Except when it came to Joanna. I just wanted to be home burying myself into her with a nice buzz going on. I didn’t want to be here, pretending to live up the last night of my “freedom”. It wasn’t freedom to me.

This was the jail. This was the cage. Having to live like I didn’t give a shit about anything else.

The flash of lights in the club made me a little nauseous as we threaded our way through the bodies and towards the VIP lounge. Bodies brushed against me on the left and right, reminding me of all the women I’d danced with, ground up against. All the times I drowned my worries in alcohol and women.

It was a familiar taste, that’s for sure, but it wasn’t mine anymore.

No. I wasn’t the man I used to be. For better or for worse Joanna had changed that part of me. I didn’t want to take any of these women home tonight.

“Bunch of hotties, huh?” Lenny asked as he raised his eyebrows. I fought the urge to slap him on the back of the head and brushed past him.

“Yes. Hotties.” Janson said it in a singular disjointed way that made me chuckle. He’d never been one for places like this, and when he went it was only to act as my personal bodyguard. But any time he could get out of it, he did.

It was where I met his sister that one night. Why I ended up in on the rack for that well deserved beating. Without it I may never have met Joanna, or at least noticed her.

So many things had to happen for me to get to know her and I was thankful for every single one.

“Come on man, let’s get some bourbon and sit a spell, huh?” I asked as I found my way to our usual spot.

Sean was already there leaning against the bench seat with a drink in his hand. He was a good guy, a hard-ass, but a good guy.

This was my crew, the only one I had, and when it was my turn, when I came to power they knew that they were going to be promoted. That things would be different when I took over the family.

We didn’t talk much, didn’t need to.

“Greyson, hey hon. Haven’t seen you around in a while, what can I get you?” Millie, our server smiled at me with those knowing eyes of hers as she laid down the coasters.

“Bourbon tonight, doll.” I said with my usual charm.

“We’re celebrating tonight, bring your best,” Lenny betrayed us.

“Oh, whatcha celebratin’?” she asked, her eyes never leaving me.

She fucked me with those eyes every damn night but I never took the bait.

I didn’t want some bitch spitting in my drinks.

“Grey’s getting married, the son of a bitch.”

Her eyes widened. “I never thought I’d hear that happen.”

“People change,” I said slowly.

“Not that much,” Lenny countered. “You mark my words, man, you’ll have a sidepiece in six months tops.”

This time I did smack him upside the head.

“What the hell?” he asked rubbing his head.

“Shut your fucking mouth you fucking putz.” I glared at him.

“A round of bourbon for everyone,” Janson spoke up and handed her a couple of bills, “and buy yourself something too.”

“You got it, hon. Congratulations Grey, though I gotta say, that’s too damn bad.”

I clenched my jaw. “Maybe.”

“Lighten the fuck up, man, it’s your fucking stag party.”

“No, it’s drinks and then we go home,” I said slowly. I wasn’t fucking around.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Janson said.

“Jesus, who the fuck pissed in your cheerios.”

“You knew  when you fucking took me away from the only piece of ass I wanted to get with tonight,” I answered then I stood up and walked away. I wanted some air. I had a cigar in my pocket and that was the perfect excuse. I wasn’t much of a smoker, but I liked a stogie now and then. “I’m going out for a smoke.”

I walked away from them and headed towards the exit.

“Grey,” a familiar set of emerald eyes flashed at me as I tried to avoid the rest of the room.

Mia.

I’d taken her home once, no, twice. Twice. Fuck. She probably thought that meant more than it did. I could tell just by the look in her eyes that she was hoping for a third time.

“Mia.” I said then I winced. She lit up at the mention of her name.

“You wanna come dance with me?” she asked as he wrapped her arms around my torso and pulled herself into me.

“Maybe some other time,” I said as I pulled her off me.

“You sure?” she pouted, hanging on tight. “We don’t have to dance, we can just go straight back to my place.”

“You’re drunk.”

“That ever stop you before?” she asked, then chuckled. Maybe not. But it didn’t matter.

“It’s not going to happen, Mia. Keep walking.” I turned her away from me and shifted through the crowd until I found the exit. Fucking hell.

I wasn’t going back in there. No fucking way.

I had one location in mind.

Joanna.

***

I knocked on her hotel room. My mother insisted that she stay elsewhere the night before the wedding so that I wouldn’t see her on the wedding day, but I didn’t give a shit. I wanted to see her now.

A bunch of women giggled when I knocked a second time.

Christ. She was having her bachelorette party. Now I remembered. I wasn’t drunk, but I was buzzed enough to forget about shit like that.

“Who is it?” she asked, her voice nervous.

“It’s me, open up.”

I could hear their groans.

“What the hell, Grey, you aren’t supposed to be here.” Mary was on the other side of the door.

“I need to see her, Mar. Please?” I asked. She could never say no to me. Not when we were kids and not now. “Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, make it quick.”

The door cracked open and Joanna slid out of it. I grabbed her up into my arms before she could protest.

“You aren’t getting a stripper are you?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I think so.”

I glared down at her. “No. You tell those little sluts no.”

“It’s tradition.”

“I don’t give a fuck. I don’t want you looking at another man, Jo. I’ll fucking break every last one of his fingers if he touches you.”

I was on the edge of violence and I know it.

“Greyson, you’re squeezing me too tight,” she complained, but I just shoved her up against that door and grabbed her by the hair.

Fuck, she looked so good with her neck exposed.

Sometimes I wanted her slow and sweet but right now I wanted to beat her ass just for thinking about a stripper.

“Mmm,” she let out a little moan. She liked it to. My girl was so fucking dirty.

“No. Stripper.” He said.

“How about I talk Willa into letting him strip for her and I sit in the back.”

I considered it for a minute.

“Fine, but he better not fucking touch you,”

“No one could touch me like you do,” she whispered and her hand dipped down and found my rock hard cock pressing hard against my jeans.

Jesus Christ.

“Fuck, Jo.”

“Not tonight. Tomorrow,” she said.

“You realize it won’t be pretty if you walk away now. You’re not going to like the punishment you get for this.”

“Oh, I think I will.” She grinned at me with mischief in her eyes.

Then she kissed me. Her breath smelled like lime but no alcohol, she hadn’t been drinking. So this was all her. Fuck. I kissed her again.

She tasted delicious.

“Tomorrow,” she said again, but she gave my cock a squeeze.

“You fucking tease.” I growled. “If you aren’t going to let me cum you’re going to get it right here.”

I slipped my hand up her skirt and between her thighs. It was easy to slide her wet panties to the side and insert myself there. My fingers knew her pretty little cunt well by now and I had her begging for more as soon as I called her hither.

“That’s not” she sucked in a breath. “Fair.”

“I don’t fight fair and neither do you,” I said as I increased the pace. She was at my mercy like this, her back against the door as she panted hard.

If they were quiet they could probably hear the whole thing, but the girls were talking so loudly it created a buzz in the background.

“You are going to cum for me right here in this hallway, Jo. You are going to cum so hard your panties will be fucking ruined and you are going to wear them the entire night remembering what I did to you, do you hear me?” I asked as I shoved my fingers in and out of her, my thumb rubbing her clit.

“Yes,” she said softly, her breath hitching on the ‘s’. I could feel her shaking, she wasn’t far from orgasming.

“You are fucking filthy, Joanna.” I said slower. “So filthy.”

“Ngh,” she bit back a moan and came, her juices coating my fingers, and all over her panties.

“Good girl.” I pulled my fingers out of her. “Now suck your juices off of me.”

She hesitated.

“Do it.”

That woman put her lips over my fingers and sucked them dry, then she bit her lip.

“You uncomfortable?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Good.” I was going to have to fucking jack off in the shower tonight, but it was worth it just to see the look of desire on her face. To see the discomfort that her cum was going to cause.

Try thinking of that fucking stripper now.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, “But your punishment is far from over.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, sir.” I commanded on instinct.

I’d never forced her to call me that before.

“Yes, Sir.” It was a breathy little phrase on her lips but it almost made me fucking cum right there in my pants.

“Now get your ass back in there and have fun, but not too much.”

She nodded and opened the door, but before she slipped back in she wrapped an arm around my neck and kissed me.

That girl was all mine.

Chapter Seventeen

Joanna

I wanted to ask Greyson what the plan was, I wanted to have him kiss me on the forehead and tell me it was all going to be alright, but he couldn’t see me before the ceremony, let alone touch me.

Instead, I looked into the mirror and straightened the creases in my dress.

“You look-” Willa started, but Mary chimed in.

“Stunning.”

I was wearing my hair down in soft curls today, just how I wanted it, with only a mantilla veil atop my head. It was seamless, classic. I felt like princess in this outfit. An undeserving one, but one nonetheless.

“Well ladies, time to go storm the castle,” I said as I put my best smile on. Today was the day I turned from a free woman into something I never asked to be.

Now all I had to do was go down the stairs to the lobby and wait.

Light streamed in through the stained glass windows of the church's foyer onto my face. The unexpected warmth of the autumn day should've been calming, but it only served to increase my anxiety.

I was about to walk down the aisle and give my heart, body, and soul to a man who was only marrying me because our families demanded it.

We weren't Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed lovers. No, we were far from that.

And this was only temporary.  That was what I kept telling myself. Greyson said that we could play house for a year then I could resume my life. Get back to school, do what I wanted. It was supposed to reassure me.

Even then it didn't matter. My heart raced. I was actually going to go through with this. I had the dress, the veil, the bouquet everything.

"It's time," Willa said as she started down the aisle. Mary had my train.

Maggie went, and then it was my turn.

"Are you ready, kiddo?" Uncle Dennis asked. He came, rather than my father, to walk me down the aisle.

He was literally the one giving me away, so why not? My father had done little for me. In fact, he hadn't even showed up on time to act as an usher, and when he did, he was drunk.

He was sitting in the back of the church, as per my request, half asleep. It was just like my dad

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," I said as I looked up at him. I'd loved my uncle once. Thought he was a good man, a man who took care of us. Now, though, I didn't feel anything but anger. But hate. He put me in this situation. He created all of this. For no reason other than to find a weakness in his enemy, or to merge with them.

Wasn't it the same thing? Either way they would cease to exist. He'd covered all his bases.

He looped his arm through mine and pulled me tight, whispering into my ear, "don't think of running now, Joanna. I have guards at all exits."

I wasn't even considering it, not until he put the thought into my head. I couldn't do that to Greyson though, I couldn't turn away from him.

And when my uncle pulled me through the doors of the chapel I remembered why. Greyson turned and looked into my eyes, those grey-green swirls lighting a fire inside of me. I remembered last night, the way he made my breath hitch, the way he made me feel even with everyone else in the background.

He was what I was walking towards. It was silly, short-sighted, even. But I didn't care. My heart leapt when I saw him.

I wanted to sprint down that aisle, to wrap his arms around me and just forget the rest of the world.

But we were doing this for the rest of the world. This marriage was not of our making.

My uncle handed me over after a series of words from the priest and Greyson stepped forward, taking my hand where Dennis offered it.

As soon as his skin touched mine I felt reassured. My heartbeat slowed, and the knot in my stomach untangled.

He kept his eyes on me the entire time. Through the mass, through all of the rituals.

Even when we took the Eucharist.

"I have it on authority that you've written your own vows?" Father Brennan asked.

I hadn't. So I froze, but Greyson spoke up. "I have," he said.

"Joanna, I've been wrapped up in your spirit from the moment we meant. And I have a feeling this is just the beginning of it. Everytime I look at you I learn a little bit more about myself. I do take you as my wife, and I cherish this moment. I promise you that I will protect you with my last breath. I make these vows before both our families, before God. Will you have me?"

I swallowed. It wasn't what I was expecting, but I couldn't say I hated to hear it. In fact, the tears streaming down my face said otherwise.

As much as I wanted to call this whole thing a hoax a little part of me hoped he was genuine. Hoped that this was something he wanted as much as I did. I wanted to hold onto him, onto this sweet moment for the rest of my life.

But it was just a charade. A poison meant to infect our families. To get what my uncle wanted. To worm our way into a position of power.

And it made me sick.

But I didn't want to wake up from this moment. From the look in his eyes, so I nodded and said. "I do."

It was my turn now.

“I never expected to find someone like you, let alone get married. It was not part of my life plan.” I swallowed, my nerves getting the best of me, but he held on to my hands and gave them a squeeze. He was there, reassuring me. “It wasn’t something I dreamed about late at night. But now that I’m here, I don’t want any other outcome.”

A few people awed out in the pews and I blushed, determined to finish. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Greyson. And I keep falling in love with you. Every single day. I know that together we can do amazing things. We can slay all the demons that threaten to destroy our world. Do you promise to love me through it all?” I asked.

“I do.”

The priest stepped forward and said, "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

This wedding was real. It was happening. I was a wife.

Greyson wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into him, kissing me softly, sweetly. It wasn't like him, but I certainly enjoyed the kiss. I even lengthened it until there were a few coughs and a couple of chuckles in the audience.

"You still owe me for last night's stunt," he whispered in my ear. I knew exactly what that meant.

Tonight wasn't going to be nearly so saccharine, and I was looking forward to it.