Greyson_A Hell's Harlem Novel

  “Because he’s a sick bastard.” I shoved a hand through my hair. “Hell, I don’t know why he does half the shit he does, Eve, but I will find out.” I cupped her cheek, placing a hard kiss on her mouth. “I promise you that.”

  SEVERAL MORE MONTHS had come and gone, and we weren’t any closer to finding out the truth about what happened to me.

  I was six months pregnant and felt larger than a whale. And it would only get worse as the weeks rolled on.

  Greyson couldn’t keep his hands off me, while both Tray and Catch touched my stomach every chance they could. Much to Grey’s grumblings over it, of course.

  With Greyson, it felt good to be touched, wanted. Needed.

  Even though the baby wasn’t his, he had claimed it as such. Or I had hoped, anyway. He never outright said it but the way he looked at my stomach with that longing in his sapphire eyes, I knew he wished the baby was his.

  One dark and gloomy afternoon, I was bored and decided to make myself a fancy drink. Even though I couldn’t have any alcohol, Trixie had found recipes for virgin cocktails. We had fun experimenting and even the guys tried them with me.

  Humming a soft tune to myself, I headed out to the main area, my mouth watering over the drink I would soon have in my hand.

  Deep voices sounded, followed by a feminine one. I frowned. That didn’t sound like Trixie. Was there supposed to be a party today? It seemed like they happened often. I shrugged it off, preparing myself for the crowd of people I would surely see in the next few minutes.

  But when I headed down the stairs, passed through the double set of doors and saw Greyson, I wasn’t expecting to find him sitting with a woman. They were talking quietly amongst themselves. She would laugh every now and again, pushing a strand of loose hair behind her ear. He would laugh with her, staring at her with … My heart jumped to my throat. Love? Was that love I was seeing in his eyes?

  I knew I shouldn’t stare. I knew I shouldn’t eavesdrop, but when the man I was sleeping with for the past several months was sitting with another woman who he clearly cared about, I couldn’t help but stand there. I was frozen in place. Unable to move. Unable to think. My hands clenched into fists at my sides. My body broke out into a cold sheen of sweat.

  Was this her? The woman he had loved so long ago? The one who got away? Was she the reason he had become closed up and withdrawn? Was she the reason I still hadn’t broken down his walls even after all of this time?

  He reached across the table, cupping her hands in his.

  She looked at that small touch, glancing up at him. She loved him back. The twinkle of the gold wedding set on her left hand surprised me. She was married yet she loved him? What the hell was going on?

  My heart hurt. Tears pricked the back of my eyes. I didn’t want to see any more but I couldn’t take my gaze away. I needed to know what was going to happen next. It was like I was reading a book, coming to the part in the story where the hero was going to do something stupid and my heart hoped with everything in me that he would make the right choice. But as Greyson touched her cheek, I knew my hope had lost.

  My body ached as I tried to keep the tears at bay.

  I knew there had been someone else. Someone a long time ago who captured Greyson’s heart. But seeing her, seeing the way they connected, the way he looked at her and she at him, my world fell out from around me.

  I prayed I had gotten around his walls. We had been doing well. No fighting. No one else trying to come between us after I smashed that woman’s face against the table so many months ago. He even laughed along with Tray and Catch whenever they flirted with me, knowing he would be the one sleeping beside me each night.

  But when Greyson touched her cheek and she smiled up at him, my heart cracked in two.

  She was married. But it still didn’t stop him from loving her.

  Unable to watch anymore, I headed back to Greyson’s bedroom.

  When I reached his room, I packed up what little clothing I had and put the items into a duffle bag. For months I had been in this room. Sleeping beside Greyson every night. Him holding me. Telling me that everything would be okay and that we would find out what happened to me. Months of making love. No. It was just sex. Clearly it was nothing more to him.

  Tears rolled freely down my cheeks.

  My baby kicked, sending little flutters racing through me. I rubbed my belly. “It’s just you and me, little one.” My breath hitched.

  “Eve?”

  I bit back a sob at the sound of Greyson’s deep voice as he came into the room and continued packing up my things.

  “Hey,” he said gently. “What’s going on? I was looking for you. I wanted to introduce you to my stepsister.”

  I paused. “Stepsister,” I repeated. “Stepsister?” My head whipped around. “Really, Greyson?”

  He frowned. “Yeah … why?”

  I laughed, shaking my head at my own stupidity. No wonder Greyson didn’t want me. Maybe our relationship wasn’t taboo enough for him.

  “What’s going on?” he demanded, stepping up beside me, and reaching for my hand.

  Backing away from him, I rubbed my nape, needing to put some distance between us. “I’m going to go back to my own room.” I nodded. “Yeah. I think I’ll do that. Or maybe I’ll stay at a hotel for a couple of days. I’ve saved up enough money from tips, I should be able to afford a cheap one.”

  “You’re leaving? Why?”

  I couldn’t look at him for fear that I would see pain in his eyes. We had come so far, him and I. But seeing him with her, the way he loved her, I couldn’t replace that. “I can’t be here if …”

  “What?” He came up behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “Talk to me. I have no idea what the fuck is going on right now.”

  “Don’t.” I pulled away from him. “I can’t be what you need if you still love her.”

  “Fuck,” he muttered. “She’s my stepsister.”

  I spun on him. “Who you are clearly in love with.”

  He flinched. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “No?” I placed my hands on my hips. “Fine. I’ll tell you. I saw the way you looked at her. I saw the way you touched her. And I saw that she’s fucking married, Greyson. So, she’s the other woman. The one who got away. The one that I have tried so fucking hard to replace. But now that I’ve seen you two together …” My chest tightened, my eyes burning at what I had to say next. “I’ll never be enough for you. Will I?”

  “Eve.” He took a step toward me.

  “Don’t.” I went back to packing up my clothes. “I’m not playing competition with her. I have too much shit going on. I’ll rent a hotel. Get out of your hair. I’ll go to the hospital too. Trixie won’t have to worry about taking care of me anymore. I’ll see if they can give me any more answers. Maybe I’ll check in at the police station and find out if Sarge has come across anything new.”

  “Please don’t leave.” The desperation in Greyson’s voice was unlike anything I had ever heard from him before. As much as I didn’t like it, he could go fuck himself for all I cared. I left once. I would do it again. But this time he wouldn’t stop me.

  “What the hell do you expect me to do, Greyson? I can’t stay here if you can’t open up your heart to me.” I couldn’t believe we were having this conversation. After all of this time, after everything we had shared, it was finally over. “Maybe I should have stayed with Travis.” As soon as those words left my mouth, Greyson charged for me.

  (Greyson)

  Her words pissed me off more than I thought possible. With my hand wrapped around her throat and her back to the wall, I glared down at Eve. Forcing her to look at me, I took several deep breaths before I said everything I should have said months ago. “Yes, I was in love with her. My stepsister. Our parents died when we were kids and while our brothers were off doing their own thing, we only had each other. So we did just that. We used each other, Eve. Do you know what that means? I fucked her, and I fell in lov
e with her.”

  Eve struggled beneath my touch, but my hold only tightened. She wanted to doubt me? Well, she was going to listen to my words whether she liked what I had to say or not.

  “Fast forward several years and she met someone else. Married him and now they have a kid. She showed up because she was in the area and I’m an asshole who hasn’t been back to see her in five years. Five, Eve. Do you know what that means?”

  “That you’re an asshole,” she whispered.

  I grinned, leaning toward her. “I am. But you know what else that means?”

  She swallowed hard. “No.”

  “It means that I’m in love with you, Eve.” I licked along her bottom lip, sucking it between my teeth, and gave the plump flesh a gentle nip.

  She whimpered.

  “I realized how I felt as soon as I saw my stepsister.” Even though Brogan and I shared a history, I knew it was finally over between us. And I also highly respected her husband even after having our issues in the beginning of their relationship.

  “You … you love me?” Eve asked, her eyes shining.

  I released her throat, brushing my fingers across her collarbone, pushing the strap of her dress off her shoulder.

  “Yeah, Eve.” I kissed her forehead. “I do. I know I’m difficult to get along with. I know I’m an asshole, but I love hard and I won’t hurt you.”

  “I saw you with her. I saw the way you looked at her.” Her chin trembled.

  Grazing my hands down her arms, I pulled her dress along with them. The fabric pooled at her feet, leaving her in a pair of red panties only. Her swollen belly jutted forth. Her heavy breasts swayed with her deep breaths.

  “Whatever you saw, it’s over,” I told her, brushing a thumb over a dark nipple.

  Eve gasped, arching into my touch. Her nipples had become even more sensitive over the past few weeks.

  “Greyson,” she whispered, her chest rising and falling with each ragged breath. “Is this it? Am I yours?”

  I cupped her breast, lowered my head, and took a nipple between my lips. Rubbing my tongue back and forth, I reveled in the way she writhed against me.

  “Tell me, Greyson,” she pleaded, running her fingers through my hair. “Please tell me. I need to hear you say it.”

  As much as I loved being in control, Eve needed it just the same. She needed to know that she had my heart. That I was, in fact, hers. That she owned me.

  But instead of answering, I latched on to her other nipple.

  She cried out, the scent of her sex wafting into my nose. “Greyson,” she whined, digging her nails into my head.

  Pushing a knee between her legs, I feasted on her tits. I sucked and pulled, bit and licked. I devoured every inch of her luscious breasts.

  Eve’s hips moved back and forth, rubbing up and down my thigh. Her breathing picked up, her moans becoming louder.

  Grabbing onto the back of her leg, I spread her open, helping her ride out that pleasure she was feeling. She chased the orgasm and finally caught up to it when my name left her lips on a shattered cry.

  Before she could come down from her high, I crushed my mouth to hers and inched a hand between her legs.

  Thrusting two fingers inside her tight, soaked body, I finger fucked her until she was coming undone for a second time. I wanted to show her that I was hers and that she was mine. No one would come between us. Not my stepsister. Not Travis. No one.

  (Eve)

  He loved me. He actually loved me. The pleasure I was feeling was nothing like before. It was more intense. Raw. Real. And it was mine.

  Greyson’s name left my lips for what felt like the hundredth time that night. With his face between my legs and his fingers curled in mine, he devoured every inch of me. But we still hadn’t made love.

  “Please, Greyson,” I whispered, tightening my hold on his hand.

  “What’s wrong, baby?” he asked, licking his glossy lips. “Something else you need?”

  I glanced down the length of my swollen body. “I need you inside me.”

  “Why?” He kissed my inner thigh and then rose to all fours. “What do you need?”

  “I need you to make love to me.” I cupped his cheek. “Please.”

  He kissed my palm, giving it a gentle nip. “Only if you tell me how you feel.”

  My heart jumped. I hadn’t given him a response when he told me he loved me. I cared for him. A lot. “I’m scared.”

  “Why?” he asked gently, pushing his cheek into my palm.

  “Because what if Travis takes me from you,” I said, confessing my worst fear.

  Greyson stared down at me, his eyes darkening. “That won’t happen. I won’t let it. My guys won’t let it. I love you, Eve. My crew loves you.”

  My eyes welled.

  “Say it, Eve.” He leaned down, kissing my nose. “Tell me how you feel.”

  “I … I love you, Greyson.” I covered his mouth with mine, slipping my tongue between his lips.

  He groaned, deepening the kiss. “Fucking right you do.” He rolled onto his back with me straddling his waist. “Now slide that beautiful pregnant body down my cock, Eve. I want to see you bounce for me. Make those swollen tits move.”

  My core heated, gushing even more for him at his erotic words. I never knew a man could get so turned on by a pregnant woman. It made me wonder how he would be if I was ever pregnant with his baby.

  Doing as I was told, I lowered myself onto him, letting out a soft sigh as soon as our bodies became connected once again.

  Greyson gripped my hips, digging his fingers into the flesh and helped me ride him. “Slow, Eve. I need you slow or I’m going to fucking explode.”

  “I don’t mind,” I panted, placing my hands on his chest for added leverage.

  “I do.” He groaned, his cock swelling inside of me. “Fuck, baby, I’ve never been so hard.” He pumped into me with slow, powerful thrusts.

  “Greyson.” I moaned, scratching my nails into his chest.

  “Fuck, Eve,” he yelled out, his semen pouring into me.

  I whimpered, my body shaking through my own release.

  “Shit.” His dick twitched, the heavy muscle still hard and thick inside of me. “I can’t … fuck.” A sheen of sweat coated his skin as his release continued pouring inside of me.

  Sliding my body up and down his length, I reveled in the way he lost complete and utter control.

  An hour later, we took a bath. Greyson ran the cloth over my stomach, humming softly in my ear.

  “Are you humming a song?” I asked him, my heart swollen with love for this man sitting behind me.

  “Mmmhmm …” He kissed my shoulder. “I don’t remember the words but it’s a song my stepmom used to hum to us. Even when we became teens. She didn’t care. We would always be her babies.”

  “She sounds like she was a good woman,” I murmured, my eyes getting heavy.

  “She was. My dad won the lottery when he met her. She never treated me like I wasn’t hers either or like a stepchild. She included me in everything she did with her own children.”

  “What happened to your mom and your siblings’ dad?”

  “My mom left when I was two. I don’t know where she went and, from what I know, their dad walked out on them too.” Greyson ran the cloth between my legs, soothing the ache from the hard way he had taken me several times already that evening. “But I think it was for the better. Even though we’ve had our issues, I love my stepbrothers and stepsister.”

  “Do you love me like you loved her?” I shouldn’t have asked that but I needed to know. I needed to know that once everything was said and done, that Greyson wouldn’t toss me aside. That I was his. And that he would burn this motherfucking world down to keep me.

  “Eve.” Greyson turned me in his arms, helping me straddle his lap. “Look at me.”

  I did, chewing my bottom lip.

  “I meant what I said.” He pinched my chin. “I don’t throw those three words out often. I’ve only said th
em once to a woman and look where that got me. But you, fuck, baby, I knew there was something different about you from the moment you passed out in my arms. Even though you may not remember your life before me, I will fight for you. And I will fight Travis for you.”

  A sob escaped me. Throwing my arms around Greyson’s shoulders, I hugged him with everything in me. “I love you,” I whispered into the crook of his neck. “I love you so damn hard.”

  “Baby.” He ran his hands down my back, holding me against him. “And I love you. More than I ever thought was possible.”

  IT HAD BEEN several weeks since Eve and I confessed our love for each other. My mind brought me back to the first moment I ever said those words to a woman. My stepsister loved me back but not in the way I needed her to. Finally, after so many years of being pissed off over it, I was thankful she didn’t feel the same way.

  “Do you miss him?”

  I stiffened, finding Catch standing beside me. I was so focused on the pictures hanging on the wall in front of me, I never even heard him approach.

  Catch nodded toward the old photo of me and Carter. Although the ex-VP and I were smiling in the photo, I hated the guy I was standing with. Carter had his two fingers in a peace sign with his arm draped over my shoulder. I, on the other hand, was stiff. I remembered everything I had been thinking while that picture was taken too. I had wanted to kill him.

  “I’m going to burn in hell for this but no, I don’t miss him.” Even though he had died, God rest his soul, he was a conniving bastard. I wasn’t easy to get along with but this fucker was outright mean. He went against everything I had set Hell’s Harlem up for. Demitry gave me the job to get our noses clean, and while we still did everything we could to survive, hurting women was out of the question. Carter, on the other hand, didn’t give a shit. If he wanted pussy, he would get it. With or without the woman’s consent.

  “I met him when I was a prospect but I didn’t like the fucker.” Catch clapped my shoulder.