Karma (Kings of Rebellion MC Book 1) (14 page)

The next morning I wake with very sore and puffy eyes. Natasha doesn’t quiz me too much, but I do notice that her eyes seem to be watching me. Elise arrived this morning to deliver breakfast in bed which was great because that meant I didn’t need to leave my room until I was hungry again.

Around noon, the smell of delicious home cooking persuades me to leave the safety of my room. When I enter the kitchen, I see Grim’s mother busy cooking with a bunch of other women and when she spots me she gives me the biggest smile.

“Hello, Lauren my lovely!” She wipes her hands and then rushes towards me. “What can I help you with?”

Right on cue, my stomach grumbles and we both laugh. “I followed the smell.” I admit.

“Take a seat and I’ll take care of that loud belly.” With a smile, she leaves me to fill up a plate full of food fit for a king and places it in front of me as I sit where she told me to. “If you need anymore, give me a shout.” Laura then gives me a kiss on the head and re-joins the women cooking dinner for what looks like an army.

I won’t lie, I’m a little in shock with her show of kindness. Even my own mother wouldn’t do that and I think that’s where the shock has come from. I’m not used to that affection.

As soon as Laura sees that I have finished, she rushes to my side and gives me a funny look as she looks at my half eaten plate.

“Did you not enjoy it?” She sounds gutted and I rush to explain.

“No! I loved it Laura, it’s just that since everything that happened I can’t eat as much as I used to.” I admit with the biggest smile I can manage with how low I am feeling, which probably isn’t as big as I would like and looks more like a sad grimace.

Laura sees my fake smile for what it is and takes my plate anyway. “You need anything darling, you come to me.” She leans in close and whispers, “I’m the president’s old lady, so anything I say goes around here. You need anything, I’m here for you.” She gives me a cheeky wink and leaves me to it.

I decide now that I have food in my belly, I need a drink and when I get to the bar there’s only one stool free, and it’s in the middle of two large bikers. I straighten my back, pull on my big girl panties and take the free seat. Both men look at me while taking a drink, the one on my right introduces himself first.

“Hey babe, the names West.” He smiles a huge charming smile. West has bright blue eyes and golden hair, all messy and ending in line with his jaw.

“Hi, I’m Lauren.” I smile back and I’m certain that he drops some of the charm in his grin. As soon as I said my name I noticed it, but that can’t be right.

“I’m Duke, nice to meet you Lauren.” Duke, unlike most men around here, is clean shaven, with short black hair and hazel eyes. He’s very good looking, but I’m not too keen on the tattoo covering almost all of his neck. He holds out his hand and I take it, laughing as we shake.

West offers to get me a drink, and after refusing him four times I give up and accept his offer. Two drinks later, the flirty conversation changes.

“We’ve heard stories about you.” Duke begins.

“Really?” I prepare myself for questions about Demon and all things Devil’s Spawn related.

“Yep, Devlin says you have your claws dug deep in the VP.” West smirks.

“Is that right?” I frown. “Were those his exact words?”

“Fuck if I should know.” West laughs loudly. “Gossip gets around here faster than a girls sleepover. All I know is Devlin thinks Grim has a hard on for you, and that’s a problem.”

“Why would it be a problem?” I ask, slowly sipping on my beer.

Duke laughs. “Because you’re fucking hot! Every man in this club will be drooling over you girl, and Grim is a nasty bastard. If he catches anyone looking at what he’s liking, men will get hurt.”

“You’re joking.” I narrow my eyes at them both.

West wraps an arm around me and I sway on my stool from how heavy he’s leaning on me. “Afraid not, baby girl!”

I feel a little awkward with where our conversation has led to, so I try and steer them away. I ask them about their families, which then somehow leads to mine and it’s not long until I’m talking about Maisy and all my mistakes. The alcohol probably helps towards my blabbering mouth right now, but West and Duke don’t mind.

“I don’t believe it.” West adamantly shakes his head. “A sweet girl like you couldn’t do that.”

“Looks can be deceiving.” I smirk.

Now it’s time for Duke to wrap an arm around me. “But you look so innocent.”

With that comment I can’t help but laugh, and I laugh so hard that I should have fallen off my stool if it wasn’t for Grim standing right behind me. He grabs me by the waist and gently helps me down.

“Grim!” I squeal in shock.

“Are you drunk?” He asks me and I try to not look drunk, which is a hard thing to do.

“What?” I shrug my shoulders as if I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about. “No.”

He glares up at West and Duke. “You got her drunk.”

“I’m sorry VP, we thought she was ok.” West apologises.

“Don’t say sorry to him.” I point at Grim. “I’m not his property.”

“If you were, you would be in big fucking trouble,” Growls Grim.

“Then it’s a good fucking job I’m not then!” I shout back.

“You better fuck off out of my sight before I knock your fucking lights out!” Grim growls.

“What?” My heart pounds in my chest from his words.

Grim’s face softens and he places his hand on my cheek. “No, not you, babe.” He then looks behind me and I see that Duke and West are no longer sat at the bar.

“Come on.” Grim picks me up, holding me against him and carries me back to my room.

“I can walk.” I remind him.

“I know.” He smirks.

“So, you can put me down, we look silly.” I see everyone staring at us and sink deeper into his arms.

“This is the nicest thing I’ve done for anyone, so shut up and enjoy it.” He replies, and when I see the intensity in his eyes, I do as he says.

My eyes start to get heavier and heavier as he carries me, like I’m being rocked to sleep like a baby and I fight to keep my eyes open. We enter the hallway that leads to all bedrooms and my eyes flutter shut again. When Grim opens the door, he wakes me and I quickly notice that this isn’t the door to my room.

“What are you doing?” I slur.

“Just relax, I’m being a gentleman.” Grim answers as he closes the door behind us and lays me down on the bed.

The alcohol starts to catch up with me and the room begins to spin. Shit, I shouldn’t have had so much to drink. I hold onto my head and groan.

“You going to be sick?” Grim asks and I shake my head in reply. As soon as I do, I regret it and moan again.

“My head hurts.” I whimper and I’m sure I hear the prick laugh.

“I’ll get you something for your head, just hold on.” Grim walks away and as I wait, my eyes become heavy again and I can’t fight them anymore.

Oh god my head kills!

That’s my first automatic thought when I wake the next morning. The second is, I need some water and when I open my eyes they sting, but I don’t bother to notice because all I can think about is
where am I?

I’m not in my room! I roll over and have to hold back the loud shriek that almost falls out of my mouth when I see what is next to me, or better yet who. Next to me lays Grim, who is very much shirtless and again, lying next to me in bed. I take a mental note that my jeans are missing but my underwear and top is still very much in place.

Shit I can’t stop staring at his naked chest!

And it’s a very nice chest. Wow his body is delicious and I almost want to lick him but I obviously don’t. I take this opportunity to look at his tattoos. He has a large crown on one peck with the words,
The Kings’ of Rebellion,
underneath. It’s a powerful tattoo, and after adoring it I follow more of his tattoos down his stomach. Getting dangerously low until I stop at his shorts, that is only just covering his pubic hair. I marvel at his V shape, pointing downwards and see he has
The Kings of Rebellion w
ritten across the deep ridges. He really loves his club. The longer I stare, the hungrier I get and I worry if the hunger is for food or something else completely. The feeling that spreads inside feels foreign to me, and I have to look away. I look up to his face and take in his great looks, that strong jaw that’s decorated with his black stubble. His eyes are shut and I smile at his quiet snoring and realize this still isn’t helping.

As carefully as I can, I lean up onto my knees because I need to get out of this bed as quickly as possible and hopefully back to my room before he or Natasha wakes. I watch Grim, to make sure I don’t disturb him while I’m sneaking away. With the covers removed, I crawl slowly down the bed and see that one of Grim’s legs is hanging out of the covers and I think it’s kind of cute. I also notice that this leg is heavily tattooed, pity I don’t have time to take note of his chosen designs because I need to get the hell out of here. I can’t be here when he wakes up.

I make it off the bed with success and quickly manage to find my jeans and shuffle back into them. I tip toe to the door and just as I open it my good luck stops.

“Rushing off so soon?”

I freeze in my tracks and don’t even bother to turn around. “I gotta go.”

I run out of the door as fast as I can, running on bare feet and ignore his pleading to come back. I risk a glance back, happy to see that he’s gone back into his room but then I run right into someone and look to see its Drew.

“You ok?” She laughs but when she looks behind me her face turns from humorous to disgust. “Seriously, Lauren? My brother?” She shakes her head, still looking behind me.

I look behind me in shock, seeing Grim running towards us and he isn’t dressed. He’s still in just his shorts but now he has his boots on.

“Grim is your brother?” I ask, in total shock.

“Unfortunately.” Drew frowns at him.

“I told you to call me Brandon.” He growls from behind me.

I ignore him and watch as Drew looks between us both, trying to figure it out. “So why are you rushing away?” She then glares at her brother. “You slept together!”

“No!” I shout.

“Thanks.” Grim laughs, but again I ignore him.

“I just need to get back to my room.” I push past her, leaving them both arguing between themselves and only relax when I lock my bedroom door behind me.

As soon as I enter my room, Natasha springs up from her bed in a sitting position like something possessed.

“Where have you been?” She asks immediately and I feel like a child sneaking home from a house party.

“I need a shower.” I mumble and run into the bathroom. The heat of the shower clears my head a little and I get my memories back from last night. I feel so ashamed that I let myself get that drunk, it’s been a while, but I didn’t think I would be that bad. Although, maybe the Vodka shots between the drinks weren’t such a great idea.

I make sure to stay busy, getting dressed and blow drying my hair to try and ignore Natasha’s persistent questioning about last night. While I’m applying some light make-up, because it still feels weird to wear it after my time with The Devil’s Spawn, I finally give in to Natasha.

“Lauren, I won’t stop. Tell me where you were last night. I know that you were drinking with two bikers.” She cocks an eyebrow, challenging me.

“Fine,” I heavily sigh. “Yes, I was drinking with West and Duke and I got so drunk that Grim had to help me go to bed.”

“But, you weren’t in your bed.” She points out and then realization appears on her face. “Holy shit, Grim took you back to his room!”

“Quiet!” I shush her. “Someone will hear you.”

“Did you?” Natasha does this weird thing with her fingers and I realize that she’s asking if we had sex.

“No.” I reply. “I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

“I understand.” She smiles. “I’m not either, not sure when I will to be honest.”

We both sit in silence for a few minutes and I decide I’m done with my make-up.

“So, what did happen?” She finally asks and I let her know exactly what I can remember happening. Including waking up to his delicious body and staring at it, a lot.

“Everything will be fine.” She assures me after I freak out about Drew and her finding us this morning.

In a perfect world, I would have spent all day in bed and have a Netflix marathon, hiding away. But obviously here I can’t do that. In a clubhouse full of bikers, who are actually very nosey, getting privacy is not something I will achieve.

So, when I enter the club room, I should have expected the few looks from some of the members, but it still makes me feel as awkward as hell. Instead of going to the bar, where I was last night, I decide to stay in what I call the club room. This room is more family friendly, with TV’s, tables and often food. With lockdown still in place, there’s some family member here but I know that the president is thinking about lifting the lockdown rule for everyone but me and the girls. I don’t know if that’s a good idea or not because I know Demon, and that look in his eyes, he will try and find us. If he finds out we have come to the UK, which I’m assuming is an easy guess, the first place he will come is here. My brain starts to imagine all possibilities of that happening as I look out at the children and I start to panic. Maybe them all going is the best thing, if they’re here when Demon gets here, they will all be in trouble.

I quickly stand, determined to go and talk to Franky about this but I’m stopped. A hand grips my wrist and I look back to find Grim. A hot flush spreads all over me from just his hand on me and I back away.

“Grim.” I greet.

He immediately drops my arm and frowns. “Call me Brandon.”

“Why?” I ask. I don’t understand why out of everyone, he wants me to not call him by his club name.

“I don’t know.” He struggles. “Just please, call me Brandon. At least when we’re alone.”

I think it through, and I come to a decision. Why the hell not?

“Ok.” I agree. “When we’re alone.”

He seems happy with that.

“Are you ok after last night?” He asks, looking me over.

“I’m fine.” I snap. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You seemed a little freaked out when you were running away from me.” He points out.

“I wasn’t running.” I stand my ground. “Anyway, I need to find your dad.”

“Why?” He asks.

“I want to tell him that he should lift lockdown for everyone else. If Demon comes here then we’re all in danger.” I take a deep breath to calm myself. “I don’t want anyone else hurt.”

He takes a hold of my shoulders, looking me in the eye. “Lauren, you don’t need to worry. Everyone here is perfectly safe, especially you.”

My breath catches in my throat. “Why me?”

Brandon stares down at me, intensity pouring from him. I take a deep breath and inhale his scent. “You have me in your life now and I can keep you from Demon. I won’t let him get his hands on you again. I’d rather die.”

His growling voice sends goose bumps to rise all over me. “I can’t help but be scared Brandon.”

As soon as I say his name I know he likes it. His pupils widen and his face relaxes, not a lot but enough for me to notice.

“I know, but I will protect you but you can’t talk to my dad.” He answers.

“Why not?” I ask.

“Lauren, only club members can talk to the president about that shit. My mum only can when they are alone, you can’t discuss that with him.” He sounds certain, and I can understand but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it. I’m under their care and I owe them my freedom from the Devil’s Spawn so I have to respect their rules.

“You hungry?” He asks me.

“Sure.” I answer, after The King’s rescued me from The Devil’s, I feel like I’m always hungry.

Brandon leads me away and I realize that he’s taking me towards the kitchen. When we reach the door, he pokes his head around and shouts out.

“Mum? You got it ready?” He waits and then I hear his mother reply.

“Sure do, who are you taking?” She asks and I see a large bag being passed into his hands.

“None of your concern.” He laughs and quickly leads me away. When I turn around, I see Laura with her head poking around to spy on her son. When she sees us, she smiles and waves and I have to return the wave.

Brandon then takes me out of the back of the clubhouse. A few kids are out here but he leads me around the corner where it’s quieter and sits on the grass. He pats the space beside him with a smirk on his face. “Come and sit.”

I eye him curiously but sit beside him and watch as he grabs containers out of the bag he was handed by his mum.

“So, did your mother make you a packed lunch?” I ask. “Very manly.”

From the look on his face, I can’t help but laugh. “Very funny, she saw me starting it and took over.”

“So, you had this planned?” I ask. I’m very surprised.

“Of course. I had to make up for last night.” He answers. “Nothing happened by the way.”

“No, I knew that.” I smile. “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me, Lauren. I wanted to look after you. I was just worried by your reaction this morning.” Brandon lays down cans of Coke and looks to me. “I’m sorry about Drew.”

At this I laugh. “No, that was a little awkward but it’s not your fault. It was mine for getting drunk.” I groan.

Brandon’s face darkens. “I’ve already sorted Duke and West.”

“What!” I shriek.

“Don’t worry, they’re not dead.” He chuckles. “They should be after getting you like that though.”

“No, that was all me.” I place my hand on his. “Don’t do anything about something that was on me.”

Brandon looks to our hands and nods. “Let’s eat.”