Deviants

by Natalie Bennett

  “Who the fuck are you talking to?” He jerked me around and grabbed my jaw.

  “Clearly you, asshole!” I pried his hand away, preparing to high-knee his balls into his stomach.

  “Calista.” A deep voice spoke my name.

  I whipped my head around and saw the man I’d barely glanced at. I had to blink twice.

  He was Grimm’s double, minus the tattoos. Mirth danced in his brown eyes.

  “I thought he was your father?”

  “He is my father. And he just gave me our first solid lead. One of the bishops is staying at an Order owned cabin with his family. It’s secluded but easy to get to.”

  I didn’t want to skip over the fact that this man was who got Romero and Grimm away from The Order, and it was obvious he wasn’t Romero’s real dad.

  He and Grimm weren’t blood related, and there was no way this man hadn’t played a huge role in Grimm’s creation.

  He said he had a lead though, and I was wired. I was ready to shed blood.

  “Nice to meet you,” I lied. “So we’re leaving?” I asked Romero.

  “Cali, chill out. You need food and sleep. Once we get on the road, there will be no stopping. We’ll leave before dawn so we can get to the cabin while the sun’s still up.”

  He spoke with a finality that had my hackles rising. I wanted to go right then, but I knew arguing with him wouldn’t make that happen.

  “Whatever, you have it all planned out, I’m sure.” I tried to pull away from him but he wouldn’t let go. Why did he feel the need to keep a lead from me? I didn’t understand; we were supposed to be working together.

  “You don’t storm off because of your feelings. Don’t be a little fucking girl. Tell me what the issue is.”

  “Rome, if you like your ability to piss standing up, you’ll let me go.”

  “Goddamn, Cali. I can’t handle your emotional bullshit all the time. Go, run off. Get the fuck away from me. I need to talk to Brock.”

  Cock sucking asshole.

  He pointed like I was child and I proved his point by storming away.

  I’d almost forgotten Bryce was playing body guard until he stepped out of a hiding spot and trailed after me with an amused smile on his face.

  Grimm’s double let out a boisterous laugh and I heard him say, “Ah, son, you’re going to have your hands full with her.”

  “I already fucking do,” Romero snapped, and it sounded like he punched the trailer.

  I smiled to myself, losing it the second I thought about what he considered food.

  If we were going to eat anything here, his ass better have some more peanuts.

  Hell would freeze over before I added cannibal to my list of attributes.

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  She glowered at me from the other side of the fire. Her hypnotic blue eyes were lit up like the moon.

  I knew I’d fucked up the second I called her jealous. If looks could kill, my dick would’ve been twelve feet in the air and incinerated. And she thought I was keeping a lead from her, of all things. Brock did in fact give me one, but what we were discussing wasn’t remotely related to that.

  What came after being out of your mind? That’s what she made me.

  She was under my skin like a parasitic poison. I fucking hated her. I was addicted to her. I fucking loved her. I think.

  She was the one thing I couldn’t control, and it only made me want to control her more.

  Her hand held one of the cans of tomato soup Brock had given to her and Arlen, who was right back by her side, blatantly avoiding Grimm.

  If she wasn’t so loyal, I’d gut her and immensely enjoy it, but Cali needed at least one female friend that wouldn’t fuck her over.

  It sure as shit wouldn’t be Dhal. She hadn’t said two words to me since getting knocked on her ass. I’d already told her we would never be a thing, not to mention that thing we were was years ago. I didn’t stick my dick in every hole available. I had too much respect for myself to do that. And Cali, she was everything to me. I would never give a bitch something to hold over her head.

  But, how I felt on the subject was irrelevant. She still wanted to kill Dhal.

  Most men worried about their woman killing an old flame in a metaphorical way. I actually had to make sure Cali’s crazy ass didn’t knife mine in the middle of the night.

  Keeping my gaze locked with hers, I tore a piece of barbequed flesh from the finger bone I was holding and slowly sucked it into my mouth.

  I couldn’t hold back my grin when her lips parted in shock. Human didn’t taste bad. It tasted strongly like pork, actually. The taste was sometimes so similar one could swap the two and someone who didn’t eat people wouldn’t know the difference.

  It wasn’t something I’d go out and eat on my own, but I wasn’t not going to consume it because of a prejudice.

  I was raised eating this shit.

  Grimm, Cobra, and Dhal were all doing the same, used to the acquired taste.

  Cali was so focused on watching me eat that she was oblivious to Brock staring at her.

  Couldn’t say I blamed the man. He hadn’t seen his daughter in over ten years. The last time he had, she was crying because he was leaving, taking Grimm and I but not her.

  She had no recollection of any of us. We never forgot her, the sad little girl in a pink nightgown who was so pale she looked like a ghost.

  I’d tell her one day, maybe, but not that day. It would fuck with her head and lead to places I didn’t want to go just yet.

  Brock agreed that it was for the best, even more convinced when she said something about Dhal being a midwife and he easily put two and two together.

  I stood up and rubbed my hands on my jeans, ready to get the fuck away from this whole scene. I’d left it all behind for a reason. Brock wanted that whole deep father-son thing, and I gave him crumbs.

  I couldn’t do any more than that. None of us ever had.

  “We leave at three; that’s seven hours away. Arlen, Grimm will show you where you’re sleeping,” I announced and turned back to Cali, crooking a finger. She said goodnight to Arlen and came straight to me.

  Even pissed and more than likely disgusted, she looked at me like I was the only man in the fucking universe. No matter how twisted or deranged I got, she was always right there, accepting every dark, vile part of who I was.

  She let me take her small hand and lead her to the trailer we’d be staying in.

  “Ladies first,” I gallantly gestured after unlocking the door.

  “I don’t see any ladies around here, good sir,” she responded in a shitty English accent, taking the two steps inside.

  “Wow,” she breathed, taking it in.

  Not that there was much to see.

  There was one old ass plaid couch that pulled out into a single bed, a bathroom with a single shower, and a mini fridge with a microwave balanced on top of it. The only light that worked was the dull yellow one currently shining from above the toilet.

  “It still smells like you.”

  “What the fuck? Is that good or bad?” I flipped the flimsy lock on the door and pulled the two couch cushions off, tossing them aside.

  “Good. You smell exotic; it’s hot.”

  “That’s weird, babe. Anyway, there’s a shower you can wash up in. The water’s only setting is lukewarm.”

  Her sudden laugh caught my full attention.

  “How old are these?” She held up a box of rubbers that had been sitting on the night stand. “There’s only two left. Rome, I know you didn’t bring me to the trailer you and Dhal used to have basic ass sex in.”

  “How do you know it was Dhal?”

  “That weir...your father said something about seeing her again after some crazy number of years. Once he took a break from staring at me.” She twisted her lips, looking deep in thought, then shook whatever it was away. “And I was just joking, I’m not that petty. I mean, I am, but I just want to cuddle up with you before we get all bloody.”


  I cocked my head and studied her impassively. She sounded sincere enough but this wasn’t her go to MO.

  “No demands that I tell you everything you want to know and all about my past? I at least expected you to say something about me having an acquired taste for human meat.”

  She sighed and planted her hands on her hips. “I want to know everything there is to know about you, Rome. I want to know how you got those scars under your ink, and how you ended up here of all places with that man. I don’t give a shit about your acquired taste. This is how you were raised.

  “As long as there are no human buffets, I’m good, even if it’s gross. Like, really vomit inducing gross. ” She wrinkled her nose. “I want to know how you became the head of the Savages. And why you keep things from me as simple as cellular phones, and how you feel about the baby we seem to only talk in circles about.

  “I want to know so many things, and if you don’t want to talk about your past, then at least let me know what’s going on in the present.

  “I never got to have a life; you know all there is to know about me. I was treated like a show animal. I was told when to perform and how. When I wasn’t, I was locked in a room with shelves full of porcelain dolls. I fucking hated those dolls. You’re my do over. I get to have a life with you.”

  Fuck. I felt like an asshole for once in my life because I didn’t have the words to reply to any of the shit that just came out of her mouth. And for Cali, that was some next level maturity speech she’d just given.

  She’d gone right into the kind of logical, emotional rant I avoided like the black fucking plauge. Half-assed honesty was the best policy, right?

  “I don’t know how to respond to half the shit you said. There are just some things I’ll never tell you. Not anytime soon.” Or fucking ever, I added silently.

  I stood from my position over the pullout bed and went to her. Cali was strong, I would never deny that, but she was fragile too. I’d known it from the first day she woke up in my bed.

  If it were some regular bitch that was the catalyst for all this, I wouldn’t have spared her, but this was my queen. I couldn’t tell Cali the deal with her mom because it tied too heavily into my past. I’d reluctantly told her about the deal with Janice.

  I didn’t tell her the real truth about Tiffany, or as she knew her, Tilly. I’d added bits and pieces of half a puzzle so she wouldn’t try and save Tito. She took it all in with almost no reaction, simply because they’d all used her.

  Tiffany never gave a shit about her. She used her to get close to David based off my order before I knew Cali still existed.

  I told him who she was when I could no longer predict her next move. I sent her that night, knowing he would burn her alive.

  David had been fucking her for months, thinking she was an outlier slut craving a man with power. Cali never knew about their relationship, and for whatever reason, David didn’t tell her.

  He didn’t tell her a lot of things.

  How did I fix that? Simple, I wouldn’t. There was so much she didn’t know about it. I constantly pushed her in the direction I wanted her to go in. I was a selfish manipulative motherfucker who had no shame.

  I was doing her a favor in the big picture. Cali was out of her head. There was no question about it. She was childishly maniacal and didn’t even realize it. Sometimes, I felt like I was like walking a tightrope of dos and don’ts with this girl.

  Fortunately, I knew how to handle her. She was a shattered reflection of myself. She just never knew what to do with the broken pieces. I did that for her.

  Making sure the void inside her stayed dark and dirty was for her own good. Depravity soothed her mind better than any medicine ever could.

  In the beginning, it may have been easier to kill her and put her out of her misery, but it was too late now. I couldn’t let go.

  Her beautifully twisted soul was mine and I was never giving it back. She made a deal with the devil without knowing the stipulations. I never told her it would be fair, only that it was never-ending.

  Our baby was an entire different story. I’d wanted this for a very long time with a woman just like her.

  I put my hands on her hips and gave a light squeeze. “I’ll start with the most important thing you said. Don’t ever think I don’t want our baby. I don’t jump for joy and shit when I’m happy, Pixie, you know that. But he is more than wanted. I knew what I was doing when I put him inside you.”

  She smiled up at me and I kissed the tip of her nose. What I didn’t tell her was that I had a pretty good idea of how she knew she was pregnant in the first place. It made me want to kill those motherfuckers ten times more than I already did. I knew what they’d done as soon as it came to light. I had to let her know he would be fine.

  “Don’t worry about him. Once we’re back home, I’ll have the best doctor I can find on standby.” Dropping a kiss to her forehead, I went back to preparing the bed.

  “And for the record, I was only fifteen when me and Dhal happened. The last time, I was twenty-two. It was years ago and…” Why the fuck was I explaining this to her? “You’re all I see, I don’t want anyone else. “You’re a crazy bitch, but you’re perfect for me.”

  “Ah, Rome. That was the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me. I heart you.”

  The room grew quiet as we both paused and eyed one another. That was the closest she’d gotten to telling me the three words I already knew she felt.

  “And your dick was not this big at fifteen; nice try. How many times did you have to wrap these around?” She laughed, and just like that, we were out of an awkward as fuck situation.

  I grinned and cupped myself. “Baby, you know my dick’s always been legendary.”

  “You did not just say that.” She laughed louder and launched the box at me. “I’m going to wash up now.”

  She came out ten minutes later stark naked. From the long blonde hair that covered her tits that fit perfectly in my hand to her perky round ass, she was ethereal. My dick immediately jumped to attention.

  She hadn’t gained all her weight back yet, but she looked better, and the bruises I’d left on her were still visible—that was a plus. The scar from where I’d sewn her up had healed nicely.

  This wasn’t about me right then, though; it was about her and her up and down emotions.

  It could have been my inexperience dealing with a woman for this long without killing her, but I knew it had more to do with the need to spill blood.

  You could only hold off the darkness for so long before your demons took over and destroyed everything in their path.

  She was ready to let loose, a ticking time bomb that would detonate as soon as I hit the right button.

  In the morning, her chains would come off and the hellish beast lurking beneath the surface would be set free and never locked away again. I wanted every corner of her sinful mind engaged and ready to play.

  For now, I’d settle with making her feel good. I wordlessly took hold of her hips and walked backward until I was sitting on the pullout bed.

  “What are you doing?” She giggled when I laid back and took her with me, pulling her tiny body up the length of my torso.

  “I want your pussy on my face.”

  “Oh.” Her whole demeanor changed. I could damn near smell how aroused she just got.

  Grabbing hold of her frozen frame, I spread her thighs, gripped her ass, and positioned her over my mouth. “Spread yourself open for me, Pixie.”

  Instantly complying, she placed one hand on the back of the couch and used the other to pull her lips apart.

  Holding her globes tight, I slowly dragged my tongue from her clit to her ass and then back up again, flicking at the little nub. Her breathing was already changing, growing choppy, and I knew it wouldn’t take her long to get off.

  “Ride my face, baby. Feel my tongue inside your tight pussy and fuck it.”

  My words set her off, arousal coating my taste buds. She had a tangy taste. I worked my tongue i
n and out of her, roughly kneading her ass.

  “Rome,” she half gasped-half whimpered, rocking on my face so hard, every time I breathed her scent went right into my nose, and my chin was drenched in her juices. She reached down and grabbed hold of my hair.

  She fucked my mouth like her life depended on it, moaning so loud I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire camp heard us again.

  “Right there,” she cried out, grinding her hips down on my tongue as I moved it around inside her hole, pushing in as deep as I could. The second I put pressure on her clit, she came, her legs locked on either side of my face, her tiny frame quivering above me.

  I kept my tongue moving inside her, lapping up every drop, savoring the way she tasted in my mouth. When she finished shaking enough to move and catch her breath, her body slid down mine like a snake and she licked her arousal off my face.

  “Rome…” she trailed off, straddling me right above my painfully hard dick.

  “It’s—”

  “Don’t you dare say it’s okay. You took care of me. Now, let me take care of you.”

  She gave me a saucy smile, turning around so I had full view of her creamy ass and wet thighs.

  My dick was out and in her mouth in less than a minute flat, and that’s where it stayed until my come was hitting the back of her throat.

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  Sure enough, Romero had me up and out of the trailer before dawn.

  Arlen walked beside me like a member of the living dead, not at all a morning person.

  I felt fine—lighter, in a way. I’d slept like a rock and woke up with Rome’s words fresh in my mind.

  “Where are your people?” I asked, belatedly realizing the acolytes were missing.

  “You mean our people. I sent them ahead. I need to tell Brock goodbye.”

  I nodded, trudging along. There was a chill in the air and the faint scent of impeding rain.

  As if conjuring him up, Brock stood by the entrance of the trailer park with his hands in his pockets.

  “Heading back out, huh?” He stepped forward, offering Romero his hand.