Burning Daylight (A Devil's Cartel MC Series Book 2)

by Skyla Madi

  “We’re gonna go for a ride first,” Judge tells them before I get the chance. He takes my hand in his. “Then we’ll come home.”

  Home. There’s that word again. Judge escorts me away from Creed and Isabelle and I wave to the rest of them as he leads me to his bike. He gets on and holds out his hand. I reach out to take it but pause when I notice the ink of a beat-up teddy-bear on the inner side of his wrist. I move my palm over his to graze his wrist. Pursing my lips, I touch the cursive writing as it wraps around the bear and seemingly blows away in the wind.

  “The longest walk home…” I whisper as I read it.

  I think about his experience with his daughter and what I know from third party information. They say he carried her lifeless body for miles…

  “You have me.” He gifts me a sad smile. “You don’t have to walk the whole way.”

  He grabs my hand and I climb onto his motorcycle, carefully tucking my dress around my legs and against his back so it doesn’t fly away on me. He’s slow to leave the cemetery and I watch the green grass as we roll over it.

  We ride for hours, it feels like, and every minute of it I remind myself it’s not a dream. By the time we stop, the sun is higher and hotter in the sky, and dewdrops have long since dried on the grass and on the crisp leaves of the tall, lean trees that tower above us. Straightening my spine, I peer over Judge’s shoulder and spot the fireworks shack not far ahead. My tummy flips at the thought of revisiting our first meeting place. I followed him that night because something in my gut told me he was the one who could help me. He scared me, but not in the ways Elias did. I knew there was a gentle heart hidden deep within the MC president’s chest. I just had to find a way in.

  I clench Judge tighter in my arms. He slows his motorcycle and rolls us into the thicket. Once we stop, he grabs my hand and we leave the bike behind as we push through the shrubbery and exit onto the riverbank on the other side. The lake is different during the day, more impressive, but less magical…or maybe that’s the way I’ll see things from now on. Less magical.

  I release Judge’s hand and bend to take off my kitten heels so I can feel the warm grass on my feet. He leans against a nearby tree, watching me as I sigh and wiggle my toes in the rocky, grassy soil below, grounding myself.

  “I was worried about you,” he admits, and I turn my head. “You should’ve been at the clubhouse with us.”

  “I know. I just needed…” I rub my face. “I don’t know what I needed. I don’t know what I need.”

  Judge tilts his head and gestures for me to come closer. I saunter toward him and lean my torso against his.

  “I know what you need.” He brushes hair out of my face and touches my cheek. “You need someone to be there for you. You need someone who understands, who knows that empty feeling better than anyone else. You need me.”

  I lower my gaze to his firm lips. “I left you.”

  “You did.”

  “You could’ve been killed.”

  “I could have.”

  “And you still want me?”

  His lips quirk. “More than anything.”

  I lift myself onto the tips of my toes to reach his lips. He gently touches my chin, guiding my mouth to his. Our kiss is gentle, barely a touch, but it washes away all my anguish.

  Judge breaks the kiss as he pushes his fingers through my hair and toys with the ends. “Do you want to come home?”

  A heavy fog settles on my shoulders. If I go back with him, that’s it for me. There’s nothing else in my life besides him. What if it doesn't work out? What if…there’s a million what ifs I can drop on him, but what if he wants more from me down the track? I clear my throat.

  “You should know I can’t have any more children,” I say, the last secret I have from my time with my ex-husband. I spare him the gory details of being drugged in my sleep and having my reproductive organs ripped out of me. “Elias made sure of that.”

  Judge shifts uncomfortably. I know something as heavy as children aren’t on his radar right now, but it’s best he knows for the future. I expect him to retreat or to shrug it off because he doesn’t see us going that far. What I don’t expect is for him to plant a gentle kiss on my forehead and smile.

  “We have children,” he says, kissing me again. “A perfect daughter and a perfect son. We don’t need more.”

  We have children. That’s all I need to hear to fall head over heels in love with him—and the realization is terrifying. Emotion bubbles up my throat and I hide my face against his chest as my face pinches tight. I try to fight back the tears, but I haven’t been any good at that these last few months, so I let them flow. And Judge doesn’t rush me. He rocks side to side and rests his head against mine and peers out over the lake. Eventually, I turn my head to look too.

  It’s quiet. Peaceful.

  In the distance, a dark flock of birds release from a cluster of trees and move through the bright blue sky, like a thunder cloud. I can’t help the smile on my lips or the warmth spreading through my limbs. Nicolás loves birds and I choose to take it as a sign of his approval. He would've loved Judge…he loved anyone who took the time to get to know him.

  “I could leave,” Judge whispers as he tucks his head into my neck, afraid if he speaks too loud the universe will hear. “We could leave and never look back.”

  If we were to leave, where would we go? I don’t want to be more than ten feet from Nicolas’s grave—ever—and Damon will go mad having no one besides me to boss around. I pull away to look him in the face. His expression tells me he’s dead serious in the way he holds his lips in a straight line and in the slight downturn of his brows. It’s his eyes that give his heart away. He doesn’t want to leave. He needs his chapter. He needs Creed and Armi, Amani and Modo—he needs them all in order to be happy.

  “We don’t need to leave,” I tell him, and my palms grow clammy at the words bubbling up my throat. Here goes nothing. “I love you as you are.”

  Judge doesn’t skip a beat. As if that’s all he was waiting for me to say, he kisses me with a bruising passion, gripping my head in his hands, and the world falls away. I hold him closer, running my hands down his back, pulling him closer until there’s no space left between us.

  I hope he knows every word out of my mouth is the truth.

  I love him.

  I love him as president.

  As a criminal.

  As a father.

  I love him as he is, and as he always has been, the man who burned up all my daylight and consumed all my nights.

  NEXT IN THE SERIES:

  Burning

  Revenge

  A Devil’s Cartel MC novel

  Book Three

  Acknowledgements

  A big thank you to everyone still following me on this writing journey! As always, I am forever grateful for my husband, three children, my publisher, my editor, and my readers for your endless patience and encouragement over the last few years. Thank you for tolerating my slow writing output, missed deadlines, and unanswered messages, comments, and emails. The last few years have been hard, and long—and God knows 2020 hasn’t been any easier—but I am working on getting back into the groove! Here’s to a healthy and happy 2021!

  About the Author

  Skyla Madi is an Australian writer from Brisbane, Queensland.

  Skyla started her writing career fresh out of high school and at 21 she is a giver of both real and fictional life.

  She is an aquarian, lover of the written word and author of the #1 BESTSELLING Consumed trilogy.

  Skyla LOVES to hear from readers! Here are some of ways to get into contact with her:

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  GOODREADS

  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6554179.Skyla_Madi

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