by KB Winters
“Uhhh…Madison? What’s going on?”
Madison turned to me and shrugged. “What? We’re friends. You got a problem with that?”
“Yeah, no. Maybe.” I didn’t have time to question it though because Ma put us all to work, carrying food out to the table in the backyard where Dad sat with a platter of barbecued ribs.
“Jana, you cooked all this?” Savannah looked at the table, loaded up with fried chicken and mashed potatoes, which was her favorite food, lasagna which was mine, and barbecue to celebrate the return of my baby brother.
“Wow. You didn’t have to do all this,” she said. The awe in her voice made Ma smile and place a hand over her heart.
“Of course I did, honey. And Max helped me. I wanted you to know how happy we are that Charlie finally has a real girlfriend. Someone to come home to. I thought I’d have to meddle before he saw the light.”
“Ma,” I groaned and the whole damn table erupted in laughter.
“It’s true, but you figured it out on your own, so I didn’t have to.”
“Thank fuck,” my dad growled, earning a backhand on the shoulder.
We ate until we were full and happy and just a little bit drunk. It was the perfect night.
Just fucking perfect.
My club was thriving and I was in love with the perfect woman who looked at me like I was someone special. There was only one thing to do next.
Tell her how I felt about her. For real.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Savannah
“Are you sure you don’t want any help, Jana? You did all the cooking, and you shouldn’t have to clean.” Not that I was well versed in the art of doing dishes and cleaning up in general, but she’d gone through so much effort to make me feel welcome, it was the least I could do.
But Jana waved me off, a gleam in her eye. “I’ll do the dishes so I can spy on you two while Charlie shows you his tree house.”
My eyes went round as they followed Jana’s gaze to the treehouse high up in an old oak tree, I was sure provided a massive amount of shade in the daytime. “A treehouse? How adorable!”
“It’s not adorable,” Charlie insisted.
“It was our junior clubhouse,” Jameson added. “And it was manly as fuck.”
“Totally,” Charlie agreed quickly, and I laughed.
“I stand corrected,” I said, barely containing my laughter. “But now I have to see it.”
“It’s not that impressive,” Madison added with a shrug. “But it will provide endless hours of mocking, so I highly recommend the trip.”
She could deny it all she wanted, but there were definite sparks between her and Jameson.
I turned to Charlie. “Well?”
“Fine,” he growled and guided me across the yard and up the surprisingly sturdy steps. “This is a much better view,” he said and gave my ass a good hard squeeze.
I pushed up the door flap and gasped. “It’s just like on TV!” There were magazine cutouts taped to the makeshift walls, a ‘NO GIRLS ALLOWED’ sign still hung over the window, and everything about it was a little boy’s dream.
“This is amazing,” I said as I pulled myself up and into the small space with a grunt. “Junior clubhouse, huh?”
“Jameson and I would come up here and pretend we were already Reckless Bastards, having meetings about the assholes at school and other little kid business.” He laughed as he reflected back on the details with the perspective of a grown man. “We had very overactive imaginations.”
I slid closer and wrapped my arms around him. “Not so overactive, you are the President now, after all.”
“Yeah,” he grinned. “I am.”
“Did you ever dream of having girls up here?”
Charlie barked out a laugh. “Only every fucking day, but never a girl like you.”
“Well, here I am,” I purred in his ear and gave it a nip, teasing him.
“Here you are.” Charlie smiled and leaned forward, pressing his body against mine until I was sprawled across the pile of pillows covered by a quilt that served as the only furniture in the treehouse. “Right where I need you.” His hips ground against me and I could feel just how hard he was already.
“And what are you going to do with me now that you’ve suckered me up here?” My heart raced as his hips moved in slow circles that pressed his denim-covered cock right up against my clit, swollen and throbbing.
“Suckered? You came up here willingly, babe.”
“What can I say? I’m a sucker for a man with an imagination.”
He grinned and leaned forward, kissing me slowly. Softly. “I never could have imagined a woman like you, Savannah, not in my wildest dreams.”
“Charlie,” I moaned and closed my eyes. His sweet words never failed to get my blood pumping, so much that I didn’t even care that he hadn’t said he loved me back. Not yet.
“Seriously, Savannah. You are more than I could have hoped for and watching you become the woman you are, fuck, I’m in awe of you.” I cupped his cheeks at his words and stared deep into his mesmerizing gray eyes. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but now that I have you, I’m never letting you go.”
“Who’s asking you to?”
“Nobody and I wouldn’t even if the whole fucking world asked. I love you Savannah. Completely. You’re mine.”
I liked the sound of that. “And you’re mine.”
“Damn straight.” He leaned forward and put his lips to mine, kissing and grinding against me while I writhed beneath him, begging with my body for him to take me right there in his childhood treehouse. He pulled back, too soon, and grinned.
“Just in case you forget,” he said and slid a ring on my finger.
Not that finger but the one right next to it, now sat a gorgeous white gold band with half a dozen black diamonds surrounded by a ruby. A gorgeous ruby that literally fucking glittered. “Charlie.”
“This isn’t a proposal because I don’t think either of us is ready for that. Yet. But this is my promise to you. My promise to love you as hard as I can, every fucking day. To never take you for granted. To make you scream my name at least once a day.”
When I spoke, my voice was breathless. “I like the sound of all that. A lot.”
He chuckled. “Good.” Then he kissed me, slow and hard until I rubbed up against him like he was my own personal scratching post. I was breathless and hungry for him as his hand lifted up one side of my romper and shoved my panties aside. Two thick fingers plunged deep and that was all it took for my orgasm to float to the surface.
“I love that I can get you off so easily.”
“That was just an appetizer,” I whispered in his ear and reached inside his pants. “Now I’m ready for the main course.” He groaned when I gave his cock a squeeze.
“Charlie! Charlie! Get down here, you need to see this.” Max’s voice was loud and his tone was serious. Instantly we were both on high alert.
“Later,” he growled, carnal intent clear in his eyes.
It took less than a minute before we righted our clothes and rushed inside where Max and Jana sat on the loveseat together and Jameson and Madison relaxed on the sofa. “What’s up, Dad?”
“Damn, you gotta see this.” Madison aimed the remote to rewind the live broadcast, her eyes wide with disbelief. Shock.
The screen changed from the news station studio to just outside the Emerald Isle Hotel & Casino. The reporter pointed to a room high above the ground. Behind her, blue and red lights from a dozen police cars, flashed.
“In more disturbing news today, local hero and community leader, Father Dietrich Mueller was found shot to death in his hotel room. Sources say he was with a woman identified as Bonnie Byrne-Ashby, who is also reported dead. Bonnie Byrne-Ashby is the wife of local tech guru, Calvin Ashby, and leaves behind a six-month-old daughter. It is unclear why the two were in a hotel room, particularly one owned by the victim’s husband’s family, but sources say it was a bloody, brutal crime scene. Joi
n us back here at eleven, for more details.”
“What the—,” I said first, shocked at the news of Bonnie’s death—no, her murder.
Charlie gave my hand a squeeze. “A fucking shit storm is coming our way. I need to call Church.”
I squeezed his hand in return and nodded. “It’s a good thing we’re in this together. I’ve got good men if you need them.”
He sighed. “I don’t know what the fuck we’re gonna do. Dad let’s go! Mom, I’ll be at the clubhouse. Savannah, stay here, you’ll be safe with Jamie here.”
Jamison was already up and ready to go. “I’m not staying here. This shit is huge.”
“You’re a rookie cop. You can’t be seen with the Bastards right now because I don’t know what the fuck we’re walking into. But I’m sure it won’t be legal. And the minute I know, I’ll let you know.”
At that moment, I was glad Charlie and I had joined forces.
Fuck anyone who tried to come between us, who interfered with our happiness, who came after our family or our businesses. Fuck them straight to hell.
They would need more than guns.
They would need more help than even God could provide because together, we were that fucking strong.
“I love you,” I mouthed the words to him.
“Love you more,” he mouthed back with a wink.
Whatever happened next, we were in it together.
Thank you so much for reading about Charlie (my dream guy) and Savannah! There is so much more to come from the Ashbys!
Did you know this WHOLE SERIES started with Max and Jana in Beautifully Broken?
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KB xoxo
Acknowledgments
Thank you for reading my books! I appreciate all of you! Thanks to all of my beta readers, ARC readers and Facebook fans. Y’all are THE BEST!
And a very special thanks to Helen. You are a Godsend. Thank you for making my words make sense.
And a huge thanks to my family who has to put up with me.
All day. Every day.
Y’all are the true champions.
About the Author
I love coffee, tattoos and hard-bodied alpha males. The men in my books are super sexy and protective. Some are military badasses who swore an oath to their country, some are full blown bad boys. But all of them find their true love.
I’m a hopeless romantic and I could write sexy love stories every day for the rest of my life.
I hope you enjoy my books and have an amazing day!
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Also by KB Winters
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