Bleeding Desire: An MC Romance

by Carter Steele

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  Savage Redemption

  “My life was all about revenge until I met her.”

  I want them destroyed.

  The Anarchists killed my father, haunt me and my brother, and seek to destroy my club, the Savage Kings.

  For years, I have stopped at nothing to annihilate them.

  But for years, I also never forgot her.

  She was everything to me.

  She brought joy to my life.

  And I had to leave her without explanation.

  But a chance encounter has brought her back to me.

  And now, everything has changed.

  My life is now all about having her—and nothing can stop me.

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  Bleeding Desire

  Carter Steele

  Contents

  1. Landon

  2. Caroline

  3. Landon

  4. Caroline

  5. Landon

  6. Caroline

  Epilogue

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  1

  Landon

  “Are you hurt? Where are you?”

  Thoughts flashed back in my mind of Heather, Liza, and Anna getting hurt, kidnapped, or otherwise aggrieved by the Anarchists as a result of our being close to them. Nothing infuriated men more than knowing that their women were in danger, and that was doubly true considering that for my brother and I, ours weren’t just women we had met on a whim; they were women that we knew from our pasts.

  Heather had gotten the worst of all, but all three had suffered at the hands of Vulture. The fact that this trend was continuing as a result of Owen and the remaining Anarchists made me want to take a torch to the entire area and burn it down so they’d have nowhere to hide.

  “I’m fine, Landon, I’m fine, but, but, they got my parents!”

  Oh, Jesus. Sure, from a selfish perspective, I would rather have her parents get kidnapped or hurt than Caroline. But that thought never crossed my mind; instead, I kept wondering if they had murdered them and how that would affect Caroline. My anger did not subside from what Caroline had said; it had only dramatically increased.

  “Wait, what do you mean, Caroline? Talk to me. We can help.”

  “Some man named Owen, he, he’s at my parents’ house right now. He, he said that if, if you guys, the Kings, if you didn’t show up, they’d, they’d…”

  “We’ll take care of it,” I said, feeling as determined and focused as a member of the Savage Kings as I ever had. “I promise you, Caroline, we’ll get your parents back.”

  “But what if it’s a trap, Landon?”

  “Of course it’s a trap,” I said. “But this isn’t the first time the Anarchists have laid a trap for us.”

  Happens pretty frequently, come to think it.

  “We know how to handle it. So hang tight. Text me the address, we’ll get your parents back, I promise.”

  “OK,” she said through her sobbing. “Thank you, Landon. Please don’t get hurt. Please.”

  “I promise.”

  Some in the club would have said to never make such a promise, knowing that in the heat of violence and combat, it was impossible to guarantee one’s safety. In fact, such a promise bordered on arrogance, as it was very possible that such an attitude could have made someone too gung-ho.

  But Caroline didn’t need me to act like a tough, rough soldier right now. She just needed something to assure her that things weren’t completely going to hell. She just needed me to step up and promise her that things were going to be OK, even if there realistically was no guarantee such a thing would happen.

  “Send me the address. You stay where you are. I’ll bring your parents to you.”

  I hung up right after with time being of the essence. Every second we spent was a second that Owen could become more impulsive. It didn’t help that there were two of them; he could have unfortunately decided that only one was needed and pick one of her parents to kill. It was an absolutely terrible way to look at it, but unfortunately, it was also entirely realistic to do so.

  As soon as I got the address, I barged back inside the clubhouse and found the closest five members. Parker and Petey were among them.

  “We need to roll out,” I said. “We’re going to a house on the northwest side of town, just between here and Golden Valley. Caroline’s parents are being held hostage by Owen.”

  “Shit, for real?” Parker said in disgust. “Let’s go kill ‘em fuckers. Tired of these assholes hurtin’ the ones we love.”

  “Yep, and I’m not going to wait for tomorrow morning either,” I said. “Let’s fucking go.”

  No one questioned me. That, I realized, was something I had taken for granted. I had always just assumed the club would do whatever the president said without questioning. After all, I’d never before seen a refusal of orders from my father or brother.

  But that’s because they were good leaders. I knew that if I acted like a bad leader or refused to embrace the role of presidency, nothing would ever get done. Even if my role was temporary, if I stopped acting like I didn’t want to be a Savage King, then I could make sure things ran smoothly and easily.

  We all got on our bikes. I took the point, with Landon just slightly behind me on my right. The other Kings were lined up behind me.

  Although we didn’t discuss a specific strategy, we’d had unfortunately a bit too much in the way of practice in handling these situations. We’d form a perimeter around the building, storm in, and take charge.

  When we got the house in question, I was surprised to see that there were no Anarchists visible on the front porch, nor did I suddenly see any doors or windows close. We still handled our normal protocol, surrounding the building and breaking off to the various entrances, but something about this felt too… calm.

  I almost wondered if we had gone to the wrong house. But the number was very prominently displayed, so I knew that we had picked 2205 Riversong Drive.

  I nodded, busted down the door, and raised my gun.

  “Everyone down! Now!”

  But as we moved inward toward the kitchen, not only did we not encounter any resistance, we didn’t see anyone at all. Only when we got to the kitchen did we see four people in total—an older couple, Caroline’s parents, and two young teenagers—very young, actually.

  “Owen made us do it!” the first teenager yelled, his voice not yet fully through puberty. “I swear, I didn’t want to kill anyone!”

  “What the fuck,” Parker muttered as we all convened.

  “My dad was in his club, and he took us and said we needed to work for him so that we could bring glory back to the club. I had no idea what he was talking about!”

  “Where is he,” I said, my gun still cocked.

  “I don’t know, he left about ten minutes ago. I… I don’t know!”

  Only after Parker had examined both of them and removed all of their guns did we lower ours. Caroline’s poor parents actually seemed pretty well in control of themselves compared to the teenage boys, though the whole scene was so surreal.

  “You two alright?” I said.

  “Oh, yes, dear, thank you so much for coming,” her mother said. “That very mean man—”

  “That asshole.”

  “Dear!”

  “He just tried to kill us, and you want to be nice to him?”

  “Well, I reckon… anywho, yes, that very mean man took us hostage and said if you didn’t show up he would kill us.”

  Something about this still doesn’t feel right.

  “Come with us,”
I said. “I don’t want us anywhere near here for the next little bit.”

  “Why?” Caroline’s mother said.

  “And in any case, I promised Caroline that I would take you two to her. So let’s go. We can come back in the morning.”

  “Hell, I ain’t ignoring a guy with a gun,” Caroline’s father said.

  “He gets it,” Parker said with a chortle.

  The two prospects took the teenagers and led them outside. Caroline’s father walked with Parker, while her mother walked with me.

  “You’re a very nice man, you know,” her mother said. “I thought the police would come. And when you boys came in, I thought we were about to have another fight!”

  “You could have if the man who took you hostage in the first place were here,” I said. “But thankfully, he—”

  BOOM!

  I tackled Caroline’s mother to the ground and covered her as the house behind us went up in an explosion. I lay on top of her for several seconds until I felt sure that all of the debris had stopped falling.

  “You OK?”

  “Yes, yes,” Caroline’s mother said, but she sounded somewhat in shock.

  I turned around to look at the house completely obliterated. Owen had put a bomb in there. It was small wonder that the house wasn’t occupied but by two teenagers. Even if the teens had resisted, the bomb would have taken us out.

  We’d basically avoided death by about twenty seconds or so.

  “Jesus,” Caroline’s father said. “Well, guess we’re moving to Arizona sooner than expected.”

  “Don! At a time like this!”

  “Let’s go,” I said, not exactly eager to experience a marriage feud before me. “I think Caroline will want to know what’s going on.”

  Caroline’s mother had never been on a motorcycle before, and it took her a lot more time to get adjusted to riding the bike. Actually, I don’t think she ever quite got used to it entirely. She kept whispering in my ear to slow down, even though I was already going five miles per hour under the speed limit.

  But thankfully, we got her and her husband in one piece to Caroline’s apartment. Caroline was already waiting for us at the top of her stairs, and she bounded down with tears streaming freely down her cheeks when she saw us. Even I felt a little emotional as she hugged her parents and the three of them sobbed together.

  Would like to get the chance to have a moment like that with my father. Just makes it all the more important to take care of Brock, then.

  Caroline told them to go upstairs before she headed over to me. She gave me a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek as she kept repeating “thank you” over and over again.

  “Unfortunately, we lost the house,” I said. “They’ll tell you more, but the Anarchists set a bomb to go off. You can see they’re alive, but they’re going to have to figure out something soon.”

  “It’s just a house,” Caroline said. “Mom will be a little upset, but they’ll get over it.”

  “One can hope,” I said with a smile. “By the way, you were right about something.”

  “Hmm?”

  “The Kings will never leave me,” I said. “That club will always be with me. But instead of being afraid of the name, I’m learning to accept and embrace it. Appreciating that and enjoying life aren’t mutually exclusive. So I think it’s going to help me. Thanks for pointing it out to me.”

  The look on her face was one of being absolutely, positively stunned. But unfortunately, I didn’t really have much time to explain it.

  “I have to get back, we’re retaliating in the morning,” I said. “But we’ll be in touch soon, OK? We’ll make sure you and your parents are fine.”

  Caroline was left speechless. I just smiled, kissed her on the forehead, and promised a return.

  This time, that was a promise I knew I would keep.

  2

  Caroline

  I always figured if Landon and I wouldn’t work out, it was because the club would not suck up his time, but his happiness.

  That whole notion was getting thrown on its head pretty strongly right now, though.

  But before I could ask any questions, he was already heading back to the clubhouse to take care of club business. Watching him leave with such certainty made me wonder what the hell had changed in him from the last time I’d seen him, when he was fighting with all of his might to get me back to him.

  Good thing I had someone else I really needed to talk to right now.

  I hurried upstairs to my apartment, finding my parents sharing a quiet, intimate hug right by the kitchen table. I did my best not to move while they hugged, worrying that it would interrupt a sweet moment.

  “You’re letting all the cold air in, sweetie,” my mother said.

  “Do you live in a barn?”

  “OK, goodness, you all don’t have to sound like you were born in 1800,” I joked as I shut the door behind me and locked it. “But I guess it’s OK. I can’t believe you had to go through all of that. I’m just happy you’re OK, bad jokes and all. What exactly happened, anyways?”

  “Well, we were just going to cook your father’s favorite recipe—”

  “My second favorite recipe, just to be clear, you don’t like to cook my favorite.”

  “Dear, steak and potatoes is not healthy for you.”

  “As if I care about being healthy when we’re so close to the grave.”

  “Don!”

  Well, at least they had kept their sense of humor.

  “Anyways,” my mother said, waving her hands to take back the conversation. “That bad man, Owen, walked in with three others, two teenage boys and a very angry looking man. They said we wouldn’t get hurt if we spoke to you and told you exactly what they needed.”

  “Hmm,” I said. “I’m just glad you’re safe. That had me terrified.”

  “Bah!” my father said, as if he’d just survived a lame haunted house. “Terrified? Nothing but a bunch of goons if you ask me. Why, if I had my way—”

  “Dear!”

  “They kept talking about how they’re going to one up some man named Vulture. Sounds like a bunch of nonsense and mularkey to me. I’d show them how a real man fights. Send them back to Las Cruces.”

  “Anyways!” I shouted. “We get it, Dad, you could have kicked their asses if you had the chance.”

  “Caroline!”

  I put my hands over my mouth, realizing I had sworn in front of my parents. But my mother just smiled and chortled. What a weird, weird night.

  “So, if the house is gone…” I said. “I guess we’ll be moving to Arizona soon?”

  “We?” my father said, cocking an eyebrow. “You didn’t tell us anything about moving to Arizona.”

  “I mean, it’s just a possibility right now,” I said, which I suppose was true but it certainly wasn’t the direction I was leaning in. “I just figured that, since we’re all so close, when you moved to Arizona, I could—”

  “Nonsense,” my father said. “You’re too young to be hanging out with a bunch of stiffs like ourselves.”

  My father knew how to use his grumpiness for humor. I did not get any sense, though, that he was joking at all right now.

  “You have a very nice boy here who cares a great deal for you,” he said. “Much as I give him gruff and think he’s with a dangerous organization, he did save my ass, so I suppose he’s not too bad.”

  “Don!”

  “And anyways, you just started your business here and started to get clients. Do you know how hard it is to start a successful business? I know you’re established and good in your field, but every state has different tax laws. You know California. You want to learn Arizona? You want to regrow your client base?”

  “But—”

  I was just so taken aback that my father was resisting this idea, I felt like I wasn’t just swimming upstream against them. I felt like I was swimming upstream with engines on the other side, propelling a stronger current in my direction. And it was my father who was operating
those engines.

  “Dear, your father’s right,” my mother said. “You don’t want to spend your youth with old people. That’s how you get old much faster! And trust me, this day will come for you. No need to try and accelerate your path to it.”

  “I guess.”

  “And that Landon boy is quite handsome!”

  “Mom!”

  I was starting to blush. But I guess that was giving away my true feelings, wasn’t it? I guess there were worse things to face than your parents discovering a man you had fallen hard for.

  “If you want to come to Arizona, of course that is entirely your choice. But we would highly encourage you to stay here in Romara.”

  “Or at least go someplace that isn’t Arizona,” my dad said with a snort. “Heaven knows you’re too young to deal with the batshit crazy people there.”

  “Don!”

  My parents started “fighting” over Arizona, their critiques interlaced with laughter and silly gestures. It was so cute.

  It was also a little terrifying to know that if Landon and the Kings hadn’t shown up when they had, that I could have never witnessed this moment or one like it ever again. Isn’t it worth trying to find someone like this who you can share such moment with? Wouldn’t you want to try and get this feeling for yourself?

  Then go and find it with the one who gave it to you before you had your emotional moment.

  I excused myself and went to the bedroom—and in here, the thing I remembered most was not the climax that we had or the sex that we had, but the brief cuddling that we shared. Short as it was, it was that much sweeter, and there was nothing I would have yearned for more than to have him at my place right now.