So Hot MC Boxset

by Blair Grey

  I never knew what her mood would be when I entered a room she was in. I never knew if I’d be woken up for school with a smile or a smack in the face. The one thing I could count on was that she couldn’t be counted on.

  She would drive us to school each morning for a month, then suddenly yell as us for not being ready to catch the bus one morning as she wasn’t taking our lazy asses to school anymore. As time went on, I had learned how to feel the electricity in the air to gauge the energy – finding it either positive or negative. That way, I would have an idea about what mood I would find her in before I had to deal with her.

  The electricity in the air now told me that there were a lot of arrogant assholes heading my way – sure they were about to end me and Hailey for good. But they didn’t know how I’d prepared my whole life for things like this. I’d learned how to ready myself before the other shoe dropped.

  Both guns in my hands, my eyes held the horizon, waiting for the first bike to enter my field of vision. The sounds got closer and closer until I saw the leader of the pack. “Brand. Get ready to meet your sister on the other side.”

  The Angry Hogs hadn’t come unarmed. With a rifle butted against his hip, Joey Brand thought he was ready to meet me again. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Or more off with his aim. The first bullet that left the chamber of his gun missed me by a foot.

  I knelt down on one knee to put myself on their level. Pulling up my Glock, I trained it on Brand, determined to take out the self-proclaimed leader of the pack. “Just a little closer.”

  Another bullet zipped through the air, this one missing me by about six inches. The rider just behind Brand to the right had shot that one. So, he had to be the first to go.

  Pulling the trigger, I let out my breath as the bullet left the chamber to enter the unfortunate head of what would be my first Angry Hog. His bike went down, sliding across the street. His packmates dodged it and his body that now lay limp on the grey road – his red blood pooling around him.

  Another bullet came at me, whizzing by my head. A man from the back of the now tight formation of bikes had sent that one to me. So, I sent one right back, catching him in the shoulder and throwing him backward off his bike that kept going until it collided with the bike just in front of him. “Lesson number one, boys – keep some space between your bikes or a domino effect will occur when one of them goes down.” The bike in front of that one wobbled as the back wheel was hit. The rider somehow managed to right it before pulling up his Glock to aim it at me. “Nope. Not gonna happen, stud.”

  I could’ve shot the gun out of his hand, but what good would that do me?

  A shot to the heart took care of him much more efficiently. But the pack kept on coming my way, ignoring the dead men behind them. It seemed that they too were in it to win it.

  Brand throttled his engine, jumping forward, leaving the others behind as he took off, coming right at me. Dropping his rifle to the street, he reached into his leather jacket pocket, pulling out something, then throwing it hard toward the house.

  I didn’t take my eyes off of him, but I heard the thing hit the house somewhere near the front door. With no idea what he’d thrown, I had my chance to take him out and I wasn’t about to miss it. One shot and a bullet ripped through his torso, heading out the other side of him.

  From behind me, I heard Hailey as she shouted, “Grenade!” I saw the round object flying over my head then it landed in the street – right in front of the remaining Angry Hogs.

  Diving for cover behind shrubbery that lined the driveway, I dropped my guns on the ground to put my hands over my ears. The explosion of the grenade mixed with sounds of ripping metal and screams of pain from the Angry Hogs and their bikes.

  Worried about Hailey, I looked over my shoulder briefly, finding the front door closed with her safely inside. The time had come to finish anyone who was left alive.

  When I stood up, the scene that lay ahead of me could’ve come right out of a horror movie. Bodies, strewn all over the road, red blood ran down it, and men groaned, cried, and shrieked in pain.

  Lucky for them I wasn’t into letting anyone suffer. So, I picked up my Glocks and went to finish the job of ending the Angry Hogs once and for all. With the last gunshot, I heard the sounds of my brothers, coming to help.

  The only thing I needed help with was cleaning up the mess. That was a thing we’d become very good at doing. With help on the way, I turned to go inside to see to Hailey. She’d never taken a life before, so I figured she was having issues with the fact that she’d thrown the grenade that had killed or at least wounded most of the men.

  Opening the door, I found Hailey jumping up and down clapping her hands. “Lucas! We did it! We did it!” She ran to me, throwing her arms around my neck. “It’s over! It’s really over!”

  Not at all what I expected.

  “So, you’re okay then?”

  “Okay? I’m more than okay. It’s over, leather! Over for good. Not even one of them is left to threaten us anymore!” She let me go, to dance around the living room.

  Maybe she doesn’t realize that she’s killed people.

  And I wasn’t going to point that out to her either. “Wow, you’re taking this all a hell of a lot better than I thought you would.”

  Carl came in the front door with a smile on his face. “All twelve of them, chap.” He came to me, slapping his big hand on my back. “You still got it, brother.”

  Hailey peeked out the window, watching a good number of Iron Cobras moving fast to clean up the mess we’d made. “So, there’s no calling the cops, huh?”

  “We don’t need their help,” Carl let her know. “We take care of our own problems. No reason to involve anyone else. You get it, right, Hailey?”

  “More and more as time goes on.” Her smile seemed out of place with all the gruesome activities that had just gone on. “I guess this will hit me in a little while.” Walking backward, she fell on the nearest chair as her face paled. “Lucas, did I kill any of those guys?” Her eyes fluttered as they came to mine. “Or did you do all that?”

  With the way she looked, I knew she wasn’t ready to hear that a couple of the men I came upon after she tossed the grenade back at them had expired without my help. “Hailey, you had to get rid of that thing they threw up here or you wouldn’t have been here right now. By throwing that back out at them, you halted their forward motion so I could finish the job. Don’t feel bad for even a second about anything.”

  Nodding, she took a deep breath. “I’m safe now.”

  Carl went over to pat her on the shoulder. “You are safe now, Hailey. And your man will be home within the month. Your life is about to get back to normal. I bet you’re ready for that.”

  “Yeah.” She looked at me with glistening eyes. “It’s time to get back to normal.”

  I knew she was right about that too. “I agree. Time to get back to normal.” I had to stop being mad, jealous, and thinking that what we had could last. “And now you’ve got a pretty good idea what it means to be the old lady of a biker.”

  “I do have a good idea about that. Ryder will be surprised when he gets out.” Chewing on her lower lip, I saw the melancholy drift through her eyes.

  Carl moved toward the door as the sound of a truck leaving the area filtered into the house. “Seems we’re ready to head out. I’ll leave you two now. See ya around, Hailey Don’t be a stranger.”

  “I won’t.” Getting up, she followed him to the door, looking out of it to find a clean scene where a gory one had once been. “Lord have mercy, you guys are quick. But what about the neighbors?”

  Carl laughed. “Our public relations guys have already taken care of them. Not to worry, we always leave our witnesses more than happy.”

  “Good to know. And I hope we never have a situation like this one at our home again.” Stepping back, she let Carl leave as she looked at me. “So, this is it then, leather.”

  She wants me to leave?

  “Only if you want i
t to be, honeysuckle.” I wasn’t sure if I wanted things to end or not. But it wasn’t up to me.

  “We had lots of fun, you and I.” Idling up to me, she took my hands in hers, swinging them back and forth. “You’ve taught me tons of new things.”

  “You’ve taught me some things too.” I had to admit it to her and myself. “Like that love can exist. It has to be real or I wouldn’t have had such a strong jealous reaction.”

  “Maybe one day,” she hesitated then cleared her throat, “you’ll find the right woman for you, Lucas.” Obviously, that was hard for her to say.

  Pulling her close to me, I hugged her tightly as I kissed the top of her head. “If I do find someone, then it’s only because you taught me how to open up my heart.” I had no intention of finding anyone anytime soon. My heart was still wrapped up with hers. Time would make things easier. At least I knew that.

  “It wouldn’t hurt my feelings any if I heard your bike come past my house to make sure I’m okay, leather.” She cleared her throat again. “I mean, Lucas. I guess I should stop calling you anything other than that. We don’t want to upset Ryder.”

  I had to agree. “No, we don’t, Hailey.” Her husband and my brother had been through enough with his false imprisonment. “We’ve got our memories that no one can take away from us.”

  “That, we do.” Her arms slid away from my body. “I’m sorry about asking you to leave before your house is ready. I just think it’s best is all.”

  “I agree. We have to say goodbye sometime. This is the right time. I think we both know that. You’re safe now. No reason to prolong the inevitable.” But I didn’t want to leave her. I wanted to scoop her up and take her away with me. But she didn’t belong to me. My MC brother had found her first.

  “I agree.” Stepping back, she wiped her eyes as a few tears had escaped. “It’s time.”

  It is time. “See you around, honeysuckle.”

  “See you around, leather.” She sniffled.

  Picking up my luggage, I tried not to look back at her, knowing that it would only make me want to stop my retreat. And I had to retreat.

  Goodbye, honeysuckle. I had the time of my life.

  Epilogue

  Hailey

  One month later…

  Spending the last month alone, I had busied myself with preparing our home for Ryder’s return. I’d hired a handyman to finish out the storeroom in the back of the house, turning it into a man-cave where he could have some alone time whenever he felt like he needed it.

  One thing was certain, I wasn’t going to sit home while he sat down at his club’s bar all the time. If I wanted a good marriage, I had to be proactive. So, I had prepared myself to be the kind of woman that my husband craved while still being the woman he’d fallen in love with.

  The month alone had me realizing that I did love my husband and that I had to tell him what I needed from him, instead of sitting quietly, waiting for him to figure it out.

  I needed a man who wanted to be with me. I needed a man who would talk to me and tell me what he wanted in a wife. We had to be ourselves – first and foremost – and a couple a close second. We had to put our relationship at the top of the priorities list.

  Feeling ready to take on this marriage, I got into my Lincoln and headed out to the prison to pick up my man. With each mile I drove, I felt more and more confident that we could change things and make our marriage a hell of a lot better than what it was when he was locked up.

  There had been times when I’d heard the sound of a Harley going past my house. I never looked out the window to see if it was Lucas or not. Envisioning him driving by was about all I did. I had to put him behind me. I had to move Lucas out of my head to make room for Ryder. It had taken me a solid month to do that, but I had managed to do it.

  My future was with Ryder. My life was with my husband. I had to let everything and everyone else go.

  Pulling up to the prison, I found the morning sun shining brightly in the clear blue sky. The day promised to be a real beauty. We needed a beautiful day to start things off.

  I’d gone back and forth between dressing like a biker babe and the woman Ryder had married. I decided to wear jeans, a t-shirt and the high-heeled leather boots that Lucas had bought for me. A bit of both worlds is what I went for. That way Ryder would see that I was going to become a part of his biker world. Staying behind was no longer going to be an option – not all the time anyway.

  Taking a deep breath, I readied myself to see my husband again. My heart pounded in my chest as I got out of the car. My palms felt sweaty, my head light, and my eyes burned with tears that threatened me.

  This was it. I was leaving Lucas behind and making Ryder my future – my everything.

  The guard greeted me as I came up to the gate. “Mrs. Winslow?”

  Nodding, I pulled my identification out of the pocket of my jeans. “Is he ready?”

  “More than ready.” The guard checked my ID then handed it back to me. “Keep him on the straight and narrow. Remind him that he’s got lots of reasons to stay out of this place.”

  “I will try.” I knew that my husband was in a gang and that meant he might come back to this place at some time or another.

  “That’s all you can do, Mrs. Winslow.” He stepped back and pushed a button on an intercom. “Ryder’s ride is here.” He nodded at me. “It’ll be a few minutes before they get him out here for you.”

  Going to sit at the picnic table just outside the gate, I tried not to get too anxious. It made no sense to me why my nerves were so bad. This was my husband, there was no reason to feel so nervous.

  Yet, here I am, butterflies are swarming my insides.

  Putting my face in my hands, I tried to gather myself so Ryder wouldn’t see me like this. I kept telling myself that everything was going to be okay. But the back of my mind kept reminding me that I’d not only had sex with another man while my husband was incarcerated, but I’d fallen in love with that man.

  I don’t deserve Ryder. I don’t deserve to get to be married to him.

  For a moment, I thought I should just leave. But then I heard the sound of a Harley. And not just any Harley either – Lucas’ Harley.

  Raising my head, I felt my heart stop for only a moment, then it started up again. My strength had come back as I watched him drive up and park next to my car. I didn’t feel alone anymore as he took off his helmet and I found a smile on his face.

  His handsome face – a face I’d dreamt of so many times in the last month. A face I had to forget if I was ever going to make it work with my husband.

  Lucas

  “Hey, honeysuckle.” I had to see her just one more time before I had to see her with her husband. “How’ve you been, honey?”

  Blinking back tears, she got up and met me halfway, coming right into my arms, making me feel the same way she had in the beginning. “Busy trying to move on, leather. And you?”

  “Same.” I kissed the top of her head, smelling coconut. “You’ve changed shampoos. Any reason why you did that?”

  “I felt it was time.” Her hand ran down my back before she stepped away from me. “The smell reminded me too much of you. After the third time of crying in the shower, I thought it was time to switch scents.”

  “Smart.” I knew she had to forget about me so she could be a wife to her husband again. “I want to remind you that if Ryder starts falling down on the job to let me know so I can talk to him.”

  “Yeah, I know.” She wiped her eyes, sweeping tears off her pink cheeks. “And I’m going to make changes in the way I do things too. I won’t let us fall apart the way we did before. Not if I can help it anyway.”

  “Good.” I didn’t know much about making a happy marriage, but it made sense that both parties would need to make changes. “I’m glad you see that you have a part in making things work for you. How’s your work going? Still editing away?”

  “I actually have begun writing my own novel with the help of one of the writers I e
dit for.” She smiled shyly. “It’s about this woman who loves two men. My character hasn’t figured out how to deal with that yet. I hope she comes up with something soon.”

  “I’m sure she will. And I hope these men aren’t bikers.” It wouldn’t be good if Ryder read her book if it was obvious what she was writing about. “And I hope you include some hot romance scenes. I’d like to think that I did broaden your sexual horizons.”

  Pink cheeks went to red. “Yes, you broadened my horizons in every way.” Her light laughter felt good on my ears. “And so far I’ve got one spicy sex scene that you inspired. I hope to bring that spice to my marriage too. Thanks for showing me how I could do that.”

  “You are welcome.” At least I had helped her in that way. Ryder might not hate that aspect of our time together. As long as he never thinks too hard about why his wife has newfound sexual prowess.

  “How’s your house repairs coming along?” Moving another step away from me, I got the idea that it was as hard for her to keep her hands off of me as it was for me to keep mine off of her.

  “All the repairs are done. My guys know what they’re doing. I’m actually planning a welcome home party at my place for Ryder next week. I wanted to talk to you about that before you heard about it. It’ll be a small affair, just the Iron Cobra’s council and you and Ryder. We’ve got something to give the two of you for all the time you’ve lost.”

  Her head shook. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Yes, we do. It’s what we do for all of our members who end up serving time, whether they were guilty or not. It’s part of what makes being an Iron Cobra worthwhile.” I knew Hailey would be overjoyed by the monetary gains Ryder had earned just by sitting in a cell for a couple of years. “Enduring hardships pay off big in our club.”

  “But we don’t need anything,” she protested. “And will giving him something make him indebted to the club? I want him to be able to leave the club if he wants to.”

  Poor kid had no idea how clubs like ours worked. “I can assure you that Ryder will never want to leave the Iron Cobras. And if I was you, I wouldn’t even talk to him about something like that. Another thing you need to know about being part of an organization like the one we belong to is that it isn’t a thing any of us stop being a part of until we’re six feet under.”