Unbridled Heat [Men of Iron Horse 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)
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Men of Iron Horse 1
Unbridled Heat
Layla Grey, a sweet and mostly innocent girl from Kentucky, is the least likely person to become the newest bartender at the popular biker bar, Iron Horse.
One night after closing, she’s assaulted. Escaping her attacker, she lands into the protective arms of Luke Mackenzie, a detective with tempting blue eyes and a wicked reputation. But as passions spark between them and they begin to explore unquenchable sexual desires, an arsonist with a secret past sets fire to the bar.
Everything is threatened as Luke begins to uncover more about the fire. But when Layla comes face to face with a conquest from Luke’s past, her fear of heartache sends her running.
Can Luke put his personal priorities in order in time to melt Layla’s heart and win her back, or will their unbridled heat fizzle out?
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 35,654 words
UNBRIDLED HEAT
Men of Iron Horse 1
Morgan Fox
EROTIC ROMANCE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
UNBRIDLED HEAT
Copyright © 2015 by Morgan Fox
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-225-5
First E-book Publication: April 2015
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
If you have purchased this copy of Unbridled Heat by Morgan Fox from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
Regarding E-book Piracy
This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.
The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.
This is Morgan Fox’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Morgan Fox’s right to earn a living from her work.
Amanda Hilton, Publisher
www.SirenPublishing.com
www.BookStrand.com
DEDICATION
To my amazing friends Lydia Mazza and Louise Evans. Thank you for all your support. I love you guys so much.
And to my husband who inspires my fantasies and gives me so much love and encouragement. You are the best.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
About the Author
UNBRIDLED HEAT
Men of Iron Horse 1
MORGAN FOX
Copyright © 2015
Chapter One
Layla Grey should have known better than to suggest that she could close up Iron Horse Saloon without the help of her boss, Jason Whitmore. She had only been bartending for a few months and was still as nervous as she was the day she started. Life in Dallas was different from Kentucky. She had grown up riding horses, not motorcycles.
Working at one of the busiest biker bars in the region was way out of her comfort zone.
Following her sister, Liza, to the big city was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime. Instead, it was more like a never-ending joke. Layla wasn’t like the other girls at Iron Horse. She was petite, soft spoken, and easily offended. Hearing things like, “Great ass, nice tits, and I bet she fucks like a hog,” made her wonder how long she could survive in this sort of place.
When Sam Murphy, Liza’s best friend, had offered her a job at the bar, she jumped at it, thinking, “How hard could it be?” She wished someone had kicked her in the head to let her know just what a colossal mistake she was making. Now she felt obligated to stay since Sam had gone out of her way to press Jason to offer her the job. Quitting wasn’t an option. Sucking up the nausea that spilled into her throat each night she worked was the only option.
She picked up the last remaining chair and turned it upside down on the table and finished wiping down the bar. She double checked the locks on the front door and did one final sweep through the bathrooms. Everything was secure. She emptied the register, counted it down, and put the money in the safe in Jason’s office.
Breathing a sigh of relief that she’d actually survived her first time closing alone, she slipped out the back door, locking it securely behind her.
“Well, well, well. What have we here?” an unfamiliar voice asked from over her shoulder.
Wide eyed, she spun around to see a man she’d noticed at the bar earlier in the night. He’d come by looking for Jason, but her boss had already gone home. A family emergency had pulled him away. His brother, Daniel had been medically discharged from the military and he wasn’t adjusting well.
She swallowed down the nervous flutter that was lodged at the back of her throat. “I…I’m sorry. The bars closed. We open again tomorrow at four,” she stammered, trying to move around him.
He blocked her way, shuffling his feet like a predatory cat trying to cage its prey. He reeked of alcohol and cigarettes. The hard, cold glare in his dark eyes startled her. They were devoid of anything human. Never in her life had she seen anything more frightening.
“I don’t want a drink, sweetheart,” he said, teasing his fingers over the sleeve of her sweater. “I want something a little sweeter.”
Her heart exploded with panic as she shoved against him and tried to run. He caught her arm and whirled her around. His mou
th was only inches from her own. She twisted to avoid the vile press of his lips.
“Where are you off to, darlin’? I’ve got some fun in store for you tonight.”
His hot breath tormented the flesh of her cheek and neck. “Let me go!” she shouted, flailing her body wildly to get herself free of his hold. “Don’t touch me.”
He slapped her hard, stunning the wits from her mind. She tasted blood as he pressed himself against her, holding her up between the Dumpster and his body. Again, his breath was on her face and his mouth was brushing over her skin. She felt sick, scared senseless. He massaged his hand over her breast and with a horrified gasp she brought her knee up, slamming into his balls. As he cringed in pain, she punched him in the face and followed it up with a kick to his mid-section. He crumpled to the ground.
Screaming for help, she ran as fast as she could, darting out of the back alley toward the main street in front of the bar. Stumbling over the curb, she lost her footing and fell, sliding onto the street. Pain zipped along the nerves of her hands and knees as she made contact with the hard asphalt. She sucked in a lungful of air as bright lights shined in her eyes. She was about to die. The massive black truck charging up the road was going to crush her.
* * * *
“Shit!” Luke Mackenzie cursed, swerving in the nick of time to avoid hitting a woman that had fallen into the street in front of him. Putting the truck in park, he hopped out and rushed to her. “Are you all right?” he asked, clasping her shoulders to help her sit up.
As his eyes met hers, his gut twisted. She had a gash on her forehead and her eyes were red and swollen with tears. Fear clearly consumed her. Who wouldn’t be freaked out by nearly being struck by a truck?
“Don’t move,” he told her, grabbing his phone from his pocket to call for help. “I’ll call for an ambulance.”
She grasped his hand, covering the cell phone. “Please don’t. I’m fine,” she told him, shaking her head, her eyes pleading with him not to make the call.
“Look, I almost hit you. You should get checked out.”
She shook her head again and then twisted to look behind her. She sniffled, wincing a bit as she faced him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall into the street.” Again she looked back.
He frowned, following her gaze to the darkened alleyway behind Iron Horse. Was she with someone? Did she expect to see someone appear? Did she hit her head harder than he thought?
“I’d feel a lot better if you got checked out. You don’t look—”
She shoved to her feet, dusting herself off. “I’m sorry to have bothered you…whoa,” she said, swaying a bit. She gripped his shirt, holding him close. “Maybe I should sit back down.”
He brushed her golden-blonde hair back from her face, cupping her cheeks to keep her looking at him. “My name’s Detective Luke Mackenzie and I would feel much better if you let me give you a ride to the hospital. You could have a concussion or something and—”
“Show me your identification,” she blurted out, eyeing him curiously.
He quirked a subtle grin, glad she wasn’t someone who took him at his word. The world was filled with people who could easily take advantage of a person. He pulled his badge from his pocket. As her big blue eyes scanned over it, she started to cry and practically launched herself into his arms. He held her, patting her back to comfort her. He didn’t know what to make of her.
Then she eased back, her lower lip quivering. “I was just attacked by a man in the alley. That’s who I was running from.”
A protective instinct flooded through him, and he scanned the area behind them. “Do you know who he was?”
“Some guy that came into Iron Horse tonight. I’ve never seen him before,” she explained.
“Do you work there?”
“Yes. I closed up tonight.”
“Alone?” he questioned, sounding more surprised than he intended. He had plans to meet up with Jason Whitmore, the owner and an old friend of his at Iron Horse.
She shifted nervously against him. “My boss had an emergency come up. I thought I’d be okay on my own.” Her tone was sharp, almost defensive, even though she smiled. “I guess I was wrong.”
“How were you able to get away?”
He listened as she shared the details of her escape, making mental notes to radio in the details the second he got back into his truck.
He would give Jason a bunch of shit later for leaving a fragile woman closing up his bar for him. What the hell had he been thinking? “Can you describe this guy? Maybe we could—”
“I’m sure he’s gone now. I’ll probably never see him again,” she quickly added.
“Or he’ll come back and try to hurt you again.”
She stiffened against him at his words. Why wouldn’t she let him help her? He was a cop for crying out loud. It was what he did for a living. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to stay with you at the hospital while you get checked out. Will that be all right?”
Even if she said no, he was going with her. It was a better way to get information out of her, if she didn’t feel threatened by him.
“You’re not going to give up, are you?”
He arched a brow and grinned, his hands on her arms. “Nope. You’ll soon discover I’m a very stubborn man.”
“My sister says that I have the same problem.” She smiled and this time it wasn’t saturated with unease. It was genuine and very sweet.
He dropped his hands to his sides. “I’ve noticed.”
She dusted off her shirt and pants, moaning and wincing as she did. “You don’t have to stay with me. I’ll be okay.”
He shook his head. “Not gonna happen. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me. Jason would never forgive me if I left you there alone.”
“You know Jason?” she asked, her expression filled with surprise.
“He and I go way back. I was actually on my way to meet up with him tonight. It’s strange that he didn’t call to cancel.”
“Jason’s brother’s in town. He probably just forgot,” she said. “What are the chances that my boss is friends with a cop?”
Daniel was home from the military? He hadn’t seen Jason’s younger brother in years. He smiled. “Does that mean you’ll let me take you to the hospital?” He arched a brow, waiting for her to decide.
She blew out a lungful of air and nodded. With a bit of relief filling his thoughts, he helped her into his truck, and then moved around to the other side to climb in.
“What’s your name?” he asked, slanting her a quick glance before driving off.
“Layla Grey.”
He smiled. Layla was the perfect name for her. Sweet, charming, and mysterious. She wasn’t the kind of girl he pictured working at Jason’s biker bar. The element that blazed through Iron Horse could be questionable at times, and she looked too timid for that crowd.
If his detective skills were right, she was a small-town girl. He liked something about her. She was innocently cute, with long blonde hair that hung down to her waist. She kept it tucked back behind her ears, a look he found appealing. She wore blue jeans, sneakers, and a long-sleeved sweater—not the attire most women wore when working at a bar.
With the questions of the night plaguing him, he drove to the hospital and called in to report the incident. The drive was quick, the wait even shorter since he was a cop and she was now a victim of a crime. It didn’t hurt that the nurses seemed to like him. A lot.
Before pressuring her for more details about the man who’d attacked her, he gave her space to get checked out. She didn’t have any major injuries, just a few scrapes and bruises. When the nurse came to get him from the waiting room, he was surprised when he walked into Layla’s room. She was smiling at him, a look that had him glancing behind him to make sure he was the recipient.
“Well, don’t you look better?” he said, grinning and moving to stand in front of her as she sat on the bed.
“Thanks to you,” she replied, looking down at her hands in her l
ap and then up at him through her long dark lashes. “Thanks for sticking around.”
“I told you I would.” He pulled up the chair and sat down in front of her. “Do you feel up to telling me again what happened?”
“Not much to tell, really. I saw this guy earlier in the night. He came in looking for Jason. Seemed pissed that he wasn’t there, but I see so much of that at the bar. Attitudes aplenty.” She smiled softly. “When I closed up and headed out back, he was there. I think he was drunk. He smelled like he’d bathed in booze.”
He listened closely as she blurted out the events of the night. She didn’t seem as scared as she had been. But he still couldn’t wrap his mind around why she was working at Iron Horse. She didn’t fit the mold at all.
“Anyway, he tried to force himself on me and I kicked him”— she pointed toward his crotch, indicating his balls, and he couldn’t help but smile—“there. I got free and ran. Into you.”
Maybe she did fit into the world surrounding Iron Horse. She clearly took care of herself. Regardless, Luke was going to kick Jason in the ass for leaving her alone.
“Can you describe the man?”
“He was white. Had dark hair and eyes and he wore a dark jacket with a hoodie.”
He nodded, pulling out his notepad, making notes of her description. “Do you normally close up?”
She shook her head. “First time. I doubt I’ll have to do it again, though.”
“Why’s that?”
She narrowed her brow. “Once you tell Jason what happened, he’ll likely fire me.”
He chuckled. “You think so, huh?” Jason wasn’t that kind of guy. If anything, he’d put her under lock and key and keep her protected. He might even hire bodyguards.