Firefight: The Soul Scorchers MC (The Scorched Souls Serial-series Book 2)

by Riley, C. L.

  A Scorched Souls Serial

  Part Two

  C.L. Riley

  Copyright 2015 C.L. Riley. All rights reserved.

  Names, characters, and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

  Firetrap / C.L. Riley

  First Edition

  All rights reserved.

  Acknowledgments

  There are so many people who need to be recognized when it comes to creating a book. I need to say thank you to my kids. Jordyn and Jade, you two have put up with a single mom who works a day job and writes at night, sometimes very late at night (more like the wee hours of the morning). You’ve seen me tired and grumpy (manic) but understand what this means to me. Love you both! Thank you to my friends. Times have been hard, especially with my precious mother’s recent death. I couldn’t have made it through without you. Thank you to my amazing group of beta readers (Addison, Andrea, Angel, Caroline, Tracy, Mandie, Gemma, and anyone I am forgetting.) And thank you to my incredible author friends who are willing to help when you, too, are busy with your own reading and writing careers. Thank you to the bloggers and book pimps like (Mary Orr, Angel Dust, Rosarita Reader, Roxanne Rhoads, Blogging for the Love of Authors and their Books, and all the rest) who help spread the word for us indie authors. You rock! And readers, thank you for choosing this book when there is such an abundance of awesome authors and stories available. I am honored. Thank you for taking time to write reviews and for sharing your thoughts.Cheers to my awesome and talented editor, Gemma Newey, who is an author in her own right. Find her on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/GothBeard?fref=nf&pnref=story

  To my awesome, talented, and super savvy book designer, Laura Gordon, with The Book Cover Machine, your astounding art skills make this book shine. Thank you! Authors like me need amazing designers like you. Thank you for your dedication to this project and putting up with my stalking you for promo items. http://thebookcovermachine.com/shop/

  Dedication

  To anyone and everyone who ever showed me how magic could overcome madness and how love conquers hate.

  Pyro

  I watched with increasing satisfaction as Mayor Olsen answered the questions being fired at him like bullets from a sniper’s gun. The reporters, desperate for details about his kidnapping, were relentless, hitting him from every angle.

  He handled the situation with practiced ease, reminding me why he’d been elected to office in the first place. The man was a master orator, remaining calm and unruffled, despite their most creative efforts to derail him.

  “Could you tell us why you believe it was the Soul Scorchers Motorcycle Gang that held you hostage?” a female reporter from the local news station asked, wielding her microphone like a weapon, almost hitting her cameraman.

  “As I’ve stated, I was abducted by men who rode Harley Davidson motorcycles. I recognized their distinctive sound. However, I never actually saw their faces. They kept their identities concealed.

  The ATF is working closely with the FBI and our local law enforcement, pursuing every lead in relation to the recent fire tragedies and my abduction. My primary goals are: preventing future arson episodes and bringing the perpetrators to justice; protecting the citizens of Seal’s Cove; and finding my daughter, Olympia. I am confident she is alive, and I will do whatever it takes to get her home safely.”

  I smiled, pleased with his little speech. He didn’t outright accuse the Soul Scorchers, but he had watered the seed already planted in everyone’s mind, making them more suspicious in general. Area bikers would be under a microscope from this point forward, and I would continue to add fuel to the fire.

  Seal’s Cove would burn until my objectives had been met.

  That thought sent a spike of adrenaline punching through me, and remembering the matches in my pocket made my dick harder than the hottest whore’s lips ever could.

  Fire fired me up, always had, and always would.

  The mayor’s gaze landed on me, and his jaw clenched. It was if he’d guessed my line of thinking.

  It was time for me to go. I gave a slight nod before drifting away, glad to leave the crowd and talking suits behind. I was eager to get back to work. He had followed my instructions exactly as planned, not that I’d expected otherwise.

  If he wanted to stay alive, he would continue to obey me.

  I’d always wanted a puppet whose strings I could pull. Now I had one. With the mayor onboard, I could focus on finding Olympia Olsen. Using her as bait had been the perfect way to control him; but at some point, he was going to demand proof that she was alive.

  Regrettably, I didn’t have that proof.

  Pushing my worries aside, I strode to my car. Performing under pressure was my specialty.

  Which meant I’d be at my best; everyone else could expect the worst.

  Boone

  Prepared for Olympia to bombard me with questions the minute we entered my cabin, I was surprised when she’d asked for the bathroom and the nearest bed instead. It seemed exhaustion from our trek through the tunnel and then the woods had overtaxed her still healing body. Her need for sleep gave me a reprieve from her sure-to-come inquires about our escape and other club business.

  Tired myself, I stretched out on the couch, fighting the urge to join her in the bedroom. To distract myself, I let my mind wander, reviewing the last two weeks.

  Just eight days ago, Olympia had barely escaped a fire that had destroyed her new mansion, only to lose her memory and get lost in the forest, where I’d been lucky enough to find her before two would-be-assassins finished their job, and just as hungry coyotes were ready to stave off starvation by snacking on her legs.

  Now she belonged to me. At least Sally, the name I’d assigned her, belonged to me. She believed she was my old lady, my wife of almost thirteen years, and the mother of my two sons.

  The real Olympia Olsen – pre-memory loss – hated me.

  I didn’t like her much either.

  Sure, I’d wanted to fuck her since I’d helped put out the fire that killed her mother, four years ago; but in spite of her sinfully sexy appearance, Olympia was a stuck up bitch and a major pain in the ass. She was also engaged to the one man I was determined to put in the ground—Conner Mills—former Seal’s Cove resident turned ATF fire investigator. Talk about complications.

  The biggest complication was the fact I’d fallen for the Sally version of Olympia.

  I’d even kissed her, more than once; a huge never in my book.

  The last woman I’d locked lips with was my deceased wife, Rita. Kissing was too intimate, but with Olympia slash Sally, I wanted to devour her mouth. Even now, thinking about her luscious lips sent a signal to my cock.

  Fuck. I adjusted myself, tempted to ignore the hands off agreement I’d made with Bones. I wanted her in my bed and on my bike permanently, but Bones had made sure to point out the glaring issue with that scenario, especially, the in-my-bed part.

  According to him, because of her memory loss, Olympia couldn’t truly consent to a sexual relationship, which in my case, included spankings, cuffs, whips, and a ton of other unconventional practices better left at the
BDSM club we owned.

  Lucky for me, though, Sally had embraced and enjoyed those practices and was the perfect submissive, willing to surrender to my sexual demands. She was also strong willed and feisty as hell. She’d been ready to beat down Twila, a club whore who thought she owned me, and she had no problem speaking her mind.

  The real question tormenting me was: Would Olympia like what Sally loved?

  I had a hunch she would, but I couldn’t further endanger my club on a hunch. Having their VP accused of abducting the mayor’s daughter and raping her wouldn’t be good for the club or me. Worse was the fact I’d discovered she was a virgin, something that had blown my mind, and it took a lot for anything to shock me.

  What twenty-two year old woman that looked like her and was engaged to a reputed womanizer like Conner Mills managed to hang on to her virginity?

  Apparently, Olympia Olsen.

  I’d covered the evidence, but at some point, she would figure it out. Then what?

  Thankfully, she had said yes to everything I instigated in the bedroom, even begging me to fuck her harder when it hurt, outright admitting she liked pain, which made everything all the more confusing. She was fucking perfect for me, at least ‘Sally’ was.

  What a mess. A mess I needed to clean it up.

  After Bones confronted me about the potentially negative implications, I’d told her no more sex of any kind until her memory returned. That hadn’t gone over well; more proof she wanted what I offered and wasn’t willing to give up that part of our relationship.

  Still, regardless of her current position on the subject, it was evident to everyone that my get-even-scheme was backfiring, big time. Adding to my failure was the glaring fact my boys actually liked her, really liked her, and she was trying so hard to be a mom to them.

  God, what the hell was I thinking? I’d risked my boys becoming attached to someone that would up and leave them heartbroken. And when she finally realized I’d tricked her…hell. I didn’t even want to think about that day. Her memories could resurface anytime, and I had no clue what to expect.

  In Sally’s mind I was her rescuer. I somehow doubted Olympia would see it the same way. I would become her Judas, the ultimate betrayer.

  I could only hope she would understand that despite my initial mind games, the club was trying to protect her from an arsonist hell bent on using fire as his primary weapon, an enemy who had set his sights on her family. Hopefully she would also remember the pleasure she’d discovered while accepting my punishment.

  She had to. Our bodies had been in perfect sync. I wanted to keep her, own her.

  But for now, I’d do what I had promised Bones. I’d treat her good and keep my hands and mouth off, and my dick in my pants.

  The next time we touched, it would be both Olympia and Sally consenting. Two parts of one woman I’d die to protect and was desperate to possess.

  That was my last thought before I drifted off.

  Several knocks at the door – three taps – followed by four more hard knocks, yanked me from sleep. I had no idea how long I’d been dozing.

  Our agreed upon signal told me Bones was here, likely with Leg.

  Along with Grinch, who was probably keeping watch over the boys, only Bones and Leg knew about my cabin hideaway. I couldn’t be certain, though; so I reached for my gun and peered out the peek hole I’d created a few feet from the actual door. It was concealed from the outside, visible only if you knew what to look for.

  Sure enough, my dad and Leg waited on the porch.

  I swung the door open. “She’s sleeping, so keep it down,” I warned.

  Bones shook his head, pushing past me. “Any other rules you wanna lay out?”

  Leg half coughed half laughed.

  “You…quiet!” I barked at my friend. “Seriously, if you want to talk without her up in our business, you’ll keep it down.”

  “Sounds like you can’t control your bitch.” Leg smirked.

  “Shut the fuck up. All right? I’ve been ordered by our prez here to play nice. You can ask him for the details.”

  “Enough,” Bones interrupted, already hunkered down on the couch. “We’ve got a lot to discuss and not a lot of time.”

  Leg collapsed opposite from Bones, and I planted myself on the nearby chair. “How did the raid go?” I glanced at the clock. Just over five hours had passed since I’d escaped with Olympia. “Short one, huh?”

  “Real short. Conner busted in with his men like he owned the place and didn’t find a damn thing. He was pissed you weren’t there. They’ll be back. He made sure to tell me that.”

  Leg chuckled. “Bones told him to give advance notice and we’d grill up some burgers next time.”

  “How did he take that?” Conner Mills didn’t seem like the joking type.

  “I think he wanted to smile,” Bones answered.

  “What else? You didn’t come all the way up here to tell me Mills likes barbeque.”

  “You forgot this, so I couldn’t call. Besides, the information I have is better shared in person.” He handed over the satellite phone, the one I’d forgotten to grab.

  “Sorry, man.” I shook my head, disgusted by my mistake.

  I’d been so preoccupied with getting Olympia to safety, I’d forgotten protocol. This far up in the mountains, getting a regular cell signal was impossible. I’d left us without any way to communicate. Not good. I needed to get my head on straight before I caused even more damage.

  “Mills wanted me to inform you that your services as a volunteer fire fighter are no longer needed in Seal’s Cove.”

  Shit. Killing the asshole sounded better and better. Eventually, I’d make him pay for the growing list of offences he was racking up. For now, I needed to exercise patience and wait, allowing things to play out.

  The stand down order wasn’t going to be easy to accept, though, under any conditions. Fighting fires was one thing that gave me purpose outside the club. I was good at it.

  I considered Bones’ words, running my hand through my hair, something I did when I was worried, or, in this case, pissed. Having Conner Mills make the decision for me is what had me fuming; because, in all honesty, with everything going on with Olympia, it was probably better I take a break anyway.

  Sighing, I nodded at Bones. “Okay. I can deal with that for the time being. What else?” It was obvious by my dad’s expression; he wasn’t done delivering bad news.

  “Shortly after Conner’s team left, another fire broke out, over at the youth center.”

  “Who died?” I had a bad feeling in my gut.

  “Reggie, Mikey and Walker. Twenty more kids injured, burned pretty badly. There was a basketball game going on when it started. ATF wanted to know where you were. Already have Jinx and Bear ready to alibi you. They’re on a run to Seattle. We can’t exactly say you’re with the mayor’s missing daughter.

  I had Tinker take over your afternoon paint project. He’ll cover your other jobs until we figure out what to do. He’s not as good as you, but he’ll manage. I didn’t want it to look like anything was out of the ordinary. Had you been AWOL from your job, with no replacement, it might have given folks the wrong idea. Mills has such a hard on for you, son. I didn’t want to hand him anything to screw with.”

  I appreciated how quickly the club had covered for me, but was truly shaken by the youth club’s fire. Those kids had come to us for a safe alternative to Portland’s streets. Most were part of a highly respected youth program that provided services in a coastal setting for city kids who were headed down a dangerous path. Our club was a major supporter of the project.

  I shook my head. “Those boys didn’t deserve that. We gotta figure this shit out. I have a feeling fires are gonna keep burning and bodies will keep piling up until we do something.”

  I paused, remembering Bones had been getting ready to call the Guardian’s president before the raid. “What did Rowdy say? You think Hells Guardians are involved?” I didn’t believe they were involved anymore
than we were.

  “Rowdy thinks there’s something else going on, something bigger than our two clubs. Only problem, he’s got some members who believe the truce was violated. They think we’re trying to pin the fires on them. Those members are pushing for war. They want to dissolve the truce. They’re investigating right now but plan to take a vote in the next 72 hours. It’s not looking real good. Some of our guys want to spill blood too.”

  Things just kept getting worse. “What can I do?” Babysitting Olympia was not a good use of my talents. I hated leaving her with anyone else, but I needed to be in the mix, figuring things out, eliminating the threat.

  Bones answered. “I know what you’re thinking, but you are off the grid, on a run, remember? You can’t just show up before the nomads get back from Seattle. Won’t work. Stay with your girl. Keep her outta trouble. The last thing we need is her parading down Main Street where that crazy fire-starter can find her. And before you ask, I think the boys should stay with Grinch and the other kids. We’ll bring them up for a visit.”

  I just nodded. For the first time in a long time, I felt like my life was out of my control, and I didn’t like it. I was used to running things. Now I was running from them. It just didn’t feel right. Making it worse, was the unavoidable fact I was holed up, all alone, with a woman I wasn’t supposed to touch.

  What the hell would we do all week, sing Kumbaya?

  “There are supplies out in the truck. Come load up. We’ll make sure you know what’s going on in town.” Bones glanced at the satellite phone before adding, “Shit, Boone. Take her fishing, hunting, relax. It’s not like you ever take a vacation. Turn this into one.

  As your president, I’m telling you to do this. So don’t feel guilty. Keeping her happy and safe is your top priority. Besides, this break will benefit the club. She needs to at least like you by the time she remembers she’s not your Sally.”

  I decided to keep my mouth shut. He wouldn’t like what I had to say.