MAX: The Sin Reapers MC

by April Lust

  He let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything. But I know I love you, Lucy, and I want to try. I think we can make it work.”

  I thought it over and, though there was still a piece of me that doubted he could really do this, I wanted him so desperately that I cracked a smile and nodded. “Well, okay,” I said, doing my best to sound serious, though the teasing note was already starting to filter in. I batted my lashes at him. “But you have to keep the motorcycle.” A grin began to spread across his face as I winked at him. “There’s nothing sexier than a man on a motorcycle.”

  He actually laughed at that and then he swept me up into his arms, kissing me feverishly. He began carrying me back towards the house. I giggled, throwing my arms around his neck and hanging on.

  “Where are we going? I thought we were leaving?”

  He nodded his head. “We are. But I have to get the money and—”

  “What money?”

  He winked at me. “The stash I’ve been collecting—just in case.”

  “And what else are we doing besides getting this super-secret emergency money?”

  “I’m going to take all your clothes off and make sure you remember why you’re giving me another chance.”

  We stumbled inside and didn’t bother heading upstairs to the bedroom. He tossed me down onto the couch and tore off his shirt, revealing the hard muscles that lay beneath. I started working at my own clothes, only to have his hands come down and join mine. They slipped beneath my t-shirt, trailing over the soft skin there until he found my breasts. He fondled them, massaged and pinched them as my hands went to his belt buckle. I got it undone and managed to get his zipper down as his lips went to my neck, nuzzling me.

  We couldn’t stop our hands from roaming, feeling places we hadn’t had time to explore lately, places I’d missed.

  His pants came off and my shorts followed. He was already hard and I let my hand slide down to feel his stiff member, stroking him only twice before he was groaning and too desperate to be inside me to allow me to continue.

  He moved so he was positioned at my entrance. I felt the head of him press against me, parting my lips to slip inside. His eyes met mine, shining with lust and something new. Hope for a better future. Then he thrust his entire length inside me and I cried out, my hands reaching for him, clutching at him.

  I clung to him, trying not to think of the bad things that had been swirling around in my world for months now. I pushed all of that to the side and focused on the feel of him inside me. He began thrusting and I held tight to him, raising my hips to meet him as best I could, letting my voice ring out through the empty house as we brought each other the kind of pleasure that you can only find when you’re in love.

  He pushed himself to the edge, releasing inside of me and I had a strange thought.

  What if I get pregnant?

  It wasn’t something I’d ever let myself think before, because I couldn’t deal with the idea of bringing a child into this life of violence, worrying how that child would work through it. But I hadn’t had my birth control during the time I’d been held by Blade. And I hadn’t taken it once I got back.

  Was I ready for something like that?

  I didn’t have much more time to think about it, though, because I had other things I needed to do. Things we needed to do. We took the time to shower, then we got in the car. I stuck a letter in the mail for my mom and told her to tell Becky and Thunder goodbye. Max got his money, enough that I knew we’d be okay for a long time. We'd have enough time to figure things out, to start somewhere new, to have a real life.

  For the first time in forever, I was excited for the road ahead of us. I was excited at the prospect of living in a world without violence.

  I was ready to go.

  THE END

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  TAKE ME DEEPER: A Bad Boy Biker Romance (The Predators MC)

  By April Lust

  I’M ABOUT TO TAKE HER DEEPER THAN SHE’S EVER GONE BEFORE.

  Jail changed me.

  When I get out, I want nothing more than peace and quiet.

  But this sexy little hellcat won’t leave me alone.

  There’s only one thing I can do: remind her who she belongs to…

  Me.

  Some people think I’m wild.

  Reckless.

  Out of control.

  That couldn’t be farther from the truth.

  Like any man who’s worth a damn, I live by a code.

  And that means punishing those who violate my rules.

  Lauren’s father hurt her in unforgivable ways…

  So I had no choice but to give him a taste of his own medicine.

  Consequences be damned – some things simply have to happen.

  It put me behind bars, but so be it.

  When I got out of here, though, I swore to leave the old me in that cell.

  No more crime.

  No more violence.

  Just a little job to pay the bills, and long chopper rides on the weekend to clear my head.

  It almost worked.

  Almost.

  But then SHE came back.

  The one I couldn’t forget.

  And now I’m about to risk everything to make her mine again.

  Prologue

  Michael

  He was at it again. Lauren’s stepfather stumbled up the stairs. I could smell the whiskey from her bedroom, just down the hall from where he fell on his face. The yelling started soon after that. Screaming for someone to get him to bed, to pull off his goddamn boots. No one went, though. Everyone stayed in their rooms, too nervous to move. It was the one time of day they were safe from his flying fists and his careless words.

  Her mom didn’t get him either. She knew better. Trying to pick him up after he face-planted would only make him pissed. He’d blame her for making him such a pissy man. Accuse her for having no faith in him. Faith was lost a long time ago. The first time he raised his hand to Lauren, the only thing I trusted was that he’d do it again. And again.

  “He’ll be asleep in a minute.” Lauren tiptoed to the door and shut it, holding it steady until the silent click assured her it was closed.

  “You need to get the fuck out of here, Lauren.” I clenched my fists, wanting badly to get to that fucker and kick his ass down the steps and out of the house. Lauren’s mom traded one asshole for another when she married that clown. Better to have an abusive man than no man, I supposed she felt. But Lauren deserved better than that. She deserved a warm house to go home to after school. Somewhere she didn’t need to deadbolt her bedroom to keep her stepfather from wandering in during the night, thinking he was climbing into bed with his wife.

  “Graduation is only a year away.” Lauren shrugged and climbed back into bed with me.

  I yanked her up against me, holding her close. She smelled like baby soft perfume, and I loved that shit. The way she always smelled like a girl, so damn soft and feminine. Not like most girls I would hang out with, who smoked and cursed. Lauren was innocent, far removed from all the bad shit in the world. Even with her drunkass stepfather snoring from the hallway floor she saw the positive side. Graduation wasn’t just a year away; it was forever away. A whole summer and a full year of school stood in our way. Then we’d get the fuck out of there. My old man wasn’t much better than hers and my mom split when I was a kid. But until Lauren agreed to run with me, I decided to stay put. She needed me.

  “Lisa asked me when you were gonna get around to asking her out,” Lauren whispered into the stillness of the room.

  “When she gets some tits.” I moaned and slid down, getting more comfortable in her bed. I wanted to spend the night naked in her bed, with her soft body pressed up against me, but Lauren wouldn’t allow it. Friends, fuck that, we were m
ore than that, but I think she was scared her stepfather would find out and really lay into her for being a whore. He said it often enough when she put on a little lipstick.

  “I think he’s out good now, Michael. You gotta get home. You stayed here last night; your dad’s gonna think you ran away.” She gave me a shove and I rolled off the bed, hitting the floor. She giggled and leaned over the edge of the bed to look at me.

  I tried to give her a surprised look, like I didn’t know she could be so fucking strong, but ended up pulling her down off the bed on top of me. I rolled with her until I was on top of her and kissed her. Our lips smashed together, and when I pulled back she looked at me with shock. I laughed and hopped to my feet.

  I didn’t have to look back to know she was watching me from her window as I climbed down the roof and hopped onto my bike, revving the engine just before peeling down the road.

  That was the last peaceful night I had for years to come. The next morning when I picked her up for school, her stepbrother, who was a few years older than us, was on her front lawn, pulling at her jacket. She struggled to get free of his grip, but the asshat held his liquor as well as his old man and just pushed her flailing hands away.

  I jumped off my bike to get to her, to save her. His hand pulled back, she flinched even before it made contact. The resounding sound of his palm connecting with her face nearly knocked me off my feet. All reasoning flew from me. That fucker put his hand on Lauren. My Lauren.

  He grunted when his head hit the grass as I tackled him. Straddling his chest, I laid into him, closed fists met his face, his nose, his cheek. From the distance, I heard Lauren calling my name. She may have been pulling on my shirt, but it didn’t budge me. That fuck and his father had done nothing but bring hell to Lauren’s life, and it was time for it to end.

  My knuckles split, but that didn’t stop me. Jackass passed out, but I continued to wail on him. It wasn’t until the sirens blared in my ears did I ease up and sit back. Blood covered my fists, my shirt. Chad lay silent beneath me. He wasn’t dead. I could still feel his chest moving under me.

  The police officers didn’t wait to hear my side, didn’t wait to hear what Lauren was yelling at them. I was hauled up to my feet, cuffs slapped tightly on my wrists.

  “Wait. No. It wasn’t his fault!” I heard Lauren screaming as they shoved me into the back of the car. I saw her standing in her front lawn, holding her backpack in both hands, tears streaming down her face. Her stepfather loomed on the front porch, looking as though he just woke up. One cop stayed behind to wait for the ambulance. That fucker was fine. That fucker was also dating the police chief’s daughter, who had seen my last name cross his desk more times than he could count.

  That was the last time I saw Lauren Robertson, and it was the last time she saw me. Because after they threw me in juvenile detention, any sweet thoughts I had about being with that innocent girl were crushed. After seven years of being in and out of lock ups, that girl deserved a fuck of a lot better than me. She deserved heaven on earth, and all I could offer was hell.

  Chapter One

  Lauren

  “I know, Mom. I can hear him just fine behind you.” I flapped open the paper bag that would hold my delicious lunch made up of celery sticks, peanut butter, and a ham sandwich. Lunch of every adult headed to their first day of their last semester of grad school. Or just me. Mostly just me.

  Unlike the majority of my classmates, I didn’t make it into the elite program, nor was I on the list for the most sought-after internship in the architectural program at UCI because Daddy made an extra donation to the school’s architecture wing. No, I worked my butt of for every grade and every opportunity they gave me. Getting the assignment at Perkins & Will didn’t come to me on silver platter. I earned it. Just like I did everything in my life.

  I learned early on things didn’t just come to you because you wanted them. Praying didn’t make things happen. It didn’t make my mom divorce her second husband, or her third, and it sure as hell didn’t help bring back the person I needed most in my life.

  “Well, he’s excited for you is all.” My mother held the phone too close to her mouth when she talked, I could hear her breathing like she was Darth Vader. Cody, the son of her newest boyfriend, squealed loudly behind her.

  “Lah-ren! Lah-ren! Go Lah-ren!”

  “You know, you should have him see the speech lady again.” I picked at my lunch while listening to her shoo the six-year-old away. I met the new boyfriend a year before, at Christmas. Among the long list of losers my mom dated and married over the years, Frank was a shining star. Even if he did come with a six-year-old. He treated mom with respect, and she began to think the world rose and set with him.

  “Yeah, Frank’s got a meeting with the counselor today about it. He was doing so well for a while, not sure why he’s slipping.” The concern I heard in her voice was real. Over the previous six months that Frank and his son had moved into my childhood home, she’d fallen back into her mom mode. Cody’s mom died in a car crash when he was only a year old, so he’d never had a mom before.

  “Well, let me know how it goes. I gotta run, Ma. Traffic is gonna suck enough as it is.”

  “Go get ‘em kiddo!” The upbeat cheer did little to elevate my nerves, but did plenty to bring a smile to my lips. It was good seeing my mom happy. She deserved it after all the horrible men she fell for; having someone care about her, and seeing her blossom beneath it, almost made the bad memories go away. Almost.

  It would be easy to blame my mom for the crap we went through while I was growing up. After all, she picked the jerks she married. There were plenty of fish in the sea, because most of them were jerks and had been thrown back. My dad, my real dad, ran off a week after I was born. Mom never told me exactly why, but I knew it had more to do with my unplanned arrival than any excuse she might have cooked up if she hadn’t avoided the subject all together.

  Working odd jobs, she did the best she could to put a roof over our heads. Apparently, not finishing high school because you got knocked up wasn’t exactly a life skill. Even when the deadbeats she dated moved in and out of our lives, I knew I could still count on her. For the big stuff anyway. Working all the time and trying to find the love of her life left not so much time to hang out with the scrawny kid who ate up most of the income she brought in. I was okay with it, though. I had a thick skin and friends. Well, friend.

  Remembering every day of my childhood, watching my mom struggle to make ends meet, that was what drove me to get through school with high marks. Getting as far away from that place as I could manage gave me the fuel to work the extra hours, study longer, and get my butt to college on a scholarship and grants. I was no stranger to hard work, even outside of school. Those odd jobs I watched my mom slave away at, those were the sort I looked out for. Waiting tables, delivering newspapers, dog walking between classes. All of it was worth it when I saw my name on this list for the fall internship.

  I just needed to get through the summer session, and I was done with my class work. The internship would hopefully blossom into a sweet job offer, and I could finally afford to move out of the two-bedroom closet I shared with Asya.

  After hanging up with my mom I ran down to my car. At eight in the morning, already the heat index had climbed to ninety. Chicago summers sucked; having no air conditioning in my beat up ten-year-old Honda sucked even worse. Hopefully traffic wouldn’t be terrible, and I wouldn’t be in a stand still. What little breeze moving in would be welcomed and help keep me from smelling like a locker room by the time I made it to class.

  The sun blared into the car, bouncing off the light dashboard and right into my face. I hated sun; my fair skin wouldn’t tolerate too much of it before it turned to a soft pink, then straight to lobster red. Once settled, I turned the ignition. Nothing. Taking a deep breath, I tried again. Nothing.

  Growling, I sat back in the seat and closed my eyes. When was the last time I took it in for an oil change? Was the battery dead? Mome
nts like that made me want to rethink my decision to stay away from men until after graduation. Having a boyfriend at that moment would have been much easier. I didn’t know the last thing about cars.

  Even after having spent countless hours watching the neighborhood boys fixing up their engines in their back yards and garages, I couldn’t tell the difference between a spark plug and an oil cap. Back then I didn’t need to—Michael took me where I needed to go in his car. Mom couldn’t afford two cars, and what little money I made at my part time jobs went to help keep the heat on in the winters.

  Michael. Just remembering him brought a dull ache to my chest. Still, after seven years, when I thought of him I worried and missed him. He’d just disappeared on me. Of all the people in my life who let me down, Michael was the first to blindside me with it.

  The beeping of my phone reminded me how short on time I was for class. Not knowing anyone in my or the neighboring buildings building who could help me, I caved and called for a tow. The AAA membership my ex had given me seemed like a crappy birthday gift at the time, but was proving to be a decent present. Although, I was pretty sure Tommy had planned on using it more for himself than me, but he gave up that privilege when he dipped his stick into my friend.