ROMANCE: The Surprise That Rocked Me

by Linda Wright

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I decided to go with my gut. I always believed in it and I would not stop now. Whatever it told me, I would follow. Even if it meant walking away from this man that I loved so much. Not John the God, the football player or even the man I thought he could be. The man that I had spent time with and made a home with. What were my instincts say? What was I going to do?

  I looked down at John and just spoke what I knew I needed to say. I said, "Yes."

  "Yes?"

  "Yes. I will be your wife."

  John slid the ring on my finger and got up from his knee. He wrapped me up in his arms and started to kiss me. As we embraced I knew I had made the right decision. John was not perfect, but he was a good man and I loved him more than anything else. The path before us may be bumpy, but regardless of what came our way, I was willing to weather it with him. Through our ups and downs, and his potential post-retirement slump, we were going to find a way, together. I was all in and I could feel that John was too.

  Our lives had both been a bit rough. I had made my way largely on my own, not having a strong family structure to fall back on. I had been able to get my law degree and make myself a success, but still I had been missing something. My work had been fulfilling in it's own way, but it was still not quite enough. Who would have know while I was wearing my John Mackey #5 jersey and rooting for the Foxes that one day I would become his personal cheerleader? It was funny in more ways than one. I would never have thought I would have found myself with a man like John, but then again, what did I know? Love is a mysterious thing. If we knew exactly where we would get it from, it would not be such a struggle.

  But alas I had found an end to that struggle. The struggle was not done, but it was different now. Every great thing came with a price, but it was a price that was worth the payment. Tiffany would not be living the life she had anticipated, it would be a good life with the love of her life. That was far more important that her plans. Nothing was promised, but her hopes were high and her faith even higher. She knew what she was after and who she was all too glad to be getting there with. Mishaps aside, the future was bright. Many games and victories in her future. As she looked toward the goals for her future, she had a feeling that it would be all good.

  

  THE END

  bonus stories #8

  Infernal Affairs

  A Powerful MC Romance Thriller

  By: Linda Wright

  Infernal Affairs

  I stood at the back of the crowd, wanting more than anything to be back home. The rest of the group was surrounding a pool table in the middle of Joe’s Bar. It was a normal Tuesday night and a groupie was getting fucked three ways to Sunday by anyone who wanted her. The crowd parted and I got a sight of what was currently happening on the table. I winced. She’d be sitting funny the next day.

  I looked down at my dick and sighed. In the beginning I’d gotten hard when I saw a woman getting fucked like that. I didn’t feel the urge to join in because sharing wasn’t my shit, but my dick was still a dick. It got up for most things. Not anymore. The longer I stayed with Phantom Outlaw MC the more jaded even my dick got.

  Shouts rose up around the room and everyone cheered for what they were watching. A loud animal like roar sounded above the rest and I felt sick to my stomach that I could pinpoint the exact moment President Bear Wyatt shot his come deep in the stout little redhead. I turned back to the bar and motioned to the bartender.

  Jerry Pilner had owned and operated Joe’s Bar since before Phantom was ever thought about. I didn’t know who Joe was but I’d never met him. Jerry handed me another beer and raised his eyebrows. “Anything stronger?”

  I nodded and signaled him with two fingers so he’d know to double it. “It’s one of those nights, you know?”

  He didn’t know. Jerry let the club party in his bar and his old man had been in a club back in the day but Jerry himself had never been interested in joining. Of course, I’d never thought of joining, either.

  Bear appeared beside me and grabbed the whiskey Jerry had put down for me. Jerry saw it and poured me another. I threw that one back before it was stolen.

  “You gonna fuck tonight, O’Conner?”

  I shook my head. “You know I’m not.”

  He looked at Jerry and wiggled his thick fingers in a dainty way. “O’Conner’s holding out for a special girl. One day he’ll punch that v-card of his.”

  I grinned. “And one day your dick will fall off and you’ll wish you hadn’t stuck it in so many unsavory places.”

  They both laughed and Jerry nodded. “The boy’s right, Bear. One day you’re going to catch something that don’t wash off. What are you going to do then?”

  “Keep right on fucking until it kills me, I reckon.” Bear threw his head back and laughed his big laugh. Everything about the man was big. He stood just under seven feet tall and was close to three hundred and fifty pounds. He love three things in life. Well, four if you counted liquor. Women, his club, and his daughter. Not in any order.

  “Everything alright over at my house tonight?” Bear got serious fast about his baby girl. “Stormy’s not still bitching about the added security, is she?”

  She was. She was bitching about the security, the club, and her father. Also, not in any order. “She was fine. She’ll get used to it. I tried to explain why we have to do it during the day now, too, but she was too busy ignoring me for it to sink in, I think. You should talk to her.”

  He grunted. “I try. That girl… She’s not like her mother or me. Her momma was a wild child. She’d spend all night trying to suck my brain out of my dick and then still be horny the next day for me. She loved the club. Stormy just wants to read and hide away.”

  She wasn’t just reading. She also loved playing cards. She was a regular shark. I’d never beat her at BlackLarry. “Different strokes for different folks. At least she isn’t on the pool table.”

  Bear punched me in the arm and swore. “Fucking right she’s not on that pool table. I’d kill anyone who even thought about touching her.”

  Luckily, he couldn’t read my thoughts.

  Another big shout came from the pool table and then chaos erupted. It wasn’t unusual. Someone cut in line or rubbed dicks and then a fight broke out so no one got the idea that they’d meant to rub dicks. Another reason I’d never seen the joy of sticking my dick in someone while someone else was already there.

  Bear patted me on the back and downed another double of whiskey. “It’s your time to shine.”

  I popped my neck and turned to face the pulsing crowd. Time to shine, alright. Finally I got a chance to do what I loved doing, which was beating the shit out of bikers. At six foot seven I was the second tallest guy in the club. I also had strength from working out while the rest of the guys were out drinking nonstop.

  I plowed into the group and grabbed who I could. I threw them away from me with an unnatural ease. “Stay the fuck out of it!”

  In the middle of the brawl were two of my least favorite guys, Tank and Dog. They both were mean and vicious to anyone and I’d watched them torture people for the fun of it. The redhead was cowered in a corner with a shirt covering her body and the guys were getting closer to stomping on her.

  I cleared the gap between us and grabbed the backs of their shirts before spinning and throwing them into the pool table. Tank turned and barreled his way back at me but I threw a solid punch to his face and he was out.

  Dog settled for shouting at me. “You crazy motherfucker!”

  I stepped towards him and he held up his hands. “Alright! I’m going.”

  I made my way back to the bar and grabbed the whiskey Jerry had waiting on me. Bear was smiling at me and shaking his head. “What?”

  “They all hate you. You got Dog shaking like a leaf on a tree because he thinks you’re insane.”

  I shrugged. “Good. Then they won’t try shit with me. I get so fucking sick of their bullshit. They nearly trampled
that girl.”

  Bear looked back to into the crowd where anyone could clearly see the girl on her knees in front of another member. “Looks like she’s alright to me. You gotta have a little fun, brother.”

  What I had to do was get the fuck out. I looked at my watch like that was the answer and sighed. “If I was the type to have fun you wouldn’t trust me to watch after Stormy.”

  “You’re damn right.”

  I moved back from my stool and pulled on my leather Larryet. The front read Enforcer because that’s what I was. Anyone caused trouble in our club and they could expect a visit from me. “I’ve gotta ride. I’ll go by and check on Stormy one more time before I head home.”

  Bear nodded. “Tell her I said hi and be at the clubhouse bright and early. We’ve got a run to do.”

  “Tell her yourself.”

  I walked out of the bar, into the cool night, and blew out a deep breath. One more night down but how many more to go? I looked into the sky and rolled my shoulders. The leather never sat right on me.

  I got on my bike and started it before saying the mantra I’d begun the first year I’d been undercover. “My name is Patrick O’Conner and I work for Mooreport PD. I’m not the bad guy.”

  No one would ever hear it over the roar of my bike even if they were sitting on it with me but it made me feel better to remember who I actually was. I wasn’t sure anyone else remembered in the real world. It’d be three years since I got the assignment to infiltrate the Phantoms. No word as to what I was looking for. Just join the club and get close to Bear.

  I was as close to Bear as anyone in the club and still no fucking word on what I was supposed to be doing. I couldn’t help remembering a time when I didn’t do illegal shit constantly. I was in so deep I sometimes didn’t know which way was up.

  I’d loved my job as a cop. I liked helping people and I liked uniform groupies who smiled extra sweetly at me when I walked by. Three years in the Phantoms and I was starting to love beating the shit out of people on order. I’d never be able to go back to my old job. I knew I would never pass a psych test. I was too fucking angry and eager to throw my big fists at someone’s face.

  I drove away from Joe’s and pulled into a little overlook a couple miles up the road. As I did every night I pulled out my phone and dialed a series of numbers that was supposed to reach my handler. Only my handler never answered anymore. I just left the normal message about everything being the same that day and erased any trace of the call before heading towards Stormy’s place.

  She was the only bright spot in the entire shit show that my life had become. Stormy wasn’t normal. She liked to be alone, except for when she was with me, and she liked to imagine that she was anywhere but where she was. We had that in common.

  She was a MC princess with access to all the dirty money she could ever want and instead she insisted on working at a little bookshop at the edge of town. She made it clear to anyone who knew her that she didn’t approve of what her father did. She hated bikers and only made an exception for me after I was thrown in her face constantly for the last two years.

  Stormy had a way of looking at me that made me feel like I wasn’t complete shit and it helped ground me most days. She was off-limits to everyone, by Bear’s decree, but that didn’t stop my imagination from running wild whenever I looked at her.

  Her house was at the top of a cliff that made me nervous as fuck but she had great views. I pulled up next to her little car and sat on my bike for a minute, just breathing. I didn’t want to carry all of the bad shit in to her. I tried to shake off some of my darkness so she didn’t have to live with it.

  Bear’s second in command, Shooter, named for his beautiful ability to hit every bullseye ever put in front of him, nodded to me from the porch. He never got to go in. Not that I did very often. Stormy said he reminded her of Charles Manson and she couldn’t be around him without fear of being forced into a cult. I smiled at the thought and climbed off my bike.

  “Any excitement?” Shoot looked bored but hopeful.

  “Nah. Dog and Tank got into it but I shut it down.”

  “Leave anyone conscious this time?”

  I gave him a wry grin. “A few. Go on. There’s some fun still happening at the bar you can catch. Little redhead seems to be a favorite. I’ll hang out here for the night.”

  “Tell me something, O’Conner. How come you’re always so eager to take on babysitting duty?”

  I narrowed my eyes and shrugged out of my leather so I could toss it over the seat of my bike. “Way I see it, it’s either watch a bunch of ugly dicks fucking or stick around here and maybe get a glimpse of a beautiful woman. I’d do anything to avoid ever seeing Bear’s dick again.”

  Shooter seemed content with my answer. “Thing looks like a fucking fireman’s hose. Good luck with catching a glimpse of the ice queen, man. She’s been locked up tight all night.”

  I waved him off before sitting down on the steps and counting to five. I never got all the way to six before she was out on the porch, sitting next to me. I didn’t look over at her as I smiled. “You hear all of that?”

  “I don’t eavesdrop, Patrick.” She waited a minute and I knew she was biting her lip. “Is there really a redhead?”

  I laughed and nodded. “Yeah. Unfortunately. I wasn’t kidding about never wanting to see your dad’s dick again.”

  She made a gagging noise and pushed my shoulder playfully. The same way she always did when she touched me, she sucked in a little air. “That’s gross. Those guys are all so… icky. I don’t know how anyone would ever want to sleep with them.”

  I finally turned my head and looked at her. It didn’t disappoint. Her long black hair was pulled up into a knot on the top of her head. It looked like more was falling out than was staying in. Her eyes always got me. Some kind of weird blue color, they always looked secretive, like she knew something I didn’t know. Drove me fucking crazy. Stormy’s mouth could illicit entire books of filthy dreams from me. It was pouty and a shade of pink that made me want to devour her.

  “Icky? That’s the best you’ve got?”

  “Fine. They’re all reprehensible. Better?”

  I looked back out at the night and nodded. “Sounds about right. So, am I a part of this reprehensible crowd?”

  She got quiet and I worried I’d done something wrong. I looked over at her and found her smiling. She shook her head and more hair fell out. “Nope.”

  In a different world I would’ve pushed it. I would’ve taken her by the hand and led her inside and I would’ve-

  “Do you really think I’m beautiful?”

  I blinked a few times. Shit. Of course she’d heard me say that. I had to tread carefully. I knew that even though she was nice to me I was more of her friend than anything else. She hated bikers and thought I was one. I didn’t want to freak her out and run her off. “Sure.”

  Instead of smiling she frowned. Her hand went to the hem of her T-shirt and she messed with it while chewing on that sexy lower lip. My eyes were drawn downwards and an instant erection threatened to break the zipper of my jeans. Her curves were hidden by a big shirt but she was wearing a tiny pair of shorts that cut so high I was surprised I wasn’t seeing pussy. God, what I would do to see pussy.

  “Three guys hit on me today at the bookshop.”

  I jerked my eyes away from her shorts and stood up. “Who were they?”

  She laughed. “Sit back down, Patrick. I scared them off. One mention of who my father is and any normal guy runs off. I was making a point.”

  “Unless it ends with ‘and then they were mauled by wild dogs’ I don’t know if I’m going to like it.”

  She actually giggled. “It doesn’t. Sorry. Anyway, my point is that I’m unlucky. All these disgusting guys hit on me and the one guy that I want to hit on me never does.”

  She liked someone? That was news to me. Normally she told me all about her day but she’d never mentioned liking a guy. My stomach bottomed out and I suddenly wan
ted to be back in the bar, throwing men around like toys. I found myself unable to comment. I didn’t want to hurt her but the last thing I wanted to do was fucking talk about some guy she liked.

  “Maybe he’s just afraid I won’t like him back. But I do. God, this sounds so fucking juvenile, doesn’t it? I’m acting like I’m in kindergarten.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Fucking?”

  She grinned. “What? You say it all the time. Why can’t I say it?”

  Fuck, she could say it all she wanted. It just wasn’t helping my dick calm down. Hearing her say something even remotely dirty sent heat pulsing to my dick. “You’re all sweet and shit. You say sweet things. Not fucking.”

  She grinned. “Fucking, fucking, fucking. I’m not just sweet, Patrick. Maybe that’s the problem. You only see me as sweet.”

  “What problem?”

  I watched as a deep red color took over her neck and then her face. Even her ears went red. She stood up abruptly and walked down the steps until she was standing on the grass, facing me. Her body looked tense and I could see that she wasn’t wearing a bra. I would’ve done anything to taste her hard nipples.

  “I know you’re not like the rest of them.”

  A dangerous feeling crawled up my back. “No?”

  She shook her head. When even more hair fell she made an annoyed sound and ripped the band in her hair out. Her hair fell around her shoulders and trailed down to the middle of her back. “No. Do you want to know what I think?”

  I swallowed. I had a feeling it wasn’t going in a good direction. I kept my mouth sealed and nodded.

  She crossed her arms over her ample chest and then straightened them at her sides. She was nervous. “I think you’re pretending to be something you’re not.”

  I stood up, erection gone, and marched towards my bike. I’d watch her house from the end of the road. I didn’t know what the hell she was getting at but if she blew my cover it would be deadly for me.