Lucky (No Prisoners MC Book 4)

by Lilly Atlas

  “I’d like to speak with him,” she said to Lucky. “Can the tape be removed from his mouth?”

  “You bet, babe.” Lucky walked up to Rebel and ripped the tape off the man’s mouth in one swipe. Kori winced and her father grunted, but showed no other signs of pain.

  She worked hard to keep her face neutral, impassive, calm. But inside, a jumble of emotions crashed together like bumper cars in a rink. The most concerning and baffling of which was compassion. Why should she feel anything toward this man but hatred? Yet seeing him on the ground like an animal tugged at her heart strings.

  Despite everything that happened, he was still her father. Her blood. Someone she’d hoped would fill the hole in her heart her mother’s passing had left. Instead, he’d carved out a chunk of her heart and stomped on it. Still, his blood flowed through her veins.

  She inhaled a fortifying breath and looked Rebel straight in the eyes. “Are you sorry for any of it?”

  “I’m your father. You going to let them kill me and dump my body out here in the desert like trash?” His voice was even harsher than usual, but his non-answer answered her question.

  Her nose tingled with impending tears as she realized this was it. This was the last conversation she’d have with her father. Maybe the last conversation he’d have in his life.

  She glanced around at the group of angry bikers pretending to give her some semblance of privacy. They all hovered just feet away though and couldn’t possibly miss the conversation. “I’m not sure I’d have the power to stop their plans even if I wanted to. But you ignored my question. Are you sorry for any of it?”

  “I’m sorry for two things.” He sounded as though he’d been snacking on the sand around him. “I’m sorry I let him live.” He cocked his head in Lucky’s direction. “And I’m sorry I believed your bitch of a mother when she told me she was on birth control.”

  It was a comment meant to hurt, to pierce her heart, and it hit the mark. Kori used every ounce of concentration to keep from crying. She would not give this man the satisfaction of hurting her one last time. She could cry in Lucky’s arms for hours later.

  She took another look at the man kneeling in the sand and hardened her heart. All she saw then was a desperate man lashing out, trying to take out as many people as he could on his way down. Any compassion she’d been experiencing evaporated into the parched desert air.

  This was exactly what she needed. A few minutes to ensure he was really the monster she’d come to know. Now she could sleep at night without the guilt of knowing she had a hand in harming a man with the potential for good. There wasn’t anything good in this man.

  She stepped forward and retrieved the sand coated duct tape. With two hands, she stretched it taut and smashed it over Rebel’s mouth. “It was much better this way,” she whispered. After one last disgusted look at her father, she met Lucky’s gaze and gave him a single nod. The she turned her back on the man who’d given her life and walked straight toward the Mustang, head held high. Except for Lucky, the men’s attention was on the two bikers in the sand. No one noticed the trembling in her lips or the stray tear that slipped down her cheek.

  The engine was still running and she slid into the cool interior. From the position and angle of the car, she couldn’t see what the men were doing to Rebel and Savage. It didn’t matter. Though no one came right out and said it, the result was obvious. Neither man would walk out of here today. She understood. She just didn’t need to see it happen.

  Kori jumped when the driver’s side door opened and Lucky dropped into the seat.

  “What are you doing here? Is it over already?”

  He shook his head, put the car in drive and peeled out, throwing up a cloud of dust in their wake.

  What was he doing? She’d thought for sure he’d be the one to end at least one of the betrayer’s lives. “Don’t you want to stay?”

  He still didn’t speak, so Kori stopped asking questions. Maybe he just needed time to process. Maybe he planned to take her back to the hotel then return to his brothers. Questions danced through her brain, but they could wait. Lucky seemed to need quiet.

  After five minutes of retracing Acer’s route, Lucky pulled the car to the side of the road and came to a dead stop. He left the engine idling but stepped out and walked around the car. Kori tried not to let her nerves flare, but she failed miserably. What was going through his mind?

  Lucky opened her door and pulled her out of the car. He maneuvered her around the open door and backed her up until her ass rested against the hood of the car. What was wrong with him? Her heart pounded so hard in her chest she grew lightheaded. “Lucky, what’s wr—”

  He cut her off with an unrestrained kiss that knocked the stability right out of her. Her knees buckled and she sagged against him, helpless to do anything but surrender to his ravaging mouth.

  Before her head had a chance to stop spinning, Lucky broke away. With her face cradled between his large hands, he stared down at her with an intensity that made her shiver. “I love you, Kori,” he said before he kissed her again, brief this time. “I love the fuck out of you.”

  Kori’s insides melted into a puddle of mushy love. The three words she’d been dying to hear sounded even sweeter than she’d dreamed. “What? You do? You’re telling me now?”

  “It’s over, you’re free. He has no claim on you, real or imaginary.”

  “Is he…did you…”

  Lucky kissed her cheeks, her nose, her eyes and she sighed with pleasure. “No. I had a quick chat with him. Man to scumbag. About where you belonged, who you belonged to, and where he belonged. I needed him to know he’d lost. Know he never had you, never would have you. It didn’t feel right saying it until then. I’m sorry if I made you doubt us.”

  She put her hand over his mouth. “None of that matters. Just say it again.”

  He spoke behind her palm, making the sound extra muffled and unintelligible. When she pulled her hand away he winked and she laughed.

  “I love you, Kori,” he said, all teasing gone.

  “I love you too, Lucky.” Her heart was full, the hole left by death and betrayal now packed full of love for Lucky.

  “Please come back to Arizona with me. For good. Forever. I know you may think your family is gone, but you have a family. A rough, messy, slightly vulgar family, but a family that will always have your back. Me, my brothers, their women. We may not be your blood, but we are family.” His voice wavered as though he were nervous and unsure of her answer.

  Those words were exactly what she needed to hear. They were a bandage for her wounded soul. “Where else would I go?” she asked as she pulled him down for another passionate kiss, this one full of the love they’d just professed.

  Epilogue

  Lucky leaned back in the unyielding vinyl chair and watched the women oohing and ahhing over the tiny person sleeping next to the bed. The two women were a study in contrast at the moment, one with raven-black hair, tired eyes, and that new-mother glow someone had once told him about.

  The other was his own personal angel with her radiant hair flowing around her shoulders and her eyes alight with life and happiness. What the two women had in common besides love for a rough and uncouth biker was that soft, dreamy look all women got when in the presence of a new baby.

  “May I hold him?” Kori asked. She’d been begging all morning to come and pay the new parents a visit. Lucky managed to hold her off for a little while, but she’d been far too excited to be denied access to her friend’s new family.

  “Of course,” Emily said. “It’s been about ten minutes since he last ate, so he’ll probably be awake in a second for another meal anyway.”

  Both women chuckled. Lucky didn’t really get the joke, but he enjoyed the sound of their amusement nonetheless.

  Something happened the moment Kori snuggled that baby in her arms. She was a natural, settling little Jackson into her embrace like she was born to. It hit Lucky like a punch to the gut. This could be him, the
m. At any time. They had every available opportunity ahead of them.

  “Pretty powerful shit, ain’t it?” Jester asked.

  Lucky’s friend stood in the doorway, a takeout bag in his hand. “Hey, brother. Congratulations,” Lucky said as he stood and slapped Jester on the back. He nudged the bag Jester held. “We could have picked something up for you so you didn’t have to leave.”

  “I kicked him out,” Emily said on a laugh. “His hovering was driving me nuts.”

  “Yeah I could see that. He is kind of a big brute.”

  The baby chose that moment to let out an ear-piercing wail.

  “Ahh, told you he’d be hungry in a minute.” Emily extended her arms for her new son.

  Before handing the baby over to his mother, Kori flashed Lucky a radiant smile. “We’ll get out of here and give you guys some privacy. He’s absolutely perfect, Em.” She pressed a kiss to the baby’s fuzzy head then dropped a peck on Emily’s cheek as well.

  “This kid wants to eat fifty times a day.” Jester accepted a hug from Kori as well. “Smart boy. He knows where the good stuff is. We’re starting him off right.” He winked at his girlfriend, whose face was now bright red.

  Lucky laughed and blew Emily a kiss. “Take care of yourself, momma,” he said. “Be good to her, Jester.” He shook his brother’s hand then slung an arm around Kori’s shoulders as they left the new parents.

  “Oh my God! Isn’t he the cutest?” Kori said as soon as the room door closed behind them. “I just want to squeeze his chubby cheeks.” She squealed and did a little shimmying dance under Lucky’s arm.

  He laughed and tugged her close. Had he ever seen her so elated? Babies were like crack for some women. As they stepped into the bright sun, he slipped on his sunglasses and steered Kori toward his motorcycle. “You want that?” he asked when there reached the bike.

  She turned into his embrace and squeezed him around the waist. “Want what?” Her eyes widened.

  He inclined his head.

  “A baby? Do I want a baby?” Her mouth flapped open and closed a few times. “Well…I guess…I mean…yes. Someday I do. What about you?” She pushed his sunglasses from the bridge of his nose to the top of his head.

  “Never really thought about it before, to be honest.” He slid his hands into the back pockets of her ass-hugging jeans and pulled her close. “You looked good holding that baby.” It was a cop out as an answer, but admitting out loud that watching Kori hold that baby stirred some unknown longing deep inside of him was scary as hell.

  She took pity on him, though her smile said she saw straight through him. “Well, I’m still pretty young. No rush for me. You on the other hand, well, you’re getting up there in years. A baby might be too much for an old man like you to handle.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief and she bit her bottom lip ineffectively suppressing a smirk.

  “You calling me old?” He held her still and rocked his ever-present erection against her denim-covered core. She gasped and the teasing in her eyes heated to desire.

  “If the shoe fits,” she said, her voice dropping an octave and taking on a smoky quality.

  “I’ll show you what fits.” He nipped at her lower lip. “And while I’m at it, I’ll show you exactly what this old man can handle.”

  She giggled as his lips descended to hers. As usual, the kiss turned hungry in a matter of seconds. They clung to each other, uncaring of the fact they were in public, in broad daylight losing themselves in each other.

  “Shit,” he said as he came to his senses. Another few minutes and the unsuspecting hospital visitors would be getting quite the show. “Hop on, angel. I’ll have you home and under me in five minutes tops.”

  Eyes dazed, she swayed on her feet, his words taking a few seconds to penetrate the lusty fog she appeared to be in. “Oh, right…bike.”

  He chuckled as she scrambled on and settled in behind him. After securing his helmet, he grasped her hands and pulled them even tighter around his body. Plastered together, they zoomed out of the parking lot and toward the home they’d made together over the past months.

  Not every moment had been roses and sunshine. Despite Kori’s initial claims that she was fine with her father’s fate, it took her some time to come to terms with losing both parents so close together.

  Lucky stuck to her like glue and helped her through the rough patches. As a result of all they’d endured, they were strong, solid. An unbreakable bond had forged between them. Never had he imagined life with a woman could be so good. They were comfortable together, like two puzzle pieces that fit with perfect precision.

  Yet the intense desire hadn’t faded. Not one bit. Even now, his dick was hard as a stone and straining to get inside the woman he loved.

  They’d made it through the darkness and came out shiny and new. Lucky wouldn’t have it any other way.

  Thank you so much for spending some time in the No Prisoners’ world. If you enjoyed the book please feel free to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads.

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  Keep reading for a preview of the next book in the No Prisoners series: Snake out October 31st 2017

  Available for Pre-order Now!

  Books in the No Prisoners Series

  Hook: A No Prisoners Novella

  Striker

  Jester

  Acer

  Lucky

  Snake

  Snake Preview

  “He still alive?” The pissed-off voice cut through Snake’s hazy confusion.

  “Yeah, bastard makes a wheezy, gurgling noise every so often. I’m surprised he survived the long trip. The big man worked him over good. His face is unrecognizable,” a second voice, as well-known as the first, yet not identifiable, said.

  “That was Jester,” the first man said. The high pitch, almost whiny quality of his voice was familiar, but just on the edges of recognition. In fact, both voices seemed close yet not quite in Snake’s reality. Like they were coming from a television. There, but not real.

  Pain was there in real time, however. That was for damn sure. But even the hurt was difficult to place. It seemed to come from every pore in his body. But that wasn’t possible, was it?

  “What’s the plan here, Casper?” A third man, also a familiar voice, spoke up.

  How did he know these men? Maybe he should say something. Ask for help. With the level of pain, he was experiencing, something was obviously wrong. Snake moved his mouth to speak, but the only noise that came out was a garbled mess of unintelligible sounds.

  And then the pain localized.

  Holy shit, his face throbbed like it had been pounded repeatedly with a sledgehammer. Inside his mouth, his tongue filled the entire cavity like an air-filled balloon, making speaking near impossible. He drew in a breath, but the air met resistance before it ever reached his lungs, stopped by a throat that felt swollen shut.

  Snake’s brain registered these things like a laundry list of items, and it recognized that he should probably be in panic mode, but that was as far as it went. Everything else was fuzzy and he couldn’t get himself together enough to make sense of his reality.

  “Toss him down the ravine. I’ll fire a couple slugs in him. See how overgrown it is down there? No way in hell anyone will ever find the body.”

  It was the higher voice that spoke. Casper, another had called him. God, that name…it was dancing on the edges of Snake’s diminishing consciousness. So memorable…

  “You got it, boss.”

  Strong, rough hands landed on his body, jerking him forward and then he was airborne. The weightless flight couldn’t have lasted more than five seconds, then came a crushing jolt and the insane sensation of the world spinning out of control.

  Laughter sounded from a distance. “Shit, brother. Look at him roll down that ditch like a fuckin’ sack of potatoes. You probably don�
�t need to waste any bullets, Casper. No way he survived that. It’s what? Thirty feet. And with all those rocks and branches. Something musta smashed in his skull.”

  “Yeah, well, Snake’s a slimy bastard. I want to be one hundred percent sure. Can’t have him slithering back into our lives six months down the road,” Casper replied.

  After what seemed like an eternity, Snake’s broken body slammed against something hard and the rolling stopped. His head was still spinning out of control, but at least the physical movement stopped.

  He tried to move, but there was a disconnect between his body and his brain. None of his muscles obeyed commands and all he could do was lie there, a giant, unmoving target.

  A pinpointed, hot, burning pain bloomed in his thigh, followed by another in his shoulder. Had to be bullets.

  Odd.

  He’d been shot before and it had hurt a lot more than it did now. His brain must be pretty fucked up not to be registering the pain of two bullets. Of course, the rest of his body was one giant ball of agony. Maybe there was a limit to how much pain the flesh could experience. Maybe after the body hit the pain ceiling, it no longer registered.

  He thought he’d known pain before, but it was nothing compared to this full body excruciating sensation. Bullets, a knife wound or two, betrayal. A man didn’t live his kind of life without pain.

  His kind of life…

  Casper.

  It was right there. If he could just reach out and grab the fuzzy memories.

  “Nice fucking knowing you, Pres.”

  The words were called out about three seconds before a final hot flash of pain entered his side. Gut shot. The fatal blow.

  Pres…

  Casper…

  As the darkness behind his closed eyes grew even blacker, realization dawned.

  President. Of the Grimm Brothers Motorcycle Club. In Sandy Springs, Arizona.

  Casper. His long time right-hand man. Close and trusted friend.