by Leela Ash
She sat down on the couch, and Lynx entered slowly. He looked around at her little home and smiled at a photograph of her as a child with her mother that stood proudly in a frame on her bookcase.
“Cute,” he said as he picked it up and ran his finger along the frame.
“Did you kill someone?” she said it before she had a chance to change her mind.
Lynx calmly put the photograph back down on the shelf and turned to look at her with hurt in his eyes.
“I was going to tell you…” he began.
Tammy jumped back to her feet and held up her hands. “This is crazy,” she said, backing away from him. “I can’t believe I just welcomed you in here!”
He sighed and shook his head. “Will you please let me finish?” He was calm and he sat down on the arm of a chair and stared at her.
Tammy stood in front of him, unsure of what to do next. Her instincts were telling her that she had nothing to fear, but he obviously knew what she was talking about…and he wasn’t denying it.
“Tam.” He looked at her with tear rimmed eyes. “I wanted so badly to tell you why you’ve never seen me around here before. But I didn’t want to scare you away.”
“So you just lied?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“I just wasn’t very generous with the truth,” he sighed. “I did go to prison, but I didn’t kill anyone. And you’re probably the only person I’ve ever admitted that to in my entire life.”
She shook her head with disbelief and shrugged.
“Well, Lexi seems to think you’re innocent, too… So if you’ve never told anyone you didn’t do it, why the hell would she think that?”
He rubbed his eyes and breathed out deeply.
“King has always suspected I was covering for someone… But I could never tell anyone at the club. It’s not right for the other person to pay for a mistake that’s already been absolved.”
Tammy could tell he was being honest, but it still didn’t change the fact that he had spent the past ten years of his life in prison. He was a criminal, even if he was innocent… He must have been mixed up in something pretty horrific to be accused of murder.
“I don’t know what to say,” Tammy said as she sat down and tears began to roll down her face. “I want to trust you… But this is so hard for me.”
Lynx rushed to her side and wrapped his arms around her.
“You have to believe me, I’m not a murderer. I’m what you’ve seen, okay?”
“But the way you were with me the night we met… And now this…? I just don’t know who you are.” She wiped her eyes, and even though she couldn’t bear to be near him, she knew she couldn’t stand to be apart from him, either.
She was addicted to him.
He had pulled her in, and his big, rough hands had a hold on her heart.
He tilted her chin up so her eyes locked with his and the deep blue swirl of his soul worked her over and made her feel calm and like she was falling into a trance.
“The second I saw you, I knew I had to have you,” he whispered. “I’ve never been so attracted to a girl before… I’ve never wanted a woman like I want you, and I’ve never felt so fiercely protective and ready to fight for anyone… Do you understand?”
Tammy felt a shiver roll over her entire body. Just hearing him say those things, knowing that he felt exactly the same way she did, was more than she could’ve ever hoped for.
“I didn’t do it.” He kissed her lightly on the lips. “But I had to go away and protect the person who did.”
He ran his hand through her hair and kissed her again. She was so confused, but at the same time, everything seemed so clear. She knew in her heart that he was being genuine. She had known it from the second they met, and that had allowed her to open up to him like she never had with anyone before.
He pushed her back onto the couch and climbed on top of her. Clinging to him, she wrapped her legs around him. The heavy scent of last night’s liquor, stale cigarettes, and gasoline clung to him and it drove her wild.
“I don’t ever want to lose you,” he whispered as he kissed her ear and down her neck. “When I met you, I knew you were the one…”
Tammy pulled his face up to meet hers and looked at him dead in the eye. His features were so open and honest, and the fact that she had only been thinking the same thing a few hours before proved to her that this was meant to be.
She had to believe him.
She had to give this a shot.
“I trust you,” she whispered and he kissed her again.
He lifted her up from the couch, and with her legs wrapped around his waist, he carried her into the bedroom. He lay her down and she watched him as he pulled off his jacket and vest up over his head. His chest was richly tanned and perfectly chiseled. She had never seen a man so godly before—his entire physique was like something she had only seen in her dreams. He moved forward and climbed on top of her. His chains and jewelry jangled against her and she ran her long fingernails up his back. His tattoos were black and aggressive, and it wasn’t until he sat back and turned his head slightly as he took off some of his chains that she caught sight of the magnificent piece of artwork adorning his entire back.
She gasped and sat forward, holding onto his shoulders and turning his back towards the sunlight.
“Wow,” she breathed. “This is….”
“A lynx,” he said with a smile.
She ran her fingertips over the most wonderful portrait of a wild cat that she had ever seen. Its teeth were bared and its eyes were bright and wide. It looked full of life and vitality, but it was also dangerous and ready to attack.
“I love it,” she beamed. “It’s amazing.”
“Not as amazing as you,” he said as held her neck and traced kisses down to the tops of her breasts.
She lay back and let him remove her clothes, piece by piece, and when she was beneath him fully naked she opened her legs wide and let him see how wet and ready for him she was.
He grunted at the sight of her pussy and pulled at his belt, ripping it off and jerking down his trousers so his thick, engorged cock sprang free. Tammy whimpered. She was in awe of him, and as he towered above her holding his dick in his hands, she knew he was going to fuck her so hard with it. She almost unraveled right there before he even touched her.
He climbed on top of her and she wrapped her legs around him. Rolling with her, he pulled her on top of him and held onto her hips.
Tammy gasped. She was so nervous to have him inside of her, but she also couldn’t wait to feel him in his entirety. He pulled her forward as he pushed the tip of his cock to the opening of her sex and held her there in place. He looked up at her, deep into her eyes, and as she held her breath, he pulled her down onto him, spearing her and filling her up so she felt split in half.
The heat spread through her and she cried with pleasure as she rode him and grinded herself up and down. Lynx grunted and moaned as he held onto her at the waist, but it was only a matter of time before the alpha male in him took over and he had to be in control.
He flipped her onto her back, and as he held onto her neck he pushed himself deep inside of her, burying himself in her folds as he fucked her hard and slow.
Tammy had never experienced anything like it. He was such a man, such a powerful, animalistic man who was full of aggression and lust that it was turning her on even more with each thrust.
She could barely hang on any longer, and as she unraveled beneath him and her orgasm tore through her, Lynx’s thighs tensed and he grunted into her neck as he exploded inside of her. She felt his hot and powerful seed fill her pussy, and her tight muscles gripped onto his shaft as he pumped and emptied himself into her.
He collapsed down next to her and pulled her close to him. Both of their hearts were hammering in their chests, and Tammy could barely hear anything over the rush of blood that was thumping through her whole body.
“That was incredible,” Lynx panted as he kissed her forehead.
/>
Tammy nuzzled into him and breathed him in. In that moment, she realized that she didn’t care what anyone else was saying about him, or even if he had murdered someone ten years ago. All she knew was that she had fallen for him harder and faster than she had ever thought possible.
10.
As the day turned into night and they lay together exploring each other’s bodies, Tammy knew she had found her soul mate. Everything about Lynx fit with her perfectly, and there was nothing she didn’t want to tell him.
She told him of how she longed for a family, and he agreed with her. He explained how he had always felt the same and couldn’t wait to have one of his own. He opened up about his past and his childhood, confiding in her about how he had been treated badly, abused by his guardians, and eventually fled when he was fifteen and found himself in Slate Springs without a penny to his name and not a clue of how to look after himself.
“What happened?” Tammy asked him with eager eyes.
“I met one of The Forsaken Riders,” he smiled as he ran his fingertips through her hair. “They took me in, put a roof over my head, gave me a job… They saved my life.”
Tammy had no idea how it must have felt to be so alone in the world. Even though she missed her mother dearly every day, she had always had the love and support of her father and Dean.
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” she whispered before she gave him a single kiss on his chest.
“I’m not anymore,” he said. “If it hadn’t of happened, I never would have wound up here with you.”
Even though he was right, she still couldn’t help but feel like a lot of his life had been either traumatic or wasted being locked up in jail.
“Who were you protecting, Lynx?” Tammy blurted the words out before she even knew she was going to say them.
He sat up and rested his forearms on the tips of his knees.
“I can’t tell you that, Tam,” he said gently as he turned to look at her.
She felt herself stiffen and she knew that if he ever wanted her to believe a word that came out of his mouth ever again, then he didn’t have the option… He was going to have to tell her.
“All you’ve been saying since the moment we met is that I have to trust you,” she said as she pulled herself up. “Now don’t you think it’s about time you trusted me?”
He looked thoughtful for a moment before he took hold of her hand.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked.
Tammy searched his face for an answer, but she would never be able to guess. She shook her head and he dropped his.
“It was Reid, babe…” he said with a sigh. “I was protecting the only man who ever really took care of me.”
Tammy felt the blood rush into her head, and she felt dizzy. Reid, Lexi’s dad, had murdered someone and Lynx had protected him and done the time.
“But why?” she asked with confusion.
“Reid was the one who took me in when I found myself here at fifteen,” he shrugged. “He’d already been away and done time, and he wasn’t well…” He stopped for a moment and Tammy could see the tears welling up behind his eyes.
“It was my fault he did it in the first place. I botched up a job, we got caught. It was either Reid shot the guy whose shop we were turning over, or we were all going down.”
Tammy shivered.
“I couldn’t let him go back inside,” Lynx said. “It would have finished the old boy off…”
“But he’s sick now?” she said, her confusion mounting.
“The cancer came back,” he nodded. “I’m glad he didn’t spend the last years of his life rotting away in some jail when it was my fault he would have been there in the first place.”
He sniffed and then smiled.
“So now you know everything,” he concluded. “But you can never tell Lexi…or King, for that matter. The code of The Forsaken Riders is one that can never be broken, and King wasn’t around when all of this went down. Okay?”
She nodded and reached out to stroke his arm once more.
For a man who had lived on the wrong side of the tracks since he was a kid, Lynx was wise and full of integrity. When he confessed his darkest secret to her, she knew why she loved him… He was just like her underneath it all. Under all of the muscles, the piercings and tattoos, and the scent of booze and smoke, he was a kind-hearted man, and he had won her over with his honesty.
She looked up at him, and he pulled her close to him. She knew her life was never going to be the same again. She had met the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with. He was going to be the father of her children, and she was never going to be looked at the same in Slate Springs ever again. Less than a week before, Tammy had barely even laid eyes on any of the Forsaken Riders, but now she and Lexi were in deep, and they were beginning the lives they had always dreamed of in their own unique ways.
She was no longer going to be sweet, innocent good girl Tammy. She was going to be Lynx’s woman, a wild cat just like him. And she was going to make sure that they fought for each other, their family, and their right to their love over and above anything else...
THE END
Read on for a preview of book 3 in the series, STEEL
Lost Creek Shifters
ARLO
Samantha Leal
Copyright ©2016 by Samantha Leal. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
1.
Poppy felt like high-fiving her boss as she walked out of work on that miserable Thursday afternoon, but it wouldn’t have been on his hand… It would have been right in his face. She tried not to scowl at him as she brushed past and made for the exit, but her feelings were too strong to hide. He was everything she hated about men, and yet, she was stuck with him day in and day out with no way of escape. He was arrogant and rude, and completely inappropriate when it came to flirting with her outrageously, and yet, she felt as if she had to grin and bear it just to stop herself from becoming the target of even more cringe-worthy advances.
She had worked at the store for six months, and although it had originally been as a stop gap, she was starting to fear that maybe working the cash register at a convenience store was going to become her destiny. Nothing else had presented itself to her in the time that she had worked there, and she still found herself in the same position at home. She was working the same shift every day and living with her crazy family. She couldn’t help but wonder when life was going to pick up and she could really start to live, instead of just existing.
As she made her way to the car, she felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders and as she sank down into the driver’s seat, she breathed a sigh of relief. She had survived another week, and now, she was officially on vacation.
She started the engine, put the car in drive and reversed out of her parking spot. She rolled down the windows and cranked up the music, and even though she knew that he could possibly still see her and that it would no doubt get her fired, she lifted her hand up out of the window and flipped her boss the bird as she sped out of the parking lot.
Poppy tapped her hands on the wheel as she made her way through town and thought about the week ahead. It had been a long time since she had been on vacation, and she couldn’t wait to get away for a few days and just unwind. Even if she was going with her family, she was sure that there would be moments when she could take herself away from all of their drama and spend some time by herself. She deserved it, after all.
She turned a corner and she could see her family home up ahead. Most days, when she approached, she was just glad to be out of work, but today was different… She had left there under a cloud that morning and she was dreading facing her mother. She thought back to the argument that had taken place in the kitchen, back when Poppy was
still weary with sleep and her mother had thought it was the opportune moment to drag to the surface all of Poppy’s insecurities and fears. She knew, more than anyone, that she was nearly twenty-five and didn’t have a solid career, a place of her own, or a man… But she didn’t want to be reminded of it, and especially by her mom.
“You need to shape up, Poppy,” she had said. “And fast, because you’re not getting any younger… It’s about time you were finding yourself a man, settling down and really thinking about what you want to do with your life…”
It had made Poppy want to cry. The words were like venom and they had hurt. But she was a strong girl, and even though it had cut her deeply, she was determined that she wouldn’t dwell on the opinions of others.
As she pulled up into the driveway and looked up at the house, she could see her family inside, they were all buzzing around and preparing themselves for the week ahead. Her younger brother was jumping around the kitchen and even though he was sixteen, Poppy still saw him as a little kid. She smiled. Even though he could be a nightmare at times, he was still more fun to be around than her tricky parents.
She slammed the car door behind her and walked up to the house. The sound of their voices all drifted out to meet her and she had to suck in a lungful of air as she prepared herself to enter. Her mother’s words still echoed in her mind, and even though she had decided that she would try to forget, it was proving more difficult than she had thought.
“Poppy,” her father said with a wry drawl as she opened the door and stepped inside. “How was your day?”
She had been expecting a scowl or a look of disapproval, but he seemed happy for once, and so did her mom. They all flitted around the island in the center of the kitchen whilst her mother prepared dinner, and her younger brother James kicked his soccer ball up from the floor and onto his knees.
Poppy smiled back and set down her purse as she closed the back door behind her. Her mother looked up and smiled sharply from between tightly closed lips.
