I made a mistake that changed the course of our lives when we were just teenagers. Never again. I’ll never lose her again. I won’t even chance it. This road, it’s been fucking rough to get to where we are, but I wouldn’t change a fucking thing about it. Not now. Not now that she’s agreed to be my wife.
Not just my Old Lady, not just my woman, but my wife.
When I come, I do it looking into her gorgeous, honey colored eyes, and she soon follows behind me, her climax making her entire body shake.
I will never get tired of this, never get tired of her.
She’s mine, one hundred percent my life. Without her, I’m a lost soul. I’ve proven that shit. I never want to be that man again. I will forever be the man she needs me to be—the man that makes her happy, and the man she can trust.
I love her.
My tigritsa.
Epilogue
SEVEN MONTHS LATER
BRENTLEE
“It’s time.” The words come out in a panic.
I look over to Kentlee, whose face has turned bright red, and she looks like she’s going to explode.
“Oh, shit,” I murmur before I grab my phone and dial Fury’s number.
Nobody answers, of course. They’re all in church, and nobody has their damn phones on. I gather the kids and load them up into Kentlee’s SUV before I help her into the car. She screams, holding her gigantic belly with one hand, the nails of her other digging into my arm.
“Shit,” I curse.
She ignores me. I continue to re-dial Bates and Fury, over and over, as I drive like a bat out of hell to the hospital. When neither of them answer, I give up and call Tammy.
“What’s going on, honey? I haven’t heard from you in a while,” she says.
Tammy hasn’t heard from me in a few weeks. I haven’t needed her. Bates and I eloped the weekend after he proposed. We ran off to Vegas and had a quick, quiet ceremony, just the two of us. Kent watched Stella.
She and Fury were the only ones who knew of our nuptials. We had a huge party at the club the weekend after, but the private ceremony, it was perfect and exactly how I had always envisioned marrying Bates.
When we came home, Bates informed me I wasn’t going to be working anymore. It was the control I had feared would happen had I ever married again.
After we talked, I discovered his caveman tantrum was really because he wanted to have a baby with me. He didn’t want me tending bar around all the booze, sex, and smoke while we were trying or while I was pregnant.
I understood his rational, but I still gave him plenty of shit about it.
We fought and made up and I quit.
Two months later, I found out I was pregnant. I’m now five months pregnant with our first child together. We discovered just this week it’s a girl. I thought he would be disappointed, but to my surprise, he was excited.
Another little girl to add to our house. Another malyshka. He told me he was so excited to have another princess to spoil, and maybe the next one would be a boy, but maybe not. He didn’t care. It didn’t matter to him either way. I smile just thinking about his excitement.
“Brentlee,” Tammy says, breaking me from my reminiscing.
“Kentlee is in labor. I can’t get ahold of the men, we have all the kids,” I say as I frantically drive toward the hospital.
Kentlee is turning about fifty shades of red, and she looks pretty damn terrifying.
“I’ll meet you there and take the kids back to my house,” she says before she hangs up the phone.
Tammy is the best. I don’t know how Kent found her, but I never want her to leave us. I wouldn’t survive without her.
When I pull up to the hospital, I park in the emergency parking and jog inside as fast as I can, yelling that my sister is in labor. She was panting and breathing funny.
I know she has to be close, and she’s scheduled to have a C-section in a few days. She’s not supposed to have him naturally.
Luckily, a nurse takes me seriously and she and some other staff follow me outside. They take my sister with them in a wheelchair.
My stomach turns at the blood that’s on the leather seat of the SUV. My eyes water and my mind goes over a million different scenarios. Only one thing consumes my thoughts though—fear.
I clean the seat as best as I can and get the kids out of the SUV just in time for Tammy to come barreling around the corner like a bat outta hell.
We don’t exchange two words to each other as I transfer all the kids’ things to her car. When she wraps me in a hug, I try my hardest to stay strong. I’m so scared.
“Go be with Kent,” she says softly. I nod.
“Thank you,” I say before I hurry toward the hospital.
I dial Fury’s phone again and, thank Jesus, he picks up.
“The fuck?” he barks into the phone.
“Kentlee’s in the hospital,” I cry as I run.
“What?” he breathes.
“She went into labor, you need to get down here, now. Tammy has all the kids,” I say.
The phone call ends. Seconds later, my phone rings, and it’s Bates.
“Baby, what’s happening?” he says, sounding out of breath.
I explain the situation to him as I ride the elevator to the floor where they have my sister. He curses and assures me they’ll be here to join me as soon as possible.
When I make it to the floor where my sister is, the nurse tells me I can go inside, but they’re prepping her for surgery. I run into her room and she’s high as hell. She smiles lazily at me and reaches for my hand.
“What’s happening?” I ask.
“He’s breech. Of course he is. He’s Pierce’s.” She chuckles before she pulls me down to her level and whispers, “I’m so high, I can’t even feel my brain,” she giggles.
Luckily, Fury bursts into the room at that exact moment. When he falls to his knees at her bedside, I take that as my cue to leave.
No way do I want to see that big ass scary man breakdown. I walk out and find Bates sitting in one of those uncomfortable waiting chairs.
“Hey, baby, how is she?” he asks wrapping his hand around my belly as soon as I stand between his open thighs.
“Kentlee or your daughter?” I ask with a smirk.
“Both,” he murmurs as he places a kiss on my belly.
“Kentlee is high as a kite. She says she can’t feel her brain. Your nameless daughter is good,” I smile.
We spend the next four hours waiting, just waiting for anything. I’ve asked the nurses about a thousand times for updates, but they don’t give me a damn thing. Then Fury charges through the room with a huge ass smile on his face. I sigh in relief.
“He’s so fuckin’ perfect. Come on,” he calls. I quickly follow behind him.
We walk into the hospital room, and the tiny little baby cradled in my sister’s arms takes my breath away. I walk right up to him and sit next to her on the bed.
Without a word, she hands me the little bundle. I look down on him and smile at the bright gray eyes that stare back at me.
“He’s perfect,” Bates murmurs from behind me.
“He is, so beautiful,” I say. “What’s the little guy’s name?” I ask, unable to look away from him.
“Danger,” Fury grins. I wrinkle my nose.
“It isn’t my favorite, but I named Bear,” Kentlee shrugs. I look over at my sister.
She’s looking at Fury, who looks so damn proud. I would let him name my baby just about anything, too, with that look on his face. He is completely smitten, in awe, and so fucking proud.
“Danger Duhart it is, then,” I murmur. Bates squeezes my shoulder.
I look around the room. Fury, Kentlee, Bates and me. Aside from our children and Mary-Anne, this is our family, our real family. I have never been prouder of these people, and I’ve never been happier. I’m so grateful and thankful to have my sister back in my life. And Bates—words cannot describe how I feel about him.
This world we live in c
an be a hot mess, but it can be beautifully breathtaking, too. Sometimes, you have lived through complete hell to come out on the other side, to appreciate all of the beauty it does hand you later in life.
Had I not gone through my hell, had Kentlee not gone through hers, perhaps we wouldn’t feel as incredibly blessed as we do right now. I know that I wouldn’t be as appreciative of the man at my side had I not gone through my marriage with Scotty.
“I love you, Kentlee. He’s just so beautiful,” I murmur as I hand him back to her.
“I love you, too, Brent. Thank you for being here for me,” she says. I want to brush it off, but I don’t. Instead, I take her hand in mine and I give it a squeeze.
“We’ll keep the kids for a week. Longer if you need,” I offer. Fury blinks once before he grins.
“Thanks. ‘Preciate that, sister-in-law,” he says. A new thing he’s started calling me. I love it.
Bates and I leave the hospital hand-in-hand and walk over to his truck. He helps heft my ass inside and we head over to Tammy’s to gather the rest of our family.
I never thought I would be this happy.
When I would run and hide from Scotty, praying that I would just disappear, I never thought I would smile again. Now, I do nothing but smile, and it’s Bates, Kentlee, Fury, and the entire Notorious Devils family that has made it possible.
I love all of them—with all of my repaired heart.
Rough & Rugged
Notorious Devils MC Book Three
Man is born to live and not to prepare to live.
Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago
Prologue
DIRTY JOHNNY
The clubhouse is wild tonight. I should be inside fucking a whore, maybe two, but I’m not. Instead, I walk outside and inhale the crisp air. Fall is coming to an end, and soon the snow will be on the ground. We’ll all be forced to drive cages instead of our bikes. I fucking hate winter.
“Those things’ll kill ya,” Torch says, pushing off of the wall and walking toward me.
“Yeah? No shit,” I grunt, taking another drag from my cigarette.
“I gotta go into Devils, wanna join?” he asks.
The Devils Club is the only strip club in town; our Motorcycle Club owns and runs it. Sniper is the manager, but with a new baby at home, we’ve all pitched in, helping him out until he and the family get settled. I look back at the party behind me, but it doesn’t call to me. I have no desire to fuck any of the whores in there, to watch their shows, or to get shit-faced drunk.
“Sure,” I shrug, following him toward our parked bikes. We don’t say a word as we start our engines and take off down the road.
A few minutes into my ride, I notice I need gas and signal Torch toward the station. He nods, but we’re only a few miles from the club, so he rides on ahead of me. The gas station is isolated, as is usual for this time of night. Our little town rolls up their sidewalks when the sun goes down.
I walk into the station and pay the attendant. His eyes shift from side to side and nervousness is visibly apparent on his face.
“You all right there, bud?” I ask, taking some bills out of my pocket.
“Yes, everything is great,” he stutters. That’s when I know that nothing is great.
I hear a soft whimper from behind his counter, and I pull my gun out of the back of my waistband. I train it at his head before I order whoever is behind the counter to come out.
A girl stands up, and she’s a slip of a thing. Her hair is light brown and long; her eyes, big and green, stare back at me, wide and innocent. Though, I notice her innocence is overshadowed by the fear on her face, and I wonder what this fat fucker behind the counter has done to her.
“You okay, sweetheart?” I ask before I shift my eyes back over to the fat-fuck.
“No,” she whispers. Her sweet voice washes over me. Fuck, it’s sweet, too.
“What’d he do to you?” I ask, cocking my brow as the fucker starts shaking his head.
“He… he,” she stutters before her big green eyes fill with tears.
“C’mon, let me get you outta here,” I grind out as I hold one hand palm up toward her. She doesn’t hesitate. She crashes her tiny body into my side and buries her face in my shoulder.
“He told me I could use the phone, then he shoved me down and told me I had to suck his dick first. Then you came in,” she whimpers against me.
Instantly, instinctually, I wrap my hand around the back of her head, holding her closer to me, keeping her face against me.
I pull the trigger on the fat-fuck. I watch as his brain explodes against the cigarettes that line the back of the counter. It’s a shame; all those smokes are ruined now. I point my gun at the camera and pull the trigger on that too. The girl screams against me.
Quickly, I guide her out of the convenience store before pulling my phone out and making a call to a prospect. They’re going to have to get rid of possible evidence and clean up fat-fuck’s body. Once we reach my bike, I pull her away from me and look down into her frightened green eyes. My dick hardens at the sight of her. Fear fills her features and I fuckin’ love it.
“Get on,” I grind out.
I don’t wait for an answer before I get on my bike. Once I feel her fumble around and her arms slide around my waist, I take off down the road. I don’t have enough gas to go far, so I go back to the clubhouse. Once we pull into the lot, I nod to the prospects that are straddling their bikes to take care of my shit.
I pull the little thing behind me toward the bar, past all the partiers and into the hallway. We walk into my room and I lock the door behind us before I turn to face her.
HATTIE
I blink, looking up at him. I’m not sure how I got into this situation. No, that’s a lie. I know exactly how it happened. I got into a fight with Willa and she kicked me out of her car—told me to walk my ass home. She was just mad that Brandon was flirting with me at the party. She’s had a crush on him since we were in kindergarten.
When I walked into the gas station to use the phone, I thought it was the smart thing to do. I was going to call my big brother to come and get me. He was going to be pissed that I was even in Bonners Ferry. I don’t know why we all came up here to party, except that Brandon’s parents had a vacation cabin here.
I was supposed to be spending the night with Willa and she was spending the night with me. I was almost an hour from home.
There was no way I could walk, so I was going to call Andy to get me. He’d give me shit, but he wouldn’t rat me out to mom and dad.
“Who were you gonna call?” the sexy as hell biker asks me.
He’s tall and thin but muscular. I felt his muscles beneath his t-shirt as I held onto him. Abs. Real abs. Not like the boys I go to school with. No, this is a man. He looks rough, rugged, and mean—but sexy as sin all at the same time.
“My brother,” I murmur.
“Yeah?” he asks before slipping his hand into his pocket and pulling out his phone, handing it to me. I take it from him and look from it to his dark brown eyes.
“Call’em.”
I don’t hesitate.
“Andy?” I ask when he picks up the phone.
“Hattie?”
“I need a ride home,” I whisper. He asks me where I am, and when I tell him Bonners Ferry, he starts screaming into the phone.
“Stop shouting,” the stranger says after he takes the phone out of my hand.
“I’ll keep an eye on her until you get here. She’s warm and safe at the Notorious Devils clubhouse,” the stranger says.
I don’t know what it means, Notorious Devils clubhouse. My brother must, because the stranger’s eyes turn black before he speaks.
“You better calm your shit before you get here, partner.” Without listening for my brother’s reply, he ends the call. “Your brother’s a dick, sweetheart.”
“Yeah,” I agree, nodding my head.
Andy is a dick, but he’s dependable and reliable and he’ll drive the hour to g
et me without telling mom and dad. He’ll make sure I pay him back somehow, but his payback is less than our parent’s punishment would be.
“How long’s he gonna take to get here?” the stranger asks, his dark eyes roaming over my body. I shiver when they meet my eyes, and I watch him smirk.
“An hour or so,” I whisper. He smiles before he takes a step toward me.
His phone rings and he steps away from me for a while as he talks to whoever is on the other end. I am not where I should be. I should be at home. I should be tucked into bed. This has to be the absolute worst night of my life.
Luckily, the stranger stays on the phone for at least thirty minutes, and I sigh out an exhale of relief. I’m afraid to sit, to even move, so I stay stock still and just watch. Andy will be here soon, so soon, then I can go home and stop allowing Willa to drag me into her crazy shit.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” he murmurs as he steps into my space and tucks my long hair behind my ear. I look up into his eyes and gasp at the darkness swirling in them.
“Hattie,” I whisper as he bites his bottom lip.
“Gorgeous,” he whispers before his lips touch mine.
I gasp when one of his hands grabs my ass. He chooses that moment to slide his tongue into my mouth. He’s warm and the stroke of his tongue is firm. He’s not sloppy, like the boys I’ve kissed. He’s not unsure—no, he is controlling this kiss.
Controlling me.
I lift my arms and wrap them around his neck, pressing my body closer to him while I tangle my tongue with his. I feel the vibration of his chest before I hear the moan that escapes his mouth into mine. His other hand tangles in my hair and grips it tightly.
“You should get out of my room,” he mumbles against my lips.
Yet, he makes no move to untangle himself from my body. I don’t want him to, either. I want more of his lips on mine. More of his hands gripping me tightly.
His lips crash against mine again and the hand on my ass moves up to my waist and slowly works its way under my shirt to my bra. I’ve never let anybody touch me before, but I want him to. When his fingers curl around my breast, I inhale as my body shivers beneath his touch.
Notorious Devils MC Complete Collection: BoxSet Page 56
