by E. C. Land
Contents
Acknowledgments
Inferno’s Clutch MC
The Rush
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Available Now
Available on Audible
Coming Soon
Social Media
Family Connections
Translation
Prologue
Ryder’s Rush
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are all products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblances to persons, organizations, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Ryder’s Rush. Copyright © 2020 by E.C. Land. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in articles or reviews. For information, contact E.C. Land.
With there being characters mentioned from Elizabeth Knox’s series, I have her permission in using these characters.
https://www.facebook.com/e.c.landauthor
Cover Design by Charli Childs, Cosmic Letterz Cover Design
Editing by Kim Lubbers
Formatting by E.C. Land
Proofreading by Jackie Ziegler
Created with Vellum
To my little boy who gave me the inspiration to write about Bart the alligator.
Your love for gators and making the chomp, chomp noise is what makes me laugh.
Acknowledgments
My Family – To my husband for always standing next to me and supporting me through out anything and everything. Sure, I annoy him, regardless he’s always there for me to lean on when I need to. Him and my children are constantly inspiring me to keep going and put up with my ramblings. Especially my husband since some things aren’t for children’s ears. To my youngest with the imagination that’s out there, if not for you I don’t know what I’d do to find my inner Bart. To my middle kid she’s my mini me through and through. No matter what she’s always got some sarcastic remark to throw and I end up using it as inspiration. To my oldest, thank you for just being you and making awesome old bay fries to munch on as I write.
My Betas – You guys rock! Thank you all for being the first to read the stories as they come alive. It means the world to me. Especially when you all start to get mad. That’s when I know I’m doing something right. And in doing so pushing me to keep going with all the different plots that form in my head. I’m thankful to you all for being ready and willing to read and give your input.
My Knox Publishing People – If it wasn’t for you all being helpful and encouraging when I need it, I don’t know what I’d do without you all. You’re all wonderful in your own right and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The biggest thing I’ve got to say I’m thankful for most, is the fact I’m able to be around those who understand the way my mind works. Each and every one of you have earned a special place in my life, one way or another.
Liz – My sister from another mister, my best friend and Publisher/Boss. You’re my go to when I need it. If not for you, I don’t know if I’d ever be where I am today with my writing. Thank you for always pushing me and encouraging me.
Diane – You’re my sanity. Without you taking everything on for me, I would not be able to focus the way I do on my writing. Thank you for everything you do. You’re not just my PA, you’re my friend and I couldn’t ask for a better friend than you. Thank you for helping me so much with translations.
Kim and Jackie – I know I’m a pain in the rear a lot of times for you guys; however, you both put up with me regardless. Thank you both for everything you do and taking on all of my work. I love the fact I work with you both on each of them. Also, the fact when it comes to something I miss, you help me understand how to correct it, so it doesn’t happen again.
Inferno’s Clutch MC
President – Chains – Ol’ lady – Tiny (Sloan)
Vice President – Tyres
SAA – Breaker – Ol’ Lady – Spitfire (Nora)
Road Captain – Brake
Enforcer – Pitch Black
Former Prez – Ryder – Ol’ lady – Brielle
Medic – Pipe
Hacker – Fuse
Former Road Captain – Fury – Ol’ Lady – Ela
(Children – Raven and Pitch Black)
Treasurer – Axel
Member – Speed
Member – Throttle
Member – Crash
Member – Pedal
Member – Spark
Member – Frame
Member – Lynch
Prospect – Shock
Prospect – Rig
Prospect – Bender
Prospect – Steel
Playlist
Hush – Struggling Jennings
Let’s Get Lost – Jelly Roll
Lost and Lonely – Aaron Lewis
Faithful – Tucker Beathard (Lindsay Ell Duet)
Fade In/Fade Out – Nothing More
Snuff – Slipknot
Every Time You Leave – I Prevail
It Won’t Last – Blacktop Mojo
God We Need You Now – Struggling Jennings (Caitlynne Curtis)
The Struggle Is Real – Struggling Jennings (Aaron Lewis)
Only – Tucker Beathard
Trigger Warning
This content is intended for mature audiences only. It contains material that may be viewed as offensive to some readers, including graphic language, dangerous and sexual situations, murder, rape, and extreme violence.
Proceed with caution this book does entail several scenes that may vary will be a trigger to some.
Also, tissues are a must with other scenes.
Not for the faint at heart.
If you don’t like violence and cannot handle certain subjects, then this is not a book you’ll want to read.
The Rush
Free falling in the sky
Deep diving in the sea
Both a rush like no other
Only the best of them all
Is coming from taking on
What no other will do
Rushing through life isn’t the best
But feeling the rush through your veins is
The high of adrenaline when you face fear
Or better yet take one the demons when they come near
Nothing beats the rush
Not even facing the monsters in the night
The rush is everywhere
As long as you know where to look
You can find it without even blinking
It will come to you when you need it
Grasp it and don’t let go
Enjoy the ride and don’t close your eyes.
It’s the rush of a life time you won’t want to miss.
~ E.C. Land
Prologue
Ryder
Six Months Ago
“Marcus and Micah, you two get back over here,” My new neighbor calls out from her porch.
Fuckin’ hell that house has been vacant since I’d finally decided to settle down in a house rather than at the clubhouse. Gives me a break from all of the chaos there. And with my nephew, Chains, who I’d given up the President patch to a while back, was shot, nearly losing his life, I needed to have my own space. Somewhere where I could get my head on straight when I needed to.
Now I�
��ve got a neighbor. I knew I should have bought both places. At least then I’d have solitude when I wanted it.
“I won’t tell you again.”
“We’re coming mamma,” a boy’s voice returns.
Kicking my legs up off the banister where they’d been resting, I stand to my feet in order to see who the fuck the loudmouth woman yelling for her children was. I didn’t expect the woman to be a beauty, let alone so young. Dark hair, long down her back, from the side view I’d say she were no more than mid-twenties. As the boys came into view, I notice that they’re either very close in age or twins. The kicker was the boys looked to be roughly ten or eleven. For a woman so young you’d think her kids would be younger as well.
“You know you can’t go traipsing outside without me knowing.” I hear her chastising them.
“Sorry mamma,” one of them mutters.
“It’s okay, let’s get inside so we don’t disturb the neighbors,” she states wrapping an arm around each of the boy’s shoulders.
The three of them go into their house and I sit back down in my chair and kick my legs back up in order to enjoy my beer. Guess maybe it won’t be so bad having a neighbor if they look like that.
Four Months Ago
“Hey, cool you ride a motorcycle,” the excited voice of one of my neighbor’s boys says. Lifting my head up from where I’d been looking at what I was doing with the brakes on my bike.
“Yep,” I mutter and go back to what I was doing.
“So cool. When I get old enough, I’m going to get my own bike. Micah and I both want one, but mamma doesn’t think it’s a good idea.” Guess this is Marcus.
Over the past month, I’ve barely been home preferring to stay at the clubhouse with the shit we’d had going on. Hell, I’d thought I’d at least have a reprieve from the drama when everything went to hell when my nephew Breaker’s ol’ lady was kidnapped and ended up being strung up over a fuckin’ snake pit.
Who does that shit?
“What make is yours?” Marcus asks.
“Harley Davidson, FXS 1200, super glide low rider,” I grunt.
“Cool, I want one like this one,” he says and out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of the kid sitting down on the ground near me. “Micah probably to. We always get the same thing but that’s ‘cause we’re twins and like the same thing, you know what I mean?”
“Yeah,” I mutter focusing on what I was doing.
“You don’t talk much, do you?”
“Nope.”
“That’s cool. Mamma, she used to talk all the time. She says she doesn’t anymore because Micah and I do it for her,” Marcus states.
“Marcus, what are you doing over there? Come on we have to go.” Glancing up I take in the beauty I’d seen before calling her son. With a full-frontal view of her she’s more than beautiful ’she looks to be majestic.
“Coming,” Marcus calls out as he stands. “See you around mister,” he says, and I give him a chin lift as I go back to what I was doing.
Three months ago
Those boys I swear are becoming my freaking shadow. Every time I’m home and they know it, they immediately descend on me. Don’t know why but they do and as much as I want to say it annoys me, I can’t. I’ve become used to it.
The mom on the other hand, I haven’t even spoken to her. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her leave the house besides that one time a month ago when she loaded the boys up in a rush and left. They were gone maybe an hour, hour and a half tops.
She also barely lets them boys out of her sight. Only time I’ve noticed this was when they were with me does she seem to relax somewhat. At least enough to sit on her porch for a bit while their hanging with me. Whether it was them sitting on my porch talking my ear off or while I’m doing something in the yard.
Not much gets past her as she sits there, eyes glued to her boys.
“Mamma, has been really busy lately. I don’t think she’s sleeping,” Micah states from his perch on the porch.
“That’s because she isn’t,” Marcus retorts, shrugging his shoulders.
Their mom doesn’t sleep?
“Why doesn’t she sleep?” I grunt.
“She sca . . .”
“Shut up, Micah. You know you’re not supposed to talk about it,” Marcus mutters, interrupting his brother.
“But,” Micah starts again only to have Marcus lean and whisper something into his ear. Micah’s face grows pale. “No. I don’t want that.”
I don’t know what’s going on with them and their mom, but I’ve got a feeling from the look on Micah’s face and the protectiveness Marcus is showing it’s not good.
“Look boys. I’m going to say this, and I want you to hear me, really hear what I’m going to say to you. If you need me for anything, you come to me. I am going to give you my cell phone number and another number just in case I’m not home and it’s an emergency. Use them only if you need to. You got something you want to tell me go ahead. I will make sure to take care of y’all if I can. Got it?” Why I said this I don’t know but like my four nephews and niece a sense of needing to protect them hits me.
Little did I know just what that trouble was and what it would bring.
Chapter One
Brielle
Present Day
“You stupid bitch. Open the fuck up,” Titus, my ex-boyfriend and the father to my boys calls out as he slams a fist on the door.
How did he find me?
I escaped him nearly a year and a half ago and I figured Marcus, Micah and I would finally be okay. I guess I was wrong because he’s out there banging on my door.
Even though I hadn’t been with Titus since the boys were born ten years ago when I was seventeen, he’s controlled my life. To him I was nothing but a possession that he wanted to control. Every time I’ve tried to escape his hold on me, he always found me and brought me back.
This last time I escaped I’d thought I’d been smart about it. I ran taking the boys with me, like I always have, in an attempt to give them a better life. Titus left to handle business for his uncle, Louis Pelletier, leader of one of the most profound gangs back home. The Péché Mortel also known as the Deadly Sinners. Titus is Louis’ right hand man so when he’d been sent to go handle whatever it was he did, I packed up the boys, ran to my best friends who had her cousin, Ice and his club the Toxic Warriors MC help me. They’d made sure to cover my tracks and for the last six months I’d been able to stay in one place with my boys.
I’d even been able to relax somewhat with Micah and Marcus being out of my sight. Well not completely out of my sight but next door when the hottie neighbor is out there. For some reason my boys love going over there and sitting with him on the porch or watching him work on something in the yard or his bike.
I’ve yet to speak to him. Probably out of fear. He’s a big guy and the last guy I’d been with pretty much kept me captive for years. Stupid mistake going for the bad boy my senior year in high school. I’d luckily managed to finish school before the twins were born. If not for the school having had their classes set up to do certain courses the first semester and another set of courses the second semester, I’d have been screwed. The way it was, I’d graduated right before they were born.
Now Titus is banging on my front door, I wish Ryder, my neighbor, I’d learned his name from Marcus and Micah, was home. If he were, I might have been able to slip out the back door and make it to his house without Titus seeing me.
“Won’t tell you again, Brielle. Open the damn door or I’ll break it down,” Titus shouts and right now I’m grateful to have put the boys in school. At least there, I know they’re safe eight hours a day.
Taking a deep breath, I think of what my options are as Titus’ pounding on the door becomes relentless. Open the door, have Titus get his hands on me or make it out the back door and hopefully to my car without him seeing me.
Mind made up, I grab my keys and the burner phone I’d kept by the back door just as the fr
ont door is kicked in and Titus spots me. A wicked smirk crosses his features, “You think you’ll make it out that door?”
My fingers begin to tremble clutching the keys and phone in my hand.
I grip the doorknob tightly in my hand at the same time keeping my gaze focused on Titus.
“Uh, Brielle?” he chuckles.
“P–Pl–Please leave us alone, Titus,” I plead, tears choking me.
“Not happenin’, ma vilaine. You belong to me Brielle, so do those boys, granted I could give a rat’s ass about them. But they are the only thing I have as leverage over you to keep you in check. Now come here like the good putain you are,” Titus snickers, wagging a finger between the two of us.
Gripping the handle on the door tighter, I release a shuttered breath and flip the phone in my hand open and press the one key that is programmed into the phone. I put everything down on the counter and move toward Titus. I don’t want to, but I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my boys.
Marcus and Micah are the only two people in this world I give a damn about, and I’ll die protecting them from the man who helped create them.
Chuckling, Titus snatches ahold of my left arm the instant I’m within reaching distance. “You have caused me quite a bit of trouble, ma vilaine. I want nothing more than to put you out of your misery, unfortunately it seems you have protection wrapped around you this time. Meaning I can’t kill you right now. Not without causing a war between us and the fuckers you decided to gain help from. Doesn’t mean I won’t teach you a lesson.”
