“This book is one of the best books I have read this year. Absolutely I adore this author bc her works bring you into this other world.” ~ Spunk N Sassy (Julie)
Gamble grabbed my right hand, then reclined the passenger seat while I drove us home.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m good.”
“Good at lying,” I said.
“Kitten, it’s been two weeks since I got out of the hospital. I’m getting better.”
I nodded at the windshield. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you needed to stand around for an hour with Brute while Aubrey had her practice.”
He didn’t say anything to that. At a traffic light, I glanced at him. He had a big, beautiful smile on his face. The joy in his expression almost made me think he was stoned, but I knew better.
“What are you smiling about?”
His eyes stayed closed as he said, “I’m fucked, but I like it.”
“Pardon?”
He opened his eyes. “It’s always gonna be like this, isn’t it?”
The light changed, I faced forward, and we motored onward. “Is what going to be like this?”
“Us. The bickering, the fussing… and even your girl Heidi fussing over me. That’s how it’s going to be, isn’t it?”
I pressed my lips together. “I don’t know,” I murmured.
His seat came forward. “You know, and it’s true.”
We were in the driveway. I tried to wrest my hand free, but Gamble hit the clicker with his free hand. I pulled the car forward and he hit the clicker again. He let my hand go so I could park and turn off the engine.
Gamble shifted and cupped my cheeks. “You love me, right?”
My chin dipped. “More than I knew I could love anyone.”
His eyes lit up. “Right. And I’m yours in a way I never knew I could belong to anybody.”
“Okay,” I said hesitantly. “What brought this on?”
“You’re mine the same way right? You belong to me?”
I nodded… still hesitant.
“That’s what the property patch is about, kitten. At least for me. I see a woman with a brother’s patch on her back, it doesn’t just tell me she’s off-limits. It tells me that brother found a woman he cares enough about to make her his. And crazy as you might find it, that makes me happy for that man.”
I nodded and his hands fell away. “But some of your brothers haven’t put cuts on their women. I haven’t seen Kenzie wearing anything like that or Trinity.”
Gamble laughed. “Kenzie was wearing one at the Fourth of July party, but you probably didn’t notice because of Stephanie accusing her of cheating at cornhole.”
“Okay, fine. And Trinity?”
A lopsided grin crossed his face. “You might say Trinity made Roman hers, but really, you’d have to ask Roman about that. I don’t know why he hasn’t given her a cut, and God knows Sandy has to be nagging the hell out of Roman about it.”
“That’s not saying much. I think she enjoys nagging your brothers.”
“Yeah. But, we recognize women have rights. Set your feminism aside. If I give you a property cut, it’s an honor, Victoria.”
Gamble’s fingers traced soothing patterns on my back. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling. I wanted to ask what he was thinking about, but that was a bad question to ask any man.
His eyes slid toward me. “I told you a little about my parents yesterday.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“When I said they were neglectful, I wasn’t joking.”
I leaned up to look him in the eyes. “Believe me, I didn’t think you were.”
His hand came up and guided my head back to his shoulder. “That’s good, Victoria.” After a moment, he continued. “I mention it because there was no man in my life to talk to me about women, and damn sure not about love.”
“Okay,” I drawled.
“Don’t know if it’s the extreme nature of the shit swirling around us, or if it’s a little like what your Uncle Mick said, but there’s something… more between us than what I’m used to, Victoria.”
I nodded against his shoulder. “I think I get what you’re saying, but what did you mean by ‘what Uncle Mick said’?”
I felt and heard his chuckle. “Said he argued with your aunt the first time he saw her, didn’t he?”
I smiled. “Yeah.”
“Well… I don’t think it’s the conventional way to win a woman’s heart, but then again, I’ve never been very conventional.”
I laughed and tried to roll away, but he held me close. From under my lashes, I gazed up at him. “I didn’t think you wanted to win my heart.”
He gave me a squeeze. “Can’t win you if I don’t win your heart too. Can I?”
That took my breath away. “I don’t know,” I whispered.
His eyes softened. “Yeah, you do know.” He leaned down and gave me a lazy, sweet kiss. “Let’s get some sleep.”
Cynic believes in a good time, not a long time; it’s understandable since his wife cheated after twelve years of marriage. Now that he’s single, variety is the spice of life, and he keeps his life spicy. He avoids women looking for commitment.
As the Sergeant-at-Arms for the Riot MC, when he’s ordered to protect Fiona Brinkley from her ex-fiancé Cynic battles an almighty attraction. A battle he loses.
Fiona thinks Cynic is off-limits. The last time she saw him, he was married to his high school sweetheart. However, that was years ago, and things have changed. When Cynic suggests a good time with him, she jumps at the chance. It’s the best chance she’s ever taken. She falls for Cynic, but he’s the wrong man.
He doesn’t want the things she does: commitment and building a family.
Can Fiona shift Cynic’s stance, so he’ll take a chance on a long time that promises to be a good time?
He hadn’t appreciated how well he’d slept next to Kenzie in the past. Not until that night, when he dozed off only to wake up in a cold sweat. The third time it happened, he went to the bathroom. As he wandered back to her bed, he saw it was quarter to four in the morning.
His eyes had adjusted to the dark, he found his pants, and quietly pulled them on.
“You’re leaving?” Kenzie croaked.
“Not sleepin’. Means you’re probably not sleepin’. Figure it’s better—”
She turned on her bedside lamp and he squinted. He watched her reach under her pillow and pull out her satin nightie. She got out of the bed, pulled on the nightie, and turned around.
Her eyes blazed at him. “You did not strike me as a runner.”
“Not running. We’re both—”
She leaned forward. “Tired! Whatever, Vaillant! I fucked up and told you how I was feeling because you told me not to bottle shit up and to always be honest with you. Is that a one-way street now?”
“Ken—”
She shook her head. “I hear the placating tone coming my way, and I call bullshit. Seriously, Sam. I gotta be honest with you always, but that courtesy doesn’t extend my way?”
His head turned marginally. She’d turned shit around on him, and he didn’t like it. “What are we fighting about?”
“The double standard, Brute. You don’t have to say you love me, but you don’t feel anything for me?” she asked, throwing an arm out. She shook her head again, and stalked toward the bathroom. “I shouldn’t ask that. Besides, you’re right. It’s probably better if you go. Neither one of us is sleeping, not that I’m likely to sleep now, but have it your way. I’ll lock the front door in five minutes.”
She closed the door to the bathroom, and he heard the lock click. The hollowness in his stomach wasn’t hollow anymore. It burned with a pain he hadn’t felt in a long damn time. He sat on her bed, put his elbows to his knees, hunched over, and held his head in his hands. She was right, he’d given her a double standard.
What the hell was he supposed to do?
He wouldn’t leave her like this, that much he knew. Whether he could make it right with her, remained to be seen.
Waiting for her to come out of the bathroom felt like an eternity.
He turned his head when she opened the door and felt a gut punch. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. That was his fault.
With his eyes on hers, he sat up straight and held a hand out to her. She twisted her lips, but put her hand in his while she slowly made her way to him. He didn’t want her sitting next to him, so he let go of her hand and took her by the hips. She gasped, but her legs spread as he put her on his lap so they were chest-to-chest and face-to-face.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Her hands wrapped around his neck. “What for?”
His forefinger traced around her eye. “This. I never want to make you cry, Zee. And, I’m sorry for giving you a double standard.”
Her brows went up even as her chin dipped. She kept quiet.
“I have feelings for you. More damn feelings than I’ve had for a woman in a helluva a long time.”
He heard and felt her shuddering breath. “That goes both ways,” she whispered.
With his forehead against hers, he asked, “You have feelings for a woman, too?”
Her fingers gave his neck a playful squeeze. “No. I have—”
“I got that when you laid the honesty on me, babe. Scares the hell out of me because I haven’t done anything to deserve that.”
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Title: Harm’s Way
Series: A Riot MC Biloxi Novel
Author: Karen Renee
Release: April 13, 2021
Genre: MC Romance
Cover Photography: Golden Czermak
Cover Model: Dylan Horsch
Cover Design: Karen Renee