Thorn (Salvation’s Bane MC 3)
Marteeka Karland
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Copyright ©2020 Marteeka Karland
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Editor: Katriena Knights
Cover Artists: Marteeka Karland and Angela Knight
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Table of Contents
Thorn (Salvation’s Bane MC 3)
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Epilogue
Marteeka Karland
Thorn (Salvation’s Bane MC 3)
Marteeka Karland
Mariana -- If it weren’t for bad luck… Yeah. That’s me. I found myself stranded on the side of the road after my boyfriend threw me out. My mother, bless her heart, thinks I’m dragging her to the pits of hell because I got myself knocked up.
All of which I could deal with. What nearly put me in a panic was the big, muscle-bound, tattooed biker who pulled up behind me, ordering me to “pop the hood.” I was scared, but, God, the man was smoking hot! Had I not been hot, tired, and pregnant, I might have gotten on my knees and begged him to take me. Instead, I kept that part of myself tightly under control. Sort of.
Thorn -- Ana isn’t like anyone I’ve ever come across. If there’s a woman in this world who needs pampering, it’s her. She’s half starved, on the verge of heat stroke, and I steamrolled my way into her life.
But I wasn’t prepared for the call I got from the hospital or the sight of her broken body. I’m all about vengeance, and someone is going to pay for this. Dearly. And my little Ana is going to have to learn to take on a man like me. Because somewhere around the very first time I saw her, I might have gone and fallen in love with her.
Chapter One
“Come on… Come on…” Mariana Everly cranked the engine of her little Chevy Cavalier. The poor thing had been on its last legs for a while, but she’d hoped she could coax it along for a few more months until after the baby was born and she was back to work full time. As she turned the key for the sixth time, that hope dwindled. “Just a little longer,” she crooned as she patted the dashboard. “Just a little longer and you can rest.”
It didn’t help.
The hot August Florida sun beat down unmercifully on her, the interior of the car so hot she could barely breathe. No way she could sit there like this. She had to have the vent blowing or something. She reached across the console to roll the passenger side window down before doing the same with the driver’s side. Then she sat there, trying to figure out what to do.
She’d pulled off the road because her phone had rung. When she’d tried to answer it, she’d dropped it between the console and the seat. Normally, she’d have just gone on and worried about the damned thing later, but she’d been waiting on a call about work and hadn’t wanted to miss it. The second she’d put the car in park, she’d turned off the ignition. Force of habit and fatigue, she supposed. Anyway, she’d retrieved her phone only to find it had been a spam call, then her car had refused to start.
This was just her luck. She had no one to call. No one. Jason had broken up with her. Her mother had kicked her out of the house when Mariana had told her she was pregnant. Jason had run off any friends she might have had early in their relationship -- which should have been a clue he was no good for her. Compound that with the fact that Jason had controlled all their money, and she was well and truly screwed.
Thank God she’d gotten her job’s human resources department to issue her a paper check for the current pay period, or it would have gone straight to Jason’s bank account. Just like it had since they’d been together. Stupidity on her part, but there it was. Unfortunately, that paycheck wouldn’t come for another eight days.
Seeing no other option, she called Jason. Surprisingly, he answered on the second ring. “What do you want, Mari?”
“My car broke down. I can’t get it to start.”
“And?” God, the man was an ass! What had she ever seen in him?
“And you get my paycheck deposited to your account, so you know I don’t have any money. You kicked me out without a dime to my name. I need a tow and money for a rental until it’s fixed so I can get to work.”
“Nothing doing, sweetheart. I got my own shit to think about.”
“You can’t leave me here like this! I need your help this one time. Once I get paid, you’ll never hear from me again!” Mariana hated begging. Especially begging him. He relished it and loved making her grovel for him. It was so humiliating! She’d promised herself when he kicked her out two days ago she’d never beg him again. Yet here she was.
“One more time turns into another and another. I’ve got my girlfriend to think about. How do you think she’d feel if I dropped everything and came to bail you out? And all that money? I should be spending it on her instead of my ex.”
That hurt. Badly. “You just broke up with me two days ago, Jason! How could you possibly have met another woman that quickly?” She didn’t mention the baby because she was really hoping he’d forget about the child she was carrying. She didn’t want anything from him because to insist on child support meant giving him access to her child, and that wasn’t happening.
“What can I say? I’m a hot commodity.”
“Yeah. Apparently.” Her sarcasm was probably lost on the dolt.
He chuckled. “I’m surprised you’re not using the old ‘think of the baby’ line.”
“This is about you and me, Jason. The baby has nothing to do with it.” She wanted to tell him the baby was none of his business anymore, but didn’t dare. If he thought it mattered to her that he was out of her life for good, he’d do everything in his power to get joint custody. Right. She’d move to Canada first.
“Sorry, Mari. I can’t help you.”
Mariana hated when he shortened her name. He knew it, too.
“Look, Jason. I’ve never asked you for anything since we’ve been together. I need this one thing. This is an emergency. It’s a hundred and three out, and I’m stuck on the side of the road. I need help.”
“I’d suggest you call 911. It’s what people usually do in an em
ergency.”
Mariana heard a female giggle, and her face flamed. She guessed he was serious about the new girlfriend. Just as well. If she never saw the guy again, it would be too soon. Right now, though, she needed his help.
“Jason --” Before she could say anything else, he hung up on her.
Realizing she couldn’t stay in the car without roasting, even with the windows down, she got out of the car and moved toward the rear passenger’s side door, out of the direct sunlight. The sun was still high, but at enough of an angle that there was shade on that side of the car if she sat down. Which she did, gratefully. Normally the heat didn’t bother her too much unless it was extremely humid, but, with her advancing pregnancy, she found even simple things she’d always taken for granted sometimes took a toll on her.
As she sat, the baby gave a little kick in her side. She was just past twenty weeks. A little more than halfway through, things were starting to be uncomfortable. Slight as she was, Mariana was already showing prominently. Also, the cute little maternity dress she’d worn wasn’t very comfortable for sitting on the ground. The only fortunate thing about this whole situation was that she’d been on a back road. Pulling to the shoulder meant she could sit in the grass so she wasn’t too uncomfortable.
She put a hand on her rounded pooch, trying to soothe the little one inside her. “We’re gonna be OK, sweetie,” she murmured. “I’ll figure out a way out of this.”
The only other option open to her was to call her mother. Much as she hated to, even though she knew the answer already, she had to. Not for herself. For the little life growing inside her.
“Mom?”
“I have no daughter. Who is this?”
Great. This wasn’t going to go well. Still, Mariana plowed on. “I’m in trouble and I need help. My car broke down and I’m stranded.”
“If I had a daughter, I’d tell her she should call the bum who got her pregnant in the first place. If she thought so much of him as to throw away her only family, it should have been her first call.”
“He broke up with me, Mom. I did call him, but he won’t help me.” No way she was telling her mother he was with someone else. That would be too humiliating. As she spoke with her mother, she heard the rumble of a motorcycle in the distance. Sure enough, one rounded the curve the way she’d come and, to her surprise, seemed to be slowing. Her heart sped up. This could be bad. Really bad.
“Well, perhaps you should have chosen a better man. I’m sorry. But I can’t help you.”
“Mom! Please!” As she continued to speak, the bike pulled behind her car, and the man riding it shut the thing down. He pulled off his helmet and Mariana’s breath caught. This had to be the scariest man she’d ever seen. Full beard, tattoos creeping up his neck. Piercing blue eyes. The harshest scowl she’d ever seen on a human being. “I just need someone to pick me up. I’ll figure out how to rent a car on my own. Just, please don’t leave me here!” No doubt the man could hear the conversation once the bike was off. She stood now. Readying herself to run for it. “Mom, there’s a man who pulled up behind me on a bike. I need help!”
“Perhaps you should have thought about that when you took up with the first unsavory young man you met and got yourself pregnant out of wedlock. Once you do that, men like him can smell you out. I’m sorry. But, like I said, I have no daughter anymore. She’s dead.” The line disconnected.
Mariana let out a sob, putting the back of her hand to her mouth in an effort to contain her hysteria. “Don’t come any closer!” She needed to call 911 but was so scared the signal couldn’t get from her brain to her fingers.
“Calm the fuck down, will ya?” The man strode past her to the front of the car. He reached in through the open window and popped the hood latch. Moving to the front of the car to examine under the hood, he asked, “What’s it doin’?”
Mariana stayed on the other side of the car, clutching her phone, afraid to say or do much. When she didn’t answer he stopped looking at the car and turned his gaze on her. “Well?” He barked the question sharply, as if she were wasting his time.
“I-it turns over, but won’t start.”
“Got gas?”
“Yes. Uh, h-half a tank.”
He pulled something out of the guts of the car, looked at it, then put it back and shut the hood. “Your ignition module’s fucked.”
She waited for more. When none was forthcoming she asked, “What does that mean?”
“Means you’re not getting fire to your spark plugs, which means your car won’t start. You got someone comin’ to help you?”
“Sure,” she squeaked, but he just gave her a look. “That is, uh, I will. I-I just gotta call, uh, my, uh, ex-boyfriend.”
“Ex-boyfriend, huh?”
“Yes. I’m sure he’ll help me out.”
The guy waved at her phone. “Call him. Not leavin’ ’til I know someone’s comin’ for ya.” He put his hands on his hips, his feet planted shoulder-width apart.
This was a no-win situation. If she called Jason, he’d make her beg. It was likely what he was waiting for, because that’s what he did. Denied her something she desperately needed until she groveled enough to satisfy him. Once was never enough. It usually took three or four tries before he actually did what she needed. Always, there was a steep price to pay. Besides all the begging, that was. Anything she said to Jason, she’d have to say in front of this guy. If she refused, or if he decided not to help her, this guy would know. Then what would he do? What would she do?
She studied him and found nothing yielding about him. He was made of steel, as far as she could tell. He’d do exactly what he said he’d do. If that meant he didn’t leave until she had someone coming to help her, then he’d stay.
With a defeated sigh, she dialed Jason’s number again. This time, he waited until the fourth ring. “I told you, Mari --” There was a pause as something that sounded suspiciously like a kiss sounded next to the phone. “I can’t help you.”
“Put it on speaker,” the biker demanded.
She tried to turn away, but he simply snagged her phone and put it on speaker himself.
To her horror, Jason continued, the intimate noises of sex going on in the background. “I’m currently busy getting a blow job, so you’ll just have to find another sucker to help you. I’m done.”
“Jason, please,” she pleaded, unable to look at the biker witnessing her humiliation. “Just put enough money in my checking account to pay for a tow and I’ll never bother you again.”
“Damn straight you won’t bother me again. I’ve had enough of your constant whining and pretending to be sick. Being pregnant doesn’t cause that much of a fucking mess. Besides, I’m sure you tried to trap me into marriage, but I got news for you, bitch. Ain’t no woman who can tie me down.” There was a moaning sound followed by a gasp and a slurp. “I’m tired of not being able to get a fucking blow job when I want it. Fix your damned piece-of-shit car yourself.” Then he ended the call.
Mariana turned her back to the biker, her emotions getting the better of her. She shook with both her humiliated sobs and the effort to hold them back.
But that wasn’t the end of it. The biker handed her phone back as he pulled out his own from his back pocket, scrolled through it until he found a number, then put the phone to his ear.
“Carnage. Need a roll back. Have Ripper ping my cell. Got a car needs some work.” There was a pause. “Yeah. Take it to Red’s. Blue eighties model Cavalier Z24. Headed west on 80. I’ll meet you there soon as I can.”
He put a surprisingly gentle hand on Mariana’s shoulder. “Come on, little lady. Let’s get you something to drink and this car taken care of.”
When she turned around, the biker put his helmet on her head before taking her hand and leading her toward his bike. He threw one thick leg over the seat and started it up. When she just stood there, he pulled her toward him.
“Get on.”
“I can’t ride that thing!” She had to yell to be h
eard over the motor. “My dress --”
“Just tuck it under your ass. You’ll be fine. Watch the pipes and put your feet on the pegs.” Seeing little alternative, she did. Once seated, he snagged her arms and brought them around him and pulled her closer so she was mashed tightly against him. “Hang on, sugar.” Then they were off.
* * *
How the fuck did Thorn manage to get himself into these fucking situations? The girl he’d picked up on the side of the road was not someone he needed to mess with. She was too fucking young, for one thing. For another, she was pregnant. While he had nothing against young or pregnant women, he had a tendency to be a little overprotective. Especially when, out there somewhere, a man was responsible for her, and he was doing a piss-poor job of taking care of her. Women and children needed men like him to protect them, and he took the mandate more seriously than most.
This particular woman, though…
Yeah. She just screamed “battered woman.” Might be mental abuse, but she had it coming at her from all sides. Shame, too, because she was insanely lovely. Slight of build, she had dark, chestnut-colored hair, dark brows, hazel eyes, and that adorable little baby pooch swelling under her little maternity dress. How any man could be mean to her, let alone leave her in the middle of the road in this fucking heat, was beyond him. And to do it while fucking another woman? Little asshole was getting a visit later.
Thorn pulled them into the parking lot of a local diner, one he and his brothers in Salvation’s Bane frequented. It was cool inside, the food was good, and she could wait with him in a public place and be fairly comfortable doing it.
She slid off the bike gingerly, a little unsteady on her feet. He took her arm as gently as he could to steady her, and she peeked under her lashes at him, not pulling away but obviously not comfortable with his touch either. Understandable.
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