by J. J. Baxter
He pressed both of his fingers into my eyes as hard as he could.
I tried to fight him off, I tried to get him to stop, but I couldn’t move. The pain was too much, but before he could do any real damage, something caused him to let me go.
“Get away from her.”
“You really don’t give up, do you, Blayd?”
“You didn’t think I was going to leave Angelina here with you, did you?”
Scorpion lowered his gun down at me.
Before he could get it properly pointed, Blayd took the shot, knocking the gun right out of his hands. “I’m done playing games with you, asshole. We’re going to personally deliver your body to the station. I take it you set up a meeting with someone there since you wanted us to turn ourselves in. Someone had to be waiting there to book us all… for what, I have no fucking clue, but it would’ve never happened.”
Blayd had put all the pieces together, writing the rest of the story, and it made me smile, even as my consciousness had been dwindling. I’d never been prouder of him. I wasn’t sure if I would be joining him, feeling the way I did, knowing I couldn’t have much time left, but I wanted him to know I appreciated everything he did for me, that none of it went unnoticed.
“Fuck you, Blayd. Fuck you,” Scorpion said, backing up towards the window, scared, alone, ready to take matters into his own hands, because I could imagine that being taken down by a Reckless Rider member was his worst nightmare.
Blayd didn’t hesitate, taking the first few shots into his legs, knocking him off balance, one more into his abdomen, before inching closer to him to finish the job off by putting a bullet right between his eyes.
I never knew Blayd had it in him. But after everything this fucker had done, I suppose Blayd had enough.
He rushed to my side, getting me out of my bindings, and I was so weak I couldn’t even lift my hands to caress his cheek. He looked so concerned, so worried that I was about to pass out in his arms, and he’d been right. I felt myself slipping, like I was only holding on until I knew that Scorpion was gone, until we were rid of him for good. I smiled up at Blayd, who took me into his arms, pressing his lips firmly into mine. I felt a single tear roll down my cheek. It was the first time in a long time that I felt true joy, and that was a feeling I never wanted to lose.
“Baby, I need you to hang in a little longer, okay? I need you to stay with me. We’re going to get you the help you need.”
I buried my face into his neck while he carried me out, trying to get me onto his bike so he could drive me away from there. “I love you, Blayd,” I said breathlessly, as I wondered if this was the end of the line. I closed my eyes, my body feeling heavy, as the last thing I remembered was the cool breeze hitting my skin before I began to black out. I felt so calm, so happy, and I got to see Blayd again.
I woke to the sound of beeping, my eyes fluttering open to see fluorescent lighting overhead, while I tried to make out where I was. It didn’t look like a hospital to me. I lifted my hands in front of my face, looking at them both, trying to figure out what happened after Scorpion had been killed. I laid there as the memories began to flood back in, I remembered Blayd taking me into his arms, telling me that everything was going to be all right if I just managed to hold on. For a moment, I thought it all had been a dream, and I’d woken back up in another sick reality, wondering if Scorpion was going to come out of the shadows at any second.
There were curtains shielding me from seeing what lay beyond my makeshift hospital room. I saw a hand peel one back, and I instantly worried that I was reliving my worst nightmare all over again.
“It’s okay, baby. You’ve been out for a long time, but I just knew that you’d come back to me.” Blayd sat down at the edge of the bed, taking my hand into his, kissing it softly.
“W-what happened?” I asked, feeling the memories flit around inside my mind at a rapid pace, all a jumbled mess I struggled to make sense of.
“It’s over. Scorpion, the Dawn Vultures, it’s all over,” he said.
I could see the relief in his eyes. “Thank you for coming back for me, Blayd. I really thought it was over for me there.”
“I promised you that I would be back, that we would finally get the chance we’ve been hoping for to move on from this. It’s been a long time coming and I nearly lost my shit more times than I can count, but it was worth it. You were so strong, Angie. I don’t know if I could’ve done what you did,” he said, planting a kiss firmly on my forehead.
This was everything I ever wanted, everything I thought I would never have because my job made it so I would never be able to settle down with anyone. Blayd changed that for me, seeing the Reckless Riders, how free they all were, how they never backed down from a fight, made me want that for myself. “Yes, you could’ve, Blayd. I have a feeling Scotch isn’t too happy with some of your choices, but I want you to know that I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
“Always perceptive, aren’t you, little Raider? I did get chewed out by Scotch and I deserved it too.” He grinned at me the joy and relief right there on his usually blank face. “You’ve been out cold for four days and still you bounce back like a champ.”
My eyes widened. “Four days?”
“Everyone was so worried. You’ll get well fast. And we can finally start building a future together. That’s all I want now, to feel free again, to be by your side.”
I couldn’t have agreed more. “I love you, Max.”
“I love you too, Angelina,” he said, wrapping his arms around me, squeezing as tightly as he could without upsetting any of my injuries.
I basked in the moment with Blayd, listening to him joke about what everyone else was doing, filling my life with a sense of normal that I’d been without for far too long. I needed that to get past everything I’d seen, everything that had been done to me. I knew it would take some time to get over what happened, to rid myself of the image of Scorpion, smiling evilly as he cut me again and again. It felt good to rest my head on Blayd’s shoulders, and just enjoy the fact that we were about to have everything we ever wanted.
No one could take that away from us now.
It took a few weeks for me to get back on my feet, to feel normal again.
Blayd wouldn’t let me anywhere near a bike until I was cleared by the doctors, Scotch was on hand to monitor my injuries. It had been a while before I felt like myself, but I loved getting to spend uninterrupted time with Blayd, not having to worry that our entire lives were going to come crumbling down due to a war between the biker clubs.
I had a lot of time to think about where we were going to go next, and how this would all play out for us. If there was one thing I learned about being a part of the Reckless Riders it was that we were never truly out of danger. We might get the chance to enjoy the freedom for a little while, but it would only be a matter of time before we got the news that we had new enemies in town to deal with.
I still had so many unanswered questions, thinking back to the little black book I’d found, containing all of Scorpion’s most important information. I thought for a moment about the man I had worked for, the one who owned the lumber mill in the first place, but Scorpion had completely taken the place over, having all of his Dawn Vultures do whatever they pleased with the space. From what I remembered, Henry had been a great client of mine, one that always told me I’d never have any issues with him when it came to the work I did. Though, the more I thought about it, the more it just didn’t sit right with me.
I had wondered where Scorpion had got all the personal information about me, where he learned things about me that no one else knew, things from my past that I hadn’t quite acknowledged was a red flag at the time. It was like he’d been hinting to me that I had bigger problems on my hands, as he’d told me that after this was all over, I would want to make my escape out of town. I wondered for a moment if Henry had anything to do with this.
Then Blayd and I got the call from Scotch. Blayd had been helping me tune my
bike, making sure everything was in working order before I got back on it, even though he was still convinced I needed to spend more time resting.
He heard his phone buzz in his pocket and at first he was planning on ignoring it, until he saw Scotch was the one calling. “Yeah. Sure, Scotch. We’ll be down there right away.”
I waited for him to tell me what was happening.
He turned to me. “I’m still not letting you ride. So, why don’t you hop on the back of my bike, and I’ll take us down to the Lazy Pint where we’re meeting the rest of the club.”
I felt so nervous, so curious about what Scotch had to say that I found myself agreeing without putting up much of a fight, and that was truly unlike me.
“Don’t worry, okay?” Blayd said. “I’m sure everything is fine. He probably just has business he wants us to attend to. We’ve practically been on vacation from all of our club duties for weeks.”
“You’re probably right.” I held onto Blayd’s torso tightly, hugging him close on the back of his bike while we rode down to the Lazy Pint.
From the time we pulled up there, I spotted all the familiar bikes I’d come to know over time. It felt strange to see our lives were just going back to normal now, but it was something I couldn’t wait to experience, even if that meant that we had to deal with more trouble coming our way. I couldn’t shake the feeling in the pit of my stomach, sending chills down my spine, like this wasn’t over like we may have thought it was.
I tried to put the thought from my mind, to focus on the fact that this would be the first real time I got to see everyone since I’d been hiding out, trying to recover. It was nice to see all of their faces, and some new ones I still had yet to get acquainted with. Everyone seemed calm, and that made me feel a bit better. It calmed me down for the time being while we all waited for Scotch to take his position at the front and put all of our curiosity to rest, telling us why he asked us all to meet.
Scotch looked around the room. “I know it’s been a stressful last few months and we’ve all been on edge, but today we can finally celebrate that we’re rid of Scorpion and the Dawn Vultures. This may not last forever, but there are some of you that have been around for a long-time riding for the Reckless Riders, and you know that we always rise to the challenge. We all went through a lot this time around and we came out victorious. I have to thank two very special people for doing whatever they could to protect us all, but also to look out for each other. In the middle of all this chaos, we never got the chance to award Blayd and Raider their patches. Will you both join me up here?”
The men in the room all smiled.
I sat there stunned. I would get a patch?
Blayd grabbed my hand and I stood with him.
I looked over at him. Stunned. Women didn’t get patched. They all had said it before, women did not get patched in.
Blayd took my hand in his, and we both made our way in front of everyone.
Valkyrie brought over both of our patches that would get stitched onto our own Reckless Rider jackets.
Thrasher stepped forward and handed us the jackets.
Scotch spoke again, “We took a vote.” He stared at me. “We never had a woman patch into our club. But you earned it with your very blood, Raider Girl.”
I noticed he added the Girl part like Blayd had come to do.
I took the patch into my hands, feeling the fabric, realizing that this was all real. I spent so much of my time worrying that I wouldn’t be accepted as a true member of the Reckless Riders, let alone that they would patch me in. That maybe I wasn’t cut out for this kind of life, but each and every member that I’d come across welcomed me with open arms. They didn’t doubt me for a second.
Blayd turned to me, without the slightest bit of hesitation, taking me into his arms while he planted a kiss firmly on my lips.
Everyone roared with cheers.
He pulled his mouth from mine and asked, “How does it feel, Raider Girl? It’s official now, we’re both part of the Reckless Riders for life. Looks like you will have to give up the loner hit woman gig now,” he teased.
“What makes you think I will be giving up anything? You never know when we might need my skills again.”
Everyone in the room laughed.
“True that,” Thrasher added.
After they quieted for a moment, I continued, “When I got into Vegas, I thought I would only be here for a week, tops. I thought I would be getting rid of a terrible biker president. Things turned around on me though and we did get rid of a terrible biker president. But I didn’t do it alone, like all the times before in my life. I became a part of a team, a family. So, I’m not a loner anymore, Blayd.”
Blayd smiled at me.
“I wouldn’t be here either if you decided to take the hit, so I’m damned glad you changed your mind.” Scotch raised a beer at us.
The entire club did the same. “Reckless for fucking ever!” they all called out.
I truly believed this was just the beginning for all of us. I couldn’t wait to see what else we had in store. It wasn’t often that we had the chance to relax, to enjoy the time we could spend with each other. We had to do a lot to keep up the club name, to stay out of sight of the cops that would be on high alert now that things were changing around here.
“Blayd, what happened to Scorpion’s body?” I asked, truly curious because that detail had been left out of every version of the story I’d heard.
“He was tossed out on the highway, as were a few other members, and they were picked up by police. The police aren’t going to be on our tail for a while, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be that way forever. You and I both know how much of a pain in the ass the cops can be when they want to, but they feel like they lucked out having stumbled upon one of the biggest, most hated biker club presidents around here. Little do they know; we made their job that much easier by placing his body out there in the first place.”
I nodded. “Are there any remaining Dawn Vultures survivors?”
“Yes, there are. There was no way we would’ve been able to take them all out. The truth is, I don’t know if they’re going to be a problem again, but right now everything seems to be quiet around here. Some of them ran to protect themselves and others stayed until the very end. I can imagine that they’re either going to disband completely, or someone else is going to be their leader soon enough. In that case, it won’t be long before we find trouble again.”
“It’s nothing that we can’t handle,” I replied.
“You got that right.” Blayd handed me a beer.
The End
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for taking the time read the first book of the Reckless Riders series. If you enjoyed it and want more, check out the extended epilogue: “Lick Your Wounds” to learn more about Angelina and Blayd.
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[Book 2 cover]
[Book 2 blurb]
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[Chapter 1]
[Chapter 2]
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J.J. Baxter is a contemporary romance author who loves writing hot and steamy, but also emotion-fi
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MEET THE RECKLESS RIDERS
MEMBERSHIP ROSTER
Founder / President
Vincent “Scotch” Brewer
Vice President
Aldrich “Stormer” Freeman
SGT at Arms
Alexander “Valkyrie” Grant
Road Captain:
Grayson “Satyr” Barker
Secretary
Michael “Grip” Hampton
Treasurer
Nathaniel “Drako” Greer
Enforcer
Marc “Flack” Santos
Patch Members
Nicole “Raven” Collins
Samantha “Saboteur” Fleur
Louie “Trick” Forestier
Prospects
Max’“Blayd”Chevalier
Dominic “Wyld” Heath
Gabrielle “Noir” Richardson
ALSO BY J.J.BAXTER
Continue the Reckless Riders MC Series:
Book 2: Stormer
Book 3: Satyr
Book 4: Grip
Book 5: Drako
Book 6: Flack