I sat in the uncomfortable hospital seat with my feet tucked up under me, smiling until it hurt. Irish was up and moving and ready to be released into Dawn's care.
They'd be sharing my apartment.
"I'm gonna miss fighting it out with you at the bar, girly," Dawn said, wiping away a tear.
Irish grinned. "That round of Thunder will go down in club history."
I was leaving. Hitting the road. Going for a long drive. I would miss them both terribly, but I just couldn't stay.
"Sad you're gonna miss Irish's big night?" Bill appeared in the doorway, with Theo behind him in the hall. "Votes have been counted. You being made a full member."
Irish’s eyes went wide. Dawn squealed and jumped on him, giving him a big hug. He sank back down to sit on his bed.
"Thanks, Bill."
"Well. Been a long time coming. We're gonna need a new bartender, Ivy, if you'd consider changing your mind?"
"Hell, no," I said, though I smiled at the offer. I still had mixed feeling about what Bill had done - bringing everyone together by keeping them in the dark. Just because it had worked out didn't mean it was the right thing to do.
Still, I was happy for Irish. He was going to be okay - he had limited use of the hand, and his elbow would always be stiff, but he swore up and down that he'd be able to ride. To him, to any of them, that was what mattered most.
"I'm sorry I'll miss the party," I said. I caught Theo's eye over Bill's shoulder. He nodded. Time to go.
I made our goodbyes fast. Dawn and Irish both squeezed me tight. I promised Dawn that I'd keep in touch. Irish's hug lingered - it was still painful to remember his visit at the club, when he'd delivered the watch. I was so terrified at the time, in such an awful state, and he'd had no choice but to leave me there. "Be okay," he said into my ear. I nodded.
I shook hands with Bill, gave the room one last wave, and fled, gripping Theo's hand.
We were off - his mission complete, he was homebound, all the way back to the east coast where his own chapter of the Dust Bowl Devils waited.
There was no reason to rush, though. No reason not to stall in one place, take the scenic route through another. No reason not to just drive. Walking towards our vehicles, I felt like weights were being lifted, anxieties melting away. A new life called.
Theo pushed me back against one of the concrete pillars and attacked my mouth with a scorching kiss. I melted for him; putty in his hands.
"Can't say I'll be sorry to put this place at my back. Are you okay?"
I nodded. "I am." I leaned in for another kiss, but he dodged, hovering just out of the way and smiling. I slapped his shoulder. "Tease."
"Let me drive." We'd hitched his bike to the truck. He was more willing to ride with me at least part of the time if he wasn't on his way into battle.
I dangled the keys between us and snatched then away when he tried to take them. "Tease," he growled. He kissed me into submission, his tongue claiming my mouth and making my toes curl until finally I dropped them into his hand.
I was breathing heavily when I spoke again. "Let me have the radio?"
"I wouldn't dream of touching it." I hopped into the passenger seat and immediately flipped through all my cassettes. Theo was already in my heart; if he was going to live there, he'd have to learn to love all the tracks the echoed down its corridors.
Britten is an independent young author in NYC. Born with a love of words, the city, and animals, she grew up in an ever-growing pile of books. She’s mastered the art of cell phone typing and has more pets than her landlord needs to know about. When she’s not writing, she’s running. When she’s not running, she’s drinking every new beer she can get her hands on.
She can confirm that stereotypes about Catholic schoolgirls are true. Having been one herself, she’s still in recovery. Don’t tell her mom.
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Special thanks to my sisters, my writing group, and most especially, my readers! It’s hard work to spit out a story, but I loved every minute of it and couldn’t have done it alone.
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This book was my very first novel. Check out all my shorter works on my Amazon author page, or visit my website, www.BrittenThorne.com
Or continue turning the pages for a peek at two short erotic novellas you may enjoy as well…
For sale on Amazon
Revisit the Dust Bowl Devils in this sexy novella! This story has only minor crossover with Devil’s Girl,; they can be read in any order.
Stubborn, hot-headed Lily only had three options - get married, get on her back, or get the hell out. The local MC makes the rules, and they rule the town. She chooses to leave. Nobody tells her what to do. Nobody bosses her around.
Until she meets Nomad. He’s the former president of the Dust Bowl Devils. When he offers her a ride to LA, she jumps onto the back of his bike without looking back. But he’s got a different sort of ride in mind…
Warning: This 20,000+ word novella contains explicit language and graphic adult content including wild and rough sex between a young woman and a dominating older biker.
Excerpt:
“We’ll be staying in this town for a day or two,” he said as he stood. I followed him back outside. “I’ve got some business to attend to. You’ll wait in the motel unless I take you out, understand? You don’t go anywhere alone.”
“What?!” That was just too much. He may have been doing me a favor, but I wasn’t his prisoner.
He raised an eyebrow at me. “How about you ask like someone that has some manners?”
I knew I was being deliberately shitty. I couldn’t help it. I was stressed and far from home, and his calm about the whole situation was making me angry. “Care to tell me what the fuck please, sir?”
We’d reached his bike. He paused to kick the stand up, intending to walk it to the gas station just in the next lot. He didn’t look at me as he spoke. “Oh, honey. You’re going to pay for that.”
I followed him to the gas pumps, a few steps behind. What did he mean by “pay”? I should have taken off right then. Fact was, I wasn’t his prisoner and I wasn’t his family, and if I wanted to run screaming, no one would take his side. Hell, he might not even try to follow me. I could make my own way to LA, or to anyplace else. But something stopped me.
That hint of promise in his threat.
For sale on Amazon
He takes her captive, claiming it’s to keep her safe. But she knows what happens to women when civilization crumbles.
Josie was fading away. Living in isolation in a dead city, she can feel her mind crumbling just like the buildings around her.
Until Adam. He rides in on a motorcycle, starving, separated from his gang, chased by rivals.
Their chemistry is intense and undeniable, but his very presence puts her in danger. He says he’ll keep her safe, but she knows what’s out there. The dead wander and attack at night. The living do worse. She’d have to be crazy to trust him, but he’s determined to change her mind…
Warning: This 21,000 word novella contains explicit language and graphic adult content including violence, branding, and rough and wild sex that will leave you breathless.
Excerpt:
Finally, the fever got the better of me. I could barely keep my eyes open. Preacher was fondling Sunny's breasts, right there in front of all of us, but I could barely muster any outrage. I just wanted to shut my eyes and get under a blanket. A pile of blankets.
I started to nod off sitting up, but Adam appeared, crouching in front of me, wrapping my wrists with the twine again. I whined and tried to protest.
"Shh," he said, tying the last knot. "I don't want you wandering out of here delirious with that fever. And these guys don't trust you." He pulled the makeshift curtains shut around us, blocking my view of Sunny and Preacher latching lips at the bar. Poor girl. I shivered, though I knew I was burning up. Everything felt hazy.
"Drink." Adam pushed a canteen at me,
and I obeyed, knowing I needed lots of fluids to get better. He pulled my boots off before kicking off his own and draping his jacket over one of the curtains.
"Lie down." God, I did not want to sleep in this tiny cellar with those tough bikers so close. Adam made it worse when he pushed a second cot right up against mine.
"What are you doing?" I knew it wasn't likely, but I'd sort of hoped to have a partition to myself. But he didn't need to push the damn cots together.
"Keeping you warm until your fever breaks."
I heard the others moving around. They wouldn't help, they were on his side. Hell, they called each other brothers.
"Your teeth are chattering. Just lie down. Look, we're not getting undressed at all. See?" He dropped onto his back on the cot next to me. "Or sleep sitting up, if it makes you feel better."
I squeezed my eyes shut. "You bastard."
"Stubborn. Stupid stubborn."
"Lights out!" Van called. One by one, he switched off the lamps along the wall, bathing us in darkness.
I shivered. There was no light at all in the tiny basement - no moon, no stars - and with the fever, I felt like I was floating in nothing, nowhere. I took a deep breath. And then another one. It made me think of death.
"Shh. You're okay." Adam pulled me down so I was lying on my back and gently draped an arm across my middle.
I jerked my body, hoping he would get the hint and move off me. But he only grunted with disapproval.
It felt good, though. His body heat felt like a magnet drawing me in. My shivers calmed, my muscles relaxed despite my racing heart. Adam was asleep in moments, snoring softly, and I dozed off soon after.
Then the noise started. The unmistakable sound of lips meeting lips, of clothing sliding against clothing. Great. Just when I thought I'd get some decent sleep, too.
I tried to tune them out, but Sunny's little moans and sighs were too distracting.
Adam stirred next to me. Don't wake up, don't wake up. This was awkward enough already. Maybe I could just pretend to be asleep.
"Oh, Preacher."
I considered clearing my throat and hoping they'd get the hint, but somehow I didn't think they'd give a damn. Adam chuckled silently. He would find this funny. I couldn't see anything still, but the cots jostled as he moved around. What the fuck is he doing?
I realized it when his motion became rhythmic. He was jerking off right there next to me, to the sounds of some girl and his friend getting it on. The cot across the room creaked in an unmistakable pattern, and Sunny's breathy moans became more urgent.
And Adam's cot shook along with them. This is just intolerable. Rage boiled in my veins, and not just because of him - I was angry at myself, because it was turning me on, too. I have a fever, I'm not myself. My anger bubbled over and, unable to remain still, I elbowed him in the ribs.
He grunted in surprise. "Cut it out," I whispered.
"Mind your business." The sounds of flesh against flesh filled the air. Sunny's and Preacher's bodies slapping together as they fucked; Adam's hand stroking his cock. I couldn't see a damn thing, but the images in my mind were vivid enough. "Or lend a hand. Then you can comment all you like."
I elbowed him again, and he just chuckled. "Come on," he growled, "One look at those roped hands of yours on me and I'll explode in a second." He sounded different. It was like before, in the city, when I'd cracked his restraint. It's who he really is, peeking out from behind that gentle, caring facade.
But it called to me - that dark rough tone, that wild passion.
Devil's Girl: Dust Bowl Devils MC Page 14