by Aubrey Irons
I immediately want to be this chick’s friend.
“And you will watch your mouth, Agent Marlow,” she says thinly, her eyes blazing. “Or I might just differ to the very wise suggestion of my captain here.” She nods at Liam, who glares at the blubbering, whimpering Marlow and taps a finger against his gun as the men from before drag him off.
“Anton?”
Liam glances up at Connor and shakes his head grimly. “Didn’t get barbecued, if that’s what you’re hoping. We snagged a few of their guys, but Anton and Oleg were spotted escaping.”
“And we’re gonna hunt them down like fucking dogs, believe me,” Damien says fiercely, his gorgeous blue eyes flashing in the fire light.
Aela sighs, her shoulders slumping. “So much for a peace agreement.”
The three guys nod grimly as she shakes her head. “This is a war, isn’t it.”
“Anton knew what he was doing when he sent Oleg and his nephew to sabotage that meeting,” Liam says gruffly. “He called down the thunder, and now he can reap the fucking whirlwind.”
There’s a hand on my arm, and I glance up, falling right into Connor’s eyes.
“Give us a minute,” he growls at the others before he pulls me aside.
“I think you should go.”
I frown. “Excuse me?”
“Run away, princess,” he says, his face pained, his jaw tight. “I pulled you into this, kicking and fucking screaming if I remember correctly, and against your will.”
“Connor-”
“No, Sierra,” his eyes flash. “I-” he looks away, his face flickering orange in the light from the building engulfed in flames before he turns back to me. “I meant every. Fucking. Word I said back there, but I can’t bring you into this. I can’t, and I won’t.”
My hands slide up his arms, my lip catching between my teeth as I move closer against him, my eyes dragging up to his.
“But you already did.”
He shakes his head. “I never should have-”
“And I’m glad you did,” I say softly.
His eyes search mine, his jaw tight and his chest heaving.
“You don’t know what you’re signing up for.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Sierra-”
“I know I’m signing up for the first man to ever make me feel. I know something about you makes everything make sense. I know something clicks when I’m with you.” I swallow, feeling my heart thundering in my chest. “I know the pieces fit together when you’re a part of me.”
His arms circle me, pulling me tight. “I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t.”
His eyes search mine, his lips so close to mine.
“I need to ask you something important,” he says quietly.
I nod solemnly, my eyes never leaving his.
“Have you ever heard of Stockholm syndrome?”
I laugh, punching his chest as he cracks up and hauls me tight against him, kissing the top of my head.
“Have you?” I grin up at him, seeing that spark in his dark eyes - the same glint from that first night, across the shadowed crowd at the Rusty Duck, but this time, I understand the look.
This time, I understand the pain, and the history, and the passion in that look, and I understand the man it’s attached to.
“Well if I’d known it was this fun, I’d have gone out and kidnapped a pretty girl like you years ago.”
My jaw drops as he grins at me, and I punch his arm again before he pulls me tight, tilts my head back, and kisses me.
Fiercely.
“Hey, princess.”
“Yes, criminal?”
Connor grins. “Everything I said before? About you leaving?”
I raise a brow.
“Try it and I’ll just have to come tie you up all over again.”
“Yes, please,” I breathe as he swoops me up into him, his lips searing to mine and stealing my breath away.
Stealing my heart away.
He’s good at that.
Epilogue
Connor
The ferry heaves gently under our feet with the tide. It’s a huge fucking boat, and it’s not much of a pitch, but it’s just enough to pull her body back against me.
My eyes scan the water ahead of us, the sky cloudy, the ocean grey.
My kinda day, truth be told.
The huge boat rumbles forward, and as the mist clears a little, I finally get a glimpse of our destination, way off on the horizon.
Shelter Harbor - Sierra’s clean, wholesome, white picket fence hometown, where we’re heading for dinner at her parent’s house. Oh, and where I’ll be meeting them for the first time.
Me - the Boston Southie street kid, heading to Shelter fucking Harbor for family dinner with Sierra’s clean-cut, loving, wholesome parents.
And two brothers.
And two sisters.
And three significant others.
And a little nephew.
And a fucking partridge in a pear tree.
Oh, and it’s worth mentioning that Sierra’s father is a damn reverend.
…Lord have mercy on my soul.
But it’s time, and I’m not going to put off meeting the woman I love’s family another second. Even if it means taking the ferry there from Boston, at her insistence, even though driving would’ve been twice as fast.
The things we do for love, right?
It’s been eight months since the night of the fire, and a lot’s changed. For one, the Saint’s really are still moving in a much more legitimate direction, despite the threat of a war with the Ukrainians. We’ve stopped the gun trade, no more hit and runs, no shakedowns. Hell, Aela’s working with some small business nonprofits and some sort of angel investment types to set up a way for the Saints as an organization to invest in local, legitimate businesses.
Pretty cool shit, actually.
It’s not happening overnight - after all, our chapter of the Dark Saints in Southie is part of a bigger organization out of Dublin, and the Kings who run things over there still have to okay this new move. But I think they’re on board. Hell, we’re going to make more doing this than any of the gangster bullshit anyways.
Sierra ended up taking a semester off, which she spent collecting herself and regrouping.
…By which I mean, spending most of her time naked in my bed.
It seems to have done the trick though, ‘cause she’s back at school, and kicking ass. She’s about to graduate early actually, and the offers from firms have already started to roll in.
And me?
Well, there’s fewer problems to fix when you stop being a criminal. There are fewer messes to clean up when you don’t make them in the first place. And I have to say, that suits me pretty fucking okay.
Because the world isn’t for me to fix alone. It’s for all of us to make better, in our own way. My way is being the backbone whenever my family needs it.
My way is showing the girl I love that she’s the world to me.
Oh, and it turns out my way is also being the lead financial negotiator when it comes to new legitimate business ventures and the Dark Saints.
Me. A negotiator.
Who’d have fucking thought.
We did end up handing Marlow over to the Feds. You can’t exactly bargain with the FBI, but having a favor they owe you tucked into your back pocket is never a bad thing.
And then there’s Anton Boiko. Both he and Oleg skipped out the night of the fire and went into hiding for a bit. Oleg, however, caught an early retirement when some of Vadim’s Russians caught him in the wrong massage parlor, alone.
I have no idea what they did to him, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know. Fifteen years in the Saints have taught me a lot, and one in particular stands out: Russians do not fuck around when it comes to payback.
Anton’s still on the loose. He’s hiding, along with most of what’s left of his organization, and the threat is still there, hidden away.
But for n
ow, things are looking peaceful, and the only immediate threat is what the fuck I’m going to do at a family dinner at the Hammond house. For all my experience, for all the battles I’ve fought, and for all the heat I’ve taken over the years, this one’s a new one.
Family dinner, with the woman I love.
I have no fucking idea what I’m in for, but I’m ready. Well, at least, I will be ready, once I finish making Sierra come.
…Guess I haven’t mentioned that I’ve got her skirt flipped up over her waist, her panties to the side, my fingers on her clit, and every fucking inch of my cock buried balls-deep in her pussy.
The big boat rocks again, and she whimpers this time as she leans back into me. We’re hidden from view, tucked away behind a bigger van by the front of the ferry, but the thrill is there, and I know she feels it. She moans around the hand she’s got jammed in her mouth, her pussy clenching me tight as my fingers roll over her clit. I growl into her ear, rocking my hips back and forth, slowly filling her in and out as she starts to tremble for me.
The boat lets out an ear-rattling honk, and I glance up to see the shore even closer now. Hell, I can make out the pier where we’ll be docking very soon.
“Better come quick, princess,” I husk into her ear, nipping the lobe and pumping myself deep inside of her as my fingers start to move faster and faster over her throbbing clit.
She gasps, arching her back and pushing her ass back against me.
“How- oh - how’d I let you talk me into this?”
“I don’t remember you putting up much of a fight,” I groan back.
“We’re almost there!” she whimpers, her eyes going wide at the quickly approaching pier.
“Then you’d better. Come. Fast,” I growl again, punctuating each word with my cock.
I can feel her start to shake, and I can feel her pussy clenching me tighter, milking me harder.
“Come for me, and then I’m going to fill this pussy up, and then we’ll go and meet the nice Hammond family for dinner with my cum still warm between your legs.”
Sierra starts to shake, one hand stuffed in her mouth to muffle her moans and the other with a white knuckle grip on the ferry railing.
I know for a fact that she loves it when I’m filthy. I also know for a fact that I am happy to oblige.
“Now be a good girl,” I growl lowly into her ear, my fingers blurring over her clit as I start to fuck her hard against the side of the boat.
“And come for me.”
She screams into her hand, shattering for me. Her knees buckle, her whole body shakes, and her dripping wet pussy clenches me so fucking tightly.
And I let go.
I groan as I bury myself inside of her, pumping her full again and again, until we’re both sucking in air and almost ready to topple over.
The boat blares its horn again, and I glance up to see that we’re really close to the piers now. She moans as I slowly withdraw, pulling her panties up tight as she smooths her skirt down. I tuck my cock back into my pants and zip up carefully as she spins in my arms and attacks me, her mouth hungrily seeking mine, her tongue pushing past my lips and eagerly seeking mine as she melts against me.
I growl as I kiss her back, my arms pulling her tight. My hand cups her ass before sliding down, and she moans as I slip it up under her skirt and cup her pussy through her panties. I can feel how soaking wet and warm she is from both of us, and I rub her just enough to make her whimper before I pull my hand back and tug her skirt back down.
Time to be presentable and meet the family.
“You made a mess,” she groans, blushing as she squeezes her legs together, her eyes still full of hunger and fire as they burn into mine. “Know anyone who’s good with messes?”
I grin. “I think I might know a guy.”
“Oh good, because-” she gasps, my lips on hers cutting her off with a kiss.
“How about I clean you up with my tongue later,” I murmur into those lips.
She blushes, and I love that I can still make her pink like that.
“You are a filthy man,” she husks out.
“And you love that I am.”
“I also love you, just so you know,” she whispers, slipping her arms around me and burying her face in my chest as the boat clangs against the side of the pier. People start to move back to their cars, and engines start.
“I love you too, princess.”
She smiles as she pulls back, her eyebrows raised. “Ready to meet the family?”
“Absolutely.”
“We’re sticking to the story about we met in a bar, right?”
I grin. We’ve already told a few of her siblings “our story” about meeting in a bar at a rock show. I don’t think either of us saw the need to tell the rest, and besides, it’s not a lie.
“It’s that or I just come out and tell them how I stole you away.”
The engine shuts off. The gangway lowers.
Sierra slips her hand into mine, squeezing it tight.
“Oh, you can tell them that.”
She turns, her eyes sparkling.
“Because you did.”
The End
Extended Epilogue
Hi there! Thanks so much for reading, and I do hope you enjoyed! As it turns out, I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to Connor and Sierra.
A very special extended epilogue to Saint will be made available exclusively to my mailing list about a week after the book goes live! If you’re dying for more of these two, sign up by clicking the graphic or link below.
http://eepurl.com/bu3-3P
You’ll also be seeing more of them in the “Dark Saint” series I have planned for this spring/summer. You can also find more of Sierra in the the other Shelter Harbor books (Thief and Sinner), and more Connor in Bloodlines, a Dark Saints prequel currently exclusively available in the Begging for Bad Boys anthology.
Thanks again for reading!
xoxo,
Aubrey
Additional Content
Technically, Saint is “book 3” in my Shelter Harbor series. However, it and the other two books are meant to be entirely standalone novels. Thief - “book 1” of the series - is Sierra’s older sister Ivy’s story, along with Silas, who also has a history with the Dark Saints. Sinner, book 2 of the Shelter Harbor series, is Rowan Hammond’s story.
As a thank you for picking up this new release edition of Saint, I’ve included 4 chapter previews of both of those books here. I’m also including Burn, from my Soldiers of Fortune series, because I actually just re-read it myself and remembered how much I love the characters! (filthy-talking bad boy billionaire moonlighting as bareknuckle fighter meets a sassy, take-no-crap doctor? Yes please!). Scroll through the next few pages to get to the good stuff!
Thanks again, and happy reading!
xoxo,
Aubrey
Acknowledgments
It’s typical to start this with “this book would have never happened without the following people”, but that’s not entirely true in this case. The thing is, this book probably might have happened without the following people, it just wouldn’t have been very good.
First and foremost, my partner in crime and my all time favorite bad boy, my husband. Corny, I know, but this book was written in the throws of postpartum insanity with a six-week-old strapped to my chest, and this man deserves some sort of a national monument for doing everything. Laundry, dishes, making me coffee, cleaning bottles, cleaning diapers - all of it, and still being the sexiest guy I know. For real, this one’s for you.
Ellie Mclove - my fearless, fearsome, and just plain fierce editor. I am so sorry for the state of the manuscripts that you get from me, but I am so thankful for the gorgeous ones you send back.
My proofreader, Cassie Hess-Dean, for always picking up the bat-phone when I call and always being incredible.
Tracy Smith Comerford, of the Be My Book Boyfriend blog, for organizing a kick-ass cover reveal and a phenomenal release tour. And a BIG
thank you to all the blogs, Facebook groups, and individuals who pitched in for both of those! Thanks for shouting my name as loud as you can!
To my “Letters” ladies - Willow Winters, Lauren Landish, Bella Love-Wins, Vivian Wood, Alexis Abbot, Tabatha Kiss, Holly Hart, KB Winters, Kylie Walker, Sierra Rose, Crystal Kaswell, and Athena Wright. I have learned immensely from you all. Willow, you have re-defined my own definition of “hustle.”
To the other authors whose advice, words of wisdom, hard truths, snark, and encouragement sustains me: Roxie Noir, Amelia Wilde, Vivian Lux, Joanna Blake, Isabella Starling, Jade West, and more than a few others that I’m going to feel terrible about forgetting. You ladies are amazing. Thank you for always taking my bizarre mix of book and breastfeeding questions without batting an eye.
But mostly, a huge thanks to you, the reader. It would be romantic and bohemian to say that we’d “still be writing even if no one was reading”, but that’s not true at all. We do this because you guys keep reading, and keep writing us to tell us you’re reading, and keep demanding more of us.
Seriously, thank you.
Now, if you’ve made it this far, you’re a saint. Positive or negative, your feedback is always appreciated. Please consider leaving a review and letting me know what you thought.
xoxo,
Aubrey
Mailing List
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Thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting an independent author.
Also by Aubrey Irons
Shelter Harbor Series:
Thief: A Second Chance Romance
Sinner: A Bad Boy Next Door Romance
Saint: A Dark Mafia Romance