“OK.” Wolf headed to the back office. “Gimme twenty minutes to sort it all out. The coffee’s fresh, so help yourself. And I’ll get Rebel to make you some breakfast, yeah?”
“Oh, yeah. Thanks.”
Zoe poured a large cup of Wolf’s usual industrial-strength coffee, and took a grateful sip. Sleep was a hard-to-come-by luxury in her life, and caffeine was her fuel. She’d almost decided that she liked it black by now, though she suspected that sleep-deprivation may just have dulled her taste buds.
She wandered over to the large front window of Blue Dragon Ink, and stared out at the parking lot. It was still pretty empty, and no big surprise: the only other businesses around here were Satan’s Bar and The Garage, both owned by the Road Devils. The garage was doing a full inventory, and so was closed that day, and the bar was open at noon to the general public. Of course, it was open 24/7 for Road Devils members, but she doubted that many of them would be around at ten a.m. on a Friday.
She sighed, wondering just what the hell had possessed her to let Wolf talk her in to this insanity. Because if Zoe was being honest with herself, she’d have to admit that she was really, truly considering coming back; even after it all and what she’d gone through to get away, she wanted to come back. Wolf Connor was the only man from the group of asshole MC members that she’d even listen to about coming back.
Yeah, he was a lot of things, and she knew just how many bodies he’d put in the ground. But he was like her brother, for all of that, and despite the fact that they hadn’t seen each other in years, and he’d never put her in the line of fire. He’d die before he’d let her get hurt again. She’d never forget the rage on his face when he saw her tied up on that table – or how tenderly he’d wrapped his own shirt around her shaking body, and held her as she’d wept. If he was telling her that Blue Dragon Ink was legit and she was safe, it was, and she was.
And so standing in the blazing sunlight, clutching her coffee, Zoe finally faced facts: she needed this. She needed what Wolf was offering her. Life in North Dakota wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t anything close to great, either.
Her current job at the tattoo parlor barely covered her expenses, and now that she had Keira, she was struggling. Like, really struggling. The money she’d earn in Denver was more than double what she was making in Fargo, and even though the cost of living was higher here, she’d easily be able to afford a small apartment, and her car payments, and food and clothes for a growing baby. She could make a go of it, for real. Life could and would be better, and she owed it to Keira to give her this. Fuck, Zoe deserved a break too, didn’t she? Just a little one?
And she could handle being around the Road Devils again, couldn’t she? Besides Wolf, she’d limit contact with them almost completely – stay at the tattoo studio most of the time and deal with her employees, maybe drop by the bar for a beer once a month, just to say hi to the guys. Be friendly, be polite, but be unavailable for anything more than tattoos, and the occasional game of pool. No need to become best buddies with any of them; definitely no need to get involved with any of them. No good ever came from that, God knows.
So basically she was acting like a bratty kid sister, and just fucking with Wolf, asking for the papers and playing coy. The truth was that her mind was almost made up.
Oh, who the hell am I kidding, huh? I’m coming back to Denver. This is home, and it always has been.
Chapter Two
Scars Innis groaned as his cell vibrated on the hotel bedside table. He cracked one eye open, grimaced at the time.
Fucking ten o’clock. Really?
He stretched out one hand, and fumbled with the phone, cursing at the dull, dusty pounding in his head. Yeah, he was hungover. Again.
“What?” he ground out, his voice rough. “What?”
“Vic?”
Scars fell back on the bed, his muscular forearm covering his blue eyes against the bright late-spring sun. “Sam.”
“You OK?”
“I’m fucking sleeping, man.”
“It’s ten o’clock.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’ve been up since five, right, Doctor Innis? Saving lives, and being generally awesome?”
“Actually, I haven’t been to bed yet. I’m just leaving the hospital. There was a bad car accident last night, and I pulled a double shift. Nine people died.” Sam paused. “Including a family. Two young kids.”
Scars sighed. “Fuck, Sam. I’m sorry. You doing alright?”
His brother gave a shaky laugh, and right away, Scars’ body tightened up. He knew that laugh: it was Sam’s poor attempt to cover up bottomless pits of hurt and helplessness. The accident would have thrown Sam back twenty-plus years, to that horrible rainy night when their parents were killed. Watching those people die right in front of him would have just ripped scabs off old wounds; Scars was certain that his brother had fought like hell to keep those people alive, and the fact that he’d lost them would pierce him deep.
He imagined Sam in his scrubs, his dark eyes deceptively calm behind his glasses, his hands covered with the blood of strangers. He’d have intubated, and sliced, and sewn, and done CPR, and performed surgeries… and in the end, nobody had lived to see the sunrise. Talk about fucking devastating.
“Sam?” Scars’ voice was gentler now. “You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m OK. I’m just – I’ll be better after I get some sleep and a hug from Annie and Cindy.” He paused again. “I’m sorry I woke you up… I just needed to talk to you. To hear your voice.”
“It’s fine, man. I’m sorry I shouted at you.”
“Where are you, Vic?”
Scars flinched at the use of his civilian name, but then again, nobody on the whole planet called him that except his kid brother, so he’d take it from him.
“Not in Denver.” Scars shifted his large body on the bed, winced as his stomach heaved a bit. “Club business.”
“I see.” Sam’s voice was flat. “You’ll be back soon?”
“By tomorrow night. You want to meet up? Hang out a bit?”
“Coffee sounds good.”
Scars wished that Sam had said ‘beer’, but for his brother, he’d do coffee. Not before noon, though. Lines had to be drawn somewhere.
“Yeah, OK. Coffee it is.” Scars sat up carefully, wondering if he could handle coffee now, decided to go for it. “Sunday afternoon?”
“Yeah. Call me when you get back.”
“I will.”
“Vic?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re being careful, right?”
“Sam, I’ve told you a thousand times: the club’s out of all that shady shit now. I’m not doing anything that any other businessman wouldn’t do.”
“So what are you doing?”
“I’m meeting with alcohol suppliers for the bar.”
Sam was silent. “Really?”
“Yeah. Wolf’s unhappy with some of our current suppliers’ delivery times, and he asked me to find a few alternatives.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Scars swung his legs over the side of the bed, waited for his head to stop spinning. “It’s all above-board now, I swear to you. Wolf has completely changed the club, and we’re all better off for it.”
“OK.” Sam sighed. “I’m at my car now, so I’ve got to go. Call me, yeah? And be safe?”
“I will. To both things. Go get some rest, and give your two women a kiss from me.”
“I will.”
Scars disconnected and threw the phone on the mattress. He knew he should get some more sleep, but he was one of those people that when he was awake, he was awake. Still, though – he hadn’t hit the bed until five o’clock, and he could definitely use another three hours.
He got to his feet, ambled over to the coffee machine. He puzzled over the fucking knobs and buttons for a while – fancy-ass sh
it in this hotel, man – and after consulting the goddamn instructions, he finally figured out that the capsule thing went inside the top. He shut the lid, gingerly pressed a few buttons, remembered to actually stick the damn cup under the spout just in time. He was gratified when the coffee started to pour and he inhaled, starting to feel semi-human again.
As he waited for the coffee to finish, he hit the bathroom. He used the toilet, stared at himself in the mirror. Yeah, he looked pretty bad: his brown hair was standing up on end, his blue eyes were tired and bloodshot. And that was all before you considered the long, shiny scars on his face, hands, forearms and chest.
He went back in to the main area, and grabbed the cup of coffee. He took a huge gulp, then another, wondered if he was up to opening the blinds. He knew it was another clear and bright May day out there, sunny and a bit cool. Perfect weather for riding his motorcycle – but with sunglasses, of course. His hangover needed to be placated by shades.
His mind wandered back to the night before. He’d ended up in some dive bar on the side of the highway that reminded him of his second-favorite Denver bar, Dangerous Curves, in some ways. It had been full of questionable types, which he liked just fine, seeing as he was one such type himself, and easy women, which he didn’t like nearly as much.
The problem was that easy women liked him plenty. He got the attraction, he really did: the ladies went for large, muscular, scowling bikers with big hands, and lots of tattoos. If they weren’t repulsed by his scars, then they found them a turn-on. They usually imagined that he’d gotten them in some badass MC-related event, and Scars never bothered to correct them. It was none of their fucking business, anyway.
No, one-nighters had never been his thing, surprisingly. Scars was a one-woman kind of man, and the trouble was that his sort-of-chosen lifestyle made it hard to find a one-man kind of woman. Oh, sure, he’d had some girlfriends. Even serious ones. But there had been nobody since Rachel, and she’d dumped him more than a year ago.
Scars thought about Rachel for a few seconds, wondered if she’d found what she’d wanted with her new guy. Scars had tried hard to be everything that she’d needed, but he just couldn’t go all the way… hell was going to freeze over before he tied up and hit a woman in the bedroom, or anywhere else. Even if she had begged him to do it.
He shook his head, drank some more coffee. Maybe it was time to give it another shot on the woman front. God knows, he was ready to get laid again, and he also wouldn’t mind having someone around in the mornings. He liked making more than one cup of coffee, liked showering with a woman, liked having someone to call during the day. Now that all this shit with Dawson and the new club had started to settle down, maybe Scars would focus on his personal life once more.
Now the fun part: finding a woman with hot looks, and a razor-sharp brain, and a good heart, and an awesome sense of humor. Yeah, like a woman like that is just gonna waltz on in to Satan’s Bar. Dream on, man.
Dear Reader,
I very much hope that you enjoyed this sneak peek of Scars and Zoe’s story, ‘The Devil’s Scars’ (The Road Devils MC #1). I will be announcing its publication date soon, so do check out my Facebook page to stay in the loop about that.
And remember to sign up for my newsletter, to get all my news, sneak peeks of upcoming books, early cover reveals, and chances to win free copies of my books! You can subscribe here: http://marysoljames.com/romances.html#follow
Thank you for reading!
Marysol
About the author
Marysol James is the author of the 'Open Skies', ‘Fighting For Love’, the best selling 'Unseen Enemy' and 'Dangerous Curves' series, as well as the upcoming 'The Road Devils MC' and 'Wounded Heroes' series.
She writes steamy, sexy, slinky romances which feature strong, complex women and equally fascinating men. Marysol is interested in producing well-written and passionate stories with characters who learn to let go of control and to trust – both in and out of the bedroom.
Her stories are very sensual (very!), and offer smart plots, a bit of humor, and lots of character development, so her books will appeal to readers who want emotional connection as well as sexuality.
When not writing, Marysol can be found swimming, doing yoga, listening to music and drinking coffee. To stay up-to-date with her, visit her official author website at www.marysoljames.com
By the same author
Contemporary Romance
The ‘Unseen Enemy’ Series:
Enemy Within (Unseen Enemy #1)
Enemy Outside (Unseen Enemy #2)
Enemy Mine (Unseen Enemy #3)
Enemy From The Past (Unseen Enemy #4)
Solid Muscle (Unseen Enemy #5)
Solid Steel (Unseen Enemy #6)
Solid Heart (Unseen Enemy #7)
Solid Gold (Unseen Enemy #8)
The ‘Dangerous Curves’ Series:
Dangerous Curves (Dangerous Curves #1)
Hard Curves (Dangerous Curves #2)
Killer Curves (Dangerous Curves #3)
Gentle Curves (Dangerous Curves #4)
Secret Curves (Dangerous Curves #5)
Dark Curves (Dangerous Curves #6)
Extreme Curves (Dangerous Curves #7)
Lush Curves (Dangerous Curves #8)
‘The Road Devils MC’ Series:
The Devil's Scars (The Road Devils MC #1)
PUBLICATION DATE: Spring 2017
The ‘Fighting For Love’ Series:
Fighting Hard (Fighting For Love #1)
Fighting Strong (Fighting For Love #2)
Fighting Love (Fighting For Love #3)
Fighting History (Fighting For Love #4)
Fighting Back (Fighting For Love #5)
The ‘Open Skies’ Series:
Open Skies (Open Skies #1)
Open Arms (Open Skies #2)
Open Eyes (Open Skies #3)
Open Heart (Open Skies #4)
Open Life (Open Skies #5)
Contemporary Literature
The ‘Nakasee Lake’ Series:
What Happened That Day (Nakasee Lake #1)
Bringing Her Home (Nakasee Lake #2)
Thunderbirds (Nakasee Lake #3)
Short Stories
Stone Princess - A Collection of Short Stories
Lush Curves (Dangerous Curves Book 8) Page 22