by Zoey Parker
Carson handed me a helmet and I climbed on the back of his bike. Wrapping my arms around him and clinging tightly felt like the most natural thing in the world. It was hard to imagine that soon I wouldn’t have him around anymore. After everything that had happened, I couldn’t imagine that he’d actually want to stay with me. The hospital could be the last place I saw him.
The drive seemed to take no time at all. Carson parked his bike and we walked towards the emergency entrance together. He looked down at me and raked a hand through his blond hair.
“Doesn’t really feel real, does it?”
“What?” I looked up at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, this isn’t really an emergency,” Carson said with a smirk. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.”
“It’s important,” I said, blushing. “You might be hurt.”
Carson rolled his eyes. “I’m not hurt,” he grumbled. “But we’ll get this done and taken care of.”
As we walked into the emergency room, all eyes were on Carson. People gasped when they realized he was covered in blood and he grinned and held up his hands. I had the sense that he was enjoying this. Against my better judgment, a ripple of excitement went through my body.
After we’d checked in, I settled down on the leatherette chairs next to Carson. His frame was so big that he took up three seats and he stretched out and sighed.
“How long do you think we’ll be here?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
Carson looked away and I felt that pang of anxiety flash through me again. “It’s fine,” he said. “Damn, what a week though, right?”
I nodded uneasily. “The worst I’ve ever had, probably,” I said. “Probably more typical for you.”
Carson laughed drily. “Not even a chance,” he said. “This tops almost everything to happen lately.”
A nurse stepped out from the back and called his name. He got up and followed her down the hall, turning around to glance at me one last time.
“I won’t be long,” he called. “Can you wait here?”
I nodded. “I don’t really have anywhere else to go,” I told him. But he’d already left.
When I was alone, I shut my eyes and let my head drop into my hands. I was so tired that reality seemed to have cling-wrap coating it. But every time I was without Carson, things just seemed so much worse. Maybe in another time, or another life, we could have gotten together and loved each other. Maybe. But not now, I thought dully. Not after all this.
I hated Lucas. I was glad that he was behind bars. A small part of me was even glad that Carson had beaten him so badly. He deserves it, I thought. I blushed. It was probably one of the meanest thoughts I’d ever had in my whole life, but it was true.
It took a couple of hours for Carson to re-appear. He swaggered out in his jeans, carrying his MC vest in his arms. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go.”
We walked out to the bike in silence. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Carson said. “I’m fine. How are you?”
I yawned. Carson laughed. “About like that,” I admitted, rubbing my face. “I want a bath. And a nap. And a pizza.”
Carson climbed on his bike and I got on behind him. I’d miss this, this speeding around on a big black engine. It made me feel both powerful and protected, like Carson himself was responsible for the thrill of riding a motorcycle. I shivered; the day was turning into dusk and I wasn’t wearing a heavy jacket.
The ride to Carson’s apartment took a long time. In my head, I was thinking of what I would say to Elizabeth. She’d bitch about it, but she’d let me stay, especially after I told her what happened. I closed my eyes and imagined the rest of my life alone, a spinster aunt to Amy. Elizabeth would probably get remarried. But after this, I knew I had to stay away from men for the rest of my life, especially men like Carson, men who were dangerous, because I could fall in love with them.
“Thanks for the ride,” I said in a strained voice. We were standing in the parking lot and I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered. “I appreciate it. I’m gonna call my friend Elizabeth now. I think she’ll let me crash with her.”
Carson frowned. “And just why are you leaving?”
I looked at him. His face was completely open and sincere. But telling him was going to be hard. “Because I fucked up,” I said, looking down. “I fucked up and I assumed things were over between us. I put you in danger. I put you at risk of going to prison again!” Tears were beginning to prick my eyes and I looked at the ground, rubbing my toe against the asphalt. “I’m sorry,” I added. “I know that’s not good enough, but if I could change everything, if I could go back, I would in a heartbeat!”
“Caroline,” Carson said in his trademark gruff voice. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Come on,” I said bitterly. “You wouldn’t want to be with me now. You don’t want a woman who puts herself and you in bad situations all the time. And after everything that happened with Lucas?” I sniffed. “I know there’s no way it could work out between us.”
Carson sighed loudly. He put his helmet down on his bike and looked into my eyes. I felt a shiver of fear and arousal spike through my body when I realized I had no idea what he was thinking. “Caroline, that’s not true,” he said. “None of it is. I don’t want you to leave. I don’t want to be without you.”
My heart lurched in my chest. “What?” I looked up at him. “But what about when I left? What about when I ran away from you the other night?”
Carson laughed. “So don’t do it again,” he said in a lighter tone. “And besides, you apologized for that. When you called me earlier today, you said you were sorry. Apology accepted.”
I stared at him, feeling dumbfounded. “Are you sure?”
Carson reached out and wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling me close. In a second, I felt my body slam against his. “I’m more than sure,” he said, nuzzling my hair. A spark of electricity jumped between us. “And if you ever try to leave again, I’ll tie you to my bed.”
I sagged against him. Relief and love were flooding my body. “I love you,” I said quietly into his chest. “I love you, Carson.”
Carson hugged me tighter. “I love you too,” he said. “Now come on. Let’s go inside. I have a feeling we have a lot of catching up to do.”
THE END
Thanks for reading! Did you like my book?
If so, you should join my mailing list!
I’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest news on Zoey Parker releases, giveaways, and ARC opportunities?
Click the link below to join.
New subscribers receive a FREE steamy short!
http://dl.bookfunnel.com/22mfxgmiow
Books by Zoey Parker
Click any of the covers below to go straight to the book page!
The Devil’s Chopper: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Inferno Hunters MC) (Owned by Outlaws Book 4)
She bought a one-way ride on the devil’s chopper.
The monster is coming to drag her back to the depths of the hell she escaped.
But he’ll have to go through me.
Because she’s fallen into my arms…
And I’ll slaughter any man who tries to take her from me.
PARKER
The night my fiancée died in my arms, I swore that I would never love again.
The tragedy turned my heart to stone.
Inked my soul as black as night.
I’ve spent years like this.
Drinking, fighting, and f**king the pain away as a patched brother of the Inferno Hunters MC.
But when I meet Ellie, everything changes.
I want her in my bed.
In my arms.
On my motorcycle.
Ellie deserves better than a broken man like me.
But that doesn’t stop me from making her mine.
And when her filthy ex tries to claw her and her baby daughter back?
/> I swear one thing:
I’ll get them back or I’ll die trying.
Because Ellie has turned my heart of rock into a living, beating one.
One that’ll love her until my dying breath.
ELLIE
After my divorce, I swore off men.
What good did a man ever do me?
None – until Parker walked into my diner.
He protected me from my abusive beast of an ex-husband…
And showed me that there might be some good left in this world.
With dark eyes and a voice like sin, the gorgeous biker makes me want to abandon my oath to keep away from men.
And when he touches me?
I can hardly remember my name.
The bad boy makes me want to believe in happily ever after.
But, of course, that’s when my ex-husband pounces, relentless in his thirst for revenge against me.
He holds me and my baby girl hostage, with who knows what kind of vicious, bloody vengeance looming as the next step in his plan.
I can only pray my outlaw hero saves us in time.
I may have given up hope of ever finding happiness.
But if Parker finds a way to protect me and my daughter…
I swear to love him until the end of time.
The Devil’s Blaze: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Fury Riders MC) (Owned by Outlaws Book 3)
I have twenty-four hours to give her the baby she begged for.
LUCAS
Time is running out.
The window of opportunity is closing.
There’s only twenty-four hours left to do what I promised to do:
Put a baby in the innocent girl’s belly.
I thought she was kidding when she said it at first.
That she wanted me to get her pregnant.
So I made her say it again.
I wanted to hear those words out loud.
The kind a rogue outlaw biker like me never intended to hear.
I stared straight at her pink, pretty lips, her flawless teeth, her warm tongue, as she said it one more time:
“I want you to give me a baby.”
Right. F**king. Now.
JOSEPHINE
The door shut, and suddenly we were alone together.
I almost ran out screaming.
It took every ounce of willpower I had to keep myself glued to where I stood.
This wasn’t how I pictured my life going.
But the world has a funny way of throwing you a sickening twist when you least expect it.
Which is how I ended up here.
About to be owned by a biker.
Not just any biker:
A complete and total stranger. He could’ve been an angel or a devil, a saint or a sinner.
I had no idea either way.
I’d literally just met him.
But now, he was about to knock me up.
I wonder what I’d have done if I knew how this would all turn out.
If I could have predicted the bloodshed, the chaos, the horror, the death…
Maybe I wouldn’t have done what I did next.
Maybe I wouldn’t have stepped up to the cocky devil in the leather jacket, laid my hand on his chest, and said those six twisted, filthy, reckless little words:
“I’m ready to have your baby.”
The Devil’s Scar: A Mafia Hitman Romance (Owned by Outlaws Book 2)
I can’t say no when he tells me to bend over.
Going home with him was my first mistake.
But the bad boy set my insides on fire.
Now, he’s back at my door – but for a different reason.
This time, he’s here to kill me.
MADELINE
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
I came to the city with big dreams and the belief that people were good at heart.
But I’ve been here long enough to learn the truth:
Deep down, we’re all just animals.
He seemed different at first.
A gentleman, almost, in a weird enough way.
But I was too drunk and too foolish to see the beast that hid waiting inside him.
And by the time he let it out, it was too late to run away.
I did the only thing I could do:
I submitted.
I’m not proud of this, but I fell to the floor and did everything he told me to do.
And here’s the sickest part of all…
I loved it.
At least, I did back then.
But now, the chickens have come home to roost.
And when I wake up with a sick feeling in my stomach, I know exactly what it is.
I’m pregnant with Nikolai’s baby.
NIKOLAI
I laughed when she answered the door.
Her jaw dropped almost as fast as her skirt did on the night we met.
I’ll admit, I was surprised, too.
I never expected to see her again.
But if I’ve learned anything in my time as a mafia hitman, it’s that there’s only one way to get someone out of your life for good:
Put them in the dirt.
That’s what I’d come here to do.
Her brother had wronged my employer.
And now it fell to me to bring mob justice to his doorstep.
Along with anyone else in the room.
It was fate that I’d hurt her sooner or later.
That’s just the way of the outlaw.
She thought she’d escaped unscathed.
But destiny brought us together so I could teach her a dark lesson:
The devil never forgets.
The Devil’s Vow: A Motorcycle Club Romance (The Silent Havoc MC)
I swore I’d let him own me.
Turning to the MC president was my last resort.
But one more minute with my abusive ex might have landed me in the grave.
Instead, I’ve landed in the biker’s bed.
And he vows he’s going to break me – or die trying.
KATHARINA
I’ve been a victim for so long that I don’t remember how else to be.
Why should I be the one to apologize when my ex hit me?
When he swore at me?
When he threatened to do things that no man should ever do to a woman?
I’d had enough.
I needed to get out.
But I had nowhere to go.
Nowhere…
Except a world I’d escaped a long time ago.
I’ve got biker blood in my veins.
My father once ran the Silent Havoc MC.
Maybe they’ll take me in. Keep me hidden. Keep me safe.
But everything in this world comes at a price.
And Jace Carver is not interested in bargaining down.
He wants what he wants and refuses to take no for an answer.
So when he lays out his demands, I have no choice but to agree.
I just never thought he’d make me beg like this.
JACE
She came to me in desperation.
And I’m the type of man who just can’t pass up a juicy opportunity like this.
An MC princess, begging for my protection?
It would be downright disrespectful to my fellow outlaws if I didn’t follow my desires.
And they’re telling me this:
Tie her to my bed.
Make her moan my name.
Bring her to the breaking point – over and over and over again.
She’ll hate me just as much as she loves me.
But she needs me more than anything.
Because her ex will do anything to get her back.
And nothing’s more dangerous than a psycho with nothing to lose.
He wants blood and vengeance in equal measure.
But if he thinks he’ll reclaim her, he’s got another thing coming.
She’s mine now.
My woman.
My duty.
M
y wife.
And that means he’ll have to pry her from my cold, dead body.
Buying My Wife: A Bad Boy Hitman Romance (Moretti Mafia)
I paid for her with blood money.
She killed my target.
Now, she’s the one with a bullseye on her back…
Not to mention on her hips, her curves, her sassy mouth.
I can’t decide what I’d rather do:
Tie up loose ends?
Or tie her to my bed and make her my toy, my woman, my wife?
I’m a mafia hitman at heart.
But she makes me want to retire my weapon and get out of this life.