Rebel Love

by Jodi Linton

  “Move away from the girl,” the patrol cop ordered, his weapon aimed at Cade.

  Cade leaned down and whispered in Em’s ear, “I love you, Em. It’s going to be okay, princess. Understand?”

  Her mouth trembled. “Y-yes. I trust you, Detective. I always have.”

  It hurt to smile at her, but as his chest was slammed to the ground, nothing held a candle to the words that fell softly from her lips. “Love you.” The harsh bite of cuffs circled his wrists, and while he laid there with his face smashed into the ground, he finally felt at peace. Em would be saved.

  “I’m undercover officer Cade Jackson. Let the gang task force division know we got our man.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Happiness requires a good dose of forgiveness.

  Em watched DEA Abby Harper pace about the interrogation room. Before the threat on her life two days ago, she’d considered herself tough, able to withstand most crappy things thrown her way. Now, holding her chin high seemed painful. Her hands were cold and clammy as she pressed them on the hard surface of the tabletop. For ten months, she’d allowed the death of Wes to fuel her revenge, wanting nothing more than to kill the Vipers’ president. But everything she’d based her revenge on had been a motherfucking lie. Wes, her dead fiancé, had been on Roland’s payroll, helping local biker gangs sell dope on the Houston streets way before he walked into the Sinners’ garage inquiring about the help-wanted ad.

  She gulped, the inside of her mouth suddenly as dry as cotton. Feeling frantic, she sat up straighter. Be brave.

  A familiar voice broke through the silence in the room. “Em this is my boss, DEA administrator Matt Hunt.” Abby stepped aside and lifted an arm, gesturing at the guy in a suit and tie. “I brought him up to speed on the case.”

  Em traded a glance with DEA Hunt. “So the DEA is really going to just let me walk out of this shit storm? Okay, fine, I’ll believe you. But tell me something, Abby…why do I still feel like the hammer has yet to drop?”

  DEA administrator Matt Hunt slapped a file down in front of her. “Because at this very moment, Ms. Connors, my agents are arresting Cyrus Benedict and his crew on various charges of possession, murder, and extortion,” Matt said. “Chief Roland kept excellent records on his payoffs.”

  She looked at Harper. “There’s got to be a catch to all this somehow.”

  Matt adjusted his tie. “Detective Jackson put a good word in.”

  She couldn’t help but notice the agitated expression marring the DEA administrator’s face.

  Abby laughed.

  “Agent Harper,” Matt warned.

  Her friend covered her mouth with her hand, trying to conceal the big smile tugging at her lips. “Oh please, Matt. Everyone knows that you—”

  “That’s enough.” Matt picked up the file and nodded at Em. “By the way, thanks for returning the money.” He strode to the door and opened it. “Agent Harper, can you see to it that Ms. Connors is seen off the premises?”

  The door slapped closed, and Abby burst out in laughter.

  “Matt can be a little prickly.” She straightened the lapels of her suit jacket. “But he’s a good guy, a good boss. If you ever want to hear an interesting story, why don’t you ask Cade about last year’s HPD and DEA pool game. It’s still the best gossip this side of the badge.”

  Em pushed back from the table and stood, remembering how the first time she met Cade he’d fed her a story about punching out the DEA administrator in a bar. That man was something else. She couldn’t get to him fast enough.

  There’s always time for another first in life, and today was going to go down in the books. She was pretty sure mouths would drop when the Dirty Sinners MC president willingly walked into a police station and laid a kiss on that sexy detective she loved so much. That was sure to replace last year’s pool game in the gossip mill. Right, go surprise your man at the station. Your hot-cop boyfriend, that is.

  “I have to go, Abby. Thanks for everything. I mean it.”

  “You were going to make the buy and turn him over to us, weren’t you?” Abby asked.

  Em smiled. “Won’t that be an interesting story to tell one day?”

  Abby pushed open the interrogation room door. “Please don’t hate me, but I’m going to have to escort you to the precinct.”

  Em stumbled back a step. “Oh shit, you really are going to arrest my ass.”

  “Damn, that look on your face was priceless.” Abby grinned and shoved a crumpled bill in her hand. “The taxi ride is on me, Connors. I heard you might not need that motorcycle of yours anymore. With that new sexy ride you snagged.”

  “Has anyone ever told you that you love the gossip mill a little too damn much?” Em said as she stepped out into the hallway.

  “Go get ’em, tiger.” Abby smacked her behind. Em spun around, shocked. “What? I always wanted to touch those leather pants.”

  “Bye, Abby.”

  Abby slumped against the door frame. “Try not to be a stranger, Connors.”

  Nothing but the bright future ahead…

  Cade gathered his possessions from his desk and glanced at the station he’d called home for the last seven years. When the squad cars had pulled into the trailer park, and numerous police stepped out, guns aimed at his back, he knew everything, including his career, had tanked. Being found bloody and standing over their lifeless police chief wasn’t something any detective wanted. Yet he wouldn’t change a thing. Nothing he’d experienced from discovering his old partner, Wes, had been running drugs to Roland being the triggerman compared to the sight of Em trembling on her knees with Roland pointing a gun at her head. He’d done the only thing possible: saved the woman he’d fallen in love with. The woman he loved. Screw the consequences. Probably being happy over watching his boss being zipped up in a body bag didn’t make him a good man. But he’d pull the fucking trigger again if placed in the same position. Saving Em came first. Always did. Always will.

  It was time to move on. Hell, he was ready. And this time he’d be taking his girl along for the ride to his next adventure.

  “Ready to get acquainted with the NYPD, Jackson?” A new recruit looked at the backpack in his hands and stepped aside. “Heard you moved up the ranks and will be taking a detective spot in the Big Apple. Nice job, man.”

  Fuck yes, I am. And I’m taking one sexy biker babe with me.

  He smiled at the newbie detective. “Try to stay out of trouble. I hear the new chief is a ball buster.”

  Cade stepped through the front door of the Houston PD and stood on the sidewalk. Pushing the sunglasses up his nose and breathing in the air of possibility, he thought about their last kiss, the images it’d inspired helped get him through the long, relentless last two days while he sat behind his desk, wrapping up old cases until he’d been cleared to make the move to New York with Em. The doctors had discharged her shortly after the HPD cleared him of all charges in Police Chief Roland’s murder, citing nothing more than minor bruises. Still, he worried about her daily. Worried that she might be putting on a brave face to help him feel better. Even if it took his whole life, he was determined to let Em see she was safe with him. That she would always be loved. That he’d never allow anyone, or any situation to separate them again.

  With a hurried step, he crossed the parking lot, determined to ride over to Sinners’ turf and show Em just how much he loved every fucking inch of her, when he swore he had to be hallucinating.

  A seductive whistle welcomed him home. “Hey, Outlaw.”

  Cade scrubbed his jaw, grinning as Em climbed out of a taxi. Her brown locks swirled in the wind, and her wild blue eyes locked on him before she turned back to hand the driver money for her fair. Then the taxi sped away, leaving only him and Em standing in the middle of the Houston PD parking lot.

  She pursed her pretty red lips. “Please, tell me you didn’t exchange me for a new bitch. Because it looks like I’ll be riding that way back to your place.”

  He dropped the backpack
on the ground and made haste to shorten the distance between them. This woman, criminal, lover, friend…well, she belonged to him. And shit, if it took his whole life to prove to her how much she meant to him, he’d gladly die trying.

  “The thought crossed my mind.” Cade dropped his voice to low a hum. “But then I decided you’d probably sic the club on me.”

  She laughed, the sound of her giggle music to his tired heart. “So”—Em patted his bike seat—“you up for a ride or not, Detective?”

  He slid a gaze up and down her tempting-as-hell body. “So I’m guessing everything went smoothly at the DEA office?”

  She grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. “Some cute-ass cop vouched for me. It seems he got my name cleared.”

  He had to laugh at that one. “When did you become such an upstanding citizen?”

  “When I started hanging out with a cop.” She hitched a leg up around his waist and leaned forward, her mouth breezing down along his neck. “A damn sexy one at that, if I do say so myself.”

  He crushed her against his chest on a deep growl. “Not hanging out, princess. You’ve become a cop’s old lady.”

  “Good,” she replied, slightly out of breath. “I always had a thing for bad boys on bikes. Especially cops.”

  “Are you ready to leave this behind and go with me to New York, maybe take an art class or two?” he asked, tightening his hold around her waist.

  Em pressed her forehead to his and smiled. “Yes, as soon as I hand the president patch off to Logan. He was always meant to be in charge of the Dirty Sinners. And he’ll ensure I can make a clean break. The guys hated answering to a woman anyhow. Now shut up and ask me for a kiss.”

  Their mouths collided, lingering a bit on the erotic dance of a caress that meant so much more than a simple kiss. With a hand tangled in her hair, he embraced the woman who held his heart. He required her. If not for Em, there would be no Cade Jackson. It was as if his whole life had been put on hold until she stepped into it. He brushed a kiss underneath her jaw. “Deal, Connors.”

  She sighed against his mouth. “Right back at you, Detective.”

  Epilogue

  He took the biker out of the club…

  With his arms tightly wrapped around Em’s slender waist, Cade dragged them both inside their shared New York studio apartment. Bringing her body up against his chest, he passionately covered her mouth in an earnest kiss. Leather pants rode up his legs, and fingers tugged at his hair as the sexiest biker chick he’d ever laid sight on drew their bodies even closer. She smiled against his lips, breasts pressed firmly into his chest. When he tugged gently at her long brown hair, exposing the side of her neck so he could kiss and taste her flushed skin, the amusement in her cool blue eyes sparkled into full-blown lust. And hell, there was nothing in the world he wouldn’t do to make her happy. Vanilla and honey drifted past his nose, the sweet smell of her perfume driving him wild and taking along with it his sanity.

  I could hold Em forever, and still it wouldn’t satisfy my craving for her.

  He lifted a boot and kicked the door closed, knowing if left open their new neighbors would have front-row seats to his wickedly sexy girlfriend’s ass. His girlfriend. Too bad he only had twenty minutes until he was on the clock again.

  At first, Em had asked if he was sure about leaving the Houston Police Department. But when he told her they’d be moving to New York City so he could accept his new position on the NYPD homicide department, with a clean rap sheet and no more undercover jobs, she’d quickly jumped on board. Even booked them both plane tickets to tour the Big Apple the following weekend.

  A month later he was moving into a one-bedroom apartment with the ex-president of the Dirty Sinners. Funny how life could throw such a sweet curveball. It didn’t matter that he could only afford a tight space, because, as it was, he and Em had christened every single inch and gone back for seconds. Being a cop ran in his blood, and the woman who stole his heart was more than willing to help him get back on his feet. So he made up his mind to offer her the one thing she desired…a place to call home. He would be her home.

  Cade cupped his hand around her sweet behind and hitched them together, nipping and sucking at the side of her neck. “I could call in sick, you know?”

  Em looped her fingers through his hair and pulled his head back. “As much as I enjoy the feel of your mouth on me, I’m pretty sure neither of us have the time to rechristen the shower stall.” Her gaze fitted on the wall clock. “I have class in an hour.”

  He smiled. Not only had Em uprooted her life in Houston for him, but she’d registered herself in the art program at the local community college. He couldn’t be prouder—well, maybe her taking his name held the potential to one-up it.

  He chuckled, slipping a piece of hair behind her ear. “You’re going to have to stop wearing those ass-hugging leather pants.” He nipped at her chin, eyes lowering to the butterfly tattoo on her breast as he stuffed a hand down into his front pocket. “They make me want to bend you over our kitchen island and fuck you hard and fast.”

  “I’m game detective…are you?” she whispered breathlessly, making it nearly damn impossible not to take her up on the offer.

  Tonight. He’d make sure she’d be underneath him screaming his name, but first he had something to ask. The moment he saw her outside the Houston police station, Cade knew he was going to ask her to marry him. He just wanted to give her time to heal, and time for her to discover who the real Em Connors was.

  Now he wanted to give her his name. Forever.

  “Em Connors,” he said, thoroughly enjoying the way her mouth had fallen open in a cute little O as he dropped to one knee on the wooden floor. “You had me at the first mention of receiving the Sinners’ royal treatment.”

  She laughed, the deep blue hue of her eyes brightening in tears.

  “I want to make sure no other man gains your nightly attention.” He turned his clenched fist and opened his fingers. “Make my sorry-ass cop butt your old man.”

  A single tear rolled down her cheek at the exact same time the corners of her mouth curled up into the brightest, prettiest smile he’d ever seen. And then, finally, she awarded him with an answer. The only answer he ever wanted to hear for the rest of his life. “Yes. Oh my God, a thousand times yes, Cade.”

  Her mouth crashed on his, tasting and sucking and merging them both in a sensual embrace he wouldn’t soon forget. He welcomed the kiss, urging her into his arms until she was seated on his lap. Without breaking the soft touch of her lips on his, he slid the diamond on her finger and planted one final kiss on the woman who would soon be his wife.

  “Any more of that sweet mouth of yours on mine and I’ll have to call in sick.”

  Long brown locks fell haphazardly over her shoulders as she playfully shoved him in the shoulders. “We could always make it a quickie up against the wall.” She twisted her hair into a ponytail and pressed her mouth into his neck with a small laugh. “You know?” She winked. “Down and dirty style.”

  Only a dumb, pathetic douche wouldn’t take Em up on such a sweet offer. He checked his watch. To hell with the schedule. Twenty minutes was plenty of time to rock her world. He grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, stomach flat against the wall. A small mewl spilled from her pouty, heart-shaped mouth. His fingers got to work on removing the skintight leather pants that drove him insane. When he encountered the firm round globes of her ass, he roamed his hands over the delicate flesh. She jumped and let out a soft yelp when he pinched a butt cheek. “You really thought I’d give you some boring, quick fuck?” he growled in her ear, sliding her panties down to pool around her ankles. “I thought you knew me better than that by now, princess.” He tsked, holding her in place with a hand while he undid the fly of his jeans with the other. “Nothing between us will ever be boring, understand?”

  “There’s that bossy detective I love so much.” Em giggled and rubbed her backside at his arousal. “And it looks like he’s packing, too.�
�

  “I fucking love your laugh.” Cade kissed the nape of her neck. “I fucking love you. All of you.”

  She flung her head back on his shoulder and smiled up at him. “You’ll always be my hopeless romantic.”

  “You better believe it, babe.”

  Then he wrapped his arm around her waist and proved how much of a romantic he could be.

  Did you love this Ignite? Check out more of our romantic mystery and suspense titles here!

  And for exclusive sneak peeks at our upcoming books, excerpts, contests, chats with our authors and editors, and more…

  Sign up for our Newsletter

  Be sure to like us on Facebook

  Follow us on Twitter

  Acknowledgments

  Always thanks to my husband, Jared, and two kids for supporting me. I couldn’t write without y’all.

  To my editor, Karen Grove, the knowledge and skills you’ve taught me along the way are invaluable. I look forward to many more funny editorial notes and career advice. Thanks so much for believing in me and my writing.

  And to my agents, Sharon Belcastro and Ella Marie Shupe, who are always there whenever I need them.

  Big shout-out to my writer friends: Carmen Falcone, Veronica Forand, Sherilee Gray, Aleah Barley, and Ashlee Mallory. Rebel Love wouldn’t be the book it is today without y’all listening to my ramblings and reading some of the very first rough drafts. I appreciate all the comments and feedback.

  To my production manager and publicist at Entangled, Crystal Havens and Ellie McMahon, it has been a pleasure to get to know both of you as we worked on Rebel Love. I couldn’t have asked for better ladies to share the excitement of the cover and the release with.