Laughter is heard throughout the clubhouse.
Pops slaps his hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. The look he is giving me is different, but he says nothing as he walks to one of the tables and has a seat.
I’ve noticed things about him these last few months. The looks that come across his face when he thinks no one is looking, as if he’s tired and the weight of the world rests on his shoulders.
There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s true. Running an entire MC is a shit-ton of work. Even doing it for years and having it down pat, there comes a time when it could be too much. I’ve kept my mouth shut about it, though, not wanting to overstep my boundaries. When Pops is ready to tell us what’s going on, he will.
Heading toward the bar, I grasp the cold beer sitting on it then join the guys at the table. Blood means nothing to any of us. We are a family of our own choosing. Each one of us couldn’t be more different if we tried. It’s as if we were put together in this clubhouse for a reason.
Take Becs. He’s the vice president of the club and has recently told us that he’d like to step down and let some of the younger guys take his role. That decision is huge and one of the highest topics at our next church. Becs is quiet. Silent but deadly. He’s never up in your face, but one wrong move, and he will tear you down.
Then there’s Rhys. He’s silent, but his face, body—hell, even the air around him—screams “breath my air, and I’ll end you.”
My dad, Cruz, he’s middle road between the two. He has no problem getting in someone’s face, yet he’ll only do it when necessary. His face isn’t scary like Rhys’s, but he has his own badass vibe he puts off.
Me, I’m more of a thinker, a planner if you will. I like to look at all the possibilities and facts before coming up with a strategy.
Somehow, all our crazy asses fit together, and we are bound by family.
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Arrested Heart
By
S.M. Donaldson
Copyright ©2017 S.M. Donaldson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.
Mox
Life has a way a throwing curve balls at every turn. I'm Eli "Mox" Moxen and I've finally figured out what I want in life.
I’m fearless. In life, in my career, and in love. I'll face it all with strength and determination.
Amber
Just when I think I'm getting ahead, something comes along to knock me on my butt. I'm Amber Young, single mom, jaded in love, and in danger.
I refuse to fail. For my daughter and for myself, I refuse to fail at life, in my career, and in love.
For first responders like Mox, there is rarely a second chance for anything...except maybe love. This is Mox's chance to show Amber he's a man who also refuses to fail...especially when it comes to her heart.
Rarely is there a second chance at anything for a first responder…except maybe love.
The Call
“Alachua 247 to Alachua 27, we have a signal 24 in progress at the Citizens Central Bank on Volusia Boulevard. Proceed with caution, suspects have hostages and suspects are said to be armed.”
“Alachua 27 10-4 Alachua 247. I’ll be 10-51, 10-52 five minutes.”
“10-4 Alachua 27, Alachua 16, 32, 5 and 22 will meet you there.”
“10-4.”
Excerpt:
Prologue
Mox
I jump up from the bed, grabbing my black BDU-style pants and grab my SWAT gear. I glance back at the naked girl lying in my bed. She smiles at me. “You’ve got to go, huh?”
“Yeah, so you should probably get dressed.” I say as I toss the condom into the garbage can. God I hate freaking condoms, but I don’t really know this chick well enough to go without. Christy, isn’t that her name? Christy, yeah, that seems right. Maybe Chelly? Cheryl? No it’s Christy I’m pretty sure.
She looks at me kind of sad. Shit, this happens every time I bring a girl back here more than once. From now on, I’m going to their damn place. “Look, you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. My sister doesn’t like me leaving my guests here when I leave.”
Her eyes pop open wider. “Seriously?!” She jumps up from the bed, snatching her clothes on. “You’re a real asshole. Blaming your sister, she seemed sweet the other day when I ran into her.”
Shit, I gotta tell Gia not to talk to them. “She is nice, but only to a point.” I’m dressed. “Now, I gotta go and so do you.”
She grabs her bag as she goes out the door, “Fucking dick! Don’t ever call me again!”
Yep, I sure won’t. Because, I didn’t plan to anyway. What in the hell does this chick expect? I’ve fucked her two times now. Both times, I ran into her at the coffee shop down the street after my night shift. Hell, this time I didn’t even pay for her coffee. She basically followed me. I like sex, so sue me if a woman is willing to give it to me. I said no strings. I meant it. Oh well, it’s not the first time I’ve been called names and it won’t be the last.
Chapter 1
Mox
“You think you’re ready for this, rookie?” Mack asks me.
“You bet,” I say as I strap on my Swat gear. Being the newest member to the team, my heart still thumps with excitement when I get a call like this one. It almost gets my dick hard. I mean it’s the equivalent of prom night in high school where you’re pretty sure you’re going to get laid.
We’ve had a string of bank robberies going on throughout our county and the neighboring ones. They get in quick, thirty minutes after the bank opens, just enough time for all the vaults to be open and all the tellers drawers to be full. We’ve been close several times. Today is the first time they’ve gotten hemmed up in there. They’re either getting brave or one of their crew fucked up.
Mack slaps me on the back and shakes his head, smiling. “Damn sure aren’t that scrawny kid I met.”
“Nope.” I laugh as I tighten the strap on my tactical vest.
Yeah, I remember being that kid. I was eighteen when my twin sister Gia and I looked up our brothers. My self-confidence was in the tank, due to things beyond my control. I wasn’t ever bullied or anything like that, but after my adoptive mother died, I just withdrew from life. My brothers Huck and Sly pulled me into their gym and started sparring and training with me. I needed that. I needed to be torn down and built back up stronger.
I was in college when Mack came in as a guest speaker for my State and Local Government class. When I spoke with him after class, he offered to take me on some ride-a-longs. That day, that one class changed my life.
I rode with Mack the entire time I was in college. He told me I needed to make sure I still got my degree, that way when I graduated from the Law Enforcement Academynd went to work, I wouldn’t be stuck on patrol for forever before moving where I wanted to be. Now here I am, two years out of college, on our small SWAT team and working alongside Mack as an investigator. The youngest person to ever accomplish that in our department.
“Okay, they’re about to come out!” our team leader announces.
The guys come out but only two of them, all the reports before said four guys. What the fuck? This makes no sense. No hostages, no hurry and they look terrified. But I guess if I had assault rifles pointed from every direction around me, I’d be scared, too.
“Drop your weapons, take three steps forward and get on your knees!”
The assailants drop to the ground, no issues. I look at Mack. “Not that I wanted a big shoot out or anything, but doesn’t this seem a little off?”
He nods. “Yeah, something isn’t right here.”
He and I walk forward, taking the two suspects. The one I cuff is shaking and sweating, he’s so nervous. He’s whispering something. “What?” I question.
He whispers, trying not to move his lips. “We’re a diversion. I’m a loan officer.”
I shove him into the patrol car and run back to Mack, just about the time the doors to the bank explode.
The concussion from the explosion rattles my ears and I’m thrown to the ground. I know I’m screaming even though it sounds muffled. “MACK!” I try to hold my eyes open, but it all goes black.
I wake up in a hospital room and I hear people mumbling. I try to speak but I have to clear my throat. My brothers and my sister are standing there. Gia is crying. They turn to me and start speaking but it’s mumbles. I shake my head. “I can’t hear you,” I croak out.
Huck nods and grabs a notepad from the table and writes on it. “You were in an explosion.”
I nod. “Where’s Mack?”
He scribbles on the pad. “Getting patched up. He got some cuts and scrapes.”
I point to myself. He scribbles again. “You’re fine, your hearing is going to be rattled for a little bit, they said it’s normal for an explosion. You’ll be bruised up. You hit your head pretty hard on the pavement. Luckily there was no damage to the pavement,” he jokes.
“Ha ha!” I say. “Gia,” I croak. I motion to the pitcher sitting on the table.
She grabs a cup and fills it with water. I take a few sips. She grabs the pad from Huck. “You scared me to death.”
“I know. Sorry,” I say as I pull her in for a hug.
The doctor comes in a few minutes later to tell me I have to stay overnight due to hitting my head. Other than that, I should be able to go home in the morning and hopefully my hearing will return to normal in a few days. Until then, I’m off work. Which sucks.
~*~
A few days later, I’m going stir crazy in my apartment. My sister Gia is being a mother hen. She has her issues, but she means well. We found out a couple of years ago that she’s bi-polar, something she got from our birth mother. She almost turned our brother’s entire gym upside down in the process, but we got her help. As long as she stays on her meds, she’s fine, but she feels safer living with me. It doesn’t bother me, normally I’m not here much. It means the fridge always has food when I come in, and my laundry stays caught up. Right now, though, I wish I was here by myself.
My hearing is almost back 100%, so I hear her trying to tell me what to do. “Gia, I love you, okay? But I’m a grown man.”
“Eli, I’m just looking out for you. You don’t have to be such a shit about it,” she sasses, walking back into our small kitchen. She’s pretty much the only person left that calls me Eli. After meeting Sly and Huck, Sly started calling me Mox, for my last name Moxen, and it just kind of stuck. To be honest, after all the changes I went through in college and meeting brothers we never knew about, I didn’t feel like Eli anymore, but Mox did feel like it fit.
I gotta get out of here for a bit. Standing up, I grab my keys and wallet. “I’m going to the gym.”
“Wait. No, you don’t need to be driving. I’ll take you.”
“Gia, I’m fine. My hearing is back, I go back to work in three days. For that matter, deaf people do drive you know.” I pull her into a hug. “I appreciate you wanting to take care of me, but I need to leave this apartment. Alone.”
She smiles up at me. “Okay. Just be careful and don’t let our brothers talk you into sparring.”
I grin before walking out the door to my truck.
~*~
“So how did you get away from Florence Nightinghell?” My brother, Sly, jokes about Gia as we spar in the MMA gym he owns part of.
They all know she’s kept me locked up since the explosion. “I just told her I had to go. I had to get the hell out of that apartment. She did tell me not to let you guys talk me into sparring, though.”
Sly shoves me. “So that’s the first thing you ask to do when you come in here. Jackass.”
I hear a bunch of commotion in the room next door. “What are they doing in there today? Old ladies frisking your twin?” Huck sometimes teaches a Senior Citizens Self-Defense Class. To say an old lady or two has copped a feel is a complete understatement.
He laughs. “No, not today. Women’s Kickboxing is in there now.” He glances at his watch. “Should be getting out anytime.”
“When did you guys start kickboxing classes?” I question as I swing at him again.
“Um, a few months ago. All our wives’ idea. Something about getting off baby weight and kicking ass. I’ve learned not to question.”
We go back to trying to hit each other when the classroom door opens and out walks about a dozen women. Several I’m basically related to, but one that looks as beautiful as she did at sixteen. I don’t think she knows who I am, I never went out of my way back then to introduce myself. We had a couple of classes together since I was advanced, but she was a year older. Then she got pregnant and left school.
Chelsea comes running over to me, full-on speed and takes me down. “Shit, Chels. Get off of him,” I hear her husband, Huck, say. “He was almost blown up a couple of days ago.”
Chelsea pins me to the floor. “Yeah, about that. I’m not sure I like you being on the SWAT team now.”
I continue to let her think I can’t get out of her hold. “Chelsea, I’ll be fine. The other day was something freak and you know it.”
“Yeah, but I also know what else can happen.” Chelsea’s dad was on the force, he was shot when he and Mack arrived at a call about a bank robbery. She was working at the hospital at the time. It was a mess, I hate stressing her out.
“Chels, I promise to be more careful. Okay?”
She shoves me in the chest, climbing up off me. “Okay, but if you so much as break a nail, I’m calling Mack and telling him to take you off the squad.”
I shake my head. “Okay. Whatever.”
Sly’s wife comes over and I excuse myself to the locker room to change. Walking down the hall, I wipe my face with the towel I placed around my neck, when a pile of red hair comes barreling out of the women’s locker room, running straight into my chest. “Omph.”
“Oops, sorry,” the young girl says shyly.
I chuckle. “It’s okay. Just watch where you are going, don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Carrie, come on!” I hear shouted behind me.
I turn around to see her, “She was coming, we accidentally bumped into each other. I was apologizing,” I explain, not wanting the little ball of fire to get into trouble.
“Oh. Sorry.” She walks down the hall to me. “I’m Amber. You look familiar, like I should know you, more than just from in here.” She shakes her head “I just can’t quite place it.”
I nod. “We went to high school together.”
“Oh.” She blushes a little.
I wave her off, “Don’t sweat it, I was about fifty pounds lighter and a year younger than you. We did have a few classes together, though.” Shit, I sound like a damn love struck teen. “Anyway.” I point to the locker room. “I need to get changed.”
“Okay. Sorry again about her running into you.” She turns and then snaps back. “Your name?”
“Huh?”
“You didn’t say your name,” she replies.
“Oh. Eli Moxen. Mox.”
She smiles. “Well, it was good to see you, Eli. Come on, Carrie, I can’t be late.”
She turns, leaving me in the hallway and like an idiot I just stand there. I can’t help but watch her ass as she walks away. I’d love to see that ass naked, preferably while driving into it from behind. She’s that girl, the one from your past that you’ve always wondered about.
Fuck. I need a shower. A cold one.
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Hard Try
By
Mina Carter
Copyright ©2014 Mina Carter
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.
One sexy rugby player. One chance encounter. One explosive night neither will ever forget.
Fer
n Morgan is done with men. For tonight anyway. Stood up and annoyed, she doesn’t fancy hanging around when the bar is crashed by local rugby team, the Strathstow Sharks. But her escape plans are halted by a cute blond player with a killer smile and a muscled body to die for…
Tom Sexton is the team’s Mr.Sensible. The guy who keeps an eye out for the rest and makes sure everyone gets home at the end of the night. But one look at the curvy little brunette trying to make a break for it and all his predatory instincts go into overdrive. Tom’s done being Mr.Sensible…
The problem is, once he has her in his bed, will he ever want to let her go?
Previously published under a different title.
Excerpt:
She’d been stood up. Unbelievable.
Fern Morgan checked her watch, a thin gold affair that always ended up with the face on the underside of her wrist, and wrinkled her nose. Yup, forty minutes late and no message. Greg had stood her up. Great. No doubt he’d had a better offer. Story of her life. Her love life wasn’t just DOA, it had been MIA for at least the last couple of years.
Checking out the level in her glass, she abandoned any pretence of being a lady and downed the drink in one swallow. She grimaced. Wine had never been her favorite. Since it seemed her date wasn’t going to show his face, the next round would be whatever the hell she wanted.
“Vodka and lime,” she ordered when she had the bartender’s attention, ignoring his pitying look at the fact that she was still alone. He’d probably seen it all, so there was no point bluffing. A woman didn’t sit at a bar—on her own—for almost an hour for kicks and giggles, not a high class one like this. No, this was date territory, a venue classy enough to make that all-important first impression. Which meant the décor was first class, as were the prices of the drinks.
Greg had picked it. Bastard.
“Vodka for the lady.” The bartender slid the glass in front of her, the ice inside clinking together as it stopped. “Can I get you anything else?”
Coal (Regulators MC Book 3) Page 18