Kayde's Temptation: A Demented Sons MC Novel

by Kristine Allen

  In slow motion, I watched the surprise register on his face as he looked at his chest where red blossomed and then at me. “You—” was all he got out before he fell to one knee, then off to the side.

  The club members had all reached us by that time, and Gunny slowly wrapped his hand around mine as he squatted by my side and looked in my eyes with his steady, quiet presence. Another one of the guys was working over Kayde as I knelt there frozen. Gunny’s eyes never left mine as he handed the gun to Reaper, who took it and Lawrence’s gun and disappeared.

  Violent shudders suddenly wracked my body, and Gunny wrapped me in his big, thick arms. My mind was a blank slate, and I just sat there shaking as he held me. I’d just lost the love of my life. My chest hurt so bad it felt I’d taken an ax to it.

  “Get your fucking hands off my woman.” The gravelly voice was barely recognizable, but I turned my head to see Kayde sitting with his knees spread, a wad of fabric held to his head, and his teeth clenched in pain, anger, or both.

  Without care for my knees scraping on the asphalt, I crawled rapidly over to him and held his face between my hands. Not paying any mind to the blood I got on me, I kissed him, tears mixing with the blood on his face and my fingers. “Oh my God, I thought he killed you!”

  Snorting, he then winced. “Just a flesh wound, but heads bleed like crazy. You should know that, babe. Just knocked me loopy for a minute.”

  “Yeah, he’ll have one helluva headache for a few days, but this guy has the hardest head I’ve ever seen. He’ll be just fine.” The guy with a “president” patch and “Snow” on his vest crouched by Kayde. “You okay, hon?”

  “Yeah, just shook.” That was an understatement. Avoiding looking where I knew Lawrence lay unmoving, I held my forehead to Kayde’s. “I fucking love you.”

  “I fucking love you too, Tinkerbell.”

  THE CLUB DECIDED TO let everyone believe Lawrence disappeared down in Mexico. They didn’t want the attention brought to the club since motorcycle clubs already had a bad rap. Pretty sure there was a little more to it, but I didn’t ask. I also didn’t ask what they did with his body, and they didn’t tell me.

  The property the clubhouse sat on was on the edge of town, and with the fireworks everyone was setting off, no one questioned three gunshots. The women and the prospects hustled the kids in the clubhouse to “watch movies” because they knew the difference in the sounds. Thankfully, none of the children saw anything, and no one else was hurt.

  Becca, Hollywood’s wife, hooked me up with her therapist after telling me about what had happened to her. I was able to come to terms with what Lawrence did to me. I learned to forgive. Not him, because he didn’t deserve it, but myself. I learned to let go of the guilt and blame I carried with me. Accepting that bad things happened to me, but they didn’t define me. My past didn’t determine my present, nor my future.

  Kayde and I got married in a very small ceremony at Steph and Reaper’s place. I was fine with waiting, but Kayde insisted we would be married before the baby was born. I didn’t really put up much of a fight. Christian, my dad and Marla came up and then there were the friends we had up here who attended.

  Ty was so proud to be the ring bearer. Right before the pastor was about to begin, he’d turned to the guests, pointed at us, and loudly announced, “That’s my mom and dad!” He’d been standing next to Kayde, and I thought I was going to cry at the look on Kayde’s face. It was the first time Ty referred to him as “Dad,” and neither of us had prompted it even once.

  Remi was the flower girl, and she kept telling everyone that Ty was her new best friend. Kayde had looked at me and raised an eyebrow as he smiled. Reaper looked a little disgruntled, but Steph just smiled and shook her head at his growls.

  The day Thalia Jane entered the world, I thought Kayde would pass out. We had opted not to find out the sex. When the doctor told him it was a girl, his face went white. He started muttering something about “worrying about all the dicks in town.”

  The nurse laid her in my arms, and I was in love. She had her dad and her brother’s dark hair, and the sweetest little rosebud mouth. I counted all her fingers and toes. Pleased with my addition, I snuggled her back up. She was perfect.

  When I offered her to her daddy, he looked terrified. The nurse laughed and transferred her from me to him, instructing him on how to support her head. He reached out his hand, which was nearly as big as she was, to stroke her chubby little cheek, and she grabbed his pinky finger. Those pale gray eyes looked at me in surprise before a smile spread ear to ear. Before my eyes, the big tough Marine-turned-biker melted. That itty-bitty human may have had her tiny hand clutched around her daddy’s finger, but he would forever be wrapped around hers.

  The End

  Spanish Translation

  Abuela—Grandma

  Güero—Light-colored boy

  Mi alma—My soul

  Niña—Baby girl

  ¡Dios en el cielo!—God in heaven

  ¡Caray!—Damn!

  Madre de Dios—Mother of God

  ¡Dios mío!—Oh my God

  Mi pobre niño—My poor baby boy

  ¡Mira!—Hey!

  Mi hijo—My son

  Mi Chiquita—My little girl

  Niño—Baby boy

  ¡Chingados!—Shit/Fuck (Interjection)

  ¡Jesús!—Jesus or Christ

  Tu culo es mio—Your ass is mine

  Sagrada Maria, madre de Dios—esto no puede estar pasando. Voy a matar a alguien. Por favor que sea esto un sueño terible—Holy Mary, mother of God—this can’t be happening. I’m going to kill someone. Please let this be a terrible dream.

  ¡Ay, Dios mio!—Oh my God

  Well, here it is. The last book in the series. Or is it?

  For now, I’m moving on to my next series. The Straight Wicked Series will be about a group of musicians. I can’t give you too much information or I’ll give away some of the secrets from the first book! Just know that I’m working on them and I pray you’ll love them as much as you did the boys from the Demented Sons. I’m sooooo excited!

  This book was dedicated to Penny. My PenWa. My friend. You have had faith in me when I lost motivation, when I berated myself, and when I became angry with my characters for not following the paths I set out for them. I cannot thank you enough for your help and your unfailing belief in my abilities.

  Sybil Bartel gets a huge thank you and will in every single book. Without her, none of you would have ever read my words. She gave me guidance, support and advice when I had no clue what I was doing. Every word she shared was invaluable. If you’re looking for some good books to read while you wait for my next series, check hers out! You will not be disappointed!

  Brenda and Lisa. You two have been amazing. Fate had a hand in ensuring our book-loving paths collided. Without you two, I would be lost when it comes to the in’s and out’s of book signings. Thank you for taking to my first one as a fan, and thank you for going with me as my PR girls to my first one as an honest to goodness author. Can you believe it?

  Clarise Tan—you went over the top with this one and gave me a cover to be proud of once again. They just get better and better! Once again, we paired up with Eric McKinney and 6:12 Photography. Eric, your photograph of Chase Ketron was perfect for this character and I almost fell over when you said we worked it out for me to purchase it! Expect to see more of Eric’s photographic genius in future covers. Chase, well you look as amazing as always, and I was so incredibly over the moon to be able to have you on this cover!

  Virginia Cantrell and the ladies at Hot Tree Editing—I hope you don’t read this, because you probably are having conniptions at my awful grammar as I just type out what I feel. Forgive me, because you give the important parts polish and keep me from looking illiterate. <3 I love you all, to pieces!

  The goddess. Stacey with Champagne Book Designs. Thank you for always making my books shine. Without you, and your goddess abilities, my work would fall flat. :)

&nbs
p; Ladies of Kristine’s Crazy Fangirls, your comments are the best. As always, thank you for being patient with me when I don’t post daily because I’m in the writing zone or—ugh, working. Y’all still rock.

  And as always, my last-but-never-least, a massive thank you to America’s servicemen and women who protect our freedom on a daily basis. They do their duty, leaving their families for weeks, months, and years at a time, without asking for praise or thanks. I would also like to remind the readers that not all combat injuries are visible nor do they heal easily. These silent, wicked injuries wreak havoc on their minds and hearts while we go about our days completely oblivious. Thank you all for your service.

  Kristine Allen lives in beautiful Central Texas with her adoring husband. They have four brilliant, wacky and wonderful children. She is surrounded by twenty six acres, where her seven horses, six dogs and three cats run the place. Kristine realized her dream of becoming a contemporary romance author after years of reading books like they were going out of style, and having her own stories running rampant through her head. She works as a nurse, but in stolen moments, taps out ideas and storylines until they culminate in characters and plots that pull her readers in and keep them entranced for hours.

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