Masuk~Ryder~
Oh, fuck no! I want to rip the club owner in two. Beside me, Lila tries to school her expression, but a flush creeps up her face. Zane clears his throat. “My first thought was simply to ask some of my friends to help you. But you might be right, Thorne. I know most everyone there, not to mention each nook and cranny of the place. I know how to manipulate the security.” He turns to Lila. “But… I think I could be pretty good with you, and wMonday, January 26 Feeling like I might crawl out of my skin, I pace the reception area of EM Security Management. Thank fuck I am finally home. The last two weeks I’ve spent in Speck-on-a-Map, Texas, have been fourteen days too many. The good news: Our mission there is over. Sawyer’s wedding to Shealyn West has gone off mostly without a hitch and the creepy-as-fuck cult down the road has been shut down in a hail of yeehaw and gunfire. The bad news: My wholly dependable fellow operator, Levi Cross, has fallen for Shealyn’s sister, Maggie, gotten the girl, and decided to stay behind. Now the organization has a new guy to break in, the fucking small-town deputy from Maggie’s hometown. I snort. In a team full of SEALs, Green Berets, and other elite warriors, I don’t see this Rosco P. Coltrane working out. Yeah, Kane Preston has some military experience and he’s seemed all right, but c’mon… At least the hazing will be fun. But the worst news: I am going through withdrawals because I
~Colt~“Anyway, about a month after school started, I came home one night late. I could hear Allie screaming from down the street. I went running and I burst in to see my dad beating the fuck out of her. I thought at first it was because he’d had his fill of her, and I cursed myself for being so absent that I hadn’t seen it coming. But I quickly figured out that she’d broken Dad’s one cardinal rule: never get knocked up.”Emma gasps. “Did your father know she was pregnant?”“Yeah. That’s why he was beating her, punching her stomach over and over. I screamed at him to stop. He wouldn’t. I fought him, got in a few punches. But he was meaner. He clocked me good. I stumbled out and called the police, but they were at least ten minutes away. I didn’t think Allie’s baby would last that long. Hell, I doubted she would either.” I swallow. “I went and got a gun.”“Oh, my gosh.” Emma pales.“I fucking demanded he stop. I thought if I threatened him he would. But he didn’t. He just called h
~Colt~Emma’s father is silent for so long I start to sweat. But I force myself to remain still, regulate my breathing, mute my panic, and meet the man’s direct gaze.“I know nothing about you, your character, your family, or your faith. How can you expect me to simply hand over my only daughter, whom I love with all my heart, to a stranger?”I’ve thought about this. “I could answer in one of two ways. Strictly being matter of fact? I’m here as a favor to you. I’ll do or say whatever it takes to make Emma my wife. I will never stop, never tire, and never give up. I want a life with love and laughter, compassion, and a reason to come home after what often feels like war. Emma wants that, too. With me. If you make her choose…not to be harsh, but you won’t win. So I’m here apologizing and willing to get down on one knee to ask for her hand. Mostly for her sake. But for yours, too.”The preacher doesn’t like that answer. “And if I refuse, would you take her from me?”“Do you want her
~Colt~I rub my sweaty hands together, swallow, then lift my fist and do one of the most terrifying things in my life.I knock on Reverend Silas Grant’s quaint blue front door.If this doesn’t go well, I am fucked.Interminable moments pass before I hear footsteps across the hardwood floor, then the door swings open. The preacher stands expectantly with a blank expression. He is just shy of medium height and medium build with kind eyes and a guarded smile. I feel as if I eclipse the man.“Yes?”This is it. Now or never. Make or break.Time to find your manners, asshole. You remember those?Blowing out a breath, I stick out my hand. “Hi, sir. We haven’t met yet, which is a mistake I’m here to rectify. Colt Whitaker.”The instant I speak my name, the preacher’s face closes up. The man eyes me from the collar of my leather jacket to the tattoos peeking above the buttons of my shirt and down to the hard tips of my combat boots.Fuck. The suit that got ruined last night would hav
~Emma~ That is it? He is giving up? Sacrificing his life for mine? Colt has felled enemy combatants and torn through armies, and he is going to simply let this unhinged woman put a bullet in his brain? I struggle and squeal, to no avail. “Toss your gun over there.” Clara points toward the swampy darkness, away from the warehouse. “Far away.” Colt doesn’t hesitate, just chucks it into the abyss. “Now what?” “That pole over there. I prepared it for you.” Clara gestures with a bob of her head. “Go. There are handcuffs on the ground. Put your arms around the pole and cuff yourself to it.” No matter how I screech or struggle, Colt does exactly as he is told, and the click of the handcuffs as he dooms himself to death is a stab to my heart. Horror sweeps through me. It can’t end this way. I will not let it, damn it. I try to catch Colt’s gaze, but he seems to look right through me. “Now let her go.”
~Emma~My shoulders ache from my hands being zip-tied behind my back for hours. I shift on the hard metal chair in the abandoned repair shop and study the woman who has abducted me. Clara, she calls herself when she mutters out loud. She clearly hasn’t thought this plan through. I suspect the woman’s grief has overwhelmed her mental state, because she’s been acting frantic and half-crazy for hours.Clara’s bony fingers grip my phone. I wish I could snatch it back, at least long enough to tell everyone where I am and that I am all right. I hate to think about Colt and Daddy both worried sick. Instead, the woman clutches the device in her hand and paces.“I simply have to call that cabrón and lure him in. His number is here.” She holds up my cell. “Why am I waiting?” Seemingly to find her courage.I am trying to hang on to mine. The good news is, Clara Salazar appears to be working alone. I’ve seen no hint of accomplices or heavies or anyone else who wishes me harm. Apparently the c
~Lila~“Walk to the bed. Stand beside it and wait for me,” Ryder orders.I walk over to the low platform bed, my bare feet silent against the concrete. Ryder prowls toward me, then sits on the silk sheet. “Come closer.”“Don’t I get a safe word first?”He tilts his head slightly, studying me
~Lila~The heavy oak door of Thorne’s office clicks shut behind me, but the sense of entrapment follows me right into the corridor.Before I can even take a full breath of the cooler hallway air, a broad, calloused palm presses firmly against the small of my back and the heat of Ryder’s hand burn
~Lila~ “Bud?” Ryder breathes. The name lands like a physical blow against my ribs. I jerk away from Ryder’s grip, my heart slamming against my ribs like it wants to break free. His hand falls away, but the heat of his fingers lingers on my scalp, sending unwelcome sparks down my spine. Zane
⚠️A Little Heads Up Before We Begin⚠️While this is a romance book, it also contains explicit Dom/sub dynamics including consensual spanking, power exchange, edging, restraints, and enough unresolved tension to short-circuit your e-reader.If any of that makes you uncomfortable, no hard feelings, b
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