Authors: K.L. Middleton,Cassie Alexandra,Kristen Middleton
The Tangled Series Complete Digital Boxed Set (Bad Boy Rock Star, Millionaire, and MMA Fighter Bundle) (59 page)
Chapter Forty-Seven
Sera
One Month Later
“You looked beautiful walking down that isle, today,” said Thane.
“Thank you,” I replied, sitting back in the wicker chair. I looked down at the light-blue chiffon dress and then back at him. “You looked pretty handsome yourself.”
He was wearing a black tuxedo, and I’d never seen him look so debonair. We’d just gotten back from Sinclair and Reed’s wedding, and were sitting on the porch, both of us having a nightcap.
“Thank you.”
I glanced over at Fred and Arlene’s house and noticed the television was still on through the front window. They’d left the wedding three hours earlier to help babysit Emma. As usual, Fred was being a night owl. “Should we invite Fred over for a beer?” I asked.
“No, let him rest. I’m sure it took a lot out of him today. The wedding.”
“I’m just glad he’s okay,” I replied, thinking back to that night when Michael had shot him in the shoulder. Fortunately, he’d recovered, but because he was in his seventies, it was a slow process.
“He’s a tough old man,” said Thane.
“He sure is.”
“You’re a pretty tough cookie yourself. The way you helped save Sinclair. This wedding today almost didn’t take place.”
“You’d have done the same thing. Besides, it was you who ended up saving the day. You were the real hero.” After Thane had hit Michael with the car, the gun had been knocked from his hand. He’d tried running, but Thane had managed to subdue him and now the maniac was awaiting trial for attempted murder.
“It was more luck than anything. Two minutes later and who knows what would have happened.”
“Everything happens for a reason,” I replied, smiling. “You were meant to save all of us and, laugh at me or not, it was written in the stars.”
He smiled and reached into his tuxedo pocket. “Speaking of which… close your eyes.”
I stared at him. “Why?”
“Just do it,” he said, a twinkle in his eyes.
I closed them.
“Now, concentrate on us.”
“On us?”
“Yes, and keep your eyes closed. Focus on you, Emma, and me.” He began massaging my shoulders. “What do you think the stars say about us?”
An image of us on a tropical beach came to me. We were both smiling and gloriously happy. Then I saw my Emma. She was a couple years older and holding onto a little boy’s hand. The boy smiled and I noticed that he had Thane’s golden eyes.
“Only good things, Thane,” I said, feeling the goose-bumps on my arms and legs.
He released my shoulders and the next thing I felt was something being slipped onto my finger.
“You and Emma are both my stars,” he whispered as I opened my eyes. “And I want to live the rest of my life surrounded by your light.”
My eyes filled with tears as I stared down at the diamond engagement ring, which sparkled under the moonlight.
“What do you say, babe? Will you marry me?”
I smiled and threw my arms around him. “Yes, but only if you promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“That we can name our first child, Fredrick Zachary.”
His eyes widened. “We’re going to have a son?”
“I think it’s only fitting that if you have stars, you also have a… son.”
Thane chuckled at my small attempt at humor. “Okay, wait a minute… you mentioned our first child. How many children are we going to have, besides Freddie and Emma?”
“Some things need to be kept as surprises, Thane.”
He ignored me. “Are you saying two, three, four?”
“I’m not saying anything.”
He picked me up out of the chair and threw me over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” I squealed.
“All this talk about stars is reminding me that I need to introduce you to my own big-bang theory. I think we should take the next seven days and start working on it.”
I laughed. “Thane…”
He put me down and looked into my eyes. “What?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, babe. Forever.”
As I closed my eyes I caught a glimpse of my mother and Sam, and they were both smiling.
The End
Thank you for reading Tangled Fury, I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider leaving a review. Also, if you haven’t already read the first book in my series, Resisting The Biker, I’ve included it with this download. Thanks again for reading my books!
Twenty-one-year-old college student, Adriana Nikolas, doesn't really know what to make of Raptor, the sexy biker who seems to be obsessed with getting into her pants. Hot or not, she knows from their first encounter that he's dangerous, both in AND out of bed.
What Raptor wants, Raptor gets. Right now, he wants Adriana and will do whatever it takes to claim her as his woman. But, she keeps resisting, which isn't something that the Road Captain of the Gold Vipers is accustomed to.
Arrogant, cocky, and stubborn, Raptor takes on the challenge, and in the meantime, gets much more than what he'd bargained for.
A contemporary erotic romance
63,000 Words
For readers 18 and older
Graphic Themes, Language, Violence, Sexual Situations, Crude Language, Drugs
By
Cassie Alexandra
.
Copyright ©2015 by Cassie Alexandra/K.L. Middleton
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without express written permission of the author.
This book is purely fiction. Any resemblances to names, characters, and places are coincidental. The reproduction of this work is forbidden without written consent from the author.
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
It was just after nine o’clock p.m. when Jessica Winters walked out of
Twenty-Four Hour Fitness
, dropped her gym bag into the trunk of her car, and drove to her two-bedroom apartment in Iowa City. She pulled into the underground garage, grabbed her things, and headed toward the elevator, relieved that her roommate, Kellie, was out of town. She’d have the place to herself for a couple of days, which meant that she wouldn’t have to listen to the sound of Kellie and her boyfriend, Jack, going at it in the other room all hours of the night. She had to admit, listening to Kellie when she was having those ‘mind-blowing orgasms’, as she so fondly called them, was hell. Especially for someone who’d decided not to have sex until she met the ‘one’. ‘The
one’
who seemed to be taking his damn sweet time in finding her.
“You should get yourself a vibrator,” said Kellie after Jessica had confronted her about keeping the noise down the previous weekend. “Maybe you wouldn’t be so weird about it.”
“If not wanting to listen to other people having sex is being weird then I certainly don’t want to be whatever it is you consider normal.”
“God, you take everything so damn seriously. I’m just giving you shit. Although,” she’d smirked, “you have to admit, you’re way too uptight about sex. You’re twenty years old, for God’s sake. You need to get your freak on, Jessica, like the rest of us.”
“I’m not uptight and I don’t need to ‘get my freak on’. I’m just tired from not getting any sleep,” she’d shot back angrily. “I mean, come on –
four
in the morning? You’d be pissed, too, if you had classes at seven and were up all night, trying to block out the howling in the next room. If you could at least keep it down. That’s all I ask.”
“Honey, you can’t keep good sex down. If you had it, you’d know what I mean.”
“Whatever. At least turn up the damn music.”
“Fine.”
The truth was that they fought about more than just the obnoxious grunting and moaning coming from Kellie’s room. They argued about groceries, cable and electric bills, or where things belonged in the apartment. It certainly wasn’t fun going home at night, and Jessica pretty much knew what she had to do – find herself a new roommate or… move back in with her mother, Frannie. At least she’d get more sleep and not have to put up with Kellie’s bullshit. Unfortunately, that meant she’d also have to move in with Slammer, her mom’s biker fiancé. Not only was he intimidating, but he was the president of the Gold Vipers, a motorcycle club in Jensen, which Jessica wanted absolutely no part of. Admittedly, she actually liked Slammer and he was not at all what she’d expected, with his easy-going manner and funny stories. Sure, every other word was ‘fuck’ and he smoked like a chimney, but he treated Frannie, his ‘Old Lady” as he liked to call her, like a queen
and
he was even considerate to Jessica. But, as far as she was concerned, he was still in a gang and his way of living wasn’t the kind she wanted for her mother. She’d even tried talking Frannie out of seeing Slammer several times, but apparently the two of them had already fallen “hopelessly in love”, so it was like talking to a wall. Even when Jessica mentioned the fact that bikers in clubs like his were always breaking the law and ending up in prison, she’d come back with – “Slammer says that the Gold Vipers aren’t like other MC clubs. They’re more like a band of brothers who look out for each other and their families. Everything they are involved with is totally legit.”
Yeah, right.
Frannie was so gullible, it was frustrating. Jessica could only cross her fingers and hope that Slammer would keep her out of anything illegal. If he did try to involve her mother in any way, and she got word of it, Slammer would find his ass in jail faster than he could light his next Camel. Her mother meant everything to her and there was no way she’d sit back quietly or turn the other cheek. Frannie was close to retirement and she didn’t want her mother spending any part of it in prison.
Looking forward to a quiet night, Jessica pushed the thoughts of her future stepdad away, and took the elevator to the third floor. Humming to herself, she walked down the hallway to her apartment, unlocked the door, and slipped inside. As she was about to turn the kitchen light on, someone grabbed her from behind, his arm locking around her like a steel vice. She tried to scream but it was immediately cut off by a gloved hand clamping over her mouth. The smell of leather and gasoline made her gag.
“Hello, darlin’,” the man growled into her. He began groping her breasts. “Oh, these are nice.”
Sobbing, she tried struggling, but it only made him laugh. Desperate to get away, she tried biting his hand through the glove.
“Bitch,” he snarled, squeezing her mouth so hard, her jaw ached. “Fight me and you die. Understand?”
Whimpering, Jessica ignored his threat and slammed her elbow into his stomach, remembering the self-defense class she’d taken before college. The instructor had said to fight for your life at any cost. Scream, kick, do whatever it took to get away, or the chances of surviving were slim to none.
The man grunted, but instead of releasing her, he grabbed her by the throat and began to squeeze. “You think you have a chance against me, bitch? You keep fighting, and I’ll snap your neck. Don’t you dare fucking test me!”
“Please… can’t… breathe…” she begged hoarsely.
He loosened his hold slightly. “You gonna behave?”
Her mind was whirling as she tried to think of another way of escape. The kitchen knives were too far out of reach and he was so strong. She’d never make it.
“Answer me, bitch!” he hissed, pulling her hair back cruelly in his fist.
“Yes!” she cried.
“Okay then,” he whispered, pushing her toward the bedroom. “Now, let’s go have us some fun.”
***
An hour later, Jessica heard him leave the apartment. Bloody and bruised, she staggered back to the kitchen, locking the door. Then, she grabbed her cell phone and called nine-one-one.
“I’ve been attacked. Raped,” she sobbed into the phone, her entire body shaking. She slid down to the floor, glancing at the doorway in terror, worried he’d bust it down and kill her. “Please… help me. I’m afraid he’ll come back.”
“We’re sending someone right away,” the woman promised, trying to calm her down. “You are sure that the assailant has left?”
“Yes,” she replied, staring down at the bruises on her thighs where he’d dug his fingers into her flesh. Between that and the burning pain between her legs, she wanted to die. She wanted
him
to die.
“Okay. The police should be there soon,” reminded the operator. “I’ll stay on the phone with you until they arrive. Did you get a good look at the assailant?”
“He... he wore a mask. A black one.”
“Did you recognize his voice?”
“No. Nobody I know would do this!”
“Okay. Try to calm down, Ms. Winters. Someone is coming.”
As Jessica waited for help to arrive, she closed her eyes and began crying all over again. The woman on the phone tried soothing her, but all she could think about was the rapist’s gloating brown eyes. She’d never forget them or his dry, cracked lips. He’d made her stare up at him while he did the unspeakable. It seemed to get him off.
“You see me?” he’d growled several times.
Jessica had seen him clearly. He was the devil. He even wore a patch on his vest that proved it.