Ride Rough

  “Yes, it is,” she said, her breath catching as the smile slid off her face. “I feel happy and sad at the same time.”

  He cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing under her eye, but there were no tears. “I know, baby. Perfectly reasonable. I’m so sorry your mom is in such bad shape.”

  “I think I’m going to lose her, Mav. I feel it.”

  “Don’t say that. The doctors don’t know anything for sure yet,” he said, even though none of the doctors sounded any more hopeful or positive about it than they’d been the night before. Mrs. H had just been in that smoke for so long. “And if the worst happens . . .” He swallowed around a lump. A lump caused by the fact that the first time he’d lost Alexa, it was because she’d lost her brother. What would losing her mother do? “We’ll handle it together.”

  She nodded.

  “Promise me,” he said.

  “Of course we will.” She tilted her head. “What’s the matter? You look upset.”

  “It’s fucking selfish, given what we’re talking about.” But that didn’t keep him from feeling the anxiety. Christ, he didn’t want to have found her again just to lose her so quickly once more.

  “We can say anything to each other. Remember?” She rested her bandaged hands against his chest.

  “If the worst happens, Alexa, you have to promise to let me help you through it this time. Please.” His heart thundered against his breastbone, the heavy beat from a mix of need and fear and worry.

  Her breath caught. “Oh. Oh, God, Maverick. You’re worried because my grief over Tyler drove me away from you before?” He nodded, a knot lodged in his throat. “I promise. I won’t do that again. I’m not that girl anymore. And I’ve learned so damn much about what love is, and what it isn’t.”

  Relief crashed over him so hard he shuddered. “Like what?”

  Her expression went soft and thoughtful. “Love . . . love is the only thing that doesn’t hurt. So many people are afraid of it. I think I was five years ago. Afraid that loving you would hurt me, one way or the other. But love doesn’t hurt. Abuse hurts, and loneliness hurts, and jealousy hurts, and lies hurt. But love? Love heals. Love puts back together things that were broken before. Which is what you’ve done for me. So promising you, that’s easy. I don’t want to be anywhere else but with you. No matter what.”

  Damn if those words didn’t resonate all the way to the bottom of his soul, and make him want things he never thought he’d have. Want them right fucking now.

  He leaned his forehead against hers. “Marry me.” The words almost took him by surprise, but they felt more right than maybe anything he’d ever said. Well, besides that he loved her. “It doesn’t have to be right away, but marry me. Say you’ll be mine. That we’ll ride through this life together, you and me against the world, just like we said. Say you’ll let me take care of you and that you’ll take care of me, too. Laugh with me and joke with me and fight with me and share your weird cat with me, and marry me, Alexa.”

  Tears made her eyes go glassy, but her smile was like the sun coming out after a storm. Bright and hopeful. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Maverick. You are my strength and my home and my truth. Nothing would make me happier than being yours.”

  “Forever,” he said, triumph making his blood sing.

  “Forever,” she whispered, the first tears slipping free of her pretty eyes.

  He kissed her then, a soft pressing promise of lips on lips, and he managed to pull her into his arms. “I didn’t exactly plan this today, and I know I need to get you a ring—”

  “I don’t care about a ring, Mav. I mean, I want to wear your ring, whatever it is, but your heart’s the only thing I need.” She kissed him again.

  “Well, you have that. Because you are my friend and my love and the life I always wanted, Al. My everything.” And, damn if that didn’t give him an idea for a tattoo. Which made him think of the black-and-purple tribal raven with the red heart at its center. Seeing it on her skin someday was going to bring him to his knees. He already knew that was true.

  “Oh, that’s perfect, Maverick. Because you’re my everything, too.”

  EPILOGUE

  Welcome home, Al,” Maverick said, the next afternoon. He had his arm around her shoulders, supporting her weight and helping her across the threshold to his little lake house. They’d been released from the hospital an hour before, but had bowed out of the Saturday afternoon cookout being planned at the Ravens’ clubhouse before the final night of the carnival began. Alexa’s chest still hurt if she undertook much activity, so that was all more than she was up to just yet.

  “I’m so glad to be home,” she said. Home. God, that sounded nice. One of the things she’d always wanted but never really been able to find. Lucy came rushing right up to her. “Hi, baby. I bet you were lonely without us.”

  “Phoenix came by to feed her and keep her company. I told him to line the toys up on the tub to see what she did. He said we can ask him to Lucy-sit any time.” He lowered her onto the couch.

  She chuckled, her hand rubbing the cat’s thin body when she jumped up. “Look at all the new friends you’re making.”

  Maverick grinned. “What can I get you?”

  “Nothing at all,” she said. “Just be with me.”

  “My favorite thing.” He grabbed the remote and put on HGTV, then settled in next to her.

  “Ooh, I adore Love It or List It, even though the couple almost always does the opposite of what I would do.” She shifted against him, her head finding his shoulder. He put his arm around her, and she felt like she could’ve purred herself. Besides Jagger being freed, the only thing that could’ve made this moment better was knowing her mother was well, but there still hadn’t been any change in her condition. All Alexa could do was hope and believe.

  Mav propped his boots on the coffee table. “I enjoy the rebuild projects. Finding a new home doesn’t feel as special as making the old thing you know and love grow with you and work for you in ways you never thought of before.”

  She nodded, loving how he phrased that. It felt like he was talking about them. And maybe he was. Honestly, what relationship wasn’t a fixer-upper? At least the roughest parts of their ride were behind them.

  She hoped.

  Hours later, Maverick woke her up with a big tray of food. “I made us some dinner.”

  “You’re going to spoil me.”

  “You’re going to be my wife. There’s no such thing.” He held up a spoonful of mac and cheese to her mouth, since she still didn’t have full use of her hands. Part of her was eager for the gauze to come off, but the other feared how bad all that damaged skin was going to hurt when it was exposed to the world. One day at a time, she guessed. “Want?”

  She looked past the food to his face. “Want.”

  He chuckled and winked. “I’m not sure either of us is up to wanting.”

  Alexa grinned and took a bite. “Probably not. But mac and cheese hand-fed by my man is pretty good, too.”

  He shook his head and enjoyed a bite for himself.

  Something pinged around in her brain that she’d been avoiding all day. She finally gave it voice. “Today . . . today would’ve been my wedding day.”

  “I know,” he said, grabbing another spoonful to offer her.

  “Know what I was thinking?”

  His gaze cut to hers, the dark blue so intense. “Tell me.”

  “Maybe all the bad stuff was supposed to happen to bring me back to you.”

  He gave a tight nod. “I hate that bad stuff happened to you.”

  “I have no regrets, Maverick. I want you to know that. Except maybe walking away five years ago.”

  “Yeah? Well, I’ve been thinking about that. I’ve been thinking that neither of us was ready for us five years ago. You pushed me away and I let myself be pushed. Would you do that now?” He gave her a searching stare.

  “Absolutely not.” She shook her head.

  “Me, neither.”

  They ate the rest
of their dinner while watching The Fast and the Furious, and then Alexa was too tired to stay awake any longer.

  Mav helped her get ready for bed, and got changed himself. And then she walked into the bedroom—and burst out laughing. “This is perfect!” The llama and hedgehog sat on the bed.

  “This is your home now. Our home,” Maverick said. He pointed around the room. “Our bed and our closet and our bathroom and our dresser. I want you to move in, rearrange the furniture, hang pictures, lay your stuff out on the bathroom counter, and leave Lucy’s toys in the tub. Whatever makes you feel at home, I want you to do.”

  “I will, but I don’t have to do any of that to feel at home. That’s you, Maverick. Just you.” She wound her arms around his neck, careful not to put too much pressure there.

  “Fuck, I love you, baby.” He kissed her on a groan. “Good, then climb into our bed and let me hold you.” It took a moment to get situated, but then she was all snuggled up to the long nook along the side of his lean body.

  And that’s when Alexa knew—this was what being home really was. Finding love and belonging and family with one person, one person who could accept her mistakes and hold her tight and be her biggest cheerleader.

  Maverick was that for her. She knew that for sure.

  And that was everything.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I have a lot of people to thank for this one because sometimes books are hard, like this one was, and those are the ones that take the most support to finish. I have to start by thanking Lea Nolan for all the brainstorming, plotting, and hand-holding, and Christi Barth for reading the draft. I also have to thank my writing partner Stephanie Dray for her incredible patience, and Amanda Bergeron for the same! I also have to thank Amanda for the incredible encouragement she gave me by loving the book, and especially Maverick, as much as I do. It’s an amazing experience to work with an editor who gets your worlds and your words and your characters so much, and I appreciate it to the bottom of my heart.

  Next, I need to thank my wonderful agent, Kevan Lyon, for everything she did to help me get this one done. And my amazingly supportive husband and daughters for doing so much for me to give me the time I needed to write. I love you guys!

  And I also need to thank my Heroes and my Reader Girls for the excitement you all had for the early excerpts I posted from the book—each and every one was a little boost of encouragement and motivation! It’s amazing any time a reader mentions that a certain book of yours is their favorite, but a special thank you to every reader who told me Ride Hard was your new favorite, because that provided me with such wonderful motivation when the going got tough on this one. I hope you find another story that grabs your heart within these pages.

  Finally, a thanks as always to all the readers, who take my characters into their hearts and let them tell their stories over and over again.

  ~LK

  EXCERPT FROM RIDE WILD

  Don’t miss the next Raven Riders novel

  RIDE WILD

  Coming Fall 2017!

  Preorder it today.

  Wild with grief over the death of his wife, Sam “Slider” Evans lives for his two sons. Nothing else holds his interest anymore, not riding his bike, not even his membership in the Raven Riders Motorcycle Club. And then he hires a new babysitter. . . .

  Recently freed from a bad situation by the Ravens, Cora Campbell is determined to bury her past. When Slider offers her a nanny position, she accepts, needing the security and time to figure out what she wants from life. Cora adores his sweet boys, but she never expected the red-hot attraction to their brooding, sexy father that makes her wish he’d notice her. Just once.

  Slider sees the beautiful, fun-loving woman he invited into his home. She makes him feel too much, and he hates it and yearns for it, not sure which he feels more, until Cora witnesses something she shouldn’t have. Now, the new lives he and Cora have only just found are on the line, and he must claim and protect what’s his before it’s too late. . . .

  And keep reading to enjoy the bonus Hard Ink novella

  HARD EVER AFTER

  CHAPTER 1

  I don’t want to let you go,” Nick Rixey said, lying on his back in bed with Becca Merritt sprawled half on top of him. Dawn was already around the corner, but neither of them had slept much. At least he wasn’t the only one who was a little stressed out about life returning to normal. You’d think it would be the opposite. But it’s funny how your body and brain could get used to operating in crisis mode—and resist the reality that the crisis was over.

  Becca traced a ticklish pattern across his chest with her fingertips. “I’m just going to work,” she said. “I’ve been off for two months. It’s time.”

  “I know,” he said, pressing a kiss to her soft blond waves.

  “But we might have time for a proper good-bye before I have to go,” she said, a smile plain in her voice.

  Nick couldn’t help but grin, and Becca was a big part of why that was so much easier to do these days. “Might we now? And what would a proper good-bye look like?” Against his belly, his cock hardened.

  “Mmm, a back rub might be nice,” she said, her tone full of teasing.

  “That’s all?” He reached down to stroke his cock, and her head shifted, following the movement. And fuck if her watching him jack himself didn’t get him even hotter. How the hell was he supposed to let her out of his sight for a twelve-hour shift at the hospital after they’d been around each other twenty-four/seven for most of the last two months?

  “Maybe this, too.” Becca slid down his body and joined her hand with his. Her tongue swirled around the head of his cock and her lips sucked at the tip as their hands moved together.

  “Fuck, Sunshine. Take all of me,” Nick rasped.

  She pushed onto her knees, her face so filled with desire—for him—that it blew his mind. Every damn time. Looking him in the eye with those pretty baby blues, she leaned over and swallowed his length inch by maddening inch until he was buried in the back of her throat.

  His hand went to her hair and his hips surged. “God, yes.” For a few long moments, he savored the pleasure she was pulling out of his body with her lips and tongue and hands. And then he cupped her cheek in his palm. “Lay down,” he said.

  Smiling at him, Becca stretched out on her belly and laid her head on folded hands. Nick straddled her upper thighs, his cock rubbing against her ass as he smoothed his palms over her beautiful golden skin. To think that for most of the past year he’d been lonely, purposeless, angry, battling with demons so numerous it was hard to believe that they’d mostly been slayed. And it was Becca’s walking through the door of his tattoo shop that had put him on the road to getting justice, having his honor restored, and clearing his name—not to mention finding love.

  Becca Merritt had saved his life in every way that mattered.

  Because of her, he had purpose again in a new business. His surviving Army Special Forces teammates—his family by choice if not by blood—were back working and fighting at his side. And he had hope for the future in a way he hadn’t in a very long time, not since a roadside ambush in Afghanistan had killed half his team, sullied the name of his mentor and commander, and ended in the other-than-honorable discharge of Nick and his team. Not to mention injuring him and two of the other survivors. Although, shit, they’d all walked away with soul-deep wounds even if they hadn’t been visible to the eye.

  But that was all behind them now. After weeks of investigations, fighting, and off-the-books operations against a shit-ton of enemies, he and his team had come out on top and the bad guys were either dead or in custody. And now Nick could see the future stretching out in front of him. And this woman was at the very center of his vision.

  “How’s that feel?” he asked, kneading at Becca’s shoulders. The position tugged at the lingering injuries he bore in his hip and lower back, where he’d taken two rounds during the ambush, but fuck if he was letting his body ruin this perfect moment of peace and closenes
s between them.

  “Really good,” she whispered.

  He worked his way down her spine in a series of slow, deep massages. When he got to her ass, he pressed his cock between her cheeks and slowly stroked himself against her. Becca moaned. And Nick couldn’t wait anymore. He had to get in her. “You wet for me, Sunshine?” He slipped his fingers between her legs and found her hot and slick and more than ready. “Aw, fuck, yeah you are.”

  “Always wet for you,” she said, arching her back.

  Straddling her thighs, Nick penetrated her, both of them moaning as he slid home.

  “Oh, God, Nick,” Becca rasped.

  Grasping her cheeks, he began to move, his eyes trained on where he disappeared inside her. “So good together. Every damn time.”

  “Yes,” she said, arching into him, urging him faster, harder.

  Nick braced his arms against the bed and gave her everything he had—his body, his heart, his soul. The sounds of panting breaths and pleasured moans and slapping skin filled the gray-lit room. “Touch yourself,” he said. “I want you to come on me.”

  Becca slid a hand between her legs, and Nick closed every bit of distance between them, his body coming down and covering her from head to toes. He wrapped one arm around her shoulder and another around her head, his fingers tangling in all that beautiful, soft blond hair. “Love you so fucking much,” he rasped into her ear.

  “Nick,” she whispered, her tone tortured and needy. Her movements grew jerky and desperate beneath him, and then she was moaning and coming, her body fisting around him and stealing his sanity.