Burned: Devil's Blaze MC Book 2
Read Burned: Devil's Blaze MC Book 2 Online
Authors: Jordan Marie
BURNED
Copyright © 2016 by Jordan Marie
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including but not limited to being stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, groups, businesses, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design by Vicki Jones Portraiture
Cover Art by LJ Anderson of Mayhem Cover Creations
Model: Travis DesLaurier
Photographer: Corey Pollack
Interior Design & Editing by Daryl Banner
I love all of my readers. Some of the best times I have are laughing and joking in my street team or on my personal social media pages. I’m so blessed with each and every one. My street team slogan is Badass Bitches for life, (#BB4L) and they truly are some of the baddest, sweetest, lovingest, funniest people I’ve ever met. This past year, I lost one. One who was important to me. She was a sweet soul, who deserved to laugh and live longer. A soul that the world needed because her light touched people and she made them happy. I know because she made me happy. She gave me smiles. She touched my heart. This book is dedicated to you
Cka Inez Reagan-Wilson
gone too soon, but never forgotten.
Your light lives on.
Xoxo
#BB4L and beyond.
J
Dear Readers:
When Skull first “came” to me and “demanded” I write his story (yes the voices speak to me, what can I say?), I never realized what a job it is to tackle three books that link so closely together. It turns out that ending with a cliffhanger is simple, compared to picking up where it left off. Especially, when the second book is about a different couple. I tried to walk a fine line with this one. I wanted you to be able to read this story and enjoy Torch and Katie even if you had never read Skull. I wanted to catch readers up on what happened from Captured, but not overshadow the main characters. I tried my best. I hope I succeeded. In the back of this book I have enclosed some samples of books from some new authors that you might not have heard of, but you should definitely check out! I’ve also included the Novella of Craved. Craved is Annie and Sabre’s story and takes place before Torch actually. So if you haven’t read feel free to scroll up to the table of contents, find it and start it first! It however, is not necessary to read it before (or even after) Burned.
Okay so that’s it. Enjoy people! (I hope you do!) Please if you have the time and you’ve read, take a moment to leave a review. I don’t really comment on them, but I promise I read each and every one and try to use them to motivate me.
As always remember this book contains adult content (umm quite a bit of it in this case) and read on with that knowledge.
xoxo
Jordan
A little over 2 years ago
(continuing from the end of Captured)
Movie Theater
“What do you mean your water broke??” I whisper. “You’re not due for another three weeks!”
“I didn’t plan it!” Bethie hisses back.
“Let me get your stupid husband and he can take us to the hospital. Then, we’ll figure this out,” I reason, ignoring the way my heart beats a million miles a minute and slams against my chest.
“Hurry!” She cries panicking, as another contraction grabs hold of her. I wrap her into me, then lead her to a nearby bench. I get down on my knees in front of her and let her have my hand. She squeezes it so tightly, I feel like it might break.
“Look at me, Bethie. Let’s breathe. Remember? Like on the Lamaze seminar we found on line?” I imitate the exercise. “Hee… Hee… Hee… Hee…”
“Katie, get Skull,” she whispers. I take a deep breath, trying to figure out how to divert her. “I just want Skull!” she yells loudly this time. “I don’t want to do this alone!”
“I’ll get him, I’ll get him,” I assure her. “Just do your breathing.”
“Hee… Hee… Hee…” she mimics, repeating until slowly the contraction passes.
“Better?”
“Yes. Will you get Skull now, please?”
“He was with another woman. I mean, you’ve been gone for, like, nine months. Maybe he’s moved—”
“Skull loved me. I don’t know who
she
is, but he wouldn’t replace what we had that easily. Please, I need you to get him.”
“He thinks you’re dead. Men move on, sweetheart. They—”
“If you won’t do it, I will!”
She rises off the bench holding her stomach, then waddles through the crowd. She looks pitiful; you can tell she’s hurting and her dress is soaked. Still, she’s determined to tell this
Skull
about her baby. I still think cutting his balls off for a baby mobile would be a better option. No one said quite
how
my niece needed to have her father in her life. It seems like the perfect solution to me.
She only makes it ten feet before coming to a dead stop.
“What?” I ask. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s him!”
“Him? Skull? I know, we’ll—”
“Not him. Pistol. He’s standing there across the street away from Skull’s men. Look!”
I look where she points. There’s a slightly overweight dude with black hair standing across the street watching Skull and his crew. Even I can read the hate coming off of him in waves.
“Okay, so I’ll go over and drag your man over here and he can deal with the Pistol dude. That work?”
“Yeah,” she says, but all of a sudden she turns pale and slumps against the wall.
“Bethie?” I’m trying to keep the fear out of my voice, but something is wrong. I can see it and I’m starting to panic.
“Katie, I’m not feeling so good,” she whispers, then slides down the wall. I do my best to catch her from hitting the ground. She’s unconscious, but still breathing. That’s about as much as I can figure out. Then I see it: a small stain of red on her white dress. It’s not big, but then again, she’s bleeding, and her water just broke. It doesn’t have to be big to mean trouble.
“Help us!” I cry out. “Somebody help us!!”
I don’t know how many times I scream it. I just keep screaming. It doesn’t matter who’s around or who sees or hears us; I’ll deal with the fallout. I need to make sure Bethie is okay. I can’t let anything happen to her or my niece.
“What’s wrong?” asks an older man, pushing through the crowd that has started to form around us.
“Her water broke,” I explain quickly, “and then she got pale and passed out. I don’t know. Help her, please!”
He starts moving around her, puts a hand to her face, then checks the pulse at her neck. Finally, his hands move along her stomach, examining.
He takes out his cell phone. “This is Dr. Crowell. I have a pregnant female unconscious outside the Movie Vault Theater. Her water broke. Her pulse is weak and there’s a hint of blood. It could be placenta previa. I need an ambulance, stat. Have the O.R. ready and meeting the bus.”
His words mean nothing to me. I don’t understand. I just know that I can’t quit crying. I can’t lose Bethie now, not when we’ve finally survived everything and are on the verge of being free…
Not now.
It’s been a fucking night. Skull is trying to kill himself by hitting on Dragon’s woman at the movies. He’s not even truly interested in her, I can tell. I think she reminds him a little of Beth, but there’s no real interest on his part, that much is clear. Fuck, he hasn’t had a woman in his bed since Beth.
Beast and I help toss him on the bed and Beast grunts before going back to the woman he brought home. Maybe that’s a sign of hope because that in and of itself is a freaking miracle. Beast hasn’t looked at a woman since the day he lost his old lady and child. Chick he’s got tonight is Dani. Smokin’ hot, but something about her tells me she has more baggage than an airport. I don’t know what gets into my brothers. Chicks are made to fuck and enjoy, then scrape off the bottom of your shoe. Jesus, didn’t the mess with Skull and Beth teach them anything? When she died, Skull grieved himself to death. And tonight, I know he was hoping Dragon would end his misery. I could see it in his eyes.
Skull mumbles in his sleep. He still clutches the empty bottle of Vodka he had in his hand when his head hit the bar. I didn’t even bother trying to take it from him. Chances are, when he wakes up, he’ll just start drinking more, so I was afraid to wake him. He puts away so much alcohol these days, I don’t know how he functions. Things need to change. I just don’t know how to drag him out of the hell he seems to be lost in. Hell, if I lived through all of the shit he has, I doubt I’d be in any better shape than he is—probably worse.
“Boss okay?” I look up to see Pistol standing at the door. I hate this fucker. I’m not even sure why. A while back, he was making waves and trying to get enough votes to kick Skull out of his position. Skull beat the fuck out of him, and things have been quiet ever since. Hell, Pistol has been the poster child for Skull’s biggest supporter since he almost lost his life after Beth’s father shot him in the stomach—but there’s still something about him that sets off fucking alarm bells. I’d mention it to Skull, but shit, I doubt the man cares much right now if Pistol takes over the club. That by itself is some scary shit.
“Yeah man, just a little too much to drink,” I tell him, ready to get the fuck out of here and away from Pistol. I plan on finding a woman and getting fucking laid. If I’m lucky, maybe two or three women. A party is not a party until Torch shows up. Got to give all the ladies the attention they deserve.
“He’s been drinking more and more lately,” Pistol points out, and I can’t even say his tone is bad, but I want to punch the fucker in the face.
“Yeah, well, he lost his woman and gave the order that killed her. That shit fucks with a man.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. Still, having a cocked cannon leading us… That’s dangerous. He could have caused a war with the Savage Brothers tonight.”
“Back the fuck off, Pistol.”
“I’m not saying anything, I just worry. Same as you, Torch.”
“Whatever. I…” I trail off as Skull’s cell phone rings. I follow the sound, coming up to the nightstand. He mumbles but doesn’t wake. I don’t recognize the number, but it’s local.
“Shoot,” I say into the phone, my eyes flicking back to meet Pistol’s. I don’t trust the bastard not to knife me in the back. Fuck, or
any
of us in the back.
“I’m looking for Skull?” a voice comes across the other line and it reaches down and wraps around my cock and makes it throb. Strangest fucking thing I’ve ever felt in my life.
“He’s busy,” I say, looking down at the man in question, annoyed that whoever owns this voice wants
him
on the phone and not me. I bet I could make her want me…
“Um… I’m calling for Beth.”
My hand tightens up on the phone and I’m close to crushing the motherfucker. “What the fuck are you playing at?”
“Listen, I don’t want to cause any problems. It’s just that Beth came to Kentucky to find Skull, but before she could talk to him, she went into labor. She’s at the hospital in London and there are some complications. I don’t want to go into it over the phone, but could you tell him that she needs to see him? Obviously, they have stuff to talk about. We’re in the maternity ward, and—”
“Listen, you fucking cunt. I don’t know who you are, but there’s no way Beth is in a hospital. Especially here in Kentucky. She died.”
“She didn’t,” the woman argues back. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. If you’d just tell Skull to come down here—”
“You’re out of your fucking mind. If you think I’m going to let my man walk into a fucking trap, you’re crazy.”
“It’s not a trap! Listen to me—”
“Whoever the fuck you are,” I growl into the phone, cutting her off, “and whoever put you up to this, you need to stop, or I swear to God I will make sure you live to regret it.”
I end the call, breathing heavily and furious as hell.
“What the fuck was that?”
“Some twisted bitch trying to say she had Beth at the hospital in labor, of all fucking things. Probably some pissed off fucking hanger on trying to cause Skull some grief.”
“Should we check it out?”
“Fuck no. And we
don’t
mention this shit to Skull, either. Brother has enough shit going on in his head. He doesn’t need this added to it.”
“Yeah. I’m with you on this one. I’m going to check the perimeter of the club and crash, Torch, bud. See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, okay, later,” I answer, just relieved Pistol is leaving. I’m pissed as hell. I’m glad that I got that call instead of Skull. Something like that would have messed my brother up even more, and that’s the last thing he needs. He’s on a thin edge right now as it is.
“Beth,” Skull whispers in his sleep, like he knows what’s going on.
The pain and torment in his voice hurts me. I put Skull’s phone under my boot and grind that mother fucker on the floor until it lies in pieces. I’ll explain to Skull tomorrow I accidentally stepped on it getting him to bed and have him get a new number. Fucker should have updated when we moved out of Georgia anyways. It’s time he starts living in the present, even if I have to drag his ass the whole way.
