Ocean (Damage Control Book 5) (33 page)

Maybe my dad got into more debt than usual, and they concocted this plan together? Maybe she decided she was fed up with living in a trailer?

How long had they been planning this? Was it Mom’s idea, or did she just play along? Where did they go?

I want to hate her for this. For breaking my trust. For taking my money and leaving me to figure this out alone.

But I’m not alone. Raine is here. My friends are here. And Kayla is here, right here by my side. Oh, sure, I’m mad. I’m flaming pissed. But I can’t hate Mom. She’ll never know what real love is, while I’m surrounded by it.

And I grin as Zane lifts his tattoo gun and waggles his brows at me. “Ready, fucker?”

“As ready as ever.”

“It’s a good sting,” Shane tells me, poking his head into Zane’s cubicle. “You’re the last one to get the dragon tat, so suck it up, man.”

“Last one for now. Who’s to tell Z-man here won’t decide to bring in more people into the Brotherhood?”

“Nah. I’m good.” Zane drags his stool closer and starts inking the dragon on my back. “Don’t need more of you fuckers driving me insane. Man needs some peace.”

“Do I get a dragon?” Kayla asks, turning from her perusal of Zane’s drawings on the walls of the cubicle to grin at me.

“Depends,” Zane grunts. “What did your parents do to you?”

“They’re homophobes. And hate tattoos.”

Zane whistles. “They sound like assholes. I could ink a dragonfly on you, if you want.”

“They’re not bad enough, huh?”

“Be glad, Kay,” I whisper.

“I am,” she whispers back and smiles at me.

I close my eyes as he moves the tattoo gun over my skin, the pain lulling me. Shane is right, it’s a good pain, and it reminds me I’m officially part of the Brotherhood now.

“I want you to ink me,” Kayla says inches from my face and blink. “You, Ocean.”

Her eyes are sparkling.

“Oh yeah?” The thought has my dick hardening, and I shift uncomfortable on the chair. “With that?”

“Something blue,” she says, brushes her mouth over mine and straightens, wandering back to the drawings.

Zane laughs. “That was awfully specific.”

“Wasn’t it?” She smirks. “No racing cars, though. And no parts of things. I want a whole drawing.”

“Demanding today, aren’t we?” I grumble as Zane keeps laughing and inking my back.

“You never really explained why you only draw parts of things,” she says.

“Because love was broken,” I whisper. “I was trying to put it back together and failing every single time. But I’d draw you, Kay. The whole of you. You put love back together. You put me back together so I could love you.”

The tattoo gun stops moving. It’s silent.

I open my eyes, confused as to what happened, and Kayla grabs my face and gives me a deep kiss, with tongue and teeth, that shoots sparks of pleasure down my spine and makes me moan.

“Well, well,” Zane drawls as he puts the gun back to my skin. “Didn’t know you were a fucking poet, Ocean Storm.”

I have no clue what he’s talking about, but Kayla is still smiling at me, her eyes hidden, so everything in the world seems fine to me.

Kayla

“So Mom showed up at Allie’s place and took her away,” Wyatt is saying, holding on to the hand of a slender girl who looks painfully shy. “And told her that we don’t care what the neighbors say, if a guy beats us, we report him to the police and get the hell out of Dodge.”

“That what she said? Verbatim?” Ocean grins from where he’s opening a bottle of wine. We are at his apartment, and Wyatt is visiting with his girlfriend. She’s willowy and super pretty, with big dark eyes and long black hair. Plus she’s wearing a long beige dress and a crazy knitted necklace, and she even has a tattoo of a phoenix-like bird I’m dying to ask her about.

She’s polite, smiles a lot, and seems to worship my brother. All in all, what’s there not to like?

“No, man. But that’s the gist.” Wyatt grins back, and when Ocean turns his back, mouths at me, “Good choice!”

I snicker and bend to pet the two plants I’ve placed by the window of the living room. I brought them over from my apartment, and I hope they’ll survive the heat. Ocean named them Dom and Brian after the protagonists of
The Fast and the Furious
.

Big surprise.

“What?” Ocean carries the bottle and wine glasses to the dining table. “What did I miss?”

“Wyatt says you suck, and he’ll never approve of you and me together.”

“That right?”

Wyatt nods vigorously, his face a mask of innocence.

“Then we’ll have to elope,” Ocean says and grins at me before going back into the kitchenette where Raine is puttering about.

Wyatt’s girlfriend—Grace—excuses herself to the bathroom, and Wyatt pounces on me.

“So do you like her? Kay, say something.”

“She’s nice. And cute. Well done, Wyatt.”

He smiles widely. “Ocean is a cool guy, too. I like him.”

“Thank you, Wyatt. Don’t sound so shocked. I do have a good taste in people.”

He sticks out his tongue at me.

“I doubt Mom and Dad will be thrilled. He’s not a doctor or a lawyer.”

“Screw them,” Wyatt says cheerfully. “Listen, if our parents don’t approve, hey, they’ll eventually come around. And if they don’t… who cares as long as
I
approve, right?”

“Brat.”

I’m so lucky, I can hardly believe it, with my great siblings, and great friends—even more so when Raine and Ocean come out of the kitchenette, carrying a platter of glazed ribs and a bowl of potato salad, both handsome and smiling and
happy
.

I haven’t looked at my Tarot cards in so long I don’t even know where I left them, and the only thing I’ve learned from Ocean’s palms is that they feel good on my skin.

He feels good everywhere. And his smile is the best sight in the whole world.

***

The night sky is clear. Despite the city lights, I make out a few twinkling stars.

Then strong arms come around me, pulling against an equally strong body, and his breath ruffles my hair.

“Hey, baby.” His hands slip under the oversized T-shirt I’m wearing—one of his, naturally—and glide up my naked belly. “What are you doing up? It’s past midnight.”

“Just thinking.”

“About?” His hands slide higher, find my boobs and stroke them.

I gasp. “My sister. And my brother. How different they grew up to be. How our parents don’t necessarily make us into who we are.”

“Thank God for that,” he whispers fervently.

I turn around in his arms. I trace his lips. So full and soft in a face made of straight lines and sharp angles. “Do you remember that night I was drunk and you carried me home?”

He grins. “Are you fucking kidding me? I jacked off to the memory of you in my arms for a week straight.”

I fight a smile. “Well, remember you said Jesse tricked you? That he told you I wanted you to take me home? And I said no?” I wait for his nod before going on. “He didn’t lie. He’d asked me one time we all went out together, who I’d trust to take you home if anything happened. And I said Ocean. Without any hesitation. I knew already I trusted you with my life.”

He dips his head, his breath washing over my lips, warm and minty. “I like that. God, you have no idea how much I like that.”

His cock is hard, pressing between us. I guess I have a good idea of how much he likes it.

“And what are you going to do about it?” I roll my hips a little, and he grunts, his mouth going slack.

I love that I have that effect on him.

“I’m gonna eat that sweet pussy of yours,” he says, “and then I’m gonna sink inside you as deep as I can go, and you’re gonna make some noise.”

“Am I now?”

“Yeah. But first…” He licks his lips and I lean in, mesmerized. “First I’m gonna kiss you.”

He backs me up against the wall and I inhale, bracing for our usual near-violent encounter. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. Love everything he gives me.

But he brushes his lips over mine, once, twice. Then again. This kiss is soft and sweet and slow, an infinity of a kiss, light like a cloud, warm like summer rain.

It breaks my heart and puts it back together.

“Ocean?” I wet my throbbing lips with the tip of my tongue, try to marshal my scattering thoughts. It’s like trying to capture a flock of sparrows flying in every one direction. “I’ve made up my mind. I’d totally marry you and have your blue-eyed, blue-haired babies.”

He laughs. “Good to know.” He falls quiet. “I love you, Kay.”

My eyes sting.

“Kiss me again,” I whisper and sweep my mouth over his. “I want to touch you. See you. All of you.” And I’m not just talking about his awesome body. I want all that he is. I wonder if he knows it, if he hears it in my words. “Kay loves Blue.”

More than she ever thought possible.

This has been an amazing journey, and I have so many people I would like to thank for their help, advice, support and friendship.

Without the help of my wonderful editor this story wouldn’t be readable. Any remaining errors in the text are my fault as I tend to change things last minute.

Huge thanks to Nathalie Aynié for the constant help and support, and for the brainstorming sessions. She rocks bears in tutus! Big thank yous also to Amber Burning, Zelah Meyer and Ashley Paternostro.

Also huge thanks to Kia Zi Shiru for her support and help, and to 5t Times Formatting for the great formatting.

I also want to thank very much my author friends J.A. Beard and Jade West, and my PA Tracy Smith Comeford for their support.

Huge thanks to two ladies: to Leah Joslin who has co-written with me the openings of Parts I, II, and III of this book and discussed with me loads of aspects of my stories – and to Kerry Fletcher who is head of my street team and does wonders. Thank you for also for leading my readers group and making Facebook such a fun place to be.

Also hugs to Stephanie Witter, Alison Foster, Lilian Flesher, Emma Parrott, Catherine Bibby, Lainey Da Silva, Michelle McGinty, Lisa Anderson and Erin Beth Zehm for their enthusiasm and friendship. I am sure I am forgetting loads of people who have been amazingly nice to me.

Many thanks to my great reader and review teams for their amazing energy and commitment—love you ladies!—and to all the bloggers and reviewers who send me messages asking to feature my books and spread the word. I owe you.

Finally I want to thank my readers. Your messages, emails and Facebook posts telling me how much you like my stories motivate me, keep me writing and put a smile on my face. You are all amazing and I love you all.

Jo Raven is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, best known for her series Inked Brotherhood and Damage Control. She writes edgy, contemporary New Adult romance with sexy bad boys and strong-willed heroines. She writes about MMA fighters and tattoo artists, dark pasts that bleed into the present, loyalty and raw emotion. Add to that breathtaking suspense, super-hot sex scenes and a happy ending, and you have a Jo Raven® story.

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What comes next?

Plenty of things! I have many started projects and even more in my mind. For instance, I would like to write Raine and Jason’s story.

I am planning a sequel to Inked Brotherhood, and maybe one for Damage Control, too. I am currently working on the series “Sex and Bullets” which is romantic suspense. STORM was released last October, and now I am working on book 2 – HAWK.

Meanwhile I am also planning a trilogy with Colt Manson from RAFE – and a sequel to RIOT.

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Thank you all for reading. I hope you had fun with my story and would like to stick around for more!

HAWK (Sex and Bullets #2)

Bad boy heir to the Fleming Group empire, Jamie ‘Hawk’ Fleming, at your service.

Here’s the breakdown: my father has been thrown behind bars on murder charges, and my mother as accessory. That was three months ago, and since then everything has been a downhill ride.

The only thing keeping me sane right now is Hot Body. Her name is Layla, but that all that matters is that she’s gorgeous, sexy, and great in bed.

Until one morning I wake up tied up and gagged, Layla standing over me. Sounds promising, huh? A pretty girl, hand cuffs, maybe a whip?

Only the look on her face – and the pissed-off men at her side – tell me she’s not in a kinky mood, or at least, not the pleasant kind…

On Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26790057-hawk