Savage Angel: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Rough Jesters MC Book 1) Read online

  Wiping a hand over my face, I gave myself a minute before pushing out of the chair, steeling myself from any emotion that assaulted my body and my damn soul.

  I didn’t have a heart anymore.

  You see, Kris took it from me, and no matter what she did to me now, she would still own it until the day I died.

  But it was time to show her I wasn’t a pushover.

  I walked through the club, passing members who were getting shit ready to ride out. I’d been the president of the Jesters for five years now, working my way up through the ranks to be the first in line when the time came. Becoming president had been a fucking dream come true and I’d shared that with Kris, hoping she would support me in my decision.

  She had, for a time, but just like all good things, that came to a crashing halt. Since then, I hadn’t spent any time with her outside of her fucking shooting at me. She’d gone and created her own club, for which I was damn proud of her, but it didn’t make me less worried she’d get herself killed.

  Not even after five years.

  Walking outside to my bike, I dropped my shades over my eyes to block out the bright sun. The club girls milled around, giving my guys one last wave or a kiss in case they didn’t make it back. While I hadn’t forgotten about Kris and what we had shared, I hadn’t exactly remained celibate either.

  In fact, one of those club women was draped over my bike, her red lips formed in a pout as I approached. “I thought we were going to have some fun this afternoon, Chains.”

  I reached around, my hand on her waist to lift her off the bike, grinning when she wrapped her long legs around my waist, refusing to let go. “Come on, Lisa. I don’t have time for this.”

  “You never do,” she said, running her long fingernails through my beard. “Hurry back, will you? I’m dying for a ride today.”

  I pushed her away then, swatting at her ass as she stepped away. “I’ll think on it.”

  She gave me a heated look as I swung my leg over my bike and fired up the engine. The roar of the bike shuddered through my body, like a purr to my soul. I’d ridden since I could walk; my dad was a bike mechanic who did all sorts of work for some of the older clubs throughout the years. I grew up in that world and so it was natural for me to fall into one the moment I turned eighteen.

  I was a cocky bastard and after a few licks by some of the older guys, I’d won their respect by perfecting my shooting and knifing skills. It was all preparation for the moment I would be president of my own club, a moment I saw realized five years ago.

  The guys under me, they depended on me to make good decisions for the club and keep up relationships that funded us, too.

  And Kris, practiced from years of my tolerance, was starting to cut into our profits. I couldn’t allow it to go on. She’d hit five trucks this month, and I’d spent the better part of the week covering my ass from the Pacifica Cartel.

  I maneuvered my bike to the front of the small pack that would run with me, grabbing the horn that waited for me to give instructions.

  I had only one. “We take them alive.”

  The rev of the engines rewarded me and we took off, tearing down the highway. I knew Kris would head back to her clubhouse to celebrate and I planned to be there to crash her party.

  ***

  Thirty minutes later, I pushed away from the doorway as Kris pulled up into the drive and cut off her engine. Back then, I’d been fucking serious about her. Now, I wanted to wring her pretty little neck.

  “We’re here,” she said to her passenger, waiting until the young woman climbed off the bike before she swung her leg over and stood on the driveway. I watched her every move, my eyes drinking in the way her jeans molded to her legs, and the black leather vest stretched tight across her breasts. Tattoos covered her arms, cutting off at the wrists right before her bare, elegant hands. Damn, she still looked good.

  I knew she also had a small rose right above the dimple in her back and my initials on the inside of her ankle. Or at least she still had them there five years ago.

  Of course, the only way I would see them now is if her legs were wrapped around my neck, and not because I was giving her cunt the best damn tonguing of her life.

  She came to stand just a few feet from me, crossing her arms over her chest, her blue eyes showing no emotion or surprise. “Rex.”

  “Kris,” I answered, giving her a nod. “You’re looking good.”

  She didn’t flinch. “I imagine you didn’t come all this way just to tell me how I look, did you?”

  “Afraid not,” I said, my eyes searching for any injuries on her body. Damn, she looked good. “You shot at my drone.”

  “I didn’t shoot at your drone,” she remarked, her lips lifting in a small grin. “I shot down your drone. I hope it was expensive.”

  “It was,” I answered, wanting to crack a grin myself. Kris was such a smart ass, which was one of the many, many reasons I’d loved her.

  The smile disappearing from her face, she held out her hands in front of her. “Go on, take me in. Let’s stop pretending you’re here to talk.”

  Surprised, I eyed her, looking for some sort of sign she had something up her sleeve. The rest of her club also looked surprised, but none stepped forward, clearly okay with whatever their president was doing. “You’re surrendering?”

  “It's hot, I’m tired, and a drink wouldn’t hurt,” she shot back, no warmth in her expression. “So, if you’re going to take me in, please stop wasting my time, so I can get out of this damn heat.”

  I jerked my head toward the woman near her bike, her wide-eyed expression glued to our interaction. “What about your new Prospect there?”

  Kris glanced over at the woman, her mouth setting in a thin line. “She’s not a Prospect. She was in your precious cargo.”

  I narrowed my gaze, surprised by her words yet again. The cartel hadn’t mentioned anything about people being in that shipment, just guns and drugs. “I didn’t know she was in there.”

  Kris let out a little laugh, shaking her head. “Fuck you, Rex. Tell me another lie, will you? Come on dammit, take me in and we’ll talk about this.”

  I ground my teeth together, holding up my hand when Ironsides stepped forward to grab Kris. She was my problem, not anyone else’s, and she would be going with me back to the clubhouse. He shot me a look, but I ignored it, hating he knew how I felt about her. He was the only one who had seen me in my weak moments over Kris, though I knew he would take them to his grave before he told anyone. “Fine, get on my bike.”

  “I’ll ride with Ironsides,” she shot back, dropping her hands. “Anyone but you.”

  “Darling, the feeling is mutual,” I growled, grabbing her wrist on the way past her and dragging her to my bike. How many times had we done this? How many times had she held onto me as I tore down the highway, thinking nothing could go wrong between us?

  What a damn fool I had been. “Get on.”

  Thankfully, Kris didn’t respond, but just slung her leg over the bike. “Let my club stay. I can tell you everything you want to know.”

  I shifted my weight onto the bike. “The girl comes.”

  “If the girl comes, my VP does as well.”

  “Done.”

  “Thank you.”

  I heard the soft words before I gunned the engine, revving it over and over again to drown out the impact they had on me.

  Shit. This wasn’t a good idea.

  After relaying the message to Ironsides, I felt the barest brush of Kris’s arms around my waist before I took off, my body fighting back all kinds of emotion that came from that simple touch.

  She was going to be the death of me.

  The wind slapped my face, but I welcomed it, leaving behind my club and hers. Out here on the open road, it was just me and her, just like the beginning.

  Now I had to figure out how we could have an intelligent conversation without killing each other in the process.

  Chapter 3

  Kristina


  This was not how I had anticipated my afternoon to go, but I guess it could have been worse. Rex’s motorcycle roared down the highway, back to the Rough Jester’s clubhouse, and I allowed myself to lean against his strong back while the smell of leather and motor oil assaulted my senses. The smells reminded me of how he used to come to bed still smelling like motor oil after working on his bike. I’d fussed at him more than once about it but had secretly enjoyed the sense of security it gave me.

  And now, God, I couldn’t let go of him. Just having him this close without us being face to face with each other was calming me down, lulling me into a sense of security I hadn’t felt in years. I knew every inch of the biker seated in front of me, every quirk and flaw in him.

  While we’d both aged, Rex still looked like the man I had fallen in love with, that beard of his neatly trimmed and covering the lower half of his face. His ice blue eyes had bore into mine the moment I looked at him and for that briefest of seconds, I’d been lost in his gaze, forgetting we were enemies.

  How many times had I looked into his eyes, seeing the same fierce devotion and love there that I felt in my heart?

  The bike slowed and I pulled away from Rex, gathering my thoughts. I had to remember we were enemies and he’d just lied about trafficking a human being, a woman at that.

  He maneuvered the bike up against the building and shut off the engine. The rest of the crew hadn’t caught up with us yet, so it was just the two of us there, baking in the hot sun. I tried to figure out something witty to say, something that would catch him off guard and show him I meant business, but my tongue seemed tangled up in my mouth and my hands itched with the urge to touch him all over.

  “We can leave you know,” he said after a moment, his voice barely above a whisper. “I know where there’s cold beer and good music.”

  My heart leapt into my throat and the sudden rush of emotions surprised me. He sounded so hopeful, and nothing like the harsh man I’d saw him becoming.

  He sounded like my Rex. My savior, the man who had brought me out of the brink and back to the living, showing me that not all men were bad after all.

  Well, until he dashed my dreams and I had been faced with reality.

  I pushed myself off the bike, pulling off my bandana and letting my hair free to fall in waves around my shoulders. It made me feel like I had a shield against him.

  Rex took his time climbing off his bike, pulling off the leather gloves he had on, the gloves I knew he wore when he was walking into a fight. “Did you really think you would need them with me?” I asked.

  He looked up and the air in my lungs ceased to exist, the intensity in his eyes taking my last breath away.

  “I honestly didn’t know what you would do, Kris.”

  Fumbling to get a hold of myself, I pushed past him, walking into the clubhouse I had once called home. Not much had changed since then. The walls were still a dirty brown, the couches in the main room still run down and occupied by smelly, burly bikers whose mouths dropped open when I walked past. I kept my head held high as I passed them on my way to Rex’s office.

  But just being there brought back a ton of memories.

  I entered the space, the faint smell of cigars Rex favored hanging in the air. The desk was the same, the chair the same, but what I hadn’t anticipated seeing was the same picture on his desk, the one of us at some motorcycle rally we’d attended together to put our bikes in their contest. I was seated on his lap, his arm around my waist and we were laughing.

  It was a picture of love and happiness.

  “You remember that day.” It wasn’t a question, but a confirmation.

  “Of course, I remember that day. My bike beat yours.”

  His laugh was rusty, but still music to my ears and I didn’t turn around, not wanting to face him just yet.

  “There you go, making everything a contest.”

  “You’re just mad I constantly beat you at your own game,” I answered, pursing my lips together so I wouldn’t smile.

  “Maybe I let you win.”

  “Never. That’s not your style.”

  His hand brushed over my shoulder and I turned, pulling away from his touch. I couldn’t have him doing that now, no matter how much my body craved him.

  The loss on his face was easy to read as his hand fell back to his side. “It’s good to have you here, Kris.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, attempting to shield myself from my feelings and his words. “This isn’t a social visit Rex. You had a woman in that truck. Don’t tell me you aren’t involved with trafficking.”

  He came toward me, stopping just mere inches in front of me. “I didn’t know she was back there, I swear it.”

  Oh, how I wanted to believe him! The Rex I knew would have been appalled and championing my efforts to stop such a despicable thing from happening.

  But he was working with the very club that made it happen and he couldn’t deny that fact.

  “So, you are saying the cartel didn’t sponsor that run?”

  His jaw ticked and I knew I had him.

  “You don’t understand, Kris.”

  I arched a brow. “I think I understand perfectly. Let’s see, you are working with the cartel, which are the exact people who are sending women and kids over every fucking second of every fucking day, to Mexico and beyond, to be trafficked into prostitution and God knows what else. That was your fucking drone watching the operation going down, which means that was your fucking van. Tell me when I get it wrong, will you?”

  Rex reached out in a flash and grabbed my upper arm, his fingers wrapping around my skin. I should have been scared, but I wasn’t. My body reacted to his touch and instinctively I stepped closer.

  Oh, dear God, why were my knees weak?

  “You know me,” he finally said, his jaw clenched so tight I thought his face would break. “I don’t condone that sort of business.”

  “Well you’re supporting it,” I shot back, glaring at him. “In fact, you are all up in it and have been for years. Face it, Rex, you can’t deny that fact.”

  He glared at me, all traces of humor or kindness gone from his expression. “I didn’t know, I swear it, Kris.”

  I wanted his words to be true. And, I wanted to kiss the hell out of him, too, but I couldn’t give in to either desire. The problem was, I didn’t trust him. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t, not with everything I knew about where his club’s money came from.

  That and he was unwilling to see me as an equal, even though both of our vests had ‘President’ on them. He would never see me as that, only as a club girl who had fallen in love with him.

  Finally, he strode toward the door, giving us both some needed space. “I’ll be back. Stay here.”

  Like I was going anywhere. I watched him leave the office before releasing a breath, glad to have some time without him in the room. My space seemed smaller when he was around and it was easier to slip into feeling like the scared woman he’d first rescued, the one who gave her heart away thinking it would all work out in the end.

  It hadn’t and we were both hurting because of it.

  “Shit,” I said, staring back at the picture on his desk. I didn’t know that woman anymore and I doubted Rex knew the man either. So much had changed between us, so much had gone wrong.

  But in the same breath, so much had gone so right while we were together. Biting my lip, I thought back to the night Rex had been sworn in as president, perhaps the happiest night of his life.

  ***

  My face felt like it was going to split from smiling so much, holding up my beer for yet another toast to Rex and his new title. He stood next to me, his arm around my waist, squeezing it every now and again. I couldn’t wait to get him alone and show him how proud I was of him, what he had become, and what that meant for us in the future.

  “Thank you, thank you,” Rex was saying, a grin on his face. “I just hope you aren’t looking to string me up in a month or so.”

  “Nah w
e’ll just take you out back and shoot you.” Corey grinned, throwing his arm around my shoulder. “And we’ll let Kris do it.”

  Rex looked down at me and the warmth from his eyes radiated into my body, a promise of what was to come. “I couldn’t think of a better way to go then.”

  I grinned back at him, giving him a nod in return. I could never hurt him, he knew that. I loved him too much to ever harm him.

  Corey gave my shoulders a squeeze before he moved on, surrounding himself with a bevy of club girls. I had been one of those girls, though my luck had changed somewhat since Rex and I had become an item. He had brought me here, into this family, when I needed it the most and hadn’t given up on me no matter how many times I’d wanted to give up on myself.